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The Campos family iles of juicy pork chunks caught my eye as I strolled in the street
prepares stellar down- in Tzintzuntzan, one of eight Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Cities)
home Michoacán cuisine Pin Michoacán. The cook alternately hacked away at big slabs of
in Tzintzuntzan. Chayote carnitas and stuffed tortas and tacos with crisp, succulent meat at his
comes in many forms and cart. He weighed out a portion for the friends showing me around town. I
is endlessly adaptable. devoured it immediately.
I should have shown more restraint. I'd already breakfasted on fabulous
pan dulce, sampled avocado ice cream and ogled flaky pastries at street
cart, and I knew food would appear in abundance all day. Michoacán is
a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage center, and every hamlet has its
culinary and artistic specialties.
I was working on a food article about chayote, a lumpy squash as
versatile and ubiquitous as the potato. Itxaso Zuñiga, an ebullient pho-
tographer from Barcelona, was on the chayote chase with me. We'd been
told Tzintzuntzan, which means "hummingbird" in the local Purépecha
language, was the best place to sample chayote in traditional dishes. I had
a feeling we were in for a bountiful Mexican lunch.
Luis Campos and his mother met us in the dining room at Chari
K'umanchikua, a downhome family restaurant with bright plaid tablecloths
in the airy dining room. Family members ferried platters from the pristine
narrow kitchen with its bubbling pots and enticing smells. Campos laid
out an impressive chayote spread for our article's photos (and tasting, of
course), then segued to full-on lunch with bowls of charales (tiny fried fish)
and rich ranchero beans, platters of whole fried fish and the biggest, best
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