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of chayote after Veracruz. The mountainous state is
packed with natural and cultural wonders, including
monarch butterfly sanctuaries, colonial cities and the
aforementioned Pueblos Mágicos, towns so culturally
and historically rich they merit protection. The historic
center of Morelia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
and the monarch butterfly area is a UNESCO Bio-
sphere Reserve. The grandmother in the wildly popular
film Coco is said to have been modeled after a woman
in Michoacán. It seemed the perfect place to study
and photograph the humble green squash.
At the Source
We toured farms in the rural foothills of the Sierra
Madre del Sur, two hours by car from our base in
Morelia, Michoacán's colonial capital city. Uriel, our
patient driver for the duration, steered us past the
suburbs and into the pine-scented, wild countryside.
I spotted chayote growing in backyard gardens as
we turned down a deeply rutted dirt road. Waterfalls
sliced mountainsides, feeding fertile guanabana
groves. At road's end we faced a maze of vine-covered
trellises as far as the eye could see. The air felt
moist and fertile. Zuñiga took off like a kid sensing a
playground, cameras clicking into action.
Men in worn T-shirts bearing plastic crates
suspended from forehead straps walked beneath the
vines, testing and picking smooth, shiny chayotes
dangling overhead. I chatted with Jorge Garcia, a
farm manager who explained that individual families
had plots within the larger cooperative farm. Garcia's

Eggs scrambled with chayote
warm on the stove at Chari
K’umanchikua. Barcelona-
based Itxaso Zuñiga at work
in Tzintzuntzan. Raw green
chayote has a pleasant crisp
flavor.

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