This weeks Travel Community News is presented by some of my favourite travel bloggers - Julie and Francisco Collazo - you can read all about their travels on their blog Collazo Projects.

It’s 5 in the afternoon and we’re hungry. We don’t want tamales or gorditas. We want something different…something… exotic.

We walk to the San Juan Market, a couple miles away from our apartment in Mexico City. A few months back, we heard they sell tiger meat here, that the city’s top chefs prefer this market over all others (and there are lots here) because the vendors sell items you can’t find anywhere else in the country. Surely we’ll find something to satisfy our craving.

Langostinos

The market will be closing soon, but there’s still plenty to tempt the eyes and the stomach. Each kiosk is piled high with mountains of tomatoes, giant garlic, artisanal cheeses from every corner of Mexico, pyramids of vegetables, fruits, and monuments and statues of handmade sausages. There are shrimp and langostines, in miniature and super size. Toasted worms’ eggs, mixed with salt and used to rim tequila glasses. Fresh fish from Baja that look like tiny sharks. And there are roasted “chapulines”– crickets– spiked with lime and chile. Yum!

A vendor spies us eyeing her wares. “The crickets are the perfect snack,” she says with seriousness. “Low in fat, very nutritious, and very delicious. They’re even supposed to be good for… well, you know,” she says, giggling and ducking her head. We buy a bag and give them a try. Airy, crunchy. Tasty.

Chapulines (Crickets)

Another vendor, Luis Antonio Gonzalez Ruiz–who’s been working here since he was a child helping his father manage their family’s butcher stand–offers to take us on a tour. Tiger was never sold here, he tells us, but lion was. And regular fare on offer includes ostrich, deer, iguana, buffalo, wild hog, among other meats. When exotic animal collectors want to rid themselves of some of their menagerie, they call Luis.

We are satisfied with our discovery, and above all, with our snack of roasted crickets. In fact, our find is so interesting to friends in the US that we have to send a small package by air mail to satisfy their immense curiosity; we wait with anxiety to see if they’ll pass USDA inspection desk.
A week later, we read that an elephant escaped from the circus and caused a bus accident in the nearby town of Ecatepec, resulting in the death of the bus driver and the elephant. Is it possible the elephant might find its way to the market? We visit Luis again to satisfy our new curiosity. Luckily, there’s no elephant meat for sale. “Well, then,” we say, curiosity satisfied, “give us a bag of crickets to go, please.”

Julie Schwietert Collazo and Francisco Collazo are writers, photographers, and multimedia producers. Francisco is also a private chef. They blog about their travels and work at http://www.collazoprojects.com.

If you are an established travel blogger and would like to contribute a guest post to our Travel Community News please send an email to kristy dot foss at hotelclub dot com for review.
Photo Credits: 1, 2