Nov 2022 - Día de Muertos, Gastronomy, and Mezcal in Oaxaca
- Trevor
- Dec 21, 2022
- 11 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2023
What a neat little city! We made our plans to visit Oaxaca all the way back in March. We knew that Día de Muertos / Day of the Dead is a very popular time for travel and tourism in Mexico. Día de Muertos is an annual event dating back to pre-Hispanic times. It is a celebration of life and a time for people to pay respect and remember their dead friends and family members. It is observed primarily on November 2, but there are some activities on the days just before and after. Many tourists expect a large Halloween party, and while there are some loud and festive events being held, the core events are more about remembrance than party. After a bit of online research, we learned that Oaxaca is one of the best places in Mexico to observe these traditional activities. So even though we weren’t sure when we’d be re-entering Mexico in the fall, or where else we would go before and after, we went ahead and booked a condo on the northwest side of the city for 5 weeks.
Speaking of research - before we started our full-time travel, I did a lot of research online. I mainly used google, leading to various travel lists (“top 10 places…”) or individual travel blogs full of destinations, travel tips, and helpful advice for things such as getting our Mexican residency. Once we were on the road, I discovered that Facebook groups are a great way to find information about each city that we go to. I normally find 2 or 3 groups for each city, focused on local events, expat communities, or restaurants. Every city is different but the information is typically pretty reliable, focused, and up-to-date. For Oaxaca, Facebook led me to a few people providing Day of the Dead “experiences” – either single- or multi-day activities highlighting the main traditions for Día de Muertos. We chose a 3-day experience provided by the local Hola Latin Spanish school for the bargain price of 1,000 pesos ($50) each.
One Day 1 of our “experience”, we learned about the altars that families create for their loved ones. The altars typically contain flowers, favorite food and drink, and photos of family members. Some altars are constructed in the cemetery, but many are constructed in doorways of homes and businesses. Ours was to be constructed in a large main room at the school. We met our group in the center of town and then went shopping for food and construction materials at the local mercado. We sampled the local drink tejate, which is a mix of chocolate and corn meal. We also ate lunch at Memelas Doña Vale. Memelas are similar to a tostada – a tortilla toasted on a hot platter, topped with sauce, cheese, and choice of meat. After lunch, we went our separate ways, then met back up with the group in the evening to sample some traditional snacks, pastries, and mezcal, and to construct our altar.
On Day 2, our hosts taught us some traditional food preparation. We met at the school where we learned about the many different types of mole, then helped to prepare mole negro – black mole. Next, we prepared corn masa to make tamales. In the Oaxaca region, tamales are rolled in banana leaves instead of corn husks. We filled our tamales with the mole negro, chicken, and vegetables. We sat and enjoyed some good company while the tamales steamed, then ate dinner with the group.
On Day 3, we met at the school again to have our faces painted in the traditional catrina style – skull-like designs representing the dead. Once painted, we went on a walk to the local cemetery where we observed some altars and talked with some local families. Many of them bring food, drinks, and music to the cemetery and stay all night, singing, telling stories, and having a general celebration of remembrance for their family members. Overall, we had a wonderful time, learned a lot about the traditions, and made many new friends.
In addition to the events with the Hola Latin Spanish school, we spent many of the days before and after Día de Muertos exploring the city of Oaxaca. It is a very walkable city, so we crisscrossed the town, exploring different streets on different days. We saw a lot of flowers, altars, and murals during our walks. We also quickly learned that Oaxaca is a great destination for foodies. In fact, many people consider Oaxaca the gastronomical capital of Mexico. Since we love trying new restaurants and foods, we dove in to learn about the many unique dishes and flavors that Oaxaca had to offer. The most notable regional dish is mole – a sauce based on chiles, cinnamon, and other spices. There are multiple varieties, using different herbs and spices, including one version that doesn’t actually include chiles. Fortunately, we found a restaurant near the Centro – Los Pacos – with a mole sampler large enough to share. We tried the 7 most popular moles, comparing the styles and flavors, before deciding that our favorite was estafado, made primarily with tomatoes, and almonds. In addition to mole, Oaxaca is known for quesillo cheese, a saltier and chewier version of the typical soft white Mexican cheese. Tlayudas are also a traditional Oaxacan dish. We had tried one of these last year in Saltillo, but here they are a staple. Some people might call the tlayuda a Mexican pizza. It starts with a toasted tortilla, painted with asiento (lard), then covered with bean paste, cheese, and possibly other toppings. Tamales and chile rellenos are also very common, and both are often filled with a spicy chicken mixture. Chapulines (grasshoppers) are very popular in Oaxaca, but no one seems to be surprised or offended if you order a dish without them. I did end up trying them on a few occasions, they’re really just soft, salty, and spicy. Sandy was less interested in crossing "eat bugs" off of her bucket list. One of our favorite meals was caldo de piedra – stone soup. At a small, local restaurant, we got a bowl filled with broth, vegetables, and fish. Using a pre-Hispanic technique, a fiery-hot rock from a wood-burning oven is placed into the broth, causing it to boil and cook all of the ingredients. Very unique, and very tasty. Overall, we found the local/regional dishes to have more complex and interesting flavors compared to other cities in Mexico, plus we were able to mix in some international cuisines such as Indian, Arabic, and Italian.
The Oaxaca region is also known for its mezcals. We found a few distributors in town, but had the most success by visiting the distilleries in Santiago Matatlán, a small town east of Oaxaca. We were able to drive up to each business, where we got some information and free samples. One young vendor actually invited us around to the back of the building, where he walked us through the distillation process, and gave us a very good explanation of the effort required to create mezcal. The process is very artisanal, with stone grinding wheels and open-air wild fermentation. Most mezcal has a smoky or earthy flavor and we found there was a lot of variation in the final product. Surprisingly, we found that the largest variation was due to the type of agave used for the mezcal. We didn’t realize that there are so many types of agaves (over 250) and that so many are used for mezcal (50+). While Blue agave is used for tequila, Espadin is the most common type used for mezcal. We found that we really liked the flavor of mezcals made from Tobalá, Tepextate, and Barril the best. But where Espadin only takes about 7 years for the plant to mature, many of the others can take 10 to 15, or even 25 years to be ready for processing! We also found that while the flavor of tequila seems to improve with barrel-aging (Reposado or Añejo), barrel-aging actually seems to diminish the natural flavors in mezcal. So, for us, and many Mexicans, the un-aged “joven” was generally our favorite, regardless of the agave used.
Oaxaca is the center of mezcal production in Mexico. The city sits in a large valley, in the middle of the country (halfway between the coasts) but fairly far south – almost as far south as you can go in Mexico. Even though the city is at 5,000 ft elevation, the weather is still very warm. Almost every day was 80-85 degrees, which is generally hotter than we’d like since we’re travelling with our dog Gunner, but also because our condo did not have air conditioning. There are many hills and mountains around the Oaxaca valley, and the Mixtec and Olmec pre-Hispanic cultures built a number of pyramids and other structures in those surrounding areas. During our 5-weeks in Oaxaca, we visited:
Monte Albán – This was the largest site, with an enormous central plaza surrounded by pyramids – which we were permitted to climb! We spent a day here on a self-guided tour and thought about going back to hire a guide to learn a bit more about the site and its history.
Atzompo – This is a sister site to Monte Albán and some say was where members of the ruling class lived.
San Jose el Magote – This is a single pyramid and is actually sitting abandoned in the middle of a neighborhood.
Yagul – This was a small building complex, with no pyramids, but many walled buildings and a defensive fortress on the cliffs above the city.
Dainzu – This site was unique because of the pyramids built into the side of a hill, rather than on top.
Zaachila – A small site south of Oaxaca. There is not much left of the pyramids, but there are two tombs that you can enter.
Teotitlán - This was a surprise find in the small town of Teotitlán del Valle. We discovered a tiny museum with artifacts and learned that the local church was constructed using materials from an ancient pyramid which can still be seen nearby.
Mitla – This site is now surrounded by the modern-day town of Mitla. The historic site is adorned with rock carvings on the walls and above doorways – one of the few sites to be decorated so extensively in this way.
Oaxaca Museum of Culture – Oaxaca has a very nice museum in town that currently houses some treasures from a tomb at Monte Alban. Not many tombs have been discovered, and most that are found have already been raided. The tombs of Monte Alban were a unique find, and the visit to the museum was worth the wait in line.
In addition to exploring pyramids, we also found a number of activities to keep us entertained. We attended a unique performance by the Pasatono Orchestra at the beautiful Macedonia Alcala Theater in the center of town. The performance was a mix of modern latin music and artistic dancing – very creative and entertaining. For a sample of their music, click here. We also heard about a “lucha libre” event – Mexican wrestling – so of course we had to attend that. We also explored the areas around Oaxaca, including Teotitlán del Valle - where many vibrant handmade textiles decorated the local market, El Tule - home of the world’s largest-diameter tree, and the Hierve de Agua – hot springs, natural pools, and amazing rock formations.
When not wandering around town, we spent our time in our second-floor apartment in the northwest corner of Oaxaca. I’ll be honest and say that our condo left a little to be desired compared to other places that we’ve lived. As with most towns in Mexico, most of the activity and sights are in the center of each town. But those centros have narrow streets, small homes, limited parking, and typically no grass to walk our dog. Instead, we found a place north of town, across the main road through town, near the suburb of Xochimilco. The place that we found had off-street parking (with a motorized gate) and a small grassy area where Gunner could walk around. We also found a nice park approximately 10 minutes away by car. So, we had to drive every day, but it was worth it to have a nice path for him to walk. But back to the condo – we had the upper floor of an older two-story house. It had three large bedrooms, though two went unused. The home’s bathroom and general décor were dated and worn. We used the owner’s wifi (router in her home downstairs), and it was quite good and worked well for streaming TV with our Roku device. The small, basic kitchen was very sparsely furnished, but sufficient since we don’t tend to cook at home. Actually, with the tiny freezer and small fridge, and the wonderful selection of great restaurants in walking distance, we ate at restaurants every day of our stay in Oaxaca. Walking distances were short – 5-10 minutes to the cafes of Xochimilco and 15-20 minutes to the various parts of Oaxaca. We felt safe walking around each day but relied on taxis if we were out after dark. Overall, our place was functional, our host was nice, and we ended up feeling much better about the home when leaving as compared to when we first arrived.
I mentioned using our Roku for streaming TV – we love this device for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount+, and other channels. But most of those subscription services are region-based, so the default is a different set of programs based on our location in Mexico vs. the United States. We typically use a VPN to set our region to the U.S. but because the main router was inaccessible, this was not so straightforward in Oaxaca. After some research, we decided to invest in an Amazon Firestick. The device is very similar to a Roku, but allows apps to be loaded onto the stick, including one for ExpressVPN, which is the service that we use. So now our streaming stick has VPN built in, and I can easily adjust the settings if we’re having issues watching a particular show or sporting event.
We encountered a large number of tourists and expats in Oaxaca, even after the crowds of Día de Muertos disappeared. To be honest, we thought there wouldn’t be very many expats there – it’s a smaller city, a bit less famous, and somewhat off the beaten path. But surprisingly, Oaxaca does have an international airport with a few direct flights to the U.S. During our five-week stay, we saw international tourists consistently. A few were Americans and Canadians relocating or snow-birding, but a large number were Europeans. There are some good international clubs, groups, and language schools in town, making Oaxaca a nice destination for people just starting to explore Mexico.
From a cost perspective, Oaxaca is very reasonable. Housing, which is consistently our largest expense, was lower in Oaxaca than anywhere else we’ve been – just over $1,000 for our 5-week stay. Food is our second-largest expense, and we did end up spending more than other cities, but the food/restaurants were so good! Eating out every day added to our costs, and also seemed to be about 20% higher than other places we’d been (average $25-$30 per meal vs. $20-$25). We also invested in enough mezcal to last us until our return to the U.S. in the spring. Taxis are very abundant, Uber is not available, and we would not have needed our car except for our daily drives to Gunner’s park and to explore the towns and pyramid sites outside of Oaxaca. Gasoline continues to stay around 21-22 pesos per liter, which is a little bit more than $4 per gallon. During our stay in Oaxaca, we passed a milestone for 1 year of travel. So outside of our normal travel expenses, we had to renew our annual Mexican auto insurance policy (no, U.S. insurance does not cover your car in Mexico).
Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Oaxaca. We found the town to be very similar in feel and appearance to San Miguel de Allende, and easy for tourists and expats to integrate. But in many ways, we think we liked it more – a bit smaller, more walkable, and possibly better food. Other than the weather consistently in the 80s – about 10 degrees hotter than we would prefer with Gunner – Oaxaca is one of the best places we’ve visited so far, and it’s likely that we’ll be back.
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