My first taste of Xico was a crispy buñuelo, a fried “flour tortilla” very lightly dusted with fine granulated sugar and topped with chicken that had first been cooked with blackberry liqueur and then sauteed with garlic and onion and mixed with chopped green olives and toasted almonds. It was sublime. The liqueur was one of several flavors produced by Mrs. Carmen Virues de Izaguirre who would become my best source of home recipes from the state of Veracruz. She was Manolo’s mother (See). She left the business to her daughter whom we visited recently. Rows of bottles with the old-fashioned label brought back memories of his formidable woman and I felt so happy to be there.
That is just one of the food crafts of this charming town that was recently named a pueblo magico, a term that the Mexico Tourism Board came up with to recognize towns around the country where a tourist can have a magical experience and I have had many in Xico. Just walking around this picturesque town with its candy colored houses and most hospitable residents fills me with joy.
We stopped at Moles Charito and were sad to discover that Charito is no more but her intense moles and pepianes are still the best. Since, she was one of my mole teachers and the ingredients are readily available, I did not buy any of her memorable mole de Xico. I did buy some pumpkin seed pepian, some peanut sauce for encacahuetado, and chile seco paste.
What Jan most enjoyed though was the bread baking. I can relate. There is something about going into a small town Mexican bakery with the wood oven roaring, the smell of yeast in the air, and silky dough begging to be molded into whimsical shapes.
You’ll find all of these at the town fiesta on July 21 and 22. It’s when Xico smells of mole, of hot chocolate, of bread baking and fish frying as Manolo put it in his book.
Cuando Xico huele a mole y champurrado
A pan blanco y a capeos
This fiesta is dedicated to its patron saint Mary Magdalen who lies seductively on a chaise lounge, hair streaming to one side a la Tallulah Bankhead. She owns over 500 dresses to wear on her outings on special occasions when she stands and is dressed in silks, velvets, brocades, the finest fabrics. For the occasion of her Feast Day a special , beautifully designed sawdust carpet is laid down for the procession. After she passes, the street is quickly swept and no trace is left. It had taken hours, days to create the design and carefully fill in the pattern on the street. When I was there in 2000 each block had a different design, this looks much more lush. Then come about 200 hundred men carrying the arch that will decorate the entrance to he cathedral. The fancy design is totally covered with a small flower called cucharita (litttle spoon.) During the time that they are gathering the flowers and assembling the arch, the men are isntructed to only eat white food and drink white liquids for purity.
Photos of carpet and photo of Mary Magdalene are from the Pueblo Magico Website. Go there to see all the images and read about this spectacular fiesta.
