Chef Asai is known for running two very successful ventures: First, one of the most authentic Japanese kitchens in the capital, with an outpost in Mérida. Second, an engaging TikTok account where he experiments with new recipes, using fresh ingredients from the local tianguis and imports from Japan. His dishes are a fascinating fusion of beloved Mexican classics like blue corn, mole, nopales, and dried chiles, incorporated with Japanese wagyu, miso, and sushi. 

A scroll through his social media accounts takes you down a mouthwatering rabbit hole of his personal kitchen “experiments,” filmed in quick succession, taste tested by the king himself, and then rated. Not normally one to keep entertained by reels or TikTok, I found myself glued to the screen. I spent far too long watching him effortlessly concoct colorful plates of blue corn shrimp tempura served with lime and salt (which he proceeded to rate a measly 3 out of 5, leaving me to feel relatively sure that we do not have similar palettes) and lime ramen with chicken whose decadent-looking broth sparkled with freshly squeezed lime and an anchovy base (which he rated 5 out of 5). Chef Asai also tested a spring roll stuffed with huitlacoche and topped with salsa verde (rated 3.5 out of 5), and his version of Mole Tokatsu, fried pork stuffed with nopales and Oaxacan cheese, smothered in a miso-mole sauce (which he rated a 6 out of 5 and described as “a toda madre”, aka freaking awesome).

Every once in a while, a recipe will be deemed good enough to carve a permanent spot on the restaurant’s menu, delighting repeat diners who swear by his culinary magic. But despite Asai Kaiseki Cuisine’s current popularity, it wasn’t always an easy ride. 

Bringing Japanese food to Mexico

“I started by offering just a tasting menu and the diners weren’t expecting that. They wanted California rolls.” Asai notes, adding that introducing Mexico to authentic Japanese food was (and still often is) a challenge. Consumers are looking for dragon rolls, salmon and avocado rolls, and all sorts of maki rolls with cream cheese — bites that really don’t exist in Japan.

To top it off, traditional Japanese ingredients are either difficult to find or incredibly expensive to import. This may have partly influenced Japanese cuisine chefs to incorporate Mexican flavors into their menus. Chef Asai commonly uses nopales, sal de chapulín, and sal de jamaica to spice things up. 

The Japanese-Mexican fusion trend doesn’t cease to exist outside the walls of Chef Asai’s coveted culinary coves. Santo in Roma Norte includes seared hamachi & Oaxacan chocolate nigiri on the menu. Crudo in Oaxaca City serves nori-wrapped tacos. North of Los Cabos, visitors can chow down on a teriyaki chicken and pineapple roll wrapped in a Baja-sourced basil leaf at Noah. 

And you can do the same, right in your kitchen.

Using inspiration from various Japanese restaurants in Mexico City and food blogs, I’ve compiled a short list of easy-to-make gastronomic delights that will whisk you away to a vibrant izakaya in Osaka for a few blissful moments before zipping you back to a lively square in Guadalajara.

Nopal nigiri (inspired by Asai Kasai Cuisine)

Ingredients:

2 cups sushi rice (bought or homemade with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt) cooled to room temperature

2 – 3 nopal cactus paddles 

Wasabi (paste or freshly grated)

Soy Sauce

Instructions:

Scrape nopales free of thorns and rinse. Boil until tender and the slimy texture has evaporated. Let cool and slice into strips about 2 inches long and 0.75 inches thick.

Shape sushi rice into 12 mounds about 1.5 inches long and 0.5 inches thick.

Put a dash of wasabi on top of each rice mound.

Wrap a strip of nopal over the rice mound.

Optional: If desired, add a slice of sushi-grade white fish or cooked shrimp rubbed with chili on top of the nopal.

Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Miso and Chile Poblano Sauce 

Ingredients:

2 poblano peppers

2 tablespoons white or yellow miso paste

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt to taste

Water (as needed)

Instructions:

Preheat the broiler in your oven. Place poblano peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning occasionally, until skin is charred and blistered.

Transfer roasted peppers into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam for about 10 minutes. 

Peel off the charred skin, remove seeds, and chop flesh into tiny pieces.

In a blender or food processor, combine peppers, miso paste, rice vinegar, honey or agave nectar, minced garlic, and olive oil.

Blend until smooth, adding water if needed.

Serve over grilled meat or roasted vegetables.

Chicken Teriyaki (recipe by Chef Asai)

Ingredients: 

1 chicken breast

Flour for dusting

1 tsp Oil

Salt and pepper

60ml sake

60ml soy sauce

40g sugar

Instructions:

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Coat with flour and sauté in a little oil. When half cooked, add the sake, soy sauce, and sugar, and continue cooking until caramelized.

Japanese Tuna Tacos

Ingredients:

1.5lb sushi-grade tuna

1/4 cup ponzu sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Ponzu-wasabi mayo 

12 — 14 corn tortillas

Limes to taste

Optional: shredded cabbage, carrot, and lettuce slaw

Instructions:

In a plastic bag, marinate raw tuna in ponzu sauce and chill for 1 hour

Grill or sear fish for about 3 minutes or until cooked on the outside and rare on the inside. Turn once.

Make ponzu-wasabi mayo by mixing 1/2 cup mayo, 2 tbsp ponzu, and 1 tsp wasabi paste.

Serve on warm tortillas with a drizzle of ponzu wasabi mayo.

Squeeze lime and add slaw if desired. 

Have you thought of a way for Mexico to reinvent Japanese food? Let us know in the comments!

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

The post Add a Mexican flair to Japanese cuisine in your own kitchen! appeared first on Mexico News Daily

In the residential part of Cuauhtémoc borough, you’ll encounter some of the city’s best sushi and ramen restaurants, not to mention a ryokan hotel that is all but hidden by a lively Spanish tapas bar next door. The area is unofficially known as Mexico City’s Little Tokyo District thanks to Edo Kobayashi, the Tijuana-born founder of Nippon hits like Rokai and Tokyo Music Bar. But wait a minute – Japan? Tijuana? Mexico City?

To make it make sense, we need to take it back to 1609, when the Spanish galleon San Francisco was making its way from Manila (the Philippines was part of New Spain at the time) to Acapulco.

The vessel was likely carrying silks and spices in exchange for silver and other precious medals, but it wrecked off the coast of Japan. The crew was rescued by Japanese fishermen, and a few months later, they sailed again to Acapulco, but this time on a Japanese ship with representatives from the land of the rising sun. This marked the moment of “first contact” between the two nations.

With the 19th century came Mexico’s independence and the Meiji Restoration in Japan, a tumultuous time when centuries of societal structure was reconfigured to make way for more Western-style policies. This led to the first wave of Japanese immigrants to Mexico in Chiapas in 1897.

Over the years, Japanese communities in Mexico flourished and by the 1920s they expanded north to regions like Baja California, Sonora and Sinaloa. There are records indicating that approximately 1,000 Japanese nationals resided in Mexico City at this time. 

There are at least 10,000 Japanese living in Mexico today, the majority working in the auto industry and residing in Querétaro, Guanajuato, and León. 

I had the pleasure of meeting Marie Sato, deputy director of Mexico City’s Fundación de Japón en México and Japan native. I noted her excellent command of Spanish and asked about her experience learning the language. She explained to me that vocal similarities in pronunciation has made articulation quite easy.

Mexicans too seem to find the Japanese language intriguing — according to Ana Solis, Activities Coordinator at the foundation, their free online language classes have more Mexicans enrolled than any other nationality worldwide.

On a more personal note, I recently took advantage of the direct flight from Mexico’s Benito Juárez International Airport to Narita International in Tokyo. Mexico is always on my mind and it’s hard to shut off my internal comparison mechanism.

While exploring different parts of Japan, I was pleasantly surprised by a few noteworthy similarities:

1. Rich and distinctive cuisines. Different ingredients, equally ancient, same reverence. There is so much love and pride behind their cuisines, it’s hard to ignore the similarity.
2. Wrestling. Professional wrestling in Japan is a big deal. In the 1970s, Mexican Lucha Libre fighter Mil Mascaras debuted in the island nation. The Japanese were so taken by his acrobatic combat style and mask that wrestlers began traveling to Mexico to train in the Lucharesu style. Soon after came Tiger Mask, the popular comic book character that lived the life of a masked wrestling superhero. In 2003, pro wrestler The Great Sasuke was elected as an Iwate Prefectural Assembly legislator and often donned his mask along with a suit and tie to legislative sessions.
3. Public displays of devotion. Shinto and ancient Mesoamerican religions revere many gods and devotees are at liberty to practice elements from multiple religions. Each country is brimming with unexpected altars or other small areas of worship on the street or in parks.
4. Ancient grains. Corn in Mexico and rice in Japan are much more than just a source of calories. These grains have shaped each country’s cultural identity, harboring deep historical significance. 
5. Work ethic. According to the World Economic Forum, Mexicans work more hours per year than any other country. The Japanese are also known to abide by a “live to work, not work to live” mentality — to the point of fatally overworking themselves. Both Mexicans and Japanese see work as virtue, and staying late is seen as a gesture of loyalty and commitment.
6. Family as a pillar of society. In both Mexico and Japan, family comes before all else. Japan’s official registry regards the household to be the basic unit of society (koseki), rather than the individual. This is similar to Mexican society, where parents, siblings and elders are seen as contributing greatly to one’s identity, and whose needs are often prioritized before those of the individual.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

This article is part of Mexico News Daily’s “Japan in Focus” series. Read the other articles from the series here. 

The post What do Mexico and Japan have in common? appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The vibe here is colorful, smiles and laughter abound, street corners are a crossroads of aromatic taco stands and flower stalls. Above all, Mexico City’s vast square footage indicates a lifetime of exploration here still wouldn’t be enough.

But you’ve got to start somewhere.

A weekend away in Mexico City is, as they say, always a good idea. It’s true that costs are rising, compounded by an ever-strengthening peso. Despite all that, Mexico offers a benefit that most places do not. 

Value.

It’s hard to complain about prices when the value is there. The service here is so attentive that your plate is often removed before you’ve swallowed your final bite. Every hotel staff member seems to remember your name. Baristas know how you take your coffee, even if it’s only your second visit.

Nowhere is this more evident than hotel stays. For some, a hotel is a place to sleep and nothing more. For others, like yours truly, your lodging experience is the key to an unforgettable getaway. A little investment in a high quality hotel can go a long way.

Don’t let your perfectly crafted itinerary be tainted by a poor lodging choice. Browse this list of hotels that will take your weekend getaway in Mexico City from good to hands-down magical. These spots all have something unique to offer – historical significance, top-notch staff, seductive design, or optimal location – and run the gamut of pricing, from budget to luxury.

Cuauhtémoc

Am I biased in introducing this list with Colonia Cuauhtemoc? 100%. This is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Mexico City. Sitting adjacent to the graceful Torre del Angel, one would think it has already been washed out by visitors. Yet, it remains quite undiscovered. With Avenida Reforma serving as a protective barrier, Cuauhtémoc has maintained a local lifestyle while still warmly welcoming the daring tourists who cross the impressive multi-laned boulevard.

Its location is ideal – walk to Chapultepec Park in 15 minutes, Roma or Condesa in 30 minutes, Polanco in 50, and Centro in 60. It might not have the jaw-dropping facades of Roma and Condesa, but it’s a lively place where you will get the feeling that you’re actually in Mexico.

Casa Emilia Río Ebro 51 – standard room rate: US$145

Casa Pani Río Po 14 – standard room rate: US$200

Hotel Carlota Río Amazonas 73 –  standard room rate: US$150

Don’t miss: Somma Wine Bar on Calle Lerma for its diverse wine list and excellent people-watching opportunities.

Roma Norte

It’s one of the most frequented sections of Mexico City and that’s because it’s simply beautiful. Roma Norte is separated from Roma Sur by Calle Coahuila and was built in the early 20th Century during the Porfiriato, resulting in its French-style facades and bountiful green parks. The area saw major damage during the 1985 earthquake but quickly regained its footing, flourishing as an aesthetic enclave of trendy restaurants, art galleries, boutique shops, and the much-appreciated recreation of a rather shapely David in Parque Rio de Janeiro.

Casa Goliana Guanajuato 199 – standard room rate: US$230

Nima Local House Colima 236 – standard room rate: US$500 

Ignacia Guest House Jalapa 208 – standard room rate: US$350

Roso Guest House Tabasco 79 – standard room rate: US$400

Colima 71 Colima 71 – standard room rate: US$375

Don’t miss: Casa Guillermo Tovar de Teresa, a gem of a museum with a romantic garden courtyard and the standard free entry expected from a Carlos Slim institution.

Centro Histórico

I once described Mexico City as “a chaotic mess of human existence but everyone seems to be having fun” and nowhere is this more apparent than in Centro. No matter the hour, you’ll find within its populous streets a frenzy of activity. It’s the seat of modern-day CDMX as we know it, with life spiraling outwards from two significant sites: the ruins of Templo Mayor, and the Metropolitan Cathedral which was constructed from the bricks of Templo Mayor. 

Flooding the area are sage-burning “shamans”, vendors selling colorful trinkets you’ll buy and never use, dimly-lit cantinas, museums, and optimal backdrops for a hashtag-just-another-Saturday-in-Mexico-City selfie, like La Casa de los Azulejos.

• Círculo Mexicano República de Guatemala 20 – standard room rate: US$200
• Gran Hotel Ciudad De México 16 de Septiembre 82 – standard room rate: US$200
• Casa de la Luz Hotel Boutique Rcda. de Jesús 7 – standard room rate: US$300
• Downtown México Isabel La Católica 30 – standard room rate: US$175
• Hotel B Urban by Fontán Reforma Av. P.º de la Reforma 24 – standard room rate: US$100

Don’t miss: A pop into the Museo Archivo de la Fotografía for a dreamy photography exhibit of life in Mexico.

Polanco

It’s fancy. It’s wealthy. And while many people want to knock it, it cannot be denied that Polanco is really, really lovely. Ornate Spanish-style family homes encase a hub of award-winning restaurants, art galleries, trendy bars, and luxury shops. It’s the perfect place to casually sip on an almond milk cappuccino with a foam flower under a willowing jacaranda while wearing your Sunday’s best…on a Tuesday. 

The modest number of historical attractions in this part of town gives you the chance to see real-life locals in action. Staying here is a splurge, but if the thought of spending a weekend in the Mexican mansion of your dreams makes your heart flutter, it’s a splurge to consider.

• Las Alcobas Av. Pdte. Masaryk 390 – standard room rate: US$500
• Pug Seal Anatole France Anatole France 307– standard room rate: US$250
• Orchid House Campos Elíseos 76 – standard room rate: US$200
• The Wild Oscar Lamartine 516 – standard room rate: US$300
• Casa Polanco Luis G. Urbina 84 – standard room rate: US$550
• Campos Polanco Campos Elíseos 361 – standard room rate: US$275

La Condesa

Named after Countess (La Condesa) María Magdalena Dávalos y Orosco, born in 1701, what was once an ever-expanding hacienda became the bohemian, tree-lined neighborhood we hear about so often today. Condesa is known for its leafy boulevards, abundant parks, charming cafes, boutique shops, and the famous Avenida Amsterdam that loops along Parque México and was once a horse track. 

Expect a high concentration of expats and an almost shocking abundance of English, ideal for travelers who haven’t yet mastered the Spanish language.

• Hotel Villa Condesa Colima 428 – standard room rate: US$150
• The Red Tree House Culiacán 6 – standard room rate: US$125
• The Amsterdam Amsterdam 143 – standard room rate: US$300
• Hotel San Fernando Iztaccihuatl 54 – standard room rate: US$200
• Casa Decu La Condesa Culiacán 10 – standard room rate: US$120

Stayed in all of the above and want something different? Here are a few more options to consider.

San Rafael

It was considered one of the first “modern” neighborhoods in Mexico City when its gridlike layout was brought to life in 1891. The architecture here is eclectic, with Arabic features intertwined with Mexican colors and a strong Porfiriato influence. It’s truly a step into the past and a practical base for exploring colonias like Santa Maria la Ribera and Juarez.

• El Patio 77 Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta 77 – standard room rate: US$90

Don’t miss: The dreamy arched alleyway inside La Privada Roja, a historical building made of red brick that houses galleries, restaurants, and apartments.

Coyoacán

Obviously, Coyoacán is famous for Frida, but it is so much more. The neighborhood is a captivating world of its own. Visit the central market, sit in the bustling squares, check out the fascinating museums, and allow yourself to get lost within its quiet, winding streets.

• Agata Hotel Boutique & Spa Av. México 21, Del Carmen – standard room rate: US$275

Don’t miss: Diego Rivera’s collection of pre-hispanic works at the Anahuacalli Museum, a collection which comes second to the design of the space itself.

Finally, Hoteles MX has various locations in CDMX which hover around US$70 per night.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

The post The best boutique hotels in Mexico City and where to find them appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Worn and weary, the tribe eventually stumbled upon the Valley of Mexico. Lo and behold, there it was! The eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus, devouring a snake. Sitting atop a small island in the middle of a giant, shimmering lake. The lake was guarded by a string of mountains and volcanoes, including Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The pilgrims were thrilled. It only took 100 years.

The small island in the center of Lake Texcoco was situated close to another island in the same lake. The people settled here just as Huitzilopochtli had instructed, using dried mud, stone, and limestone plaster to build a vast kingdom made up of temples, marketplaces, schools, and homes. The two islands eventually fused to become Tenochtitlan, Mesoamerica’s most grand civilization, and the people became known as the Mexica (Aztec).

Grand Lake Texcoco, home of Tenochtitlán

The fact that Tenochtitlán thrived as a kingdom in the middle of a lake is extraordinary. Think of it like a bowl. Only the bowl is set in Mexico’s Central Highlands and is completely surrounded by mountains lacking any form of drainage. Each year would come an intense rainy season and this de facto “bowl” would fill with water, overflow, and flood the darn place. 

But what Huitzilopochtli wants, Huitzilopochtli gets, and the Mexica were determined to find a solution. They decided to work with what nature had given them. Instead of fighting the lake (like the Spanish would eventually do), they used the abundance of water to their agricultural advantage, understanding that “floods were a precondition for a large part of the basin’s agricultural productivity,” according to the University of Texas at Austin.

So they began to build. The Mexica ingeniously constructed a system of canals, locks, and dikes to control water levels and prevent overflow. This divided salt water from fresh water, effectively creating two lakes. Where the water was brackish, a system of artificial land plots was created upon which maíz, beans, greens and onions could flourish. These small rectangular farms were known as chinampas, separated by canals through which canoes could transport newly harvested produce to the kingdom. Plots like this were probably not invented by Mexica but were enhanced in Tenochtitlan’s expansion.

Because the mountains contained abundant amounts of drinking water, a 16km aqueduct was designed to supply the citizens with hydration. Four major causeways were built linking Tenochtitlán to mainland Mexico for trade and economic stability. By the time the Spanish arrived 200 years later, Tenochtitlán’s 200,000 inhabitants made it one of the biggest and most vibrant cities in the world. It was awesome, in the true sense of the word, beguiling the conquistadors. 

How do we know? Hernan Cortes said so. Yeah yeah, he was a bit of a boaster. Still, historians believe his opening description of Tenochtitlán in his second letter to the King of Spain is accurate:

“I am fully aware that the account will appear so wonderful as to be deemed scarcely worthy of credit; since even when we who have seen these things with our own eyes, are yet so amazed as to be unable to comprehend their reality.”

Unfortunately, the Spanish did not maintain it as such

The Spanish conquest initiated an almost-total disappearance of Lake Texcoco. Instead of working with nature like the Mexica had done so successfully for centuries, the colonists took up arms against it. Not because they wanted to save Tenochtitlan in all its glory, but rather because they wanted to create a European-style hub by turning the dikes and canals into squares and streets. Flooding would threaten the new city’s property value.

In 1607, a project known as Desagüe began. By constructing their own drainage system, the Spanish believed they could control the lake’s water levels. 40,000 local workers were rounded up and given hand tools to complete the dangerous job of excavating over 14 miles of channels and a 4 mile tunnel, 175 feet deep. 

In 1629, a flood destroyed a significant percentage of the city, proving that the project had major flaws. Construction continued anyway through 1900. The city spread across the Valley of Mexico and usurped what was once a beautiful, bountiful environment for plants, animals, and people. 

Lake Texcoco all but died

And now, we’re sitting on top of its grave. A waterless pit that was once a magical kingdom.

On the bright side, we get to enjoy one of the world’s greatest metropolises. 

On the not so bright side, we don’t have enough water. Oh, the irony.

The failed construction of the Desagüe system has resulted in a lack of water. CDMX still sees heavy rains and occasional flooding, but the channels and tunnels are ineffective in collecting the overflow for reservoirs. The lack of penetrable surfaces block rainwater from filtering into cisterns underneath. Only about 8% of the flood water can be obtained, whilst the remaining 92% flows freely into polluted rivers and the city’s sewage system. 

Leading to yet another grave consequence. The city is sinking. Lack of reservoirs and failure to implement a rainwater collection system have propelled officials to over-pump the underground aquifers for drinking water. The extraction process weakens the clay beds on which Mexico City sits. It drops 1 meter (3.2 feet) every year and that figure will increase as the population swells. 

Want to see it with your own eyes? In CDMX’s Centro Historico, the buildings of the Zócalo and the surrounding area are noticeably crooked.

Moreover, draining Lake Texcoco significantly altered the environment. The region was once teeming with waterfowl, algae, fish, reptiles and insects. It bred reeds and water lilies, cooled the valley through evaporation, and contributed to cloud formation and precipitation. Lake Texcoco was vital in maintaining a balanced atmosphere.

However, there are plans to bring it back

AMLO is overseeing the development of Lake Texcoco Ecological Park, a 14,000-hectare natural reserve on the site of the former Lake Texcoco on which sports fields, skateparks, restaurants, and a medical university will also be built. Its purpose is to preserve the flora and fauna that once flourished here through protected wetlands. It is scheduled to open later this year.

Want to see what Tenochtitlan looked like at its peak? Check out Thomas Kole’s incredible reconstruction of the brilliant Mesoamerican empire.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

The post Did you know Mexico City is built on a lake? appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The most generalized definition we can muster is that a corrido is a narrative ballad. Not very specific, as Whitney Houston and Taylor Swift are also both categorized as ballad singers, but it’s a start. A Mexican corrido is something different. It’s something very particular. A Mexican corrido is an eloquent form of story-telling, an oral history told from the perspective of the rural and working classes. 

A brief history of corridos

Corrido music emerged on the US-Mexico border in the late 1800s and exploded during the Mexican Revolution. It served as a form of media for the general public — lyrics detailed the exploits of outlaws, battles lost and won, the lives of revolutionaries, even love and heartbreak. 

Some highlighted a specific person — César Chávez in “Corrido de César Chávez”, composed by Lalo Guerrero in 1968. Others pertained to particular events — like the death of Pancho Villa of which there are dozens. Other sing the plights of romance, like “El Rey de Corazones” by Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes Del Rancho. 

The traditional structure of a corrido

Corridos initially followed a very specific structure that consisted of the following actions: 

1. The singer greets the audience.
2. Introduces location, time, and the main character.
3. Explains the character’s role in the story.
4. Explains the story.
5. Bids farewell to the main character.
6. Bids farewell to the audience.

While the formal structure has not stood the test of time, corridos are still used today as a means of expression modernized through narcocorrido music. Maybe a more accurate moniker would be ‘corrido tumbado’, a blend of Mexican regional melodies (think Ranchera, Norteño, Mariachi) with trap and hip hop. If you like hip hop beats and you like trumpets, the mix might sound appealing.

The lyrics stay somewhat true to the basic elements of corrido — stories told from an underserved, often impoverished class of society. The themes have drifted from that of border conflicts and broken hearts to the realities of living within the confines of Mexico’s drug war. Rebels are still glorified, though songs focus less on the likes of Pancho Villa and more on individuals like El Chapo.

Who is Peso Pluma?

And that’s where Peso Pluma enters the scene.

The 24-year-old Mexican star and Billboard Latin Music Awards’ Artist of the Year was born in Jalisco and is regularly embroiled in controversy. He keeps his personal life under wraps, but on stage he’s unreserved. The artist has been accused of openly inhaling drugs during a performance in Argentina. He smashed a TV monitor and threw it off stage in Ecuador. He canceled a concert in Tijuana after receiving death threats from Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación.

Peso Pluma has been denounced by AMLO and Juan Antonio Coloma, president of the Chilean Senate. Leaders point to his “normalizing narcoculture” in songs like “Gavilán II” and “PRC” in which he references drugs, sex and murder with laudable undertones. Or perhaps, overtones. In “Siempre Pendientes” he goes so far as to praise El Chapo, founder of the Sinaloa cartel. Some suggest this is hinting at a possible relationship with the notorious syndicate.

For this and other reasons, Chilean officials tried to ban him from this year’s Viña del Mar festival to no avail, with Coloma stating that Pluma’s participation would result in “a normalization of narcoculture in our country and it is unacceptable.”

Not everyone believes his music to be threatening. Besides arguments citing freedom of speech and the need to appeal to a younger audience, many supporters believe that narcocorridos unveil government neglect and violence spurred by former President Felipe Calderón’s “war on drugs” initiated in 2006. There are varying reports of the catastrophic results of the campaign, with related death counts ranging from 40,000 to more than 400,000. Some have claimed these statistics are largely ignored by those in power and music is the best way to tell the tale.

What’s the fuss?

From the point of view of this American writer, nothing Peso Pluma, Los Tigres del Norte, and Movimiento Alterado sing about seems any different from the rap songs I’ve been listening to since the early 90’s. This begs the bigger and more obvious question of the repercussions of celebrating such lifestyles through music, but that is a debate for which I am not informationally equipped.

As a thorough writer should, I engaged in multiple avenues of research while crafting this article. Naturally, this included listening to Peso Pluma and the other artists mentioned above. Only a handful of Peso Pluma’s songs struck me as distinctly Mexican. That said, I did find myself jamming to Movimiento Alterado’s heavy use of traditional regional instruments. I can say with confidence that despite the lyrics, I have no desire to buy drugs (though another pan dulce would be nice and as far as I can tell, sugar is the worst drug out there) or objectify the women surrounding me in this cafe.

But I’m an adult. Therein lies the difference.

If you are a Peso Pluma aficionado, he will be kicking off his North America “Exodo Tour” in Chicago on May 25, 2024. Tickets start at US$35 and are available on Ticketmaster. 

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

The post Peso Pluma and narcocorridos – good, bad, or simply a reality society doesn’t want to face? appeared first on Mexico News Daily

What is the legend behind the Xoloitzcuintli?

Known affectionately as Xolo (Sho-lo), the name Xoloitzcuintli welds two Nahuatl words: itzcuintli, meaning dog, and Xolotl, the Mexica (Aztec) God and ruler of the dark and taboo, including lightning, twins and fire. Xolotl also leads the dead to Mictlán, or the Underworld. 

Who was Xolotl?

According to legend, there were nine layers to pass through to arrive at a new life in Mictlán, one of which was the Apanohuaia River. Crossing this deep, treacherous body of water required the guidance of both Xolotl and a Xolo. The belief was so ingrained into pre-Hispanic society that the dead were commonly buried with sacrificed Xolo dogs to ensure a safe journey. When a dog couldn’t be sacrificed, a small wooden or ceramic statue stood in its place.

Aside from his role as a death doula of sorts, Xolotl had many other roles in pre-Columbian society. He was believed to be the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl, the creator of life. It was Xolotl’s job to lead the sun through the underworld during twilight so it could return safely the next day. 

They were hunters.

History depicts Xolos as hunting companions that took down wild turkeys and deer for special occasions and festivals.

They were used as heaters.

Xolos are frequently called “hot water bottles” due to their high body temperatures. The Mexican highlands are known to be cold at night, so families would sleep with their dogs to keep warm.

Their role as a natural “heater” was also thought to heal the ill. Xolos were (and still are) credited with easing the pain of inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. As Kay Lawson, a Xolo breeder with 20 years of experience and past president of the Xoloitzcuintli Club of America, told National Geographic in 2017, “They know when you’re sick. They zero right in to where it hurts.”

They were considered a local delicacy.

The Mexica had considered Xolos a ceremonial food source long before the Spanish arrived. However, their place on the occasional dinner plate wasn’t documented until Hernán Cortez wrote about a “prized [canine] delicacy” in his letters to the King of Spain. Cortez did not specifically mention the dogs, but context clues lead historians to believe it was Xolos he was bragging about. In fact, overeating of Xolos may have led to their near-extinction.

It is widely understood that over-consumption by the conquistadors, combined with their waning popularity in modern Mexico, led to a severe decrease in population. Even though Xolos experienced a short revival due to nationalism in the 1920s, with a few dogs making it into the home and artwork of Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the breed saw signs of regrowth. Norman Pelham Wright led an expedition in Mexico’s remote areas where he and his team found 10 purebreds and incorporated them into an organized breeding program. 

It’s hard to say how many Xolos exist today, though some sources claim there are only around 4,000 registered.

The more hairy patches you see, the older the Xolo’s soul.

Xolos are known for being hairless, hence the nickname of “Mexican hairless dog.” Their ears are long and erect and their frame is commonly described as regal. However, there are Xolos with patches of hair on certain parts of their bodies. Some will say it’s genes; the Aztecs will say it’s a sign of reincarnation. The same gene is responsible for the absence of a standard set of teeth.

But not all are hairless.

Xolos can be found in three distinct sizes: miniature, small and standard, measuring less than 14 inches to 23 inches tall. Xolos are usually black, dark gray, brown or even deep red. Some are hairless and others are completely coated, though the hairless breed usually has some tufts of shaggy hair on its head, paws and tail.

They make great service and therapy dogs.

Xolos are intuitive and devoted creatures. If the dog receives strict training and socialization skills from an early age, he or she can make an excellent therapy dog. In an interview with the American Kennel Club, Xolo breeder Stephanie Mazzarella revealed her Xolo’s therapeutic role in her recovery after surviving a car accident. The impacts she suffered were life threatening, from severe anxiety to loss of consciousness. One day, her own Xolo, Neina, sensed that Stephanie was about to lose consciousness before she did. Neina started barking frantically. When Stephanie came to, Neina was licking her face to wake her up. 

From this moment, Stephanie started tracking the breed’s ability to connect with patients who suffered from PTSD or autism and found the dogs to be very gentle and protective. Other breeders have stated that Xolos can be trained to detect seizures and summon help when necessary.

They’ve aged gracefully.

Xolos can be dated 3,000 years back. They’re native to Mesoamerica (though there are a few that claim the dog was brought from Asia). Either way, it’s one of the most primitive breeds in the world and also one of the healthiest. Xolos are known to be nearly free from the common health problems found in most domestic dog breeds.

In 2016, then-governor Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa, declared the Xoloitzcuintli as the official breed of Mexico City at the request of the Mexican Canine Federation.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

The post How much do you know about the Xolo, the Mexican hairless dog? appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Even though boxing is thousands of years old by this time, Mexico is just getting started. Fast forward over a century later and Mexican athletes reign supreme. Their technique is characterized by close-range combat and intricate combinations, as well as unyielding pressure on their opponents. They are relentless and resilient in the ring, a description often attributed to the country’s national identity. 

David Hanes-González is a Chicano photographer who created a series about boxers in Mexico, No Te Dejes, and described them as “having the most heart and always moving forward in the ring”.

Perhaps the “work hard, fight hard” mentality needed to overcome daily life in parts of Mexico is the reason more boxing champions were born here than any country in the world. Some names you might know, like Chávez, and others you may not, like Jackie Nava. Jalisco’s Saúl “Canelo” Alvarez is presently one of the sport’s top contenders. 

But do you know who the most important Mexican fighters are?

Who is Julio César Chávez?

In short, one of the greatest boxers of all time.

The long version starts in Ciudad Obregon, his birthplace. His father’s job as a railway worker took the family of 2 parents and 10 children to Culiacán where they lived in an abandoned train car. Chávez’s four older brothers started boxing against his mother’s will, and Julio fell quickly in line. 

Even though he trained at the same gym as his brothers, he kept it hidden by attending at different hours. One day, his brother Rodolfo arrived at a local tournament to hand out trophies to the winners. Imagine his surprise when he looked into the ring and saw his little brother throwing punches. 

Julio won that bout by decision, and from there his career as a boxer exploded. He went from making 250 pesos a fight to over US $10 million. He won his first world title in 1984 and enjoyed a 13-year winning streak. Chavez retired in 2005 with 107 wins and only 6 losses.

His personal life has mostly been kept under wraps. Chavez briefly dated actress Salma Hayek before marrying Amalia Carrasco, with whom he had two sons who are also professional boxers. His addiction to alcohol and cocaine may have been the catalyst for their divorce. In 2014 he married his current wife Myriam with whom he had a daughter. In 2017, his brother was murdered during a home robbery, prompting Chavez to speak publicly against crime and corruption in Mexico. He currently works as an analyst for ESPN and TV Azteca.

Who is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez?

At 5’9 and 168 lbs, the red-haired, fiery fighter from Guadalajara is presently one of the world’s best boxers. He is the undisputed super middleweight champion and has won 39 of his 60 professional bouts by knockout. He started his boxing journey at the age of 13, following in the footsteps of his 6 older brothers, all of whom ventured into professional fighting. 

Canelo broke onto the international scene when he played undercard at a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight in Las Vegas, effectively crushing three-division world champion Shane Mosley. He continued to rise in popularity, even when a 6-month ban from a failed drug test kept him out of the ring. 

One of the biggest reasons for his jump to international fame is his dedication to learning English. He also improved his skill on the golf course, where he also often dominates. In an interview with Marca, Canelo revealed “The truth is that I always practice with my golf friends, I’m playing with them, I practice, I speak a lot of English and now I say, if I make a mistake, it doesn’t matter”. Canelo confidently conducts interviews with English-speaking reporters and, more importantly, talks trash English speaking fighters like Demetrius Aldadre in the press room. 

Want to watch Canelo in action? He will be up against Tijuana-born Jaime Munguía on May 4, 2024 in Las Vegas. The fight will be live-streamed on Prime Video and accessible from Mexico on ESPN and TV Azteca.

Who is Oscar de la Hoya?

Los Angeles born De la Hoya started boxing at the tender age of 6. His grandfather had been an amateur boxer and his father a professional before De la Hoya’s parents moved from Mexico to the US. In 1992 he won the Gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics granting him the nickname “Golden Boy” and kickstarting a very successful career in the ring. By age 24, he was earning up to US$20 million per fight. At 28, he became the youngest boxer ever to win five world titles. 

Life seemed equally as exciting outside of the ring. His good looks attracted the likes of Miss USA Shanna Moakler and Puerto Rican singer and model Millie Corretjer, both of whom he married. He dabbled in entertainment, releasing an album called “Oscar” in 2000 and receiving a Grammy nomination for his song “Ven a Mi”. In 2002 he started a successful promotion agency that now represents multiple champions in boxing. 

In 2023, HBO released “The Golden Boy,” a documentary about de la Hoya’s life. Reviews are mixed about the authenticity of the boxer’s confessions, seemingly in line with the way he’s presented himself to the media during past controversies. Despite this, de la Hoya remains a popular character, and represents both Mexico and the United States in the ring.

Who is Jackie Nava?

Tiny and fast, Jackie Nava’s name is well-known in the world of women’s fighting. Her small size is somewhat ironic — as a child she was drawn to combat sports after a gym teacher called her chubby. She started with karate which led her to Limalama, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. Her professional boxing debut came in 2001 when she beat Vicky Cozy in Honolulu. 

Despite her petite 5 ‘3 stature, Nava holds world championship titles across two weight classes and is affectionately called “La Princesa Azteca”. She retired in 2022 at 42 years of age with almost as many victories, finishing with a total of 40 wins and 16 knockouts (or nocaut in Spanish, how cute is that). 

Nava has advocated for gender equality in fighting sports and inspired many Mexican women, including Flyweight champion and CDMX-born Yessica “Kika” Chávez, to pursue their passion. Now that she’s no longer throwing punches, Nava raises her two girls and works as an architect in her hometown of Tijuana.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

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In other words, you might be able to perfectly construct your request for a taco al pastor in a local restaurant, but if that local restaurant is in Puerto Rico, you haven’t yet mastered cultural fluency. 

Spanish is the dominant tongue of at least 20 countries and the second most spoken language in the world. The Spanish you hear in Spain, Colombia, or Cuba is quite different to that which you hear in Mexico, and the Spanish you hear in Mexico City is even different to the Spanish you hear in Yucatán. Each region’s language is developed within historical, religious, and geographical contexts, resulting in various ways to say the same thing. 

“What’s up”, is a great example. If you’re greeted with a “Qué bola,” you’re probably in Cuba. “Qué más” and you’re likely speaking to a Venezuelan. “Qué pedo,” you’re definitely in Mexico. The way people talk fluctuates from one country to the next and true fluency enables you to know the difference. It’s like being book smart and street smart, but in a language.

To understand the words and phrases that differentiate Mexican Spanish to Spanish of any other kind is attainable through traveling, watching Mexican TV shows, reading Mexican books, and hanging out with Mexican people. This exposes you to terms you might not otherwise come across while studying for your B2 language test. 

Like, jalapeño.

Obviously, it’s a pepper. A spicy one. Used as a topping for tacos or diced in guacamole. 

But that’s not all.

The vibrant capital of Veracruz is also full of jalapeños. Some are growing on bushes while others are walking to school, texting a friend, or making coffee. Because in Xalapa, the term jalapeño refers to both the pepper and the people who were born there. 

Similar to “Londoner” or “New Yorker” or “Torontonian”, nicknames in Mexico are applied according to the city in which you were born. However, they’re not always so straight forward. As a matter of fact, they’re a lot more fun. For that reason, we’ve compiled a list of Mexican monikers to help you determine when someone is referring to a person from the Yucatán and not a nutty root vegetable.

Mexico City: Chilangos 

Why in the world are Mexico City residents known as chilangos? No one really knows. According to Luis Fernando Lara Ramos, a linguist and researcher at the College of Mexico, “We don’t know where the word came from. There are a lot of theories but none is trustworthy.” What we do know is that it’s derogatory, but locals still wear the badge with pride. 

Guadalajara: Tapatíos

The most widely accepted version of the pseudonym is that it’s a derivative of the Nahuatl word “tapatiotl” meaning “que vale por tres”, or how much for three? The phrase was used while shopping at the local tianguis and the money wasn’t a coin but rather a small sack of cacao beans. Over time, it warped into “tapatío” and the name stuck. Anything can be tapatío, from food to people to architecture. 

Monterrey: Regios

When you break up the word, Monterrey becomes monte and rey, monte meaning mountain and rey meaning king. King mountain doesn’t make much sense, but royal mountain does, in which case one would say monte regio. Hence the moniker regio.

Cuernavaca: Guayabos

There are a few theories behind this one but the most probable comes from the name Cuernavaca and its Cuauhnahuac origin. Cuernavaca means “cerca de la arboleda” or, “close to the groves of trees”. Aromatic guava trees, the pink ones to be precise, protruded from these groves and thus was born the nickname of guayabo.

Aguascalientes: Hidrocálidos

Did you know that Aguascalientes is flush with natural hot springs? The word hidrocálido is a play on the hot thermal baths in the region and the people that hail from it.

Veracruz: Jarochos

According to historians, after the Spanish arrived at the port of Veracruz, a wave of African slaves followed. The indigenous had never seen black people before and didn’t know what to call them. Since the slaves were usually seen using garrochas (spears) to guide herds of animals in the style of Andalusian cowboys, they referred to them as jarochas. Today, anyone from Veracruz is known as a jarocho/a.

Xalapa: Jalapeños

One of the staples of Mexican cuisine hails from Xalapa, also spelled Japala, and it’s a little green spicy pepper known as a jalapeño. Why wouldn’t you call its residents by the same name?

Puebla: Poblanos or angelopolitanos

Just like Xalapa, Puebla is the womb of poblano peppers. And so, people from Puebla are known as the same. But once in a while you might hear a local referred to as an angelopolitano, harkening back to 1532 when the city was baptized la Puebla de los Ángeles. 

Mexicali: Cachanillos

Residents of Baja California North’s capital are called cachanillas after the bright pink pom-pom-looking flower native to the region.

Tabasco: Chocos

The pseudonym for tabasqueños is often misconstrued to be a derivative of chocolate, as Tabasco is a major producer of cacao. However, the true origin comes from the Maya word Yokot’an, meaning original, authentic, and true.

Yucatán: Yucas

Also self-explanatory, but a reminder to discern using context clues when the subject of conversation is a human or a tuber.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

The post What’s a jalapeño? It’s not always what you think appeared first on Mexico News Daily

So when the assistant to Rachel Brazier, the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Mexico City, asked me to join their team on a food tour of Mexico City the day before I had to spend a long weekend in the U.S., I scrambled at the chance. No better way to say hasta luego to my favorite country than with curated bites of the capital’s secret culinary gems, am I right?

(For the record: I was right.)

Everything about the tour was superb, from the scheduling to the company to the smart selection of dishes. I now know where the best torta stand is located, where to get veggie tacos in my neighborhood, and my preferred flavors at Nevería La Michoacana. 

What’s more, a burgeoning culinary relationship between Mexico and Britain was unveiled right before my very eyes. 

I know what you’re thinking. There is no way I can possibly compare the cuisines of these two drastically different countries. But I’m here to tell you I can, and I will. Not by unsuccessfully attempting to link the flavor of fish and chips to tacos al pastor, but rather through the experience of a select few foodies who fell in love with Mexican food and are working to bring it to Good Old Blighty.

Let’s start our journey in London, where Mexican cuisine finally started making a significant splash with MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers’ first installment of her ever-growing chain Wahaca. This might come as a surprise, but the coveted menu was inspired by the year she spent cooking and living in Oaxaca. Forbes described the sustainably-focused creative cook’s eateries as the first “mainstream, authentic Mexican restaurants on the London scene.” 

Around the same time, Mexico saw a spike in British tourism and a rise in demand for all things Mexican followed close behind. In 2017, Mexican celebrity chef Martha Ortíz opened her high-end Ella Canta in the buzzing British capital. English cook Fergus Chamberlain started a line of “real Mexican products” called Gran Luchito after an inspiring trip to Oaxaca. When I asked Wahaca’s Head of Food Jenny Idle if she thought the demand for Mexican food was still growing in the UK, her response was enthusiastic. “Completely! When Wahaca first started 15 years ago there was a big educational piece to do as customers had a very “Tex Mex” skewed view of Mexican food, thinking all tacos were hard shells (if they even knew what a taco was)! We see a lot more customers now who know, understand and love Mexican food, and its popularity continues to grow with the British population.”

She’s not wrong. At the time of writing, London’s biggest food and drink magazine Foodism had a feature article about dining in Los Cabos. Deputy editor Molly Codyre highlighted London’s “modern-Mexican” Zapote in a 2023 list of her favorite meals — in the world. In February of this year, Mexican-American actor Danny Trejo opened his vibey, casual taco shop Trejo’s Tacos in Notting Hill.

Needless to say, Mexico’s moment in the U.K. doesn’t seem to be losing steam.

But where did it start to sizzle?

Some say it was in the kitchen of English cookbook author Diana Kennedy.

Diana Kennedy is often touted as the English-language authority on Mexican cuisine. In order to complete her 9 books about the craft, she hopped in an old, white pickup truck and conquered dirt roads, potholes, hail storms and oppressive heat waves to discover the best dishes in Mexico’s most remote villages. She worked as an apprentice in local bakeries, scoured street markets, and even wrangled invitations to family dinners with strangers, all in the name of food.

It was through these intimate experiences that Kennedy learned the intricacies of Mexican cooking, along with her self-described tenacity and love of eating. She believed in tradition and immersion, which is why she moved to Michoacán from New York City after the death of her husband in 1967. She lived here in an adobe house, growing her own vegetables and grinding her own corn. She continued cooking and learning and teaching others how to master the art of Mexican cuisine until she passed at the ripe old age of 99.

“I would have loved to meet her,” says Rachel as we sink our teeth into our very first torta. The soft, chewy bread and lightly battered Oaxacan cheese stuffed poblano pepper fire up my taste buds. I immediately dive in for another bite before I’ve even swallowed the first. It’s nothing short of heaven. Rachel has been living in Mexico City with her family for just over a year after multiple postings in Latin America, the UK and the USA. 

“It’s an amazing place for teens, my kids love it,” she informs me in between chews. Rachel’s experience as an expat in Mexico feels similar to mine, despite our vastly different professions. It’s happy, it’s easy, and it’s full of things to do. “I can get a coffee, go shopping, or see a movie within a few blocks of my place,” she beams. Like me, the lush greenery and expansive parks often cause her to forget that she’s in one of the world’s biggest cities. 

This is a big statement from a woman with such an interesting life. Her father is a retired mapmaker and her mother a school teacher, meaning Rachel has been traveling extensively since she could walk. While her father measured his way around countries like Kenya and Botswana, the family got up close and personal with the wildlife. “I remember (in my young mind) living in the bush. Dad and all the guys jumped out of their tents in the middle of night and into Land Rovers to flash the lights and beep the horns to get rid of a pack of lions!”

With a childhood as exciting as Rachel’s, it comes as no surprise that her professional life would follow suit. In 2001 she landed a job with the British Embassy and her life in Latin America began. “My first gig was in Ecuador. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the landscape was. I loved the adventure of it — riding, mountain climbing, diving, white water rafting. And I loved the friendliness of the people.” 

Her expertise in Latin America grew along with her command of Spanish, and she continued on to posts in Uruguay, New York, Colombia, and the UK, respectively. In 2023, Rachel and her family moved to Mexico. 

As I try to enjoy the final chunk of my torta, comforted only by the fact that there is another stop for tacos after this, I wonder out loud “So, having lived in all these places and now in Mexico, what do you think of the food?” Her eclectic upbringing no doubt has introduced her to a variety of tastes and dishes and I’ve just got to know how Mexico ranks on her palette scale. Her facial expression says it all. “With the flavors, the spices, the creativity, you can’t get bored in Mexico.” 

I lingered on that statement for a while before I decided not to clarify it. Maybe she’s talking about the food, or maybe she’s talking about life here. It doesn’t actually matter. However you dice it, Rachel is right. You simply can’t get bored in Mexico.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

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But when it comes to live music, the pickings are slim. However, thanks to the Tío brothers, Jelly Roll Morton, and even good ol’ Porfirio Diaz, Mexico City’s jazz scene rumbles with seduction. Before you make your Saturday night reservation at Parker & Lenox, read on to find out how Mexico discovered jazz and jazz, Mexico. 

A history of Mexican jazz

Alain Derbez, author of Jazz en México, chronicles the birth of Mexico’s relationship to jazz in 1884. New Orleans hosted the World Industrial & Cotton Exposition and Porfirio Diaz sent the Mexican Eighth Cavalry Regiment band to perform. The group of nearly 100 musicians were such a hit that they were featured in Century [music] Magazine and according to TripodNola, the local paper at the time, Daily Picayune, had this to say:

“There has never been a band which has taken such hold on the affections of the people of New Orleans, not only on account of its artistic ability, but the individual and social qualifications of its members.” 

Several members of the Cavalry Regiment stayed north, including Lorenzo Tío of the famous Tío brothers, who would go on to introduce Americans to the clarinet. To be clear, the Tío clan was Catalan by origin, but spent several decades living in Tampico, Mexico. 

Mexico’s melodic influence continued to taint the early American jazz and blues scene. Pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton, who would record alongside Lorenzo Tio Jr., once said “If you can’t manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz.” 

The golden age of Mexican jazz

Which brings us to jazz’s journey to Mexico. The USA’s Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded the first official jazz album in 1917, but jazz didn’t truly thrive until the 1920s. Its rise coincided with Prohibition, the nation’s 13-year ban on alcohol. 

It is speculated that a wave of musicians, as well as drinkers, fled across the border looking for work or whisky. Even Morton himself is said to have performed in Mexico in 1921 and composed “The Pearls” in Sonora. By the 1930s, Mexican big band music exploded in popularity. This would later encourage greats like Duke Ellington to perform locally [Ellington held a concert at Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1968]. 

Juventino Rosas’ waltz “Over The Waves” had formed an integral part of jazz music in New Orleans. But it wasn’t until 1954 that ¡La Orquesta de las Estrellas! released the first jazz album in Mexico. Years later, clubs started surfacing in the capital in neighborhoods like Juarez, Roma, and Centro and a handful remain to this day. I spoke with Maurice Orlando Montoya, Mexican-American owner of MM Music Agency in Los Angeles and expert on all things jazz, about his thoughts on Mexico City’s music scene. “⁠I was happily surprised to find a jazz scene in [CDMX]. I was even happier to see that the audience was young and enthusiastic and ready to party.”

Is Mexican jazz having a comeback?

Montoya, whose agency represents the finest Jazz, Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, and Contemporary Music artists, thinks the expat community might have something to do with it. “Like France in the 50’s, expats make for a good audience. However, the twist here is young people do not listen to jazz Stateside as they did in the middle of the 20th Century.” Does that mean jazz is making a comeback? Or are Mexico City’s jazz clubs more enticing to younger generations than they are in the States? Maybe it’s because, as Montoya says, “mezcal and jazz mix well.”

Multi-day festivals celebrating jazz and blues have also popped up as of late. MJazz, a family-friendly outdoor music jubilee, takes place every February at Parque Bicentenario. The Polanco Jazz Festival is a series of outside concerts in April that showcases talent from Cuba to France, Mexico to Spain. Neuma is a Mexico City-based jazz school that offers classes, workshops, and concerts throughout the year.

All of which makes for an excellent alternative to your usual night out. When you’ve tired of the predictable date night in a restaurant or chisme and cocktails with friends, change it up with some live music. Mexican musicians are often featured, giving you the chance to dive into the local creative culture. Plus, there’s really no better way to refine your listening skills than trying to understand your server speaking Spanish over an enthusiastic trumpet set.

Feeling jazzed up? Here are four cool clubs in Mexico City to scratch the itch.

Jazzatlan Capital: Guanajuato 239, Roma Norte

An intimate, bilevel space with a full menu. Downstairs sees a rotation of multiple artists that change each month, and entry is free. Upstairs is reserved for resident musicians and international players. Tickets are required, open daily. There is a second location in Cholula.

Casa Franca: Merida 109, Roma Norte

Charming and eclectic spot with pizzas, tapas, and drinks. There is a cover charge before midnight and live music Tuesdays — Saturdays. Reservations are suggested and can be made on Facebook or Instagram.

Parker & Lenox: Calle Gral. Prim 100, Juárez

Very vibey and spacious club known for its eclectic music scene and live music Tuesdays — Saturdays. Reservations are required and talent is sourced from Mexico and beyond. There is a full menu of food and drink. 

Zinco Jazz Club: Calle de Motolinia 20, Centro Histórico 

The most iconic jazz club in Mexico City can, and should, be found in the Historic center. It’s where you go for a sexy, dancey night out in your date-worthy attire. Reservations are absolutely necessary and musicians come from all over the world to perform on Zinco’s stage.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

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