London Swall'wing: Part III (Poetry Tuesday Edition)

Walkers

Too many cars too close
along the road to Trotsky's house
in Coyoacán.
It's hot. I wanted to go to London.
Sweaty-wet baby on me, we stop
at a gas station for water
and antiperspirant. No omnibus in sight.
I'm hungry, too,
and afraid to eat street meat. I
speak too much English; I feel rude.
No biscuits, no shortbread.
AeroMexico doesn't serve cookies.
And now, at the coyote fountain
We've walked too far
to see the bullet holes that were Trotsky's.
The baby won't even try our
helado de arroz con leche.
Blisters pulse. My bandaid slips.
I long for rain or fog.

• London Swall'wing: Part II
• London Swall'wing: Part I

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Poetry Tuesday: Trepidation, Mexico (a series).

[Today's Poetry Tuesday post is in honor of a new blog, Haiku Lunchbox, which I read about today on my Serious Eats feed and immediately added to my RSS reader. Welcome to the food-poetry blogging world, HL!]



Memories in dust,
A piñata's leavings wait.
Snack jail - tempting fate.




I'd be a sucker.
When was I in Mexico?
Horror show on sticks.



Such friendly dressing,
So eyes cry to mouth in vain.
A will dances, ill.

Brittle Prattle

Angela sent this brittle candy trio from California (they have been imported from Mexico). I shared all three flavors with my coworkers yesterday.

Sesame was smoky, with a strong sesame seed flavor. This brittle was a little bitter and the least sticky of the three, but I liked the texture of the tiny sesame seeds held together by a sugary glue.

The pumpkin seed brittle looked like something one would feed to a bird (according to Dave, and I agree). It was sort of a sickly, wet green. This flavor tasted the freshest and the seeds seemed the most "natural" or organic ingredient for an interesting brittle, but it came off as the least "special" of the three.

Coconut seemed to be everyone's favorite, and was certainly mine. I did feel my dental work was threatened by this stickiest of varieties, but it was also pleasantly sweet compared to the other two. This tasted like the least complicated idea of the bunch, which might be a bonus in the brittle arena.


[Note: the anniversary blowout post I am working on won't be ready until some time this weekend, but rest assured I am still snacking up a storm in preparation.]

Lost in Translation

Nick facilitated (via his recent trip to Mexico) a multilingual snack tasting. From left to right:




Tostachos: "Asi me gusta." "15% + Gratis." "No te quedes en las formas, llega hasta el fondo...El Sabor" -- Cheddar cheesy tortilla chips with just a touch of cardboard and a tiny spark of spice.




Sabritas KKWates Enchilados con Limón: "Son esos pequeños momentos en tu vida los que hacen La Gran Diferencia!" -- Very sour, sharp lime flavored peanuts dusted with chili powder, reminding me of my favorite treat I found on my own trip to Puerto Vallarta, which was a microwaveable package of chili-lime popcorn. These nuts would probably be too much for some people, as the lime's industrial strength (and quite likely artificial) but I dig 'em.




Vuala Minis: "Croissants con Relleno Cremoso Sabor Chocolate" -- It was a little creepy to open what looks like a bag of chips and find mini croissants. They felt moist, rather than flaky, and smelled like chocolate mini-donuts from a gas station (the inferior kind with the yellow insides). The texture was definitely off, as the "croissant" was more dense and moist than light and dry, but the chocolate cream inside tasted fine.




Papas Pa-Fut Sabor Cañonazo -- "La Selección Nacional ya suma más de 85 años de historia." -- These looked like regular, unflavored potato chips, but tasted far spicier and madder. Both sour and bitter, there was still a strong potato flavor coming through, as well as abundant saltiness.

All in all, an intriguing voyage of flavors. The nuts were my favorite, but something about the balls-to-the-wall nastiness of the Papas Pa-Fut appealed to me (even though they ultimately were a little much).

Thanks, Nick!