When I went to school in the 1970’s in Cholula MX, I lived with a rather poor family who rented rooms to students. One day I came home for lunch and to my dismay, found the teething toddler gnawing happily on a boiled chicken foot.
If you go to the mercado to purchase a whole chicken, the bag usually includes the feet and sometimes the head. While that is a significant ewww for me, the dogs have no problem with it.
There are two words in Spanish for feet. Pie (pee ay) is for human feet and pata (pah tah) means animal feet or the feet of a chair. Once my friends George and Sandy went all over the market asking for “pie de pollo (chicken). People thought they were a bit loco.
There is a new restaurant in Bacalar that we’ve been dying to try, Pata de Perro, Foot of the Dog. They opened a lovely second story patio overlooking the town square. I had hoped to try their food before writing the blog, but that didn’t happen. Reports are promising.
I do my best to eat a plant-based diet, but chicken is the primary food in this neck of the woods. Most people raise and slaughter their own chickens and occasional pigs as well. They have to be healthier running around the yard than the poor caged creatures eaten in the states.
We eat mostly at home since the availability of vegetables in restaurants is not much different in Mexico than in the U.S. It is fun trying new restaurants. I will feature them from time to time. Have a great week. DOS TORTAS
the adventures of dos tortas 
It’s the same in Turkey. I am so conditioned to buying my chicken (and other meats) in neat little trays from supermarket chiller cabinets, I just couldn’t bear to pick up one from the market with all the bits attached! 😀
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People are so removed from the animals they eat. Give someone an axe and send them toward the cow in the field and they might rethink their meal. Good to hear from you Jack.
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I do love these blogs. Alex is totally brilliant and I hope she thousands of likes and comments every week.
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Thank you dear neighbor. You are an honorary Torta.
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I especially love the meat markets in the old mercados of Mesico! All parts of everything on display.
Isn’t fish important there? I guess I figured the lake plus the proximity of the ocean would mean a lot of fish,
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Nope, not much fish in the Laguna. It’s a series of cenotes. The water turns over and there’s little for the fish to eat. There’s some fish from the Bay of Cetumal.
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My farmer sells a pack of two chicken heads and four feet. He also sells packages of parts, like backs, necks, damaged legs, etc. I order them when I want to make bone broth.
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Never made bone soup. My mother made soup from the turkey carcass at Thanksgiving. I don’t cook meat.
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