I love to travel.  My somewhat nomadic childhood might be to blame, but there’s nothing quite like the thrill of planning a trip, discovering a new place, and, of course, eating the local food.  My friend from high school, Cristina,  is from Central Mexico.  After college (we also overlapped there), she moved home.  I had visited her before, back when we were young and tan and we ate smoked oysters and cheese and slept in hammocks at her aunt’s house in Tulum.  We saw a real pirate on the beach and jaguars in the jungle.  It was one of those trips.  Magic.

A few years ago, I began visiting her again.  She has a small goat farm and makes her own goat cheese.  I’ve brought a couple of friends down to visit and we’ve returned relaxed, full of fresh cocada (the coconut candy), stuffed full of Cris’s amazing goat cheese.  We might have a turkey egg for breakfast, fried with a bit of homemade oven-roasted tomatoes, crispy blue gorditas made from local blue corn and hand ground.  I bottle fed Lupita, the baby goat and snacked on freshly made churros in the local market.  I bought bags of dried chilis and stash them in my pantry next to cones of non-processed sugar, piloncillo.  Sweet and smoky, the cones are a perfect addition to beans.

This year, we’re taking the kids.  Until then, I have my chili peppers to tide me over.  And tonight, this soup.