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July 13, 2021: Day Twenty-Two

Today was the day we definitively proved that we are spending too much on food.

To make this point, I have to go back to Ecuador for a minute.  Right as we were leaving Ecuador, we found out about "almuerzo".  The Spanish word "almuerzo" simply means "lunch".  We largely ignored signs for restaurants advertising "almuerzo" becuase we figured that any restaurant that was open and serving food at lunchtime had "almuerzo".  Not true.   We found out with just a couple days left in our time in Ecuador that "almuerzo" in Ecuador was not just "lunch", but rather was analogous to "plato del día" (plate of the day) in Spain. 

Plate of the day and almuerzo was a way of eating that is not quite normal for Americans.  With this way of eating, everyone who sits down gets the exact same meal.  Normally a soup, followed by a main dish, accompanied by a drink (normally a kool-aid type substance in Ecuador) and a little desert.  The dish in Ecuador was normally meat (chicken, beef, pork), rice or potato and a vegetable.  Most almuerzos in Ecuador were simply prepared and once you got a table, nobody even asked you what you wanted, they just started putting food down in front of you.  "Almuerzos" were always good, quick and notably cheap. Almuerzo in Ecuador was about $3.

So, here in México there are rather ubiquitous restaurants that refer to themselves as "cocina económica" which translates to "cheap kitchen/food".  They tend to be little holes in the wall with plastic tables and plastic chairs and plastic table cloths.  Not much to look at, really.  Air conditioning - ah...no.

Cocina económica near our hotel.

Today, we found out today that these cocinas económicas here are just like the almuerzos in Ecuador with two notable differences.  On the up side, they tend to offer a choice of meal options.  The one today had four choices.  On the downside, different than in Ecuador, these places are not otherwise functioning restaurants.  As a result, in Ecuador, the places can be nice, even "upscale" because they're open for dinner - sometimes very nice dinner restaurants.  They often offered table cloths, glasses, ceramic plates and metal cutlery.  Here, they tend to be only open for breakfast and lunch and there is a lot of plastic involved.  Not disposable plastic, but more like Rubbermaid sort of cups, plates and silverware. 

Lunch at a cocina economica.

As a result, from the outside, they appear very worthy of being avoided, but they are quite good.  My snooty self saw "cheap kitchen" and thought "yuk".  Lunch was $50MX (or about $2.50 US) each.  No desert here, though. 

Live and learn.



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Location: Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico

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