When it is hot in Italy, you want to order a “caffe freddo” (cold coffee) which is sort of like a coffee milkshake. It’s a bit confusing because it is not a “frappe” which is a different drink. I include a photo here so that you can see that a frappe is a coffee which is frothed to the point where it has a frappe/froth/head on top. A caffe freddo has milk added, a frappe does not.
When you see the slush machines spinning with coffee colored caffe freddo, you know that summer has arrived. A caffe freddo is different from an iced coffee or milkshake.
As an aside, the milkshakes in Italy are quite liquid and not unlike a caffe freddo except that they are not always as cold. Also, you can get a milkshake most of the year but caffe freddo is a summer thing.
Freshly made warm tortilla in a the hand is the usual accompaniment to any meal in Mexico City.
I went to Mexico City, or the federal district of Mexico, to eat. I forgot that one has to do something with the hours in between. Well, actually, I forgot that a few million other people would want to visit Frida, along with the few hundreds we saw outside the museum. We failed to see the inside of Frida’s blue house. So if that is your intent, plan ahead. Or take your chances and wait a few hours in the hopes that you will get in. It gives you something to do between meals.
On to the food. We started on a Friday evening at El Progreso. Chopped everything short of the oink at one end and beef fillet at the other end.
The crew are friendly and happy to explain things to a tourist but also equally at ease serving up tacos by the doubles to the cops and security guards who are clearly regulars.
Go after dark. The nightlights and shadows add a drama to this taqueria that would be lost in the harsh light of day.
Then for breakfast, eat at Forbidden Fruit. It’s located in a posh neighborhood with a nice park nearby. The juices are scrummy, as they are almost everywhere in Mexico, and the breakfast which is also good.
For lunch, go to Condesa Azul. It’s super upscale. Eat upstairs and you’ll feel like you’re eating in a glitzy tree house.
Try the mole. At the risk of being barred from Mexico forever, I’ll admit that moles are too sweet for me. I’m just not into them. But, I loved the fresh tortillas! Please let me back in!
In between, waddle over to the exhibits and dancers on the zocolo, the museum, and the folklore dancers at the Teatro de Bellas Artes.
It’s a good show and allows you to digest.
