Caldo de Piedra

Just beyond the intersection of 190 and the main street into Tlalixtac, there is a thatched roof restaurant right beside the road.   Caldo de Piedra, Stone Soup, has been there for several decades, and we'd never eaten there.  Time to go!

We connected with friends Jo Ann and Tom, and Jo and Beto, at the bus/colectivo corner by the Stadium, where we planned to get a bus to Tule.  Yep, those are the kind of directions your grandmother would give, and in Oaxaca, it's efficient!   That corner is always crazy busy, with buses and cabs and colectivos and trucks picking up and dropping off passengers.  Jo told our driver where we wanted to get off, hoping he'd anticipate stopping at the corner.  Sometimes the drivers remember; sometimes they're distracted with traffic.  But, a group of six gringos is pretty danged memorable on the bus!

The cook, a young man, told us the method used here is pre-hispanic, used by the Zapotecs for centuries.  It's simple:  build a fire, put some small river rocks in the fire until they are very hot, and drop the stones in the bowl to cook the food.  The method relies on fresh, tasty ingredients and one bowl per person.  He called us to the fire to watch.  We ordered fish and shrimp soup.  Water, chopped tomato,cilantro, onion and a little oregano in addition to the seafood.  He used crude wooden tongs to tease a fist-sized hot rock from the fire and dropped one into each bowl.  Then, he removed that rock and added another hot rock to complete the cooking.  Simple cooking method, tasty stone soup!

Happy diners!  Stuart, Beto, Jo, Jo Ann, Tom, all assuming the Gini photo pose after a great meal!