One unique feature of this mexican grocery store, a self serve assortment of all sorts of things from vegetable protein to puffed amaranth, sold by the kilo.
Many consider Mexico to be a third world country, especially having not been here before. Go to Mexico and visit one of their many grocery stores, and you'll realize that while different, this is no third world country. There's more access to bulk options right in the store and there are certain little quarks about shopping here that give hints to the culture that thrives here. There's a huge price difference, especially considering the quality of the Mexican version of things like butter.
In just about every grocery store you go to here, including Walmart, you'll find a Tortilleria, or the place where you buy tortillas. This does not replace a bakery, as the bakeries in the grocery stores here are huge. They all have machines like the one pictured that pump out corn tortillas hot and fresh, all day long. There's a checkered blanket in the first photo, under that is where you find the fresh tortillas. You can also buy blue corn tortillas, fresh tortilla chips and other things like that here. Tortillas are generally only 10-12 pesos at the store, or about 70 cents.
(mole 1)
Mexicans love their mole, so much so they have huge vats of it in most grocery stores for you to purchase your exact kind of mole. I never realized how many different kinds there are until moving here. The mole pictured above is at just one grocery store, and the closeup photo was of a third display in the store. I'm not sure of all of the ingredients in mole, but I know chocolate is an important one.
Surprisingly, mexicans LOVE hot dogs. Street venders sell pizza with hot dogs, or rolls with hot dogs in them and refried beans. When you get a hamburger in Acapulco, expect it to have a hot dog, cut up and grilled on it. They also actually put ham on most every hamburger here, something else I find funny. There are huge displays like this at most grocery stores, and all oxxos, which are convenient stores, carry several varieties both hot and refrigerated. Hot dog stands are very common here, there's actually two outside walmart that sell bacon wrapped hot dogs for 15 pesos, or just under a dollar.
(bird eggs)
I've seen these eggs at many of the grocery stores here. I'm not sure what bird they come from but they have a very wild egg look to them. They have very stiff texture when cooked and a pale yellow yolk, large in relation to the rest of the egg. I was given some by a friend awhile back, and decided I didn't prefer them. I am extremely picky on eggs however, I barely eat the ones I really like.
These are the eggs I like, and they're cheap. I got a dozen of them last night for 16 pesos, or about a dollar. They're generally 18 pesos, so they're always a decent price. They have thick dark brown shells, most of the time. They vary greatly in size, shape and color. Some have freckles, some dont, some are nearly pyramid shaped. I enjoy this diversity as it shows me these are coming from diverse chickens, not ones necessarily factory farmed in the same way. Something to notice is eggs aren't refrigerated here, which is actually better for them, especially if you don't wash them. The eggs here also aren't washed, and you'll occasionally find a little feather stuck to them. I think it adds character, and these eggs are worth it. They have nearly orange yolks and taste delicious with la gloria butter.
This is my favorite butter I've ever used. It's very smooth, rich and flavorful. It cooks well, doesn't burn at low frying tempuratures the way some butter can. Its also cheap, when I have the money I buy a kilo which is 117 pesos, less than 6 dollars. This stick is a 13 peso stick, or about 75 cents and is equal to an american stick in size. I've tried all the butter brands I could find here and this brand is the best.
(pineapple)
Pineapple is both plentiful and cheap here. Pictured above is a big stack of ripe pineapples at the grocery store I went to last night. The price is about 28 pesos a kilo, or $1.50 US. This is actually a high price for here, I've paid as low as 10 pesos a kilo. Its incredibly sweet and good quality as it is grown so close by.
Just about every grocery store here has some sort of mexican snacks selection, with all sorts of things from dried mango coated in chile to puffed amaranth granola bars. These objects range in flavors but many have the spicy sweet thing going for them, and many use native crops like puffed amaranth. Amaranth is just as common as oatmeal is in the states, if not more so. The venders at artisans markets sell these treats as well as a tourist attraction of sorts, to share their mexican treats. I've tried some of these, while all are interesting, many are what I call acquired tastes.
Most grocery stores here carry the same products as the ones in the states do, often the name brands just with spanish labeling. There are certain things that I refer to as "gringo items" that can be hard to find, like italian sausage or breakfast sausage. At this point, I've found lots of these items all over, imported with spanish labels, sold at similar to US prices, which isn't bad considering they are imported. Root beer is one of these items, a 12 pack of A and W Root Beer is around 100 pesos, or 5.50 USD.
These tortillas are literally the biggest I've found in all my travels in Mexico. They really aren't that big, enough to make small burritos. Anyone with hopes of the massive chipotle style tortillas will not find them here, certainly not in Acapulco. These cost 23 pesos for 12 of them or about 1.30 USD. The other item photoed are toastatas, an item unique to mexico. I grew up never having seen these, and as I got closer and closer to the border they became more prevalent. They are just corn tortillas deep fried to make almost a flat taco shell. They can be topped with all sorts of things, or used in the photoed tortillas to make copycat crunchwrap surpremes.
Something I love about mexican grocery stores is the save it culture people possess. It's so prevalent that companies decorate their packaging when it's plastic or glass, with the intent that the customer is probably going to wash it and reuse it. McCormick does this with mayo, as you strip off the plastic label to reveal a decorated, but unlabled jar with a nice silver lid. They also sell these packages with a pan and chicken bullion free or something of the like. Grocery stores are fond of doing things like duct taping spoons to yogurt containers, or butter knives to mayo containers. I've bought flour with cookie cutters strapped to it. You can get soda here with pasta duct taped to it, as a bonus. I'm not kidding, it's part of the culture.
Flour is cheaper, about 10 pesos for one kilo. Where I'm from it's sold in bags twice that big for a lot higher cost. Rice is sold by the kilo, or by 900 grams for prices ranging between 10-20 pesos per kilo, this is a 10 peso bag. These are my favorite beans here in mexico, called flor de mayo. This kilo of beans was about 21 pesos, or a bit over a dollar. They have small size and smooth buttery texture when finished cooking.
All in all grocery shopping here has been a fun experience. I've tried all sorts of things I hadn't tried before, like jicama root and puffed amaranth. I am delighted by the low prices in comparison to the states. When low on funds, we can make 5 dollars span a few days if we do it right. I appreciate the culture I experience here, even in the grocery stores, which are some of the most americanized places you can go here in Mexico. There's a heavy importance placed on reusing things here, something evident as the companies make their products appeal to that side of the consumer. I've learned more about mexican culture in grocery shopping than I ever did in the few years of spanish classes I took at school.