Boyle Heights El Mercadito, Still Mexican to the Core

Mexican clothing can be purchased while eating a tamal de elote or drinking a fresh fruit juice called agua fresca . || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

In Mexican culture, a large community market is an entertainment center, a cultural activity, and a weekly event where families and friends meet and everyone knows each other.

In a mercado, people dont just show up to pick up a few items from the weekly shopping list, but rather they linger in conversation with their neighbor or comadre while, for instance, picking up chiles and spices to prepare the long and complex mole recipe required to celebrate a special occasion.

The breadth of items for purchase at the mercado is all-encompassing: First Communion dresses, cowboy boots and hats, trinkets for the kitchen, and that always helpful potion of me vale madre ( I dont give a d--- ) - an herbal concoction believed to help calm ones nerves. The mercado is essentially a mall that caters to nearly all the needs of the Mexican community.

Bot nicas sell everything from herbs to vitamins to special potions to calm the nerves. || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

One such place still exists in the heart of Boyle Heights at the corner of 1st Street and Lorena, across from the Metro Gold Line. The demographic, economic and cultural changes that have transformed downtown Los Angeles Grand Central Market into hipster heaven have yet to arrive at El Mercado de Los Angeles - also called El Mercadito de Los Mariachis . Here, the sounds, smells, and flavors are still very close to the old neighborhood and its mostly Mexican heritage, with dueling mariachis singing every day on the huge top floor, giving the place its popular name.

At El Mercadito, you can still nibble on sweet bu uelos (fritters covered with sugar and anise syrup) or the best fresh churros in town, which bear no resemblance to the chewy stuff found under hot lamps on many street carts. These are freshly fried, light and crunchy, closer to their cousins from Spain which are dunked in thick chocolate or caf and truly need no sugar or cinnamon to shine.

Aguas frescas and bu uelos. || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

The place is full of memories for many whose families have lived here for generations, who emigrated from Mexico a few decades ago or perhaps more recently.

When I was a kid, I used to come here with a t a who made dresses and she would sell them to some vendors in the market and we would hang out on a regular Sunday, says Boyle Heights native and local chef JR Warren. Shed drop off the dresses and we would eat the food and meet friends. People would see each other here. It was really vibrant at the time.

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Built in 1968 when Boyle Heights was already predominantly Mexican, El Mercadito is still a cultural institution for many and the place to find essential ingredients of traditional and popular Mexican cuisine. It doesnt draw the same crowds as it used to but it still feels the same, says Warren.

Indeed, it does. On a weekday morning in early July, its still possible to have a long conversation with someone here about the different kinds of Mexican traditional sweets, those dulces tradicionales that take several days to make in complex preparations that involve boiling whole chunks of fruit, dipping them in lime (the powder, not the fruit) and then boiling them again with sugar to create a thick syrup.

Traditional Mexican sweets are very close to the original fruit form. || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

The nice thing about these sweets is that they are actual pieces of the fruit. Its not from concentrate. Theres no chemicals. Its all pretty natural, says Mel Zu iga, another local chef who, with Warren and Cynthia Loya, created Three Radishes - a pop-up and small catering business based out of East Los Angeles started by the three friends.

Behind the counter in one of the shops on the ground floor is Pilar Fernandez. She is from a small town in the state of Tlaxcala, M xico, and has worked here for twelve years. She happily explains the contents of the different trays containing the candied fruit.

This is calabaza [pumpkin], this is camote, this is cocada with lime, orange, pineapple and anise flavors, mango with chile, mango with chamoy, tamarindo con chile, membrillo, higo, chongos zamoranos, cajeta de leche and the list goes on.

Pilar Fernandez has been selling Mexican sweets almost since the day she arrived in the United States from Tlaxcala, M xico. || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

Palanquetas (nut bars) and cocadas or coconut sweets. || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

One of the trays contains big chunks of shiny yellow fruit called visnaga. Its a candy made of the heart of barrel cactus, usually sold in blocks, and used in many savory and sweet preparations. My grandmother used to make those from scratch. They would be candied and cut in little cubes, says chef Z iga. She would use it in her stuffing for Thanksgiving or people just use it like candy. They also add it to carne molida [minced meat] and they mix it up, but you can eat it with milk just like that.

The Three Radishes chefs tend to use the basic ingredients of Mexican cooking and give them a more modern twist to create their own Mexican antojitos. Zu iga tells of using the membrillo or tamarindo dulces to sweeten cheese trays or adding fresh cucumber, lavender, and agave syrup to other fruits to make lighter and less caloric aguas frescas.

Guava and membrillo sweets are perfect to pair with cheeses. || Photo by: Kyle Scoble

At El Mercadito , many of the food vendors are located on the markets second floor. Some specialize in a variety of hot chiles, spices, and moles. Huge buckets of mole paste come from M xico to be sold at the market. Mole verde and rojo from Guerrero, mole negro or colorado from Oaxaca, mole poblano, and many others. You can buy mole here by weight, add some broth and a protein to

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