Each time I go to my home country, Mexico, I bring along some stuff that I find will make my stay in Germany easier and not miss too much. Here is a picture of  most of the things I brought with me from the holidays. The gray mortar is called a molcajete in Mexico and it is made out of volcanic rock. It is specially used to make all types of sauces and it is a very heavy. I also brought lemon grass from my garden, since it is my favorite tea and reminds me of home. I also brought some hot pepper on a can and dried, I use these for sauces and different Mexican dishes. The small glass bottle is Mezcal, another type of cactus distilled, like Tequila, but with a more smoked flavor. I also brought Mole, which is a paste made out of more that 50 ingredients, including all types of peppers and cacao, this you cook with dome meat, chicken or corn tortillas. The small cup is made out of pewter and is a special collection from Frida Kahlo, a very famous Mexican painter. Of course I couldn’t forget to bring Mexican candy, which is completely different from what you know. Pur candy is almost always spicy with different flavours and hotness.

Usually I do not like chocolate but what I do like is cacao and drinkable chocolate. The cacao I brought toasted ready to peel and the drinkable chocolate comes in tables and it has some cinnamon and is quite delicious. To prepare the hot chocolate, either with milk or water, the traditional way, I brought a grinder, which is the wooden artefact, in de middle of the picture. This instrument helps you stirr and make foam.

The truth is that you can find almost all of these things here in Munich but obviously not so fresh and definitely not at the same price. I am thankful for being able to visit my beloved country but the last days I was there, I could wait to come back home.

Claudia Rendon