Today is a Tuesday, but since I published my last #MarketFriday post on a Saturday, I hope this won't matter much. If you are interested in the details about this challenge, visit the corresponding community or look at this post by its organizer 
Halfway Across the City for Some Food
Last Sunday my wife and I took a little trip across this gigantic urban expanse known as Mexico City. Our destination was the Mercado El Verde in the Tepetlapa neighborhood in the southern part of the city. The distance from our house was 19 km (12 miles), which took us more than half an hour driving, even on a supposedly relaxed Sunday morning. It's not like we don't have enough markets in our part of the city, but we went there for a special reason: to visit Elba's uncle César in his eatery of Cochinita Pibil.
Delicious Pork Dish
I posted about this pit-cooked pork specialty in my series What to Eat in Mexico, with some great detail a long long time ago. Back then we were still on the old chain, photos had to be posted to an external site (and are now lost - thanks for nothing, external site!), and César was still selling his food from his garage. All of us have come quite a bit since then. And I still would like to promote his business, but this time I want to focus more on the market than the Cochinitas.
Cool Murals on the Parking Side
At our arrival we were greeted by some impressive images painted onto the side of the market building on rear side where we were lucky enough to find a spot in the small parking lot adjacent to the market. I may have to come back to these murals for this week's CCC Street Art Contest... For now I want to focus on the market itself. This was also the ramp we took to get to the second floor of the market building, where it has a small food court.
Many markets are simply a big hall where vendors can set up shop without the risk of getting wet in a rainstorm. Not so the Mercado El Verde! Here you can walk through typical stalls on the ground floor, browsing the fruit and veggie places, the butcher and chicken shops, the cheese and dairy vendors, as well as many other types of services, ranging from barber shops to stationary sores.
Upstairs on the food court you even get a bit of a balcony, from where you can look over some of the stalls. It's not the most spectacular view, still it offers a chilled place to enjoy your food. For our purposes, however, the view was secondary to the company and conversation. César's business seems to be doing quite well, as he had just sold his last bit of Cochinita before we arrived at midday. This worked out perfectly, giving him time to sit down for a chat with us. He was also in an understandably good mood, talking about adjusting his production to the growing demand.
Promoting César's Business
While many of you may be reading this from very far away places, there may be a chance that some of you are not that far away, or that you may be visiting Mexico City at some point. If you do, I can only recommend you to try Cochinita Pibil. For being a delicacy from the Yucatan, the Mexican capital is as good a place as any to sample regional delights. And honestly, the way César makes them are especially tasty - that's just my own subjective opinion.
Finding the Mercado El Verde is fairly simple, and once you're there all you need to do is go upstairs to the food court. César's eatery is the second one as you come in through the western entrance. The food shop's name is Ko'ox Janal, a Mayan expression meaning Let's Eat. Maybe not the best name, as pretty much everyone in the family has been telling him, suggesting something simpler such as Cochinitas de César, but the proud business owner keeps pointing out that it's about the food, not the name. And he may just be right.
One thing is certain, his Cochinitas are truly delicious. So if you're in Mexico City, I most definitely think you should give it a try. Even traveling across the city is clearly worth it. The best times may be the weekend (Mondays and Tuesdays he's closed), just keep in mind to come too late, as he might be sold out.