I am totally . . . wait . . . escamoles (ant eggs)
Escamoles. Palacio. My laugh of the morning. I know jokes are never the same when they have to be explained but this one says a good bit about Mexico and Mexican food. So bear with me.
I am totally Palacio (Soy totalamente Palacio) is the slogan of Mexico’s premier department store, Palacio de Hierro. Founded in the 1880s in imitation of the stores going up in London, Paris and Chicago, named for the wonderful iron (hierro) structure of its original building downtown, it is now where you go to shop if you don’t have the money to fly to Paris this year.
Well, it’s not that bad. I’ve even bought suitcases, a desk chair, make up, handbags, and chocolate, cheese and serrano ham there myself. Indeed I was there yesterday buying Christmas presents. For business gifts, the Palacio bag shows you totally care.
But the slogan, “Soy totalamente Palacio” plastered all over Mexico City on huge ads with gorgeous women, is something of a joke in Mexico.
Now I learn from a Mexican food blog that I follow regularly, saboreartentusiama, escamoles have become totalamente Palacio (the black things in her photo are the packets they come in, not the eggs themselves).
Like other insects, escamoles, from ants that live in the maguey plant, formerly peasant food, have become very popular as a symbol of Mexican-ness in recent years and are to be found in many up scale restaurants. They’re actually not bad eating at all.
But at Palacio prices. If I read her photo right, MN$595 for 125 grams works out at about US $200 a pound. Totalamente Palacio indeed.
And somewhere out there in the country those who gather them for a living would be laughing out loud at the irony of spending all this.
At least they would if they had any chance to shop in Palacio.
I’ve thought about the co-opting of peasant food a lot this past year. In fact, the other day, I realized that before long livers, tripe and pig trotters will probably be $20 a pound (if they aren’t already). I think “Soy totalamente Palacios” should be the new phrase for Pilcher’s “..only the wealthy can afford to eat like peasants.” Thanks for adding to my vocabulary!
Glad you find it useful too.
Speaking of the ridiculous nature of food pricing, look at the retail prices of whole wheat flour and raw sugar and ask yourself, what we are paying for- because it certainly isn’t extra labor or processing, is it?
only the wealthy can afford to eat like peasants
indeed, this is how it seems sometimes on seeing the prices of local produce in crete – like when we pay 18 euro a kilo for graviera cheese, which used to constitute the poor people’s protein
Ok trend setters, I bet any amount of money that next season we will see these at Dean and Deluca.
In the meantime, where do I me some?
All I know is that I’ve been totally pissed off at the prices of short ribs over the past ten years or so.
Totally.
Pingback: Ant Eggs Demystified: What Do They Look Like?