Mexican Traveling Carnivals

When I was twelve years old I had made arrangements to go with friends to a carnival that was about two miles from our home in the Coolidge Corner neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. When my normally reasonable and caring parents told me that I could not go because I had to stay home to spend time with a visiting aunt, uncle, and a female cousin from Arizona, I was well beyond upset, sulking-wise. You see, not only had I been planning on going around and around and around on the tilt-a-whirl but I had obsessive and copious visions of consuming corn dogs, French fries soaked in vinegar, cotton candy, and candy apples. So, in a nostalgic-sort-of-way, more than four decades later, I was thrilled to discover that the town that we had relocated to in the central highlands of Michoacan, Mexico was home for more than a week to a traveling carnival.

Every year from December 1-12, my adopted town, Churintzio, which is a municipio/municipality that includes thirteen other communities and in total has a population of approximately 8000, celebrates the Fiesta of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The carnival is in conjunction with the 12 days of fiestas, when Churintzio swells by well more than double in population with the return of the Nortenos -residents or ex-residents who presently reside in the U.S. and return home for all or part of the long Mexican Christmas season. Each day of the fiestas which are organized by a different town/village, in addition to a morning religious procession, has an evening parade/procession which will normally begin at around 8PM; the carnival which opens at 7PM, mas o menos Mexican time-style, is relatively deserted until the parade finishes, then it becomes beyond jammed with people. Interestingly, for the last weekend of the fiesta, the carnival adds more attractions, games, rides, and food and merchandise vendors.

In addition to the myriad amount of food vendors along with balloon and confetti vendors that surround the zocalo/plaza, the carnival takes up another two of the town’s adjoining downtown streets- displacing temporarily the town's principal intra-city bus stops and its unofficial parking lot (not to mention displacing "my" pick-up truck produce vendor, Ramon!). One section of the carnival is primarily dedicated to the amusement rides of which there are ten in extremely close proximity to one another. For the younger children there is a carousel with colorful wooden “seats,“ (with my favorites being a peacock and camel), a Dumbo the Elaphant Ride, a Dalmation Ride, a Caterpillar on Tracks Ride, a Kiddie Car and Truck Ride. The “thrill rides” consist of a Tilt-a-Whirl, a Mini-Twister, a Mini Roller Coaster, a high speed slanting centrifugal force ride, and Bumper Cars. By the rides is an area where kids and their parents can sit and paint in a plethora of bright colors pure white plaster figures of which there are a couple hundred to choose from; they include Santa Claus, Snow White, Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, Bart Simpson, enchanted castles, suns, moon crescents, angels, and the Virgin of Guadalupe to just mention a few. Nearby is a covered “arcade” which is solely comprised of twelve foosball tables and two other soccer-type table games and closeby there are two large enclosed trampolines. Simple games of chance include ring toss, break the balloons, and knock down the bottles.

By far the largest section , which almost takes up an entire city street, is made up of merchandise vendors. There are about three dozen stalls selling mostly inexpensive items like plastic toys and musical instruments, dolls, local/Michoacan wooden crafts, marionettes, household items, key chains, wallets, baseball caps, T-shirts, belts and belt buckles, bags/purses, fashion jewelry mostly of the glittery kind, electronics, DVDs, CDs, cosmetics and accessories, ceramics, crucifixes, religious figurines; and sundry nick-nacks. A little more upscale and much more representative of the region are vendors selling “cowboy” sombreros, traditional folkloric dresses and costumes, and rebozos; of course, being food-centric my favorite stall is the one selling regional dulces/candies such as cocadas/haystacks of toasted coconut, rollos de guayaba, patetones/huge rainbow-colored all day suckers, mueganos/sweetened candied half inch balls of fried masa dough sold in cups, cajeta glorias/caramels mixed with pecans, ates/fruit jells, tarugos/large tamarind balls coated in sugar or chile, dulce de leche/milk candies, and nut and seed brittles.

Extending from the merchandise area all of the way around and past the plaza are the food vendors. This is the area of the carnival which (excluding the roving cotton candy vendors) sets it apart from the carnival faire that I remember as a youth . Gone are the fried dough (there weren’t any funnel cakes available when I was a kid), corn dogs, caramel /candy apples, bricks of pink popcorn (no kettle corn then, either), snow cones, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs in a bun. Instead what is offered culinary-wise is an amazing assortment of largely traditional and/or regional Mexican food including antojitos/masa-based snacks.

Consequently, at Churintzio’s carnival, I am in food heaven, at least selection-wise, as the offerings quality-wise vary significantly from vendor to vendor. The following is a sampling of what was being sold at this year’s carnival; soft corn tortilla tacos de asada, chorizo, bistek, al pastor, and tripa, dorado, al vapor, longaniza, cabeza, and res; tamales filled with cheese or rajas/strips of chilles or pork in red or green salsa; Oaxacan style tamales; champurrado/chocolate, pineapple, and guava atoles/masa-based hot gruel drink; ponches/fruit punch, with or without alcohol; pozole/pork and hominy stew; about 20 varieties of tortas/Mexican sandwiches served on teleras; quesadillas; sopes; enchiladas; steamed corn, either served in a cup or on the cob, slathered with crema/sour cream and mayonnaise and topped with queso cajeta/salty dry cheese and hot sauce; handmade sweet gorditas, cooked on a griddle; steamed fresh garbanzo beans; large rounds of pan dulce/sweet breads, some made with walnuts and pecans; arrays of crystallized tropical fruit such as mango, papaya, pineapple, and guava; and fancy pasteles/cakes. Moreover, even the potato chips and French fries were Mexican style as they are hand cut and freshly fried in front of your eyes - typical to the area were grilled, cut-up hot dogs that are served with the fries. Perhaps as a concession (literally and figuratively) to the visiting Nortenos, one vendor had a thriving stall selling those ubiquitous churros and melted yellow cheese laden tostadas. Off by itself, there was also a decorated stall selling tequila, beer, margaritas,, and other mixed drinks.

However, from my glutinous and sweet-toothed Mexican carnival food perspective are the absolute “to die for” star of this carnival’s sideshows (if there were any, of which there really aren‘t). There were four female vendors selling bunuelos, which are traditionally sold at carnivals and also during Las Posadas and Christmas. Bunuelos are fried flat rounds of yeasted anis- flavored dough that are dipped and drenched in a hot syrup of brown sugar, cinnamon, and guava- the aroma from that bubbling liquid is intoxicating! Fried dough and funnel cakes, no matter how good they may be, take second billing to these beyond sweet, sugary, and caloric masterpieces of Mexican culinary art!- if you don’t believe me, ask my diabetic Mexican mother-in-law who resides in San Jose, CA and who every time that she visits Churintzio will insist on eating some over the protests of her loving and protective daughter and my wife, Maria.

Each evening of the fiesta/carnival ends with a display of fireworks. Sometimes, depending on the community that is sponsoring the fiesta, there is a castillo, which is an extravagant spinning tower of fireworks. If as a youth I had been exposed to this carnival, especially the food, instead of just peevishly sulking in my room during and after the visit of my exceedingly inconsiderate relatives, I would have put on an (albeit futile and counterproductive) ultra fireworks-like display of kicking, screaming, and spinning on the floor in protest of being so bunuelo-ly, dulces-ly, and antojito-ly deprived.