Street food mmmmmm.....mmmmmm....mmmm.

There were those crepes in Chamonix, empanadas in Puerto Octay, Chile, that burek in Haarlem, the steak and oyster pies on Waiheke Island, or maybe the Kahuku prawns on Oahu.

So many great morsels of food enjoyed all over the world but, for me, far and away the best street food I've encountered has been in Mexico. One could spend their life traveling from one end of the country to the other just sampling the differences in tacos at the infinite number of taquerias. Standout meals include the seafood cocktails of Ensenada, tacos al pastor in Cholula, salbutes in Merida, and the squash blossom quesadillas on fresh tortillas washed down with home distilled mezcal prepared by a Zapotec woman in the highlands of Oaxaca.

But the most memorable was breakfast of atole and uchepos (cornmeal mush and tamales specific to Michoacán) served by a Purépecha woman on the plaza in front of the basilica. While we savored our meal she serenaded us in her native Purépecha tongue with a centuries old song extolling the virtues of and expressing her people's love for Father Vasco de Quiroga an 18th century priest who successfully managed to save the Purépecha from the deprivations and brutality meted out on the other Native Americans in Mexico. The tears in her eyes and the smile on her face will never be forgotten by either of us.

John in San Diego, California, USA