Page 157 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2024 SPAIN

During a rare break from filing, I was
stunned to discover tombs of Moroccan
Jews in a walled enclosure within the town’s
Catholic cemetery (I was born in
Casablanca, and some of the names were
familiar to me). Chef Pilar took me to the
Belen Mercado libre, open air market,
where I watched her bargain for a footlong
piece of a nine-foot long Amazonian
paiche. « Mamita,” she ordered. “put this
around your head so your hair doesn’t
show. The prices will go up if they notice
your light hair....!” I dutifully tied a bandana
around my head. Pilar’s shopping bag
bulged with strange Amazonian fruit, toron-
jas verdes (green grapefruit), sour berries
of camu camu (Myrciaria dubia, a small,
sour berry native to the Amazon rainfor-
est), papayas, mamey (Peruvian sapote),
maracudja (passion fruit), cocona
(Solanum_sessiliflorum) and fresh Brazil
nuts sticking out like toes from their pink

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