Rancho Toyan , right outside of San Miguel, Mexico,is primarily a vineyard. But Maya Lucus, of La Bodega Organica, drove me there to check out their Michoacán style 80 peso buffet ($6), prepared with food grown and raised on the ranch, as well as to shop at their staggeringly aesthetic organic market.
Both held on Wednesdays, they’re the best kept secret in San Miguel de Allende.
We were greeted with a tree lined road, reminiscent of vineyards I’ve visited, but with a touch of magic realism, as you see below…faces in the trees and gilded angels guarding the vineyard beyond.
Our buffet with a display of clay pots and plates.
My favorite dish. Cooked greens, surrounded fresh cheese, fried and served in a rich chili sauce. A vegetarian heaven here in Mexico, where it feels as if there are 10 butcher shops for every produce market.
The ranch, about twenty minutes out of bustling San Miguel, is a tranquil world away. Wednesday is market day, with an impeccable indoor display of farm products, including these eggs, chickens and lots of produce.
Doesn’t that look good? It is! Fabulous beans from the buffet.
Making fresh tortillas with organic corn grown at the ranch. These blow away even the best Mexican tortillas, which are miles above those in the US.
Chairs intermingled with an organic looking display, which is part of the market.
Atole, a traditional corn-based mesa drink that is often seasoned with spices. Here it’s plain with a chunk of sugar an the side.
My haul from the ranch’s Wednesday organic market. Tomatillos in the center. Bag of spinach in the back. The ranch’s tasty popcorn on the left, which pleased my husband, who is a popcorn addict. The Greens are chard. Couldn’t wait to get those warm tortillas home…
Maya — who introduced me to Toyan—with condiments in the foreground, helping herself.
Spinach and garlic in the market, with squash in the background.
Leaving Toyan. My husband, who spent his teen years in Mexico, yearns for this sky during our grey winter in New England.
