Editor’s note: In the latest installment of our recurring feature, First Stop, we asked Asia-based photographer David Hagerman where he stops first for food when he arrives in Mexico City. Hagerman’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, AFAR, SBS Feast and the Wall Street Journal, among many other publications.

Wherever I go, the first thing I do on Morning Number One is rise early and head to a market to photograph, get myself oriented and, of course, eat. One of my favorite markets in Mexico City is in Coyoacán.

The neighborhood is a quiet, leafy suburb 30 minutes or so from central Mexico City. The market itself is small enough to not be overwhelming, yet large enough to house plenty of stalls displaying all sorts of produce, cheeses and sweets from around Mexico, as well as prepared foods. Across from the market is a nice square with benches to facilitate serious people-watching, a few cafés for great coffee and not one, but two paleta (popsicle) stores.

I live in Asia, so anything made with corn – especially dried corn, which we don’t have in Asia – is fine by me. There’s a stall at one entrance to the market building that makes fantastic quesadillas (cheese and zucchini blossom is my favorite, but nopales and cheese is a close second), and inside at the back, there’s a classic taco seller where you sit at the “bar” before a heaving plate of meat and parts and order, eat, order and eat till you just can’t eat another taco. Around the corner is El Presidente, a guy mixing fruit shakes and eskimos, which are super whipped and almost meringue-like. I love that there are so many fresh seasonal fruits in the market that can be blended into a refreshing (read: jet-lag-busting) burst of energy.

I went to D.F. for the first time a couple of years ago to shoot a story for the NYT Travel section, and the market was to be part of the story. I arrived a few days before the writer (JJ Goode) and featured chef (Roberto Santibañez) and figured it was as good a place as any to acclimate to this new-to-me city. I had arrived at 2 a.m., and the airline had lost my luggage, so I was pretty disoriented and worried for my stuff (equipment I needed for the shoot, not just clothing). But I found my way to the market, and once I got there and chatted with a few vendors (and tucked into a taco or two), I knew everything would be okay. Markets are like that for me – a travel salve of a sort.

I prefer to go in the morning. Thursday is the big market day, but any day is fine by me. If you get there around 8 a.m. or so, the streets and central square are quiet with joggers and few dog walkers. There is a fantastic tamale stand run by a family just outside Lecaroz bakery. They make Oaxacan-style tamales (verde, dulce or mole) served with champuraddo (drinking chocolate thickened with masa, or corn flour). From there I head down to the market, which gets going at about 9 a.m. I’ll walk around the market, maybe have a juice or eskimo, then head outside for a quesadilla or two. From there I like to just walk down the tree-lined streets and take in the color. I’ll wind my way back to the central square and maybe grab a tamarind or strawberry crema paleta and take a bench in the park. On most days there will be musicians or street performers so there is always something to look at or listen to.

I had some preconceived notions of what Mexico City would be like before I arrived, but have to say that my first stop in Coyoacán changed the way I saw the city and approached its many neighborhoods.

My go-to man for juices and eskimos. Here he makes an eskimo with mamey, which is like a fruitier version of an avocado.Pick up a ready-made juice or choose among the fruits and vegetables, such as nopales, or cactus paddles, to customize your own juice or eskimo.At El Charro Carnitas, you choose your cut of pork (everything from snout to tail), which is sliced and then served with lime and salsas.
Carnitas taco with chicharrones.One of many musicians in Coyoacán's Zócalo.Displays at the Frida Kahlo museum in Coyoacán.
A butcher's assistant shuttles beef carcasses from the cooler to the butcher's table.If you see someone with a basket, look to see what they are selling. This lady in Coyoacán had homemade cookies which went perfectly with a cup of cafe de olla (sweetened, spiced coffee).A snack vendor pushes his cart through the tree-lined streets of Coyoacán.A family-run tamale stand selling Oaxacan tamales. They set up around 7 a.m. and are finished by 9 a.m. or so. I am fond of tamales verdes but they also do a killer mole tamale.Tamales verdes with churros and champurrado (hot chocolate thickened with masa).Plaza Hidalgo (the central square) and fountain. The fountain depicts drinking coyotes, which gave the neighborhood its name.
Coyoacán's colorful, tree-lined streets.Quesadillas with fresh cheese and squash blossoms. I got these just outside the Coyoacán market.El Presidente juices and eskimos.
San Juan Bautista in Plaza Hidalgo, Coyoacán.A butcher in the Coyoacán market.
Elevated market stalls selling fresh produce.Street-side tacos and tortas.Giant chicharrones. The vendors show off their skill by frying the entire skin of the hog.
Salsas of every type make for excellent souvenirs.A typical morning scene in Coyoacán: a tamale vendor rides his cart through the streets.A stall selling beans, dried fruit, meat and cheeses in the Coyoacán market.

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By 
, photos by 
David Hagerman

Published on June 21, 2014

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