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CALDO DE PIEDRAS--STONE SOUP!

This is a treat you're only going to find in Oaxaca. As far as we know, the Comedor Familiar "Caldo de Piedra" (Family Restaurant "Stone Soup") is the only place in the world serving this amazing prehispanic dish.

Cook Cesar Gachupin de Dios and his son prepare a jicara of stone soup

Here's what the very friendly people who run this palapa-covered, open-air restaurant on the road from Oaxaca to El Tule write about themselves:

“CALDO DE PIEDRA” --  “STONE SOUP”

STONE SOUP IS A UNIQUE PRE-HISPANIC DISH, A TRADITION OF THE COMMUNITY OF SAN FELIPE USILA, AND FORMS PART OF OUR CULTURE.

San Felipe Usila is a community in the north of the State of Oaxaca, located close to the Sierra Mazateca. Its inhabitants are indigenous Chinantecos, whose language forms part of the abundance of the world’s cultures, in which Mexico is second in the world. There, the men of the community prepare this rich dish composed of natural ingredients, including tomatoes, onions, chile, garlic, cilantro and epazote. All of these are placed in a special bowl where they are combined with shrimp and red snapper.  Then, we add carefully selected STONES FROM THE RIVER, heated in a wood fire, which cook the ingredients right in the bowl, to enrich this unique dish.

Steam rises from a jicara of stone soup

We'd add that just getting to watch the cook, Cesar Gachupin de Dios, prepare the soup is worth the trip to the outskirts of El Tule. The instant the hot stones are dropped into the bowls, the soup starts to boil like a miniature volcano. The soup itself is delicious; this unique way of cooking produces the freshest imaginable flavors. In addition, the home-made tortillas, memelas, and quesadillas that they serve are the best we've tasted anywhere. The restaurant makes the masa for their tortillas and other corn-based products from a special variety of native corn grown in their village. They are served piping hot, straight from the wood-fired comal, and are incredibly good.

If you're in Oaxaca, or are planning to come, be sure to include an afternoon visit to "Caldo de Piedra", at km. 11.9 on the Oaxaca-Tule highway. They're open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6.

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