# Need help finding some ingredientes, do you know!



## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Hello Everyone!

It's me again asking for people's input..... I need to find:

1- Goat's milk (know anyone who raises goats?)
2- Rennet or "cuajo"... for making cheeses
3- Sourdough starter or "mother"....
4- Yogurt starter

I'm on the hunt but been having problem locating these items and would
appreciate anyone giving me a clue on where to find these.

Thanks in advance!


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

For goat's milk I would contact any cajeta manufacturer (cajeta is sold in all major supermarkets, I am sure they could help).

As for "cuajo" ask any cheese seller in a market (not supermarket!) .


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

For yogurt starter, I’ve never used anything but commercial yogurt bought in the supermarket. It works for me. Just 1 or 2 tablespoons at the most. Adding more than that doesn’t improve the final product.


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

Earlier this year my husband was really into making cheese. He makes his own cuajo (which is kinda discusting to watch being made, but the cheese was delicious!) and we'd go out to Chipilo early in the morning and get fresh milk. It was cows milk but i'm sure they have goat milk somewhere. i saw some goats there, so maybe they have it there too? They also sell cuajo already made there. You could probably just go there and ask around. The place where we'd get milk was... from the main highway when you pull into Chipilo, you go straight until you get to the church then turn right and it's about a block down. And if they dont have it i'm sure they can tell you were to get it. 
dont know about 3 or 4.


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Thank you so much for the info, I'm going to Chipilo this afteroon and report back! YAY! I love this......


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

It wasn't long ago that a few folks, who were interested in Puebla, were trying to find each other and came to this forum. It seems that has worked!


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

RVGRINGO said:


> It wasn't long ago that a few folks, who were interested in Puebla, were trying to find each other and came to this forum. It seems that has worked!


Ya! It's great to know that i'm not the only one here!


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Our little group of people have gotten together, once at a coffee shop, then the Farmer's Market, later the French Surrealist Photo exhibition.... we've invited everyone, but so far no takers..... anyone interested? We have a good time... so for people that think "they're the only ones..." this is not the case as we are here also....


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Just got back from Chipilo! Got raw milk, rennet, ricotta, parmessano, string cheese, home made salami, "nata", mascarpone..... went all around the town, had some expresso on the main street, spoke to the locals and went to one of the largest dairy's to watch them milk the cow that would give us our raw milk..... Now I'm ready to make cheese, sour cream and more.... Also, if you're interested in reading the background on how Chipilo came to be..... go to my food travel blog Belina's Adventures.....
Chipilo was founded in 1882 by settlers that came from Venice and the town had been so closed to foreigners until 1963 which is why they still speak a now extinct Venetian dialect that isn't even spoken anymore in Italy! Anyway, it's a fascinating story.....
Thanks for the tip about Chipilo......


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

I went to sing there (Chipilo) with a choir many moons ago.

Very strange place


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

Glad you found what you needed! 
Chipilo is quite a neat place. 

I miss our making cheese days... we might have to take another trip out to chipilo!


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

I'm making Greek Yogurt, buttermilk from scratch and cheddar cheese.... Woo hoo! It's great, plus the stuff we bought there is great! Thanks!


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

Now you are making me hungry! 
I miss Cheddar Cheese. When we were in Michoacan I had my mom bring me a big block of Tillamook Cheddar Cheese. All I seem to find here is that imitation yellow cheese. ICK!
Is Greek Yogurt like the stuff in Gyros? MMmmmmm greek food... 
I hope you open a store/restaurant selling all this stuff so i can get my fix!


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Greek Yogurt is like the Lebanese Dry Yogurt...mmmmm, thick and sour and very rich. We love it.
I was surprised that neither Costco nor Sam's carry any Cheddar here (nor American products), in Merida they have a lot of stuff you look for, even Walmart has American products when you need them- here.... hard to find. Oh well..... also very hard to get the different cheese cultures to make the hard cheeses, Rennet easy to find but nothing else is.... guess I'll have to get creative.....


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

I know! In michoacan, when we went to Uruapan which is no where NEAR as big a city as here, we went to this grocery store and they had cheddar cheese! so i thought for sure they'd have it here. when we first moved here i asked this guy that i worked with about cheddar and he's like, oh ya, it's at any groceryy store. ... poor guy. he thinks immitation cheese is cheddar! haha
I'm still sad i can't find pickles anywhere! 
but i was excited to find Bagels, Spinach Tortillini, Alfredo Sauce and Italian Sausage at Walmart.


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

I know what you mean, felt the same way when I found Hershey's Chocolate Chips and Cocoa Powder..lol (sad, huh?)..... I miss Kosher Hot Dogs (they had great ones in Merida, YUM).... and I make my own Italian Sausage so as long as good pork meat, it's cool. Found a great butcher downtown so I'm ok.... still missing some spices and herbs but nothing to be done about that... also since they've been getting rid of the old ovens, the bread is no longer as I remember.... I want French or Italian style bread...mmmmm, hard and crusty..... oh well, I also have a problem finding oriental ingredients for Szechuan and Thai food....


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

I went to the store and found a big loaf of french bread. it was warm. it was SO delicious! I was so excited... then i found out it was only for Easter 
Have you tried Reece's peanut butter cups? They are DISGUSTING! I took one home to my brother cause he didn't believe me. i can't find a normal peanut butter cup anywhere! 
I miss that bread too. In Guatemala they still make the bread like that, it's SOO good. Every time any one from my family goes down there we always bring back a whole big box it's so good. 
Yeah, if you find out where they have asian food products please let me know! Last time i went to visit my family my mom told me i should bring a bunch of it back but i didn't, now i'm sad that i didn't. Now i have to improvise. All I have is soy sauce and ginger powder haha. Although I make a pretty good peanut sauce with what i have. 
Do you know of any Thai restuarants?


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

None.... (boo hoo!), nor any decent Chinese or Italian (real ones...) forget French and even real Roma style pizza is sketchy... (Amalfi in the Zocalo and Vittorio's sometimes...).... even decent American food is iffy and Applebee's doesn't count, jajajajajaja
Oh well, such is the life of an expat.... Don't have a problem with the peanut sauce either (Mexican or Thai) but sure could use some rice papers (would love some spring rolls) and cellophane noodles (saw some at Sam's once I think).... by the way, you ever see some Fennel seed? or even the bulbs?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You guys may have to organize a shopping excursion to Lake Chapala. We have a store, called Super Lake, that carries an amazing stock of imported foods and spices, including asian, middle eastern and other ethnic goods. Yes, they even have cheddar cheese; Tilamook, etc. but, sadly, not Cabot.....the best! Just bring lots of pesos.
Quinta just jumped in:
I think they stock rice papers and cellophane noodles for sure. We're growing fennel in a pot.


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

Road trip to Lake Chapala! 
I can ask my husband, he finds the strangest things when he's out and about. You may be able to find it in one of those Naturista places. 
maybe we need to start an importing/exporting business of asian/middle eastern products!


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

I have a good friend in Merida that is set to open an Indian Restaurant "Namaste Grill" and he's doing precisely that.... shipping from Merida is not bad at all, think I'll ask him. He's submitted his import/export license so his wife can run that aspect of the business while he does the restaurant.... might be an option....


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Or go to Mexico City instead. Closer and everything is available there, including the restaurants.
I'm going next week to the US Embassy, if I have some time maybe I can search out some vendors.....


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

We have cheddar at Costco in DF. So they don't have it at Costco in Puebla? The only thing is that it's random as to whether it's mild or old, never both, never medium.


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

Same thing happened in Merida, either or never both. But they had a lot more items over there than here, guess there's more expats over there and so the demand makes them carry them, who knows? Lots more imported items too from other countries as well.... no Cheddar in Puebla anywhere that I've been able to find, unless someone has found some let me know. I'm also on the hunt for cheese cultures to make my own but so far only the basic milk and yogurt ones so no hard cheese on the horizon for now.... Middle Easter spices are also lacking here....


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

Yeah, let me know if you find anything in Mexico City. We are going over there when my parents come to visit. 

Do you have to have a Costco card to go there, like in the US? or can anyone go. I haven't been there yet, I think it's pretty far away. 

My parents are going to Guatemala before coming here, wonder if she'll luck around a block of cheddar for me haha


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Ha! Just bought a brick of Vermont strong cheddar at Super Lake an hour ago. You may also look for Manchego, curado, imported from Spain; it passes for cheddar very nicely.


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## quinta (Mar 8, 2009)

You can find it all in Mexico City..... as far as Costco goes (same as Sam's) I used my American Costco card when I first came down and then I changed it over to a Merida one, when I moved to Puebla I changed it to the local one at renewal time. Same deal as over there, membership wise.... 
Mexico City isn't that far from Puebla, only 2-3 hours drive, depending on where you intend to go, sure there's lots of traffic but that's life. Holidays are sometimes better to go when people go out of town for vacations and the town is empty (like NYC in the summer...)
Be sure to check which days your car can circulate within the limits of Mexico City (check their website and look for your ending plate numbers) they have "hoy no circula" (you don't circulate today).... or you will be stopped, better make sure.....
I went to school in Mexico City, still have family there and love it there! I'm just sad it's not very easy to live there or I would want to spend some time there... so much to do, see, and the food is fabulous.... culturally it's wonderful.... we go often and have never had any problems at all....


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## AdePuebla (Jun 4, 2009)

I just saw a van drive by that said Kuma (or maybe Kuna or Kume i can't remember) Importaciones, Productos Orientales. and it had some asian writing on it. I wonder where it was going? That gives me hope that there's some sort of asian market somewhere.....

oh and manchengo cheese... mmm.. i bought some a few weeks ago just trying out some different cheeses and yeah, it's really good. it makes a delicious grilled cheese sandwich! I dont think it was imported from spain though, if i remember correctly, it's made by Nestle haha. i'll check next time see if i can find one imported from spain. 

I dont like driving to Mexico city. Good thing we've only gone when we've had to go to the airport. I have a couple uncles that live there, but we haven' t gone in like 10 years +. (well except for this past new years eve... but we just went to where all the mariachi's are)

ok, i just found the website. if you google Kume importaciones the website comes up. it lists all their products, gotta find out how to get them though!


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Manchego from Spain and manchego from Mexico are two different cheeses with completely different characters. Both are delicious (IMO) but they are not related cheese-wise.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

That appears to be true; Spanish Manchego, if unlabeled, would be identified by any American as a good strong cheddar.


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## Bob Cox (Jan 2, 2009)

For readers that arent near Chipilo... You can usually find rennet at a Vetenarians supply store.... Yogurt starter... get some Natural unsweetened yogurt and add a cup to a liter of milk, when its made always save a cup for the next batch of yogurt.
The same goes for sourdough starter.... just let some dough ferment.. save a little to start a new batch. check web search for diferent recipes.


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2009)

quinta said:


> Hello Everyone!
> 4- Yogurt starter


For yogurt starter you will need to ask for "Bulgaros". My wife and I make our own yogurt, and we need to ask around and locate someone with cultures. It's common belief to drink the water and sugar the bulgaros have been soaking in overnight every morning.

They say it's supposed to clean you out and keep your digestive system regular.


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