# Help! Like to take some spices to Mexico



## Atiya (Oct 14, 2011)

Hello,

I am moving to Mexico City for 3 years because of my husband's expat assignment. I would like to take some dry spices with me. These are Indian spices which would be very hard to find there. Would it be ok to take them in my checked-in luggage? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Atiya


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Spices*



Atiya said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am moving to Mexico City for 3 years because of my husband's expat assignment. I would like to take some dry spices with me. These are Indian spices which would be very hard to find there. Would it be ok to take them in my checked-in luggage? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> Atiya


If you can't find it in Mexico City it probably doesn't exist. You just have to find out what it is called in Spanish.


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## Mexicodrifter (Sep 11, 2011)

I bring spices and have them brought to me by friends visiting. Spices are very hard to come by in Mexico. I use tumeric a lot and can´t find it here. Indian spices don´t exixt.
Just pack them in your suitcase and hope for the best.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Imported spices in D.F.*



Atiya said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am moving to Mexico City for 3 years because of my husband's expat assignment. I would like to take some dry spices with me. These are Indian spices which would be very hard to find there. Would it be ok to take them in my checked-in luggage? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> Atiya


Exkal especias frescas de India, especias 
Somos proveedores de especias frescas de India en Sur 113 No. 2421 Col. Ramos Millán
México, D.F. C.P. 08720 . México
Datos y productos de Exkal

Molino la Rosaleda especias frescas de India, especias 
Ofrecemos especias frescas de India en Pasillo 2 No.51 Col. Central de Abastos
México, D.F. C.P. 09040 . México
Datos y productos de Molino la Rosaleda


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Spices aren't hard to find at all, if you know their Spanish names. I think Rollybrook.com has a lexicon of food and spice names in English and Spanish.
In Guadalajara, the 'abastos' has stores devoted to spices, grains seeds, etc., and almost every town will have a 'semillas' store where grains, spices, seeds, beans, chile powders, etc. are sold.


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## Gupi (Dec 17, 2010)

I live in Mérida, and I've been able to buy ground turmeric, whole cardamom pods, and fennel seed at an import foods store (Pacsadeli), and coriander seed is sold in bulk in the produce section of a grocery store (Mega Comercial). The main problem has been finding black mustard seed. Since I can find these spices in less-cosmopolitan Mérida, you can probably find them and more in DF, as others have pointed out.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Tumeric*



RVGRINGO said:


> Spices aren't hard to find at all, if you know their Spanish names. I think Rollybrook.com has a lexicon of food and spice names in English and Spanish.
> In Guadalajara, the 'abastos' has stores devoted to spices, grains seeds, etc., and almost every town will have a 'semillas' store where grains, spices, seeds, beans, chile powders, etc. are sold.


Rollybrook had tumeric on his extensive list. [ tumeric = cucuma ] Thanks for posting this as I now have an easy way to look some words up I've been wondering about and haven't yet been able to find out the Spanish name. Example: corned beef = pecho curado. I cook this sometimes and called it pastrami and some seemed to know what that was. Others did not recognize the corned beef and called it carne de res rojo. It is not popular here except the ones who like to go a Subway, which is expensive compared to any Tortaria. He had sirloin steak as: aguayon = sirloin steak. On the border it is called palomilla.


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

So what you're saying is that it's not so much that things are not available it's just trying to figure out what to call it??


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Stuff I can't find in Mexico*



pappabee said:


> So what you're saying is that it's not so much that things are not available it's just trying to figure out what to call it??


That seems to be the problem when I have looked for some things over the last 6 1/2 years. I still can't figure out what some things are called.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Technical, cooking and other specialized terms that we wouldn't normally use with great frequency are the most difficult to remember in another language. We native English speakers are doubly handicapped by our own language having so many roots; German, Gaelic, Roman, Arabic, Spanish, etc.
Spanish is a bit more logical, being less root-bound; mostly from Roman Latin and Arabic origins.
Our other handicap is that we tend to be monolingual and have difficulty with some sounds, while most other people on the planet have some ability in three or more other languages; usually those of their close neighbors. I often wonder why the USA has maintained such isolation and why we don't all speak at least English, Spanish and French. I once had a good Turkish friend who spoke, sang and recited poetry in 13 languages, but didn't know a word of English. One of his grandsons, at age five, was already fluent in five languages and often ended up interpreting for folks at parties in their home. It was a very diverse family, culturally and linguistically.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RVGRINGO said:


> Our other handicap is that we tend to be monolingual and have difficulty with some sounds, while most other people on the planet have some ability in three or more other languages; usually those of their close neighbors. I often wonder why the USA has maintained such isolation and why we don't all speak at least English, Spanish and French. I once had a good Turkish friend who spoke, sang and recited poetry in 13 languages, but didn't know a word of English. One of his grandsons, at age five, was already fluent in five languages and often ended up interpreting for folks at parties in their home. It was a very diverse family, culturally and linguistically.


I don't think US residents in general are more mono-lingual than the rest of the world. For example most ordinary Mexicans do not speak a second language nor do most rural Germans. Where we differ is that the highly educated and traveled class in the US is more monolingual than the same type people in the rest of the world. I see two reasons for this: for one thing, except for the southern border, most of the US is pretty far from a country where another language is spoken. Compare the US to Europe where most educated people are bi- or tri-lingual because the border with a foreign speaking country is only an hour or so two away by train or car. The second reason, USers don't learn a foreign language as well or often as other countries is that there is no obvious language that everyone should be fluent in. For the rest of the world, if English is not your native language, you are well advised to learn it. If English is your native tongue what should you learn next. There is no obvious choice that all schools could insist on.


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

TundraGreen said:


> I don't think US residents in general are more mono-lingual than the rest of the world. For example most ordinary Mexicans do not speak a second language nor do most rural Germans. Where we differ is that the highly educated and traveled class in the US is more monolingual than the same type people in the rest of the world. I see two reasons for this: for one thing, except for the southern border, most of the US is pretty far from a country where another language is spoken. Compare the US to Europe where most educated people are bi- or tri-lingual because the border with a foreign speaking country is only an hour or so two away by train or car. The second reason, USers don't learn a foreign language as well or often as other countries is that there is no obvious language that everyone should be fluent in. For the rest of the world, if English is not your native language, you are well advised to learn it. If English is your native tongue what should you learn next. There is no obvious choice that all schools could insist on.


Boy are you in trouble with the French Canadians. You left them out. Not a nice thing to do. Also it seems to me that many schools are starting to push "close languages" I know that many of the schools around the Great Lakes push French and a second language because of the closeness to French Canada and I also know that many Texas schools are pushing Spanish not only because there are more Latinos than non in many of the schools.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

pappabee said:


> Boy are you in trouble with the French Canadians. You left them out. Not a nice thing to do. Also it seems to me that many schools are starting to push "close languages" I know that many of the schools around the Great Lakes push French and a second language because of the closeness to French Canada and I also know that many Texas schools are pushing Spanish not only because there are more Latinos than non in many of the schools.


You are right. I didn't think about the Quebec border. I should have because I went to school in Vermont for awhile and took a few trips across that border for skiing or to go to the Montreal Expo (that dates me).


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

In my home town, in the USA but near the Quebec border, the parochial schools still had French speaking nuns and brothers. The language was used heavily, even by one of my grandmothers. French and Latin were taught in high school, but not Spanish. Granted, I'm not fluent in much of anything, but can survive in French, Spanish and could once stumble around in Turkish and a few other related languages. After a few hours of immersion, lost abilities do return, but not if you never had them in the first place. The USA is a very unfriendly place for those who don't have some basic English, and that even includes a large portion of the underclass who were born there. A lot of trouble arises from a lack of communication.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Lack of communication*

I have personally had more trouble in Mexico when I separated/divorced from my Mexican wife who became a naturalized US citizen decades ago when taking over our rental house in Mexicali because I always relied on her to communicate when in Mexico. After realizing I had a good vocabulary of Spanish words I had to work hard on my grammar to get the real message through to people and vice versa. Being reliant on others can really be a draw back when living here. To get a good grasp of situations here I cannot emphasize enough that understanding Spanish at an intermediate level or better will make things far easier and more enjoyable. 

You will be able to get to know what the locals know and think like and have relationships with them that are part of living in a country where you become a member, not an oddity only and will not be patronized or looked at as a person to avoid or taken advantage of or even play games with. I went through all these stages and at times it was not easy to see until later.

My current Mexican wife has enrolled in Berlitz language school and goes to class every Sat. for 4 hours with 2 other students. She is getting to the point that we can talk about many more things in English these last 2 months, since enrolling, than the 3 1/2 years before when I alone was "trying" to help her get motivated to learn basic English. It costs $2,400.00 pesos per month which includes computer CDs and audio CDs and booklets. The books I gave her did not motivate her very much.

PS. My house in Mexicali was broken into while I have been in SLP my friends from San Diego told me when they showed up to spend the weekend there. The back door was pried open but the central alarm keep them from taking anything. My friend is repairing the back door now.


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

Atiya said:


> Hello,
> 
> Would it be ok to take them in my checked-in luggage? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> Atiya


Bring your favorite spices in your luggage. Try to have them in original sealed containers. You have about a 4 in one chance to be inspected, if so, you will be at the mercy of a customs inspector who hopefully knows his spices. 
Once here, get to know Mexican spices, it's a whole new world. Or you can fall back on mail order, which is an absolute necessity in the outback.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

dongringo said:


> Once here, get to know Mexican spices, it's a whole new world. Or you can fall back on mail order, which is an absolute necessity in the outback.


+1 on that. The more time I have been in Mexico, the less time I spend trying to find things I used to use/eat up north. There is plenty of variety here.


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