How Not to Buy a Jar of Minced Garlic in Mexico

It’s not quite as easy as you thinko

NOTE: This story was written six years ago.

So there I am at La Comer, San Miguel de Allende’s biggest grocery store, having just located the papayas, soymilk, and rice cakes, when I look down at my list and notice there is an item I’ve still not found — an item my dear, sweet wife needed badly in order to prepare her special dinner tonight: minced garlic.

Unable to remember the Spanish word for “garlic”, I realize there’s no point asking anyone in the store to direct me to the proper aisle for an item I can’t name, so I begin aimlessly wandering around the largest grocery store in San Miguel, as I attempt to identify what category of food “minced garlic” might belong to.

Condiment? Vegetable? Spice?

Photo by Nathália Rosa on Unsplash

“Garlic, garlic, garlic,” I begin chanting under my breath, but no Spanish equivalent comes to mind. Nada. Zero. Zippo.

This goes on for way too long. And then… praise the Lord…and pass the guacamole, appearing from who knows where… badaboom, badabing… it comes to me in a flash.