Pre-hispanic Stone Soup in Oaxaca

There are a few restaurants in Oaxaca that specialize in a traditional, prehispanic 'caldo' or soup. The name of the place where we ate was 'Caldo de Piedra' - Stone Soup. They make it the old way, by using hot stones to cook the soup in about 4 minutes - with vegetables and or fish.

It is cooked and served in a gourd-like bowl that comes from a local tree. Each bowl of soup requires three red-hot stones. The first warms up the soup, the second boils it for a minute or two, and the third continues the cooking process and accompanies the soup when it is served.

It was excellent!

We went with Rocio and her family - all SUPER-nice - who Amy met in Oaxaca during her first month here in March.

Here are a few photos of our meal.

JB, Jeremiah, Joce, and Israel waiting at the counter for the soup to be cooked.

Here the bowls of cold, uncooked soup await red hot stones.

The cook has pulled out the first round of stones, and in the process of putting in the second set.

He used a long, wetted, simple bamboo tool to pull rocks out of the fire and place in the soup bowls.

The Bogaards with Rocio's family left to right: Liesl, Israel Sr., Jeremiah, Israel Jr. Joce, Andrea, Amy, and Rocio.