Chipilo de Francisco Javier Mina

Chipilo's church and lots of Italian restaurants.

As summer school doesn't permit me to take a whole weekend off, I use the opportunity to discover a bit more of my surroundings. So today I went to Chipilo de Francisco Javier Mina, commonly known as simply Chipilo.

Strolling around in Chipilo - or better said: In the middle of nowhere

Actually the small town is only a stone's throw from her, but in the crampy public buses the trip takes nearly an hour, anyway. Chipilo is an extraordinary place, because it boasts a diaspora from Northern Italy:

Chipilo was founded on October 2, 1882, by immigrants from the northern Italian region of Veneto. Most came from the town of Segusino and other surrounding towns in the province of Treviso. These immigrants arrived in Mexico in search of fertile land, leaving behind the poverty that was plaguing Veneto at that time. Most of them took up cattle raising, and the dairy products of Chipilo became famous in Puebla and other regions in central Mexico. Some maintain a derived Venetian dialect. Source: Wikipedia

Italian inscriptions...

Polishing up my Italian

In fact, I really could notice the difference: Many people spoke some sort of strange dialect. It was not Spanish, but not Italian, either. Thanks to Wikipedia now I know that it was most probably the Chipilo Venetian dialect. In the store where I bought some cheese Chipilo is so famous for, the vendor was an Italian nonna, talking in pure Italian to another client.

Italian cheese in Mexico, fresh from the farm!

Considered that Chipilo has less than 3,500 inhabitants, it's no wonder that you permanently feel like being on a single big ranch.

Happy pig

Cows and cockcrows everywhere, the distinctive smell of stable and hay, lots of farming land - I felt like being back in the small town where I grew up.

Although Chipilo does have several Italian characteristics (you'll see a lot of Italian name plates, restaurants, etc.), it does not feel like being in Italy.

The Mexican influence is still predominant. Yet, you won't find a zócalo (the main plaza), which every "normal" Mexican spot will have.

The town is not quite off the beaten track, but remote enough to seemingly have some issues with burglars.

You'll find a lot of these signs: "Attention burglars: Neighbours watching"

Nevertheless, I felt totally safe. Perhaps this is also because I'm already converting into a Mexican guy: A woman on the street asked me the way to a cheese factory. And I was by far not the only person on that street...

Originally I had hoped to find some real ricotta cheese in Chipilo, and a nice restaurant wich serves decent polenta.

The "vespa" in front of the restaurant, which serves pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, panzerotti, tiramisu... and hamburgers?!

Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in any of the two plans.

Today's booty: Not ricotta, but still decent requesón (kind of Mexican quark) and fresh but firm basket cheese with "fines herbes".

But this might also be due to the fact that it was Sunday, meaning that almost everything was closed. What else would you expect than the strict adherence to Sunday being the day off, when mixing two strongly Catholic cultures like the Italian with the Mexican one.

I probably did not spend more than two hours there, but I really enjoyed the relaxing experience. Maybe I'll investigate a bit more about places to get ricotta and polenta (I mean, it's immigrants from Northern Italy - where else if not here could I get that tasty cornmeal dish?!) and return next Friday or Saturday. On the way to Chipilo I had also spotted a really nice church, which also definitely seems worth a visit (if it won't be raining cats and dogs then...).

Now - this really feels like Italy...

 Have a nice week and try to see your beautiful home region like a tourist!

Not sure if it is a good idea to leave the grass on the meadow during rainy season...