About 2 hours south of the city of Veracruz you'll find the very charming town of Tlacotalpan. We arrived between seasons and it was deserted and hot. I asked when was the best weather and all agreed it was November and December. Being that it was November and we found the heat almost funny, I can tell you I'm saving Veracruz for the winter.

Yunuen's father and Uncle both told us not to miss La Flecha for a meal. My heart sank a little when we sat down. It didn't look promising, despite the torito de coco.

Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. The food was incredible and clearly the work of someone who loved her cuisine.

Piripituche is one of those great dishes that is somewhat simple and yet so perfect you wonder why you haven't had it before. It's basically a shrimp and crab stew with African influences. Someday I'll have to transcribe my bad notes and figure out how it was made.

This was followed by a local sausage and a roll of black beans. With tortillas, it was heavenly.

Somebody like Negra Modelo!

Yunuen ordered shrimp in a AcoyO sauce. Acoyo is what they call Hoja Santa (or Hierba Santa) in Veracruz. I think I also have bad notes on this dish.

Desserts are often the thing that don't translate between cultures but this weird, exotic one worked for me. It's a bitter Seville orange that's been soaked in sugar syrup and then stuffed with sweet, juicy coconut candy. It's insanely sweet but the bitter from the rind helps cut things. You can only eat a few bites but oh, those bites!

It was dark by the time we made our way back home and it's such a lovely walk that who could mind?