The Deli Diary
Written by mango on May 10, 2008 – 12:28 pm -I am finally writing about Penny’s Deli in Melaque, Mexico. We are located in southwestern Jalisco in a beach and fishing village. During the winter we have many Canadians visit and most return every year and they make up most of the customers.
A little history for you about how we grew from a tiny hole in the wall to a real business. Three years ago I found this little deli tucked in among the Mexican shops in the mercardo. I went inside and met Penny who is a lovely lady from the UK. She had all these foodstuffs that I hadn’t found here and we have much in common and became fast friends. That being her first year and a real novice in the food business, she stayed open from January to March only and returned to London for the summer months. She just kept getting better and better so last year she and I worked together as her business grew. We have a lot of fun since we have similar personalities and humor in common. Last year we met our friend Jean, whose husband was dying of colon cancer. Jean is a wonderful baker so she supplied us with cakes, brownies, tea breads, and her cheesecake to die for. This helped Jean as she was going through hell with a dying abusive spouse. Along comes Shayam, a grouchy Hungarian Jew who has the nastiest personality of any one that I know. It just happens that he also cooks. He makes pastrami, corned beef, and some of the finest cannolloni th at I’ve ever tasted. He quickly became another supplier. He makes bread among other things and is always trying to stir up some trouble. We just ignore his personality since it is nothing but a big cover up for a teddy bear. Then there is me, I make soups and some main dishes and my famous chilli con carne. I also run errands and visit with the customers.
Andy, Jeans husband died in April last year and she was worried about finances so Penny said she would help her by hiring her to work in the kitchen and still supply too. Last spring Penny rented a big place which needed lots of work. We got it on a three year lease for about 75.00USD a month. Jean and I spent the summer laying tile, painting, and decorating. When Penny returned in October she was stunned at how wonderful her new place looked. This year she opened in November and is still open. I think we close in June.
We sell cheese, cold cuts, salads, soups, sandwiches, and bakery goods. We also make deli platters for parties and will attempt anything if we get a request. Every thing is fresh and home made. Each day we serve a hot dish which could be meat loaf, or shepherds pie, and we also have a soup of the day.
We have an artist here who did a huge street painting of the deli and it proudly hangs in the shop. We intend to make up post cards but so far cannot find anyone who has a machine for that. When we do that I will send you a copy. My street dog Nina had run away the day the photo was taken for the painting and she is seen sitting under a table out front.
I know that this is long and probably doesn’t make a lot of sense but you asked for it.
Tags: Deli, Food, Mexico
Posted in Food |
sorry about the lack of editing. Now I am close to tears
Thank you for this. Life seems to bring odds and sods together, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Yours is a success story, well done. Can’t wait to see pics of the place and the food!
Sounds like you’ve carved out a nice life there. Interesting work and interesting people.
I love it. A little primitive for some but it works for me. The people here are just wonderful!
And judging by the scenery it’s close to heaven.
Many folks don’t make it here because they want it to be like wherever they came from. It isn’t even close. Mexico is a great country with a rich culture but they see only the dust and poor people. Yes, they are poor, but the faces reflect joy and hope. I guess they have learned to accept that where they are is where they will always be. And they accept that.
Yes I agree, they have embraced very much the catholic synthesis of fate, and why not.
I agree, except when it comes to their driving. For christs sake how can someone get in a car and think if they don’t make it then it is god’s will. I walk a lot.
The deli sounds wonderful. Even better, it’s a genuine expatriate story of wandering souls who meet to form something entirely new.
It used to be possible to pursue adventures like this in America. Alas, nowadays, not so much.
We make hardly any money but we sure have fun.
What a lovely tale, mango. I would love to see some pictures of the area where you live and the deli.
Donnamarie, I don’t have a camera but you can go to our local page and see some photos. It is tomzap.com and then go to the melaque page and visitors comments.
I went to comments and saw one from OPOL? Is he looking for digs out there too? Any photos of the deli in there?
that is me. I told him that I stole his name for the local blog.
LOL! But no pics?
no there aren’t any. We don’t care much for the gringos who live here year round. They are a bunch of jerks who bitch about everything. They give us very little business so no ads or pics for them.
What a great website. And what a lovely town.
$75 a month! Jeez, I’m paying 25 grand a year here, I might have to move to Mexico!
25 grand in Euros, not dollars, that’s roughly 38,000………………..OMG!
Youch!
That’s nutin’. A friend of mine pays this shark landlord 75,000 grand per year for a waterside restaurant that sits only 28 persons, and he’s only open 9 months of the year, that’s over 100 grand in US$!
But we only clear about a thousand a month total. It is play money. A hot lunch runs around three dollars. 100 grams of cheese or cold cuts are about two dollars. Cost of living is quite low here so we are able to keep it cheap.
Wonderful story–no need to apologize for any aspect of it, Mango. What a great aggregation of talents and personalities!
People who live in Mexico as expats are a different breed. It seems we are all a bit crazy and eccentric and enjoy the challanges we meet every day.
Jean just went to the US and she left on Wednesday. I just received an email and she is freezing and wants to come home. Her final word was “don’t ever let me do this again” she has two and a half weeks to go. Now I am not so sure that I want to go to Austin in July.
I found this lovely pic of a Mexican beach, not far from where you live, up north a few miles.
Thanks AAF. That looks just like home. I don’t see any dolphins frolicking though.
By the way, Penny has a picture of the painting which she will be sending. Not sure if I can post a photo though.
Mango,
Sounds like a really neat project you all have going there. I have a website you might be interested in http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/03/05/e-cards-are-soooo-2006-make-your-own-recipe-greeting-cards/
Card and postcards. They seem really cool.
Are you sure you want all of us to visit? It’s actually looking better and better to come on down!
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