Oaxaca's hidden market treasures

Entrepreneur Susana Trilling runs a cooking school in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she guides students through the local market's culinary wonders. Tag along on our visit.

Sweets being sold at the Mercado de Abastos, Oaxaca's largest market.
Dried rojo peppers at Mercado de Abastos. These peppers are specific to the Oaxacan region and are an important ingredient in one of the local moles and several sauces.
Three different mole pastes sold by the Molinos del Sol at the Mercado de Abastos. There are a total of seven different moles.
This cow's milk cheese, queso fresco, is made fresh twice every day and is typical of Oaxaca.
Chapulines are fried grasshoppers seasoned with salt chile and lime juice. They are a popular crunchy snack.
Tomatillos at the Mercado de Merced. Tomatillos are used in moles, sauces and salsas.
Fresh meat in the Mercado de Merced. Meat is often sold without refrigeration at the open air markets.
Huitlacoche is Mexico's "truffle." It is a fungus that grows on corn and has a distinctive earthy flavor.
Cooking at the family run restaurant, Alberto's in the Mercado de Abastos.
Empenadas de flor de calabaza (empenadas filled with squash blossoms and cheese).
Squash blossom and black bean tacos roasting on a comal: an iron surface lying directly on hot coals.
Memela ready to be served: a large corn tortilla smothered with refried black beans, queso fresco and salsa verde.
Prickly pear gelato churned by hand and sold and the Mercado de Merced.