In the state of Veracruz is Mexico's vanilla capitol, Papantla. It's a lovely town with a fine square and like most of the state, it has incredible food. So rich and particular! And the air is heavy with the smell of vanilla, which as we know is a kind of orchid, native to Mexico.

Breakfast in Papantla was a very fine thing. All the tables had a sauce called Salsa Macha, which is apparently a lot of chiles with peanuts and oil. My friends warned me it was hot but I've grown accustomed to Mexicans not believing that I really do like a lot of heat so I ignored them. It was a mistake. This stuff was hot!

Hot and delicious, especially served with huevos enzopilatados, which are scrambled eggs with black beans. I'm pretty sure a zopilote is a buzzard so these were scrambled eggs with beans a la buzzard. Painful, but good.

Here's a recipe for one version of salsa macha. It looks much different but the spirit is the same.