Viva Veracruz

[Calypso]

Over by the train in the road in Xalapa there are a few jugo stands (juice stands). They squeeze a number of fruits including of course oranges.

The big shinny metal hand juicers they use are really a work of mechanical art - ala Tim the Tool man type of device - they are really irresistible.

Before Christmas I saw one in a tiende in Xico - but I went back a week ago and they were not there.

Anyone in the area know where one is available. I think they were about 50 US bucks - but not sure about that - I am sure that I must have one - and I am kicking myself for haggling and deciding to come back rather than buying it when I had my hands on one - I am sure they are over $120.00 in the U.S.

If you squeeze thirty or forty kilos of oranges at Mexican prices - the device will pay for itself compared to a US dollar for one orange in the States. And besides I just want one!

Any help from out there will be greatly appreciated.
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[BJ]

Juan, try checking out a good sized mercado (best bet for a decent price: in a citrus growing center.) I've seen them before, in the Merced mercado in el centro in DF & the main mercado a few blocks from the zocalo in Puebla.

I imagine a mercado in Veracruz (puerto) will have them if you can't locate what you want in Coatepec or Xalapa.

In Nov. '05, I purchased a very sturdy, med/large size upright manual aluminum juicer for ($440 mp) near the border in Progresso, Tamaulipas. This is close to the major citrus growing regions of south Texas. (McAllen, Harlingen, Weslaco, etc.) We were there briefly after Xmas. The juicers were still available, but I didn't notice the prices since I wasn't buying one.

That size was suitable for juicing citrus fruits ranging in size from large grapefruits down to large (Meyer) lemons. It has served us very well. We use a small hand juicer for the "key limes".

Hope that you locate what you're looking for without too much hassle or expense.

[Jonna]

That's funny, I've always wanted one of those too. I have an electric one and a little hand one but I just want one of those big, flip the handle over and press, manual ones. They really are a marvel of design.

Can't help with where to buy other than either the mercado or something like a Boxito (do you have Boxito there?) or other hardware store.

One of the things I thought about almost immediately when we bought the house was that now I could get one of those, I'll have room for it.
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Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[joaquin]

I have seen them in Xalapa. Although memory is failing me on this topic, I believe that on Revolution between 20 de Novembre and Altamirano there are a few(?) stores that sell commercial equipment for restaurants. If those stores are not on that street, don't blame me.
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I worry that all of my wisdom is derived from bad analogies.

[Calypso]

Someone sent private email to me suggesting:

[Jonna]

I had a thought that Boxito was perhaps a Yucatan peninsula chain. Here's a funny cultural difference example. Box in Yucatec Maya means black, so Boxito basically means 'little black boy' in a kind of spanish/maya mix. It is a chain of hardware stores with everything from gaskets to faucets and floor tiles. I have no idea where the name came from except that I was told it is a Mayan family that owns it.
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Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[Palomares]

We have one of those things. We do not use it anymore. Actually, it´s not we. It´s her, my lovely wife.

They are better as a decoration than an actual tool. Modern electric jobs are easier to use, easier to clean.

I´m surprised you don´t see them everywhere. They are all over the place here in my part of the Mexican world. And they come in many different sizes.

[LeAnn]

I'm still using the one I bought in Xalapa before we moved to Merida....follow the street in front of the jardin up the hill. There is a large appliance/furniture store on the left hand side of the street. They had the juicers in various colors and sizes.

LeAnn

[Calypso]

[LeAnn]

Sorry, I was afraid that wasn't going to be clear enough, but I can't remember the street names in Xalapa anymore....the street is the main one which runs past the cathedral and the palacio....it seems to me the it heads uphill in the next block...there are two appliance stores on the right side of the street...one of the two is the one I'm talking about.....actually I was like you, seeing those juice vendors and wanting my own juicer. We ran into a lady and her daughter on the bus in Coatepec and when I mentioned that I wanted one of those juicers, she sent me to this store....all that to say, if you can't figure out my directions, I'll bet almost any lady in Xalapa can tell you where to find them!

I find that here in Merida, nearly all long term residents can tell us where to the most obscure things....go down the street by the ____ (you fill in the blank), turn at the Oxxo, go straight, turn at the church...the store you want is in the middle of the block!!! Works every time!

Enjoy your juice,
LeAnn

[Calypso]

LeAnn,

Marvin is working with your directions as we speak - I will let you know -

Two months and we are still squeezing by hand. I'm getting that juicer - at a Mexican Style Pace.

It will happen

Post a picture of yours Lee Ann - I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
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[tortuga azul]

Juan, I think she means Calle Dr. Lucio. I seem to recall a couple appliance stores up there past Chedraui and it matches her directions.

[Calypso]

I got a juicer!

I took a bus to Xalapa and got off up near all the fish markets beyond the big Mercado (just as good of deals on shrimp in Coatepec btw).

On Revolucion as Joaquin suggested I found a few places with the juicers. The prices were outrageously different.

At Morales Hermanos (#265 Revolucion) which is a high end commercial kitchen equipment store they had three sizes. They were numbers 2 being the smallest ($321 pesos) number 4 medium ($570 pesos) and the grand daddy number 5 ($725 pesos).

The small was essentially for a lime press. The largest one (Tim the tool man sized) would accommodate large grapefruit - but in my mind might have been too big for oranges. I twisted between the large one and the medium one.

I decided to look some more wishing I had Anita with me (she was at home nursing the end of a cold). I thought it would be best to wait. I was heading back up to catch the bus home. In a most unlikely window I spotted the juicer. It was in a hardware store called Ferreteria Comos de Xalapa (256 Revolucion). I found the mid-size exprimidor for $246.67 pesos out the door.

It is brushed aluminum with a gold color paint on part of it and says ORO (gold in Spanish) on the side - I will get a photo in the daylight tomorrow.

And you thought I would never get one... (thanks to Butch too who kept prodding me).
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[BJ]

Great sleuthing & great luck!!! Congratulations on your "juicer" find.

Sounds very similar to the $440 peso ($40 US at the time) med. sized one that I bought about 4 years ago in Progresso, Tamaulipas.

Fresh squeezed OJ or ??? juice is such a treat. What an additional thrill it is when you pick the fruit on your own tree and squeeze it yourself.

¡Buen provecho!

BJ

[Calypso]

BJ,

Thanks!

Hardly worth growing at 10 lbs. for 90 cents US - but certainly worth squeezing for fresh OJ and tequila!

Saludos,
Juan
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