Live band at La Negrita The cultural capital of the Yucatán peninsular, Mérida is a compact city rich in colonial history with cosmopolitan flair and has the region’s broadest span of dining options, from market stalls and mobile kiosks to glamourous dining in lavish haciendas. Mérida Food Guide, written for Fine Dining Lovers. [...]
Photo taken by Hein van Tonder The Test Kitchen and Quintonil, both highly ranked on the World’s 50 Best restaurant list, recently hosted a collaboration dinner series. Ishay Govender-Ypma chatted to the chefs. Quintonil and Test Kitchen Collaborate for Mail and Guardian. (@IshayGovender) “Are those the escamoles?” I ask the waitress, in a [...]
Mexico City – colourful, chaotic, and a crash-course in street-food, as Ishay Govender-Ypma learns, tasting her way through markets and curb-side stalls. Fine dining your north star? Check! But you’ll soon be drawn back to the abuela-style dishes found in the simple diners and homes around town. My Mexico City Food Guide For Taste Magazine, [...]
Raramuri mother and child Traversing the spectacular canyons on Mexico’s Copper Canyon on the last passenger ride, Ishay Govender-Ypma meets the reclusive Rarámuri, while learning about the country’s diverse landscape. For Mail & Guardian 26 Feb 2016 The vestibule convulses over the loops at Témoris, shaking us this way and that, but we [...]
We had the opportunity to learn some cooking tips from a Zapotec woman, a Mexican indigenous group who settled in the area of Oxaca, Mexico. We were shown the true meaning of slow living, loving and eating. For Fine Dining Lovers, 20 Nov 2015. At Teotitlán de Valle, 25 kilometres outside the colonial town of [...]
Farewell, little girl. A poem. Indigenous Raramuri girls, at a boarding school Cerocahui, close to the Urique Canyon. I was so hestitant to visit, perferring to give a donation instead. When Christina my guide looked at me with pleading eyes, I decided to accompany her, and was really glad I did in the end. With [...]
Mine are the hands. For Juanita For Juanita, Elsa's grandmother. Back story from my Instagram account: Juanita is an indigenous Raramuri woman from Cerocahui, a small town at the base of the Urique Canyon in the Copper Canyon. Her granddaughter invited us to their home unannounced, and despite being surprised, Jaunita made us freshly ground thick [...]
Shadow [On Aging] Micro-story written to accompany this image, on Instagram. This image was taken in the colonial town of El Fuerte, Mexico. I’ve been writing teeny stories, poems and odd bits of fiction, awash with fact too on Instagram for a while – on and off for years. The stories are usually inspired by [...]
