One of the things you may notice while traveling through Mexico is that the locals love their sweets. The prominence of dulcerias (candy stores) and heladerias (ice cream parlors) is a dead giveaway. I have fond childhood memories of whacking piñatas so they’d spill their sugary, individually-wrapped contents onto the ground. I’ll blame my love for the “sweet” on my Mexican-American heritage.
If you call yourself a sweet tooth, too, and you find yourself in Morelia, Mexico, make sure you make time to visit the Mercado de Dulces. Morelia is famous for its candy-making history. Located just two blocks west of the Plaza de Armas, Mercado de Dulces is lined with stalls filled with a mosaic of the region’s candies – it’s heaven for candy lovers.
You’ll find treats like dulce de leche wafers, pralines, chunk chocolate to melt in a cup of warm milk, ates (soft fruit leathers), cocadas (candied fruit filled with coconut), and rompope (an eggnog-like beverage flavored with rum). Even if you don’t like sweets, the colorful stalls are a visual treat – maybe this is the true meaning of “eye candy”.
Not sure what indulgence to buy? Watch the locals buy their favorites and follow suit, or better yet, buy a variety and take a gustatory tour of Morelia and the surrounding areas in Michoacan.