82 Culture The Economist June 11th 2022
territory,” she says. Likewise, rather than
“taking objects from elsewhere, copying
them, adapting them to Mexico and selling
them, there is a local design culture.”
Ariel Rojo, an established industrial de
signer, has watched this progress unfold.
Echoing Ms Mallet, he attributes the buzz
to Mexican artists finding their own iden
tity rather than replicating things done
elsewhere. “What can I be as a Mexican de
signer in a globalised world?” he won
dered. “What would have happened if the
Aztecs had continued to design?”
In his formative years Mr Rojo spent
hours in the National Museum of Anthro
pology in Mexico City, taking inspiration
from its artefacts (“but not just doing cli
chés like replicating skulls”). For example,
a bottle he designedforTequilaDecáda,a
drinks company,drawsonMexico’shisto
ry. The bottompartisa pyramid,nodding
to preHispaniccultures,whilethetopfea
tures an “X” thatreferstothe“x”inMexico
as well as the country’sChristianheritage.
Architects andartistshavea richhisto
ry to draw on,fromancientindigenous
cultures and thecolonialperiod,through
the revolution tothepresentday.Modern
Mexico itself ismanydiscretecountriesin
one, with vast differencesbetweennorth
ern industrial statesandpooreronesinthe
south. Mexico’s social exigencies have
helped shape the design scene, where
there is a keen focusonbuildingsandob
jects being functionalandcosteffectiveas
well as aestheticallypleasing.Ways, shapes andforms
These factors informMsEscobedo’schoice
of materials. “Thisisa countrywithlimit
ed resources, bothforthegovernmentand
among people.Wehavetodesignthings
that are affordable,workandwilllastfor
years,” she says.Mezcalcupsmadeofjica
ma, a root vegetablenativetoMexico,are
dotted around herstudioassmall,simple
reminders of thisphilosophy.
Much of Mexicanarchitectureemploys
concrete or adobe(mudbricks).Manyde
signers are usingbarro, orclay,fortheir
items. Traditionalcraftspersist,frombas
ketweaving toalebrije, brightlycoloured
folkart sculptures of fantastical beasts.
Mexico boasts worldclassartisansandso
finding a metalworker or weaver is
straightforwardandoftenaffordable.That
lowers the bar toentryfornewcomers.
“There is a fluidityhere,”saysSuWu,an
American curatorandadvocateofMexico’s
artists who livesinMexicoCity.“Youdon’t
have to be an architectora designer,you
can be both. Thereisa senseofdisregard
for the rules.” Shereckonsthatwhatishap
pening shares traitswithsimilarmoments
in other citiessuchasBerlin.Butinits
quality and itssenseofhistoryandtradi
tion, Mexican craftsmanshiphasitsown
unique signature.nWorldina dishThe way of the monkfish
M
onkfisharelowincaloriesandfat,
packed with vitamins and have
dense, firm flesh, which makes them rela
tively easy to cook. They can be cut into
chunks, marinated with egg whites, corn
flour and seasonings, then briefly
blanched in boiling water. Monkfish tail
can even be stirfried without breaking
apart, as more delicate fish tend to do. In
fact, there is only one problem with monk
fish: they are hideous.
With their bulging eyes and wide
mouths lined with rows of sharp teeth,
they are nightmarish. In Dutch monkfish
are called zeeduivel (“seadevil”); fisher
men who caught them used to throw them
back. They are still usually sold without
their heads, but the days of chucking them
overboard are long gone. Japanese diners
love the fatty liver; while Italians may still
derisively call them “toad tails”, that does
not stop them from eating the fish. Fisher
men’s associations have been encouraging
others to overcome their aversion and eat
more monkfish, as well as other unsightly
creatures—the better to ensure more
diverse, sustainable fisheries.
There is precedent for species going
from shunned to consumed. In America,
lobster used to be fed to prisoners and
slaves—a result of their abundance but al
so, no doubt, because they are difficult
to eat and look rather like an inflamed
cockroach. Not until the late 19th century
did they become haute cuisine. Today they
are so desirable that Maine, where most
American lobsters are caught, puts them
on its licence plates (and monkfish areknown as “poor man’s lobster”).
Sometimes fashion goes the other way.
Turtles were plentiful in early America, but
in the 19th century they became chic: few
foods were more esteemed than terrapin
turtle soup. Americans ate some species of
turtle—fiendishly difficult to prepare, as
just looking at them might suggest—nearly
to extinction. Yet today turtleeating is
more closely associated with backwoods,
eatwhatyoucancatch diets than with
liveried waiters.
While abundance and tricky prepara
tion may put some diners off, easily found
species that take some work to cook can be
delicious. Along America’s northwest
coast, advocates tout the versatility of geo
duck, a species of burrowing clam with
sweet, slightly chewy flesh beneath a thick
skin that must be peeled, and an off
putting appearance. Catfish would proba
bly be more popular were it not a bottom
feeder that often resembles a deranged
Hercule Poirot. Its clean, neutral flavour
makes it suitable for a wide range of cui
sines and techniques.
Prizing the rare and beautiful over the
unattractive and commonplace is hardly
unique to culinary preferences. Engage
ment rings, after all, usually feature dia
monds rather than concrete. But such nar
rowminded food choices can have irrevo
cable consequences: the bluefin tuna and
Chinook salmon may not survive human
fondness for them. Better to stare into a
seadevil’s beady eyes,orget to grips with a
geoduck, than to contribute to the perma
nent loss of a species.nWhy everyone should eat more ugly seafood