I was cooking up some stir-fried rice, one of Danny’s favorite dishes, filled with good veggies, leftover chicken, and brown rice, when the handle broke off my big, heavy frying pan. The soldering had come undone. Heartbreak!

Now, if I were in the States, I’d probably throw it out. Up there I have an uncle who solders, but he’s been ill, and I really don’t know where I could take a frypan for repair. But, we are in Mazatlán. People repair and recycle here, thank goodness. I didn’t want to take the pan to anyone who might drill holes in the stainless steel, insert bolts and nuts, and thus ruin the frypan’s seal as well as its look and functionality.

We’d heard about Santana, a taller de soldadura, over between Casa del Campesino and the triangular tamalería — by the two Pemexes on Ejercito Méxicano. So, we gave it a shot. The next day when we were out running errands, we stopped in. Since there was no parking available right in front of the shop, I hopped out with the frypan, while Greg parked the car around the corner.

In the three minutes it took Greg to park and meet me in the shop, our frypan was already being repaired! Talk about service! I figured we’d have to leave it for a few days, as we do with shoe repair. But, he asked me if I’d wait, I said sure, and voilá. Click any of the photos below to enlarge the view.

View of the shop with a very old and wonderful horizontal drill press.

You can see how basic the shop is. I was fascinated by the huge old horizontal drill press, which is possibly also a lathe, at the entrance. The soldering occurred by the back door to the patio. There were family photos and mementos all around. Such a quick, and pleasant, experience!

I know I couldn’t have replaced this heavy, huge frypan, affordably or easily, here in Mazatlán. A 50 peso repair bill and five minutes of my time, working with a kind, smiling and capable repairman, in a very cool blast-from-the-past workshop, was definitely a blessing.