Boots in the Oven

Tlaquepaque Eatins

Looks like I've done that every couple of months throw my neck out thing, so imagine me writing this from our B&B in Mexico City holding my head very. very. still. ow.  And my trusty corn kernel heating pad is somewhere in a storage locker in Austin.

Yesterday we got a good bit done with the travel/food project we still have pretty much entirely under wraps, which meant that we spent a good chunk of the afternoon staring at computers.  But not to worry, we got out and about a bit as well.

Firstish thing in the morning we headed basically next door to Tlaquepaque's market.  We were actually planning to just take the market in and then head to a loncheria for some... lonch, but then we passed this little gordita stand.

And that resolution went right out the window.  One with nopales and pollo and one with rajas con carne (roasted poblano pepper strips and beef), please!  

Now when I get back to Austin, I'll have to see if I can get La Canaria to add these flavors to the mix.

Well, and then we passed a tacos de canasta seller.  Tacos de canasta, basket tacos, are also called tacos sudados (sweaty tacos), and they're tacos that are made in the morning and then used to line a basket, which keeps them all warm and steamy together.  

I totally broke my rule about only eating streetfood cooked a la minute right in front of my hungry face, because I'd just read this awesome post from Lesley Tellez at the Hija Chronicles about how worthy these particular tacos were.  So I bellied up and ordered one with frijol and one with chicharron.

They were out of chicharron.  Dammit.  Picadillo, please.

I'm guessing I'd never seen these in the States before because they violate probably eleventy or fourteeneight health code ordinances, which is a shame.  The tacos themselves are soft, but not mushy, from steaming together, and the array of fresh condiments you ladle over the top adds crunch and spice.  We will have to search more of these out.

As long as we were there, we poked around the rest of the market.  There were lots of folks selling hominy and cactus.

And very pretty gelatinas, too.  We tried one the night before that would have bounced if you'd thrown it across the street.  Not my favorite, though these actually look a bit softer and more inviting.

I won't subject you to the picture Logan got of the cut-open hen carcass with unlaid eggs visible, but it's here if you're curious.  I gather they're quite the delicacy.

Later in the day, we did some strolling through the gallery area.  There are some truly lovely boutiques in Tlaquepaque, though we didn't see too much in our budget.

Outside Sergio Bustamante's store.

Some joints were definitely funkier and more laid-back looking than others.

And then, much later, we stopped at a taco stand on the corner of Progresso and Refoma (love it) for dinner.  11 tacos between the two of us (they were the tiny, possibly 3-inch diameter, traditional ones, before you gasp).  81 pesos.

The setup was pretty cool.  It was possible to see all the day's offerings frying up right in front of you. Order a couple, eat, ruminate, maybe order more.

The tripas were just the right amount of chewy and the chorizo had that sour, spicy punch dreams are made of.  Plus, during cuaresma (lent, apparently) they offer fish and shrimp tacos on Fridays - so you're even covered if you're a practicing Catholic.

And dude, the fried onions and peppers he had for garnish and/or simple side dishes, which you see sitting in those bowls in front of the cookspace, were brilliant.  Now I want them with everything.

So, sadly, no tequila tour in Jalisco, which we'll probably come to regret.  We did try to present ourselves at a distillery in Tlaquepaque, but the person who ran the tours hadn't shown up and everyone else was busy eating lunch for the next three hours (literally), so we gave up.  We've got to get our hands on some mezcal when we get to Oaxaca.

Tlaquepaque!

Tlaquepaque, the suburb with a funny name, is about a 20 minute bus ride from central Guadalajara yet is very different.  It has a small-town feel and a lovely central plaza, full of strolling families and street eats.  There's actually an almost Disney feel to the main calle, which is pedestrianized and lined with beautiful boutiques and fancy restaurants advertising sushi along with their tequila drinks.

We arrived yesterday midafternoon and checked into our cheapie little place, donde el indio duerme (yes, that is the name!).

It's very cheap, like I said (unlike most of the places to stay in Tlaquepaque), and the rooms are cute, but it is definitely in need of some TLC! The first room we were given had HUGE mold spots taking up an entire corner.  This room is better, though the paint is peeling from the walls in sheets and a spring in the bed poked Logan all last night.  It faces the main road, which while it is a pedestrian thoroughfare, is pretty loud at night.  We'll be in fancier digs tomorrow, so no biggie.

We dropped our bags and immediately took off to explore the town.

I smelled the aroma of roasting peanuts coming from a street corner and followed my nose to this guy.

A sack of the in-shell peanuts, freshly roasted over an open flame, made a wonderful snack.

We made our way back to Tlaquepaque's main square and ogled the beautiful Santuario.

The main square is beautiful, and was beginning to pick up as we strolled around at 5:30.

We bought sacks of freshly boiled green garbanzo beans for snacking and discovered the wonders of buñuelos, huge fried disks coated in piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar) caramel.  No chicharrones for us, though.  That's their spicy sauce in the 5-gallon bucket.

We also bought a 5-liter jug of tequila, just for funsies.  (No, we didn't.)

After a quick stop back at the hotel to freshen up a bit, we walked down the few blocks to find Doña Victoria's dinner stand.  In Tlaquepaque, there seem to be lots of establishments like these, with seating indoors and a kitchen set up outside.  There's no sign of them until early evening, when the doors are thrown open and the kitchen is set up and starts cooking.  

This place was quite well organized - they even had a printed menu!

Serious dinner drool face after the jump.

Saying Goodbye to Guadalajara with, what else... Streetfood!

Surprise!

Yesterday morning we slept in a bit and then headed down to Tortas Ahogadas Principe Heredero for a brunchy lunchy torta ahogada.

We'd actually tried to find the joint on Sunday, but it's closed then, and because it's a cart there is absolutely no sign of the place unless it's currently physically there.  Plus, all the directions we had was that it was the tortas ahogadas place "atras de Sears" (behind Sears) but we weren't sure exactly where. We asked several people and finally one working directly across the street from the spot knew what we were talking about!

It's on the corner of Manzano and Epigmenio Gonzales, if you're looking for it.  (And here's a Google Street View of it in full swing, hilariously!)

View Larger Map

When we returned on Monday, the place was bumpin'. There isn't too much to choose from on the small menu - just tortas ahogadas and tacos dorados - and we weren't really in the mood for fried tacos. So, two drowned sandwiches it is! With some horchata (rice milk) out of that vat, please.

You can see on the wall in the background that they hang up laudatory articles people have written about them.

Tortas Ahogadas are roasted pork sandwiches served on a crusty bolillo roll.  A thin, oragano-rich tomato sauce is poured over the sandwich, and then a spicy sauce with a bit of bitterness, some sweet clove, and a punch of sour is poured over the top, to your liking. We've had them served hot, but interestingly, these were cooler than room temperature.

At the tortas place behind the Sears, they give you pickled onions you can add, too, if you like, and a limon for squeezing.  There's also more of the spicy sauce on the table if you want to add it.

Interestingly (I don't remember this from the other two tortas we tried) principe herredero adds a fat smear of pureed peruano beans to their sandwich.  It adds a nice texture and bit of earthiness, but not much else.

This sandwich was unbelieveably good.  Piquant, just the right amount of spicy, sweet, roasty-toasty... all of that.  And I think I finally GET horchata.  I've always thought it was too sweet, but with this sandwich, perfection.

But we weren't done!  On our walk from the hotel we'd passed the apparently extra-popular Tacos Fish La Paz, on the corner of La Pas and Guerra, and we knew we'd have to stop for a couple of tacos.

This place was a ridiculously comprehensive street stand.  They had a full-on salsa bar, for chrissake, where you could add everything from spicy mayonnaise to fresh lime juice to pickled cabbage to spicy escabeche to your dish.

We got the two most popular items, the taco with fried shrimp and one with fried fish, and also a taco dorado con jaiba (fried crab taco).

Good, but no torta ahogada from behind the Sears.  There is a definite seafood obsession in Guadalajara (and here in Tlaquepaque) - and they are very near a huge lake, but not particularly close to the coast.

For some reason, I'm just not feeling the seafood in Guadalajara, which probably isn't fair, because it's EVERYWHERE.  But I think I'll just wait until we get down to the beaches of Oaxaca before I really indulge my... fishtooth?  Shrimptooth?

Next up - streetfoods of Tlaquepaque!

 

Travel Vignette: Guadalajara

On Calle Juarez, Sunday, March 27, 2011 (though this could have been taken at any number of pedestrian crossings).

Luchadores! Seriously, LUCAHDORES!

High-flying stunts!  Wrestlers landing in our laps!  Children in masks!

Where were we?  A Lucha Libre match!

On Sunday, early evening, we walked from our hotel to the Guadalajara stadium to see us some wrestling.  Though we got there 45 minutes before the matches began, we were able to get 2nd row seats!  

Sunday is apparently family day, and the place was full of kids come to eat baskets of chicharrones and see the matches.

We were both ridiculously happy to be in the middle of all of this excitement.  There was cheering, and yelling, and taunting, and every once in a while a wrestler would come over the ropes in front of us and land across Row 1.  The first time this happened, we watched as all the people in the row in front of us suddenly scattered.  We couldn't figure out why, until a wrestler came over the ropes, cleared the space between the ring and the spectators in no time flat, and totally knocked the unbolted (and now unoccpied) seats of Row 1 right back into us.

At one point, Texano Jr. took out all of Row 1 and most of our row, as well.  

There was a ladies' match as well, and these women were totally hard-core.  Though I did notice a lot more hair-pulling with the women than there was with the men.

You know what, still pics just don't give you a sense of the awesomeness of the matches.  So here are a couple of videos for you.

Ladies!

And the crazy acrobatics of the men's title match!  Or title brawl, really, since there were three guys on each side.

Seriously. Backflips in the middle of the ring.

I am stupid happy that we went to see this spectacle.  

And now, off to enjoy Tlaquepaque!