Don´t drool, please...

[Cosmo]

Originally Posted by Jesus

Life is not fair.

Ahh, you are going on a trip to Barbados????? ahhh, then...

Yesterday I had the enchiladas de mole, today a tlayuda de cecina, and tomorrow, mhhh, lets see....:p

Yer killin me Dude, definitely a MexiCAN!!!

[Sol]

Originally Posted by Jesus

Bad quality pictures but the idea is to get you drooling, but please don´t do it over the keyboard.
Nope, tlacoyo is completely different from tostada. Tlacoyo is the obese cousin of the tortilla, and more the brother of the gordita or sope. Tlacoyos have habas (botany- fava or broad bean ) or frijol inside, they are made with the same masa (dough) but are thicker and in the middle will have haba paste or frijoles. You eat them alone or you can open them and add some salsa and fresh cheese.
Chalupas are (according to me) similar to huaraches. A long version of the tortilla, a bit thicker and oval shaped, like a sandal. You put some beans and cheese and bathe them in salsa.
Tostadas, are just fried or toasted tortillas. You put something on top of them, usually frijoles, lechuga, pollo/pata/tinga/etc, salsa and sprinkle all this with fresh white cheese.
And I was to mention it, but forgot. If you go to Oaxaca city, don´t even think of eating at a restaurant, go to the market just like Sol said. The experience is overwelming. You find all the stands very close from each other and can have a 5 course meal by touring the market. Hot real chocolate handmade and a fresh loaf of bread is something you won´t find in a fancy restaurant. Next stand is the lady selling handmade tortillas suaves or tlayudas; next stop is the guy selling fresh quesillo oaxaca, so fresh it doesn´t need refrigeration for several days. A fast dash for the guy selling avocados then go for the cecina, the butcher is willing to grill some for you if you want.
Or if you are lazy you can just sit at a fonda (small family owned restaurant) and have all of the above in one sitting, plus some enchiladas de mole or pollo en mole.
Ouch, is almost midnigh and I need to have a little snack... be back tomorrow.

With these descriptions, I am going to have to clean off my keyboard. I love Oaxacan cheeses! There is one cheese that looks like a cord or rope is so delicious. The moles are to die for. Jesus, you could always get a job as a food critic.

[StewartG]

Jesus - GREAT thread!!! Sorry I missed it until just now! The food sounds great, and the pictures look super! I'm very impressed at your writing. You should write a book or get a show on the food network!

We are lucky enough to have some decent mexican food places in town (No, not Ninfas or Pappacitos for you Texas people). There is a place in town called Dona Terre that makes the best tamales I've ever had. You can get them with mole, or pork and salsa verde or my favorite, cheese and jalapeno. Jscarbor on this board is a good friend of mine - he can vouch for this place.

Before I met KelliG, I dated a very nice Mexican girl for about five years. We would go over to her mother's house on Sunday and there would always be a HUGE (like the size of an oil drum!) pot of pozole on the stove. There would be a huge bowl of fresh chopped onion, cilantro and a plate of lime wedges. The whole family would spend hours visiting, drinking beer and eating Sra. Banda's pozole!!! Great GREAT food!!!

Thanks for the posts... Jesus - I hope one day we get to share a meal together!!!

[Jesus]

Originally Posted by StewartG

Jesus - GREAT thread!!! Sorry I missed it until just now!

No Xquses for you my friend, I lead you towards this one in Susie's Thread of tips.

Thanks for the posts... Jesus - I hope one day we get to share a meal together!!!

My pleasure, but you arrive to this thread too late, now I´m banned of writting about Mexican food.
Ok, now we have a meeting in Cancun's airport, see you at Dominoe's or Burger King on the day of your departure, I´m paying.

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by Jesus

No Xquses for you my friend, I lead you towards this one in Susie's Thread of tips.

My pleasure, but you arrive to this thread too late, now I´m banned of writting about Mexican food.
Ok, now we have a meeting in Cancun's airport, see you at Dominoe's or Burger King on the day of your departure, I´m paying.

I couldn't think of a sadder way for us to meet!!!


Edit: P.S. Did you see my review of La Borrega? I enjoyed their barbacoa! Have you eaten there?

[Jesus]

Originally Posted by StewartG

I couldn't think of a sadder way for us to meet!!!

Ok, what about TGI Fridays?

Edit: P.S. Did you see my review of La Borrega? I enjoyed their barbacoa! Have you eaten there?

Yes.
Not yet.

[Jesus]

Edited adding all the descriptions. *****

Enchiladas de Mole with shreaded Queso Oaxaca on top.
If you know tacos, this is a taco variation that has gone to the bath tub. You begin with a normal tortilla and lightly fry it in oil, just enough to get it very soft and flexible (flexibility being the main issue here) immediately you stuff the tortillas (normally 3 or 4) with shreaded chicken, you roll the tortilla very very tightly and then put them to rest on a bath of mole sauce in a hot pan (it can also be green tomatillos sauce or tomatoe (jitomate) sauce, but then it won´t be Enchiladas de mole). You let the sauce warm and then serve on the plate, sprinkle some white cheese (panela, cotija or just fresh white one) and some onion. You can also pour some fresh cream but that is more common on Enchialdas verdes or de jitomate, enchiladas also can be served with grated Chihuahua cheese in wich case gets the name of Enchiladas Suizas (because of the melted cheese reasembling the snow covered Alps.

Second pic. Atole con Chocolate (maize and cacao hot drink). in the background you can see a tlayuda ready to eat.
Atole is a hot drink very similar in idea to hot cocoa, but this one much more thicker and is made with the same dough to make tamales or tortillas but with a sweet flavor, normally fruits or almonds, vanilla, etc. in this specific case is added with real chocolate.

[Jesus]

Gordita de Chicharron.
The round one on the left (opened for you to look inside) Gordita (little fatty, in feminine) de Chicharron. It would be like a very fat tortilla, hence the name, but you add some chicharron de cerdo (fried pig skin) while mixing the dough, then you make overweight round tortilla. Think of it like a hamburger pattie. When it's wholly cooked you take it out of the fire and open in half, stuffing cheese, onion and salsa. One thing to note, this is in no way a vegetarian option, the chicharron is made of pork and normally they use lard to fry, the flavor of course is greater than using vegetal oil.
Eating a gordita would be like a taco made of cheese, but open and flat instead of rolled.

Huarache.
The long one is Huarache (the leather sandal used by Mexican indigenous people) con nopales.
The dough is the same as the gordita above, but they make the shape oval and much longer because it would hold the goodies on top, instead of inside as there are baked beans going there.

Once the huarache is done, you put anything from a steak or rib, to a couple of fried eggs or a flattened chicken breast, if you like to be a little more healthier (yeah, with all the lard and chicharron, ) you can ask to have nopales or mushrooms or have it plain with just the cheese and cream, plus the salsa.

[Sol]

Jesus,
You are a cruel man! Posting those pictures of delicious mole and a huarache. UGH! But thank you anyway. It gives me incentive to return to Mexico soon. Saludos.

[Jesus]

Originally Posted by Sol

Jesus,
You are a cruel man! Posting those pictures of delicious mole and a huarache. UGH! But thank you anyway. It gives me incentive to return to Mexico soon. Saludos.

Yes indeed. Have you watched "Little shop of horrors" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091419/? I would love to play the dentist.

[Jesus]

First pic:
Candy store, half traditional handmade candy (with seeds, honey, caramel, crystallized fruit, etc.), half modern mass made candy and toys (those in boxes and hanging from the ceiling).

2 - Café de Olla - coffe boiled in a big pot, brewed with cinnamon and brown sugar (piloncillo) and served in a traditional clay cup.

3- Left: sope (or pellizcada "pinched" in other places) with nopales and fresh white cheese on top.
Right: quesadillas of assorted fillings.

4- Quesadillas, from top to bottom: Tinga de pollo (moist chicken stew on tomato sause); cuitlacoche or huitlacoche (corn fungus or corn smutt) with corn kernels; flor de calabaza (squash flower).
Depending on the region of the country or the restaurant or the cook, the quesadillas may be deep fried like an empanada or like in this picture a freshly made tortilla with the stuffing done later. In the fried version the raw dough is shaped like a tortilla and immediately stuffed, then sealed like a big raviolli and then deep fried.
Normal versions have Oaxaca or Chihuahua cheese, tinga de pollo (semi dry chicken stew), flor de calabaza (squash flowers), sesos (brain), huitlacoche (corn fungus), papa (potato), chicharron (stewed pork rinds), etc.

5- Sope on the left and Tlacoyo de requesón (soft cream cheese variant) on the right.
Tlacoyos are the huaraches's brothers and cousins of the gorditas. They are stuffed with baked beans or requeson or habas and have some garnishing on top, usually just white cheese and cream bathed with some salsa, or like in this case with some nopales.

6- Tostadas, fried tortillas with a different recipe, you can put on top of a tostada: cream, lettuce chicken, salsa, cheese, or bean paste, lettuce, tinga de pollo, white cheese, etc. several different variants. Also you can eat them simple, along with pozole (hominy soup), or break them in triangles and serve the as Totopos (what nachos derive from) to dip in refried beans or guacamole.

7- For dessert, Fresas con crema. Near the Desierto de los Leones, a park near Mexico city, there is a famous (more than 38 years old) place that sells desserts, mainly Strawberrys with cream. Yummy. The straberries are available almost year round and so it's easy to get hold of them except on the rainy season due to the floodings. For this cups, they put a layer of berries then one spoonful of fresh cream and alternate the layers until reaching the top, then they sprinkle sugar, cinnamon and some raisins, they put a couple milk cookies and you are ready to stuff your face and crave for more.


Buen provecho.

[StewartG]

Its official - I've had to put Jesus on "ignore!"

I can't stand the torture!!!

[Sol]

Originally Posted by StewartG

Its official - I've had to put Jesus on "ignore!"

I can't stand the torture!!!

Me too!!!!! I have tears in my eyes as I write this. Jesus you are such a travieso! (naughty man) The pictures are very beautiful.

[maestranba]

Thanks for the great pics and descriptions, Jesus! I tried a lot of those dishes while in Oaxaca, and some I liked and others not so much! I'm a very picky eater, unfortunately. The cuitlacoche tasted pretty good but it wasn't very appetizing to look at! We had some appetizers at el Refujio Fondo in the Zona Rosa in D.F. and they were delicious. They were called sope, I think. They were small, round, tortillas topped with chicken, cheese, and guacamole. They served them w/ green sauce to put on top. Everything at that restaurant was outstanding!!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any food pics while on that trip. Next year when we go back, I'll make sure to take some, so I'll remember what I ate!!

[Kelly Jo]

What a great thread!!!!!!

And now I am SO hungry!!!