My tasty Mexico, how I miss you.

Origin date: December 20, 2009

I recently had the opportunity to travel to the gigantic metropolis of Mexico City for a beautiful wedding. The couple getting married are beautiful as well and I wish them the best on their new adventure together. But this trip also afforded me a unique opportunity to have some of the most amazing food I have ever experienced – ever. This trip was taken some months ago and because I was so apathetic about starting this blog, the pictures sat on my hard drive for months. So, for the next few entries I will show you what I shoved in my face. And yes, some of it will be a little…. well, exotic to some. Hey, if you know me you’ll know that if something looks good to me I’ll eat it. Even if I know what it is.

This is the Zocalo or the main square in the center of Mexico City, it is the second largest square after Tiananmen Square in Beijing. But enough about the square – this is a food blog darn it!

What’s great about Mexico City is that there is food everywhere. And its really good food. And its cheap. And did I mention its is really good? I ate delicious, diverse, authentic food every single day and didn’t spend more than $3 per meal. With the exception of some touristy destinations that I kinda got roped into.

One of my favorite discoveries were tortas. They are sandwiches that were stuffed with all sorts of tasty grilled and roasted meats, piled high with tomatoes, avocados and onions. The specialty of Mexico City was Al Pastor. Its usually pork that has been roasted with pineapple juices, its savory and sweet and oh so delectable. Here are some sexy photos of my tortas:

Ohhhhh they were so good. Warm crusty bread, melted cheese, savory pork, ripe tomatoes and avocados…let me just wipe the drool off my chin.

We stayed at the grooms apartment which was in a really trendy neighborhood with tree lined streets and little cafes everywhere. This torta place was around the corner and the sandwiches were about $1.50 a piece. I was in heaven. I ate tortas for breakfast 2 days in a row. I also got a photo of the mastermind at the local torta stand.

Along with my morning torta I also discovered Jugos. There was a Jugos stand directly outside of the torta stand – very smart business arrangement. Jugos are freshly made juices from ALL different kinds of fruits and being in Mexico, there were an amazing selection of fruits. The Jugos stand had your typical fruits that you would find at your local grocery store but it also had fresh papaya, guava, passion fruit and one little round fruit that won my heart forever. A woman in front of me ordered a drink that had orange juice, a generous dollop of honey and 3 to 4 little, golden, round fruits.

With the assistance of a translator, I found out that these little fruits were called guayaba. The fruit is citrusy and with a sugary touch. Mixed with the orange and honey, it’s like gold in a cup.

I had two of these beautifully delicious drinks the first day in Mexico City and when I got back to Salt Lake I searched high and low at several Latino markets before I found the precious little fruits. I bought a jar of honey and oranges from the same Latino market and took it home to try to recreate the liquid gold. But alas, it just was not the same…. tear.

So on my first day in Mexico City I was already in love with the food. And one HUGE point of clarification.There is nearly no such thing as authentic Mexican food here in my city. That’s right folks, not that crap hole in the wall La Puente or its equally evil twin La Frontera, absolutely not Cafe Rio, nothing with ‘Taco’ in its name and even my beloved Mi Ranchito became suspect. The food in Mexico was so beyond anything I had ever had back home. I have found a few little Latino run restaurants that offer very similar faire but its just not the same. Its almost like you need to be in the city to get the flavors right.

This is my first installment of my eating adventures in Mexico and I will continue to post more. It pains me a bit to do this because I miss the food so dearly…. so dearly. Until next time, I leave you with one of the best breakfasts of my life: