The Best Things I Ate in Guadalajara

No matter where I go in the world, my first stop is always at the market.  A visit  there tells me much about the place–what there is to eat,  the local arts and crafts, and the general personality of the citizens. The people of Guadalajara in general are what we call amables, amiable and friendly.   For Mexicans, the word “educacion” is not about book learning.  Rather, it’s about being courteous,  dignified and showing respect for themselves and others and the concept is personified in this fair city.

Showing a cleaned coxihuite

Our first stop was the Mercado Corona on Avenida Hidalgo downtown.  We had gone to have my picture taken there for a wonderful article that was published  in El Mural (see link  below).  We basically took over the colorful and well-stocked stand belonging to Paula Reynosa Sandoval (pictures at left) for hours and she couldn’t have been nicer.  She sold fascinating array of products.–maguey syrup, arrayanes, huitlacoche, peeled cactus fruits, guavas and  I was excited to discover something I’d never seen before coxihuites that Paula is showing at left.  Click on flickr to see the other pictures.

The Department of Tourism arranged a tour by Jaime Castillo Barragan, one of the vendors who does public relations for the gigantic San Juan de Dios Market (now called Taiwan-de- Dios by some) but still one of the great markets of the world.

It is built on several levels — a kaleidoscope of activity and color when you look down from the top floor. For me it was one amazing discovery after another. Piles of vegetables and fruits I’d never seen before, stalls with different kinds of herbs and remedies, flower stalls and candy-sellers.

Another floor is dedicated to arts and crafts and I found exquisitely  hand tooled leather belts, jackets, boots and bought myself a leathee jacket with a rooster embroidered in white.) I bought beautiful sets of pillow cases with colorful cross stitch motifs and a darling dress for my granddaughter.

The prepared foods are sold on the second level, dished out of big cazuelas at colorful tiled islands with their own seating areas. (My mother, when she visited, would always say we should head for the most crowded one with no place to sit.) I still think about the market (now called the Mercado de Libertad), and I like to recapture some of its vivid atmosphere for catered parties in New York, set up with marketplace banners and cooks working at little stalls in full view.

Sadly now, they are just as many stalls selling pizzas and hotdogs as there are those that sell traditional items such as pozole,the pork and hominy  stew I keep mentioning and birria, a goat meat dish I had eaten once and hated. But this time I went to the birrieria Guadalajara and loved it (see the Best things I ate in Guadalajara.)

My visit to Guadalajara was part-pleasure and part research for a new entry in the travel section of my website and a new book. Though I lived there for 5 years, I never discovered a distinctive cuisine but rather delicious street and market  food and the more sophisticated Continental-style Mexican food served in the home. On this trip I concentrated on these two categories .

Here are some of my favorite things I ate on this trip, in the order I had them.

Tejuino: A centuries-old traditional drink of the local Cora and Huichol

Tejuino with lime ice

Indians made of fermented dried corn and piloncillo (brown sugar cone) .  You can order it with or without their freshly made lime ice that  replaced the squeeze of lime and  pinch of baking soda that was used until the 60s. I chose to drink it plain but it was anything but — complex, lightly sweet and tart, thick and luscious with surprising little chunks of sea salt that made all the other flavors explode in my mouth. Available at Nieves de Garrafa Mexicalcingo, Nicolas Regules # 109

Cocuixtle is the fruit of a bromeliad according to one article I read but I could not find its scientific name in any of my many books on the flora of Mexico.  I did not love them but it was a discovery worth mentioning because it brought back so many childhood memories for my friends who used to buy them from a vendor at lunch on the way home from school.  The vendor, Paula Reynosa Sandoval, simply peeled them, sprinkled some lime juice and chile powder on t hem and gave me a taste which was pretty disappointing but my friend say that they must be first cooled and served  in a sweet syrup or with lime and chile powder as the woman had done at the Mercado Corona located on Zaragoza between Independencia and Hidalgo.)

Camote blanco: A taste of this somewhat starchy root that looks but does not taste or have the consistency of taro transported me back to my days in Guadalajara.  Maybe one of you can tell what they are by their picture and can let me know what their botanical name is.

Honeys

Miel de Maguey: Another discovery was a honey made from the maguey plant.  I am not into sweets but it does have a wonderfully earthy and deep flavor that I loved with whole grain waffles.

Birria:   Call me unsophisticated or queasy but I had never enjoyed<em> birria</em>, the Guadalajara version of barbacoa.  I had not developed a taste for Mexican goat meat preparations  perhaps because much of what  I’ve tasted was very gamey.  Perhaps they cleaned it differently.  I used to love it at San Domenico ages ago and always ordered it at L’impero,  but on this trip I had a delicious birria from the Birrieria Guadalajara.  The owner, Rosalio Arredondo Chavez, claims that  he uses 60 ingredients in the rub and that may be true but I didn’t have a chance to pick up his spice rub and will have to work it out on my own.  In any case, it can never be the same because I would  have to cook it over maguey leaves in a hole in the ground which I probably cannot get or do in the New York City area.  You can have it nice and juicy  straight  from the special oven or “tatemada”  or drained of its juices and put under a broiler or in a hot oven until it becomes crusty on the top but before it loses its moisture.

Panela al horno:  Guadalajara is known for its  cheeses and panela, a soft , smooth,  is one of the most popular.  At the dinner given for me at the home of now yoga master Jorge Lupercio and his companion Sandro, a rising star in men’s wear design, particularly modern versions of traditional Mexican shirts, the serve a delicious baked panela and a spectacular millefuille filled with creamy panela.

Tortas de Camaron con Nopales: This is one dish that can be awful or fabulous and the one served  to me at Casa Tlaquepaque, a small boutique hotel dedicated to promoting the work of local artists and artisans, was the best I’ve ever had. Accompanying the carp roe tacos, a delicacy from the Lake Chapala area that I longed to eat was a fantastic salsa martajada. She gave me the list of ingredients but no quantities so I’ll play with it and most the recipe as soon as I work  it out.

Gorditas de Chicharron: Who can resist the smell of handmade corn tortillas cooking on a wood fire? Not me.  These thick, toothsome tortillas that are filled with a choice of chile strips, squash blossoms, chicharrones sauteed pork cracklings) and served with  a simple arbol chile sauce.

Fideo seco con mole y panela: My dear friend Victor Nava hosted and cooked for a wonderful dinner party in my honor and made this delicious pilaf-style vermicelli with mole and panela cheese on top. But what topped the evening was that he hired two guitarists for me to sing all night. It didn’t take long before everyone at the table was singing.

See recipe for Sopa Seca in the recipe section but use thin vermicelli, toasted in the oven instead.  Mix in a mole of your choice and top with queso fresco or some other cheese to your taste.