Veracruz Culinary Tour Breakfast Day 0ne

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The trip started inauspiciously.  Our airplane was late into the port of Veracruz, our driver/guide was not there (today we found out that he thought that we were arriving at 10:30 AM not 10:30 at night.)  We had to drive our rented car and kept missing turns and we did not arrive into the city until 12:30 (2:30 AM New York) and we were starving, We found one not-too-promising looking stall open at Los Portales (the arched passageways around the town square) and were welcomed by the smiling face of Oscar who presented us with the kind of glossy menus with pictures on them that make you set you expectations low, very low.

Jan told me to order a lot different duihes assumnig that would increase our chances of getting at least one good thing. So I did: chicken soup for him and vegetable for me, When we saw little globules of fat on the top, we kunew it would be good and it was! Chicken tostadas were next another winner,  The guacamole took a while to get there–they made it to order. Torta of roast pork a  roasted por sandwich, were also good but too much as was the queso fundido wit Spanish-stye chorizo. That just goes to show you can’t judge a place by the horrible music they play. It augured well  for later today.

A few, very few hours later…..

The best coffee in Mexico? Latte before Starbucks

This double shot of strong coffee will soon be filled with steamy milk from an age -worn pot held high so the milk foams and, if you want that, order a lechero.

Breakfast was at the 204 year old Gran  Cafe de la Parroquia and it was grand indeed and, except for the more than one day old bread was as perfect as it was  12 years ago when I last ate there. I worried when I saw  that the presentation of my beloved huevos tirados had completely changed.  Scrambled eigs had been served in  a delicious thinnish bean broth before and today eggs were scrambled with mashed refried black beans and shaped like a torpedo.  It was equally good. The omelet in an intense turkey broth was sublime as were Carlos, our guide’s, huevos rancheros. Jan kept saying “this is  real food.”

Veracruz has a marvelous and extensive corn kitchen and we headed to Antojitos Anitabb to taste one of the most unusual delicacies- gorditas infladas (puri-like puffed corn “tortillas” for lack of  better word) Ive tested this recipe and will put it up when I get back. It’s worth waiting for.

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And one of my favorite appetizers: picadas , thick corn tortillas with their edges crimped to hold sauces, beans, cheese or whatever you think will be good. I like them with salsa verde de aguacate.

As we were walking out a lady walked in with traditional Veracruz homemade candies.

That was sweet but a bigger treat was that the owner, Sergio Gonzalez Corona recommended Villa Rica as the b est seafood restaurant and was he ever right. We had a spectacular meal,Stay tuned.