Mexican Food

Thus far with respect to Mexico City, I’ve written primarily about the places I went and the things that I saw. In this entry, I think I want to talk about food and some other passing thoughts regarding Mexico City.

As I write this, I have been in Mexico for a week. Thus far, I can say with pride that I haven’t eaten anything but Mexican food. I almost broke down today and grabbed a hamburger because I was extremely hungover and needed some greasy comfort food, but instead I grabbed an omlette with chorizo and refried beans. I’m getting ahead of myself, though.

I heard a lot of talk before I came here about how authentic Mexican food was very different from the Tex-Mex stuff that I get in the United States. I have to say that I have found that to be very true. There are not very many of the ground beef and cheddar dishes that are common at Taco Bell here in Mexico that I’ve seen. I have had a lot of tacos here in Mexico City. Some look similar to what I’m used to, meat and toppings in a folded-over corn tortilla. (I’ve seen a thousand tortillas in Mexico thus far and I don’t think I’ve seen a flour one – all corn. The smell of frying corn tortillas is everywhere in Mexico City.) Other tacos have been wrapped up like a mini-burrito but with the same fillings as the others.

My favorite tacos so far have been Tacos de Arranchera, which is tacos with flank steak. The meat has been marinated and the typical toppings provided have been pico de gallo and onions as well as a white cheese that I don’t find too flavorful, but the cheese flavor isn’t necessary with all of the other flavors going on in the food.

I also tried mole, I believe for the first time. Mole is probably the most famous of the Mexican dishes and there are several varieties that are found all over the country. The primary ingredients are chiles and chocolate, but it’s not necessarily either very spicy or sweet. The most famous is Mole Poblano, which is mole from Puebla, but I’ll write about that when I get to the Puebla entries. In Mexico City, I tried enchiladas with mole negro. This was my first experience with mole and I found that the mole that I tried was a little sweeter than I liked. Specifically, the chocolate flavor was a little too obvious.

I tried a few other Mexican dishes as well. I must admit, though, that the majority of the meals that I had in Mexico City were pretty generic because of where I ate them. In Mexico City, there are two restaurant chains that are on almost every corner – VIPS and Sanborn’s. I ate at VIPS twice in Mexico City and Sanborn’s once. These chain restaurants are sort of Mexican versions of Denny’s and Chili’s. They are a step above the fast food joints but not places in which you would expect to find fine cuisine, either. I ate at these places while I was travelling alone, figuring that I would have better meals when somebody with some local experience directed me towards more authentic cuisine. Even after that happened, though, I have to say that nothing I ate in Mexico City blew me away. I still expect that to happen, though, before I leave Mexico and enter Belize.

Depending on who you ask, Mexico City is either the largest or second-largest city in the world and the largest city that I’ve ever visited. That becomes obvious when I look at all of the places that I visited and the things that I saw in and around the city and realize that I saw only a very small fraction of the city. In the north, there is much poverty and I know there are some dangerous parts of the city. I didn’t see any of that. I think that five days in Mexico City probably were enough for me, but I’d definitely recommend paying it a visit. Now, it’s on to Puebla.