Street Food Tour of Mexico City Favorites

This year Mother’s Day is bittersweet for us, the global pandemic has been especially hard on Mexico’s capital city, one of our homes and where one of our mothers currently lives. With huge percentages of the population working in the informal economy as street food and market vendors who do not receive any federal assistance many people in Mexico City are struggling to keep their businesses alive. With them in mind we invite you on a virtual tour of some of our most beloved stalls and highlighting some of our favorite ingredients.

Esquite. The version pictured here is my absolute favorite stand, I chose three of the apartments I rented in the area based on their proximity to this vendor. The broth is light and flavored with epazote a pungent green herb that grows abundantly across Mexico, Central & South America. Epazote is also revered in traditional medicine to assist digestion and support a healthy gut biome. Esquite is an important dish on the menu of the informal economy throughout the city (another favorite is the giant version found in Mercado Jamiaca, the wholesale flower marketplace). It can be found in the afternoons and evenings as a customizable snack with the additions of dried chiles, lime, aged cheese and mayonnaise. Served in a simple cup and eaten with a spoon, it is the perfect street food. Out of curiosity, we have tried esquite (think hipster Tulum or expensive Polanco) in a number of restaurants across the country and it is NEVER the same, despite what some chefs may claim it does not need to be ‘elevated’.

San Juan Market downtown Mexico City is a permanent indoor marketplace widely known for its ‘gourmet’ tendencies and it caters to all kinds of food lovers. In addition to the huge selection of fruits, meats and dried goods there are stalls with specialty foods like Mexican cheeses and libations. We love to eat there when we are downtown, perched on a metal stool tucked away down one of the overflowing aisles it is a great place to recharge amid the chaos of the colonial buildings in el centro. One of the simple pleasures that we seek out are the honey soaked fruits like this fig sold by a vendor specializing in goods from the state of Michoacan.

Salsa is the sign. Depending on the quality of the salsa, street vendors can transform into mystic diviners blessing you with an illumination of flavor that makes you whole or they can make you terribly sick with their carelessness and exposure to the elements an especially ferocious danger in the city. Salsa freshly made in a molcajete like the one pictured here is usually a good sign. Fresh and roasted ingredients are ground together against the volcanic stone as it has been done for thousands of years. Tomatoes are naive to Mexico, Central and South America. They were transported to Europe by the Spnish after the invasion of Hernan Cortes and quickly integrated into the food cultures of many European countries.

Bread. This may sound strange but Mexico City has a well developed bread culture - French occupation may help explain why. in 1863 (42 years after Mexican Independence from Spanish colonial rule) French troops invaded Mexico City and proclaimed it a Catholic Empire, following pressures by Napoleon, an Austrian archduke, Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen, known simply as ‘Maximillian’ was installed as Emperor of Mexico. In June 1967 he was executed by revolutionary forces that took the country back. Panaderia Rossetta is a popular bread shop founded by Chef Elena Reygadas in an upper class neighborhood catering to both wealthy Mexicans and international tourists familiar with her fame. Guava paste and fresh cheese are combined at the heart of a flaky crust, a popular bread found across the city, Rosetta’s version has gained a lot of attention from the press.

Tianguis. Across the city you will find temporary markets, or tianguis, the days shift depending on the neighborhood and each tianguis has a special DNA or combination of food stalls, ingredients fro sale, movies, music, toys, clothing etc… Locals know where to find the ingredients they are looking for and which tianguis sell the treasures they seek. We love eating and we love cooking, Mexico City has a profound array of ingredients to explore. As is the case with many capital cities, CDMX draws from all over the country and immigrants who travel and live in its many neighborhoods bring their food with them. Vendors from the outlying states bring indigenous foods to the tianguis. Especially valuable are dried insects, like these Jumiles from Taxco, Guerrero that are sold individually and make the most delicious addition to fresh salsas.

Tacos de Cabeza. We could take you on an endless loop around the city eating our favorite tacos but let’s talk about tacos de cabeza. Made by preparing the entire head of a cow (in some rare cases a pigs head it used) and because of this there are a limited amount of tacos for sale each day. Our family is known for eating a favorite stand out of tacos in one visit. Everyone has their favorite ‘cut’ of meat and because of the limited number of options available the energy around a taco de cabeza stand can be somewhat urgent and mission driven. Pictured here is a taco de ojo (eyeball) one of the most prized choices because each head has only two eyes and these tacos go fast. It may seem macabre for US eaters, but in fact we undertand this to be a part of the sustainable taco ecosystem as a whole. Using every part of an animal that is butchered as food for humans is a basic act of respect and a way to honor the life being taken. If you are a meat eater and you enjoy tacos we hope you spend some time exploring the variety of options made with the head of the animal feeding you.

Sienna Trapp BowieMay 1, 2021Comment