Mi Primera Navidad Mexicana, pt. 2 "La Comida"

When we last left our merry band of travelers, they were leaving the desolation of Arizona for the desolation of western Mexico. Upon arrival, they were met with one weary border patrolman and a lot of great food. We won't dwell on the border. That part was boring and uneventful (thankfully). The food, on the other hand, was not boring and always its own event!
Sonora is in the northwestern corner of Mexico, and it is credited with giving us some wonderful things like carne asada, tortillas that are bigger than most American stove-tops, machaca, coyotas and cajeta. Some of those you may be familiar with. Others, not so much. Carne asada is grilled flank steak (or other thin steaks). Big tortillas are big tortillas. Machaca is like shredded beef jerkey. It looks to me like cotton with the color and taste of beef jerkey. Coyotas are round pastries filled with molasses or other sweet fillings. Cajeta is like melted carmels.

As we arrived at a pueblo called Magdalena, we stopped next to some shacks on the side of the road. Here is where we found the famous "sabana" tortillas. Sabana means sheet in Spanish. They were pretty cool.

Upon our arrival at Tia Dominga and Tio Omar's home, we were greeted by a big bowl of arroz con leche. It's basically a sweet and creamy rice dessert. The photo is of cousin Elsa.

Cousin David works for a shrimp harvesting company, and so we were treated to fresh shrimp for one of our meals. I'm not a huge shrimp fan, but Tio Beto did convince me to try some of his shrimp cocktail. It was shrimp that had been butterflied and marinated in lemon juice and spices. I enjoyed it, but it was very strong. The fried shrimp was fantastic. Tia Dominga made a great breading for it.

The most anticipated part of the trip for me was the hot dogs at the University of Sonora. Yes, you read that right. I wanted the hot dogs. The first time Megs talked with me seven years ago about her trips to Mexico and the hot dogs she loved to eat there. Listen, I'm not a fan of hot dogs. If it isn't at a ballpark, I'm not likely to eat it. When you tell me that you expect me to put guacamole and beans on the dog, that is going too far. Or so I thought. I was wrong. Until you've had a bacon-wrapped hot dog shoved to the bottom of a warm hoagie roll and topped with baked beans, melted cheese, diced onions, diced tomatoes, guacamole, and chorizo, you have not had a great hot dog. Wash it down with a Mexican Coke or some horchata (rice & cinamon drink), and life is good. Or you could have another one. Then life would be really good. Mmm... Hot dogs. America needs to take its small buns, relish and fake sauces, and throw up the white flag. Mexico wins.

One night we headed to a family favorite spot for tacos on the north side of Hermosillo. I had tacos with turkey, carne asada and pork (al pastor). Sarah, Josh and Cousin Edgar had their table stolen from them before we'd even finished eating. Jorge gave the manager an earful when we left for that one. The tacos were good, but I think the ones we had in Playa del Carmen last year were better.

Tyler was more interested in the lemons than the tacos. I have to say, the kid ate absolutely everything we put in front of him during the entire trip. I've never seen him eat like that. He ate it all--shrimp, lemons, cheese soup, menudo (sans the stomach), lamb, turkey, tamales, roasted anaheim peppers--everything.

This street shot might not seem to have much to do with food, but this is one of the original parts of Hermosillo. This colonial-style part of town is now the best place to find coyotas. Many of the shops specialize in different kinds of fillings. We were lucky enough to get some coyotas that were fresh out of the oven. They were darn tasty with gooey molases in the middle.

The machaca I mentioned earlier can be used for a number of things. One morning we enjoyed it with scrambled eggs for breakfast. Pictured below, we had machaca for dinner as a kind of stir-fry with potatoes, peppers, onions and tomatoes. This dish can be eaten with a fork right off the plate or in tortillas. Actually, everything there could have been eaten with tortillas. To give it a bit of a kick, I added chiltepine salsa to just about everything I ate. I believe this spice is also a native food of Sonora. The salsa that Tia Dominga had for us was hot but flavorful.

Christmas dinner is a huge deal for the people of Mexico. I think this is largely because they stay up until midnight to start opening presents. Whatever the reason, I wasn't complaining. We had turkey, pork, rice, salad, beans, tamales, and menudo.

Tio Beto made the menudo. I wasn't a big fan of the actual stomach and such, but the broth was good. When I said I would try it, I didn't mean I eat an entire bowl. Something got lost in translations, even though I'm sure the verb "probar" does mean "try," not "indulge."

The leg of pork was the most succulent pork I have ever eaten. The sauce that was created while it cooked was perfect on the veggie rice we had.

Anette prepared the turkey, and it seemed better in Mexico, as well. The juices were so full of flavor. Both the pork and the turkey served us well throughout the night and for sandwiches at the beach the next day.Tio Beto and Jorge sat at the bar to be closest to all the food being prepared in the kitchen. In front of them at this point were the tamales and menudo. You can also see the chiltepine salsa I liked (the red-capped jar). The bowl of greens is cilantro and onions to add to your bowl of menudo.

Before leaving for home, we were treated to a traditional dinner of carne asada. Tia Dominga taught me all about the other things that go with the carne asada. Man cannot live on meat alone. We roasted chiles and onions over an open flame.

We had great carne asada, but we also had grilled ribs, as well. It was all delicious.The salad was good, too. I like that I could toss the lettuce and tomato into a tortilla with beans and carne asada to make a burrito or taco. If you wanted to eat everything separate, you can. If you want it all together, that will work, too. Of course, I had to try both ways. I've got no favorite on this one, though. It was all good.

Tia Dominga also had me mash together the avocados, roasted tomatoes, onions and spices to make the fresh salsa. There aren't any photos of that since I was busy grinding things in the molcajete (bowl with medicine ball). Cousin Elsa made fresh guacamole for the dinner, as well.What can I say? I knew I was going to be headed for a treat when it came to the food in Hermosillo. I was not disappointed. On the last day of our trip, Cousin Edgar asked me how much weight I had gained on the trip. I can't give you a solid number of pounds, but I did gain something else--a great respect and fondness for the history of food in Sonora. As for the pounds that did make their way to my tummy, they will start to work their way off tomorrow morning as I jump into the neighborhood basketball games.