Back to the House

Last Friday I returned to Alejandro's house, and I have spent the long weekend there.  (Today, Monday, is a legal holiday... Constitution Day.)  Each night since last Tuesday, between 20 and 50 people have come to the house to pray the Rosary in memory of Alejandro's mother.  This will continue until Wednesday for a total of nine nights.  On the final night the family is supposed to serve supper to all that are present.  Fortunately, they are not going to try to cook for the crowd, but have ordered 100 tamales for that evening.  (I have been told that in small towns, the family provides supper for all those assembled for all nine nights!)

On Saturday afternoon we were invited to Alejandro's aunt's house for "pozole".  "Pozole" is a soup made with hominy.  There are two types of "pozole"... red which is made with pork, and white which is made with chicken.  His aunt had made a big kettle of each.  The soup is garnished with shredded raw cabbage, radishes and salsa.  Served along with the "pozole" are "tostadas" (fried, crisp tortillas) which are smeared with sour cream.  "Pozole" is not my favorite, but Alejandro's aunt makes a "pozole" that is much better than most.  The occasion was the birthday of one of her grandsons, so a long table was set up to seat all those invited.  We had to eat and run before the birthday cake was brought out, however, because we had to get home before people started arriving for the Rosary.

After the Saturday night Rosary, a friend of the family invited us out for tacos.  We drove several blocks to a large stand set up on the sidewalk selling two kinds of tacos... "tacos al pastor" (made with pork marinated with chiles, spices and pineapple and cooked on a vertical rotisserie) and "tacos de suadero" (made with thin slices of fried beef).  The place is certainly popular; there was a line of people waiting to order.  I generally avoid street food, and so does Alejandro, but if he trusted the place I figured that I could cast aside my gringo paranoia.  I ordered three "tacos al pastor".  They were very greasy, but very tasty.  The place would probably not pass muster with the Ohio Department of Health, but I suffered no ill effects afterwards.