Taco Sunday

Last Sunday Alejandro said that we were going to have tacos for dinner.  I figured that we were going to get carry out from one of the many taco joints in the area.  But, no, he was going to make tacos from scratch... more specifically "tacos de suadero".  They are, along with "tacos al pastor", one of the most typical kinds of tacos to be found in Mexico City.  "Suadero" is a cut of beef from between the belly and the rear leg.  I had "tacos de suadero" once at a "taquería", and they were good, although "al pastor" (made with pork grilled on a vertical spit) remained my favorite.

First we had to do some shopping.  We walked to a nearby market.  (The other day I talked about the "tianguis", the weekly outdoor market.  But most neighborhoods also have a "mercado", a market building which is open every day of the week.)

Alejandro went directly to a butcher's stall and bought 1 1/2 kilos (a little over three pounds) of chopped "suadero meat".

We went to a couple of other stalls to buy spices, chiles, onions, cilantro and "tomatillos" (the green fruit related to tomatoes that is used to make green sauce).

We also had to go to a "tortilleria", one of the countless little, hole-in-the-wall shops that crank out tortillas.  If you look closely you can see the tortillas sitting on the scale.  The woman is about to wrap them up in paper.  In the background is the machine which makes the tortillas.  Even the machine-made tortillas down here taste so much better than what you buy at the supermarkets in the United States.

Back at the house, Alejandro started by making a marinade, with oil, onion, bay leaves, pepper corns, thyme and rosemary blended together in the blender.  He then mixed the marinade into meat.

Later he would add orange juice to the meat, and then lime juice.  The meat has to marinate for a minimum of two hours.

Meanwhile we made the salsa.  Onion, serrano peppers, garlic, and tomatillos are roasted in a dry frying pan until they are charred.

The charred ingredients are then ground in a stone mortar known as a "molcajete". 

We actually made two batches of salsa... one was slightly spicy, the other one very spicy.

After marinating, the "suadero" beef is cooked in a pressure cooker with water.  When done it is then put into another pot and fried in oil.  The tortillas are dipped into the meat juices in the pressure cooker, and heated on a hot griddle.  They are wrapped in a cloth to keep them warm.

At last it is time to eat.  Alejandro ladles out some meat onto each plate for making our tacos.  Spread out on the table are all the other fixings... salsas, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro.  And you can't eat a taco without squeezing some lime juice on top.

I lost track of how many tacos I ate.  I will still probably order "tacos al pastor" when I go out to a "taquería".  However, these homemade "tacos de suadero" were probably the best tacos I have ever eaten.

They were definitely worth the hours of preparation!  Bravo, Alejandro!