I may have missed the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but I made up for it with a scrumptious Mexican meal the weekend after. Our new favorite restaurant in Mexico City is a place called "Testal". We have eaten there three times, and I have written about it on the blog. However, in addition to the downtown location which we have visited, there is a branch of "Testal" in the Roma neighborhood. We have talked about going there to see if it is just as good, and Saturday, after the parade, we decided to walk there.
To begin, we both ordered one of their seasonal specialties... cream of pumpkin soup, garnished with "pepitas"... toasted pumpkin seeds. It was delicious.
In Spanish, pumpkin is called "calabaza de Castilla" (squash from Castille), which is a misnomer because it did not originate in the Spanish province of Castille but in Peru. Although we associate it with Halloween jack o' lanterns and Thanksgiving pie, the world's largest producer of pumpkins is actually Mexico. The United States is number two.
For my main dish, I had pork with guava "mole". It was served with rice and slices of fried plantain.
It was delicious, and, surprisingly, the "mole" was not very "picante". I think that even people with a fairly low tolerance for spicy hot would be able to enjoy this dish.
Alejandro ordered the lamb in "adobo". ("Adobo" is a cooking sauce with a base of chipotle or ancho peppers.) It was served with caramelized vegetables. He also was very pleased with his meal.
I didn't take a picture of it, but we ended our meal with a seasonal dessert... a "tecojote" tart. "Tecojotes" are a small Mexican fruit which is harvested in November and December. It is an ingredient in traditional Christmas punch. The tart was also very good.
It was nice to know that the Roma branch of "Testal" is every bit as good as the downtown location!
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