A Full Plate

Last Sunday, after going to the movie theater, we went out for dinner at restaurant in the mall.  The place, called "Don Asado", is part a chain of Uruguayan-style steakhouses in Mexico City.  

We each started with an order of three "empanadas" (fried turnovers with savory fillings).  Although they were good, it was a mistake to order them, because, as we soon found out, our main course was humungous.

We ordered the "chivito" plate for two.  "Chivito" is the national dish of Uruguay.  It means "little goat" although it contains almost everything except goat.  The story goes that a woman from Argentina (where barbecued kid is popular) was visiting a beach resort in Uruguay.  At a restaurant she asked for a sandwich of "chivito".  The restaurant owner did not have any goat, so he prepared a sandwich of sliced beefsteak.  The name "chivito" stuck.

"Chivito" can be prepared as a sandwich, or as a plated dish.  When we saw the size of our "chivito", we realized that we should not have ordered a starter.

The slices of beef and the slices of ham were topped with fried eggs.  That rested a bed of French fries and a whole bunch of other stuff.  There were pickles, hearts of palm, tomatoes, olives, Russian salad (a variation of potato salad), and probably more things that I can't recall.  It was one of the few times that Alejandro and I were unable to finish our meal!

The Tallest Peak

The other day, I mentioned Alejandro's friend Andrés, who joined us for dinner last Saturday.  Although Andrés is a native of Mexico City, he now lives in the city of Orizaba, about four hours away.  The city is located near the foot of "el Pico de Orizaba", which, with an elevation of over 18,000 feet, is the tallest mountain in Mexico, and the third highest in North America.  Today, Andrés sent Alejandro this photo which he took of the mountain...

Penguin Lessons

Last Sunday Alejandro and I saw a movie called "Lecciones de un pingüino" (The Penguin Lessons).

 

(image taken from the internet)

We had seen the trailers for the film on earlier visits to the movie theater, and we wanted to see it when it came out.  It sounded like a sweet, cutsey movie.

The movie stars Steve Coogan, a British actor and comedian with whom I was not familiar.  He plays an Englishman who has taken a position teaching at an exclusive private high school in Argentina.  On a visit to a beach, he discovers a bunch of dead penguins, covered in oil from a spill.  One is still alive, and he rescues it and cleans it.  Although he tries to return the bird to the sea, it refuses to leave the man's side.  The penguin adopts him and eventually becomes the beloved mascot of the school.

It is indeed a sweet, sentimental film, but it also has a deeper side that we did not expect.  It takes place during the military coup d'état and subsequent dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s. The disappearance of political opponents is an element of the plot.

The movie is based on a memoir of the same name.  Although the filmmakers took a lot of liberties with the true story, it is still an enjoyable movie.  I recommend it (if it is still playing in theaters in the United States).

Another "Chile"

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were not entirely satisfied with the "chile en nogada" that we ordered at what used to be our favorite restaurant, Angelopolitano.

Last Saturday, one of Alejandro's friends was in the city for the weekend.  So we got together and invited him to eat at one of our new favorites, Testal.  They too are now serving "chiles en nogada", a dish which is generally offered during a limited season, from late July through September.  Of course, that is what all three of us ordered.

Alejandro and his friend Andrés, waiting for me to take a photo before digging into their "chiles en nogada".

And yours truly, eager to enjoy this masterpiece of Mexican cuisine.

The "nogada" (a cream walnut sauce) was much better here than at Angelopolitano.  It was  more flavorful, and they weren't afraid to ladle a generous amount over the stuffed poblano pepper.

Along with our "chile", each of us received a little card with a number.  It is still early in the season, so my "chile" was only the 483rd to be served this year.

I also noticed from this card, that Testal is celebrating its 10th anniversary at its location in the HIstoric Center.

It was an excellent meal.  We will have to return before the season is over.  It is always a difficult decision whether to order the "chile en nogada" or another seasonal offering... "enchiladas agustinas".  The enchiladas are filled with the same stuffing of meat, fruit and nuts used in the "chiles en nogada", but they are then covered with "mole poblano".  Yummy!

Giant Handicrafts

Alejandro and I were downtown on Saturday, and we had some time to kill before meeting a friend for dinner.  I had seen that the Museum of Popular Arts was having a special exhibit on "amate" paper, so we went inside to see it.  ("Amate" paper is made from the bark of the fig tree, and has been used since pre-Hispanic times.)  Unfortunately, I did not read the description of the exhibit.  I was expecting a display of the beautiful and intricate folk art that is painted on the paper.  Instead, the exhibit was the work of an artist who creates abstract sculptures from "amate" paper.  Not really my cup of tea.

However, our visit to the museum was not entirely fruitless.  In the courtyard there were several giant-sized versions of traditional Mexican handicrafts.

Here one of the rag dolls typical of the town of Amealco in the state of Querétaro is recreated on a monumental scale using papier mache.

This colorful replica of a hot air balloon is made of wicker.  It comes from Tequisquiapan, also in the state of Querétaro, a town known for its wicker handicrafts.

One of my favorite pottery makers is Cerámica Servín.  Here is a gigantic version of a decanter done it Servin's distinctive style.

This Nativity scene is made from "ixtle", a fiber from a variety of agave plant that has been used in Mexico since ancient times.

In the courtyard, there is usually has one of the "alebrijes" from the parades which the museum sponsors every Octubre.  The "alebrijes" are colorful, fantastical animals made from papier mache.

The museum has already announced the date for this year's parade... October 18th... and we are looking forward to it.

The North Pole in Tlalpan

 Last night I was with Alejandro's family at their home on the north side of Mexico City.  There we only had a few minutes of light rain, barely enough to wet the pavement.  It was a different story on the south side of the city, where they had torrential rain, flooding and hail.

This photo on the front page of one of today's newspapers showed a street in the borough of Tlapan.

The hail covering the street made it look like a winter scene from a northern clime.  Plows had to clear the ice away.

(Sorry, the photo quality is not good.  The newsstand vendor had her newspapers covered with plastic.)

A Flower Fair

Last week, the picturesque neighborhood of San Angel in southern Mexico City hosted an event called "Feria de las Flores" (Flower Fair).

The center of activities was in a neighborhood park called "Parque la Bombilla".  There were tents set up where vendors from nurseries sold a wide variety of plants and flowers.  There were also food stalls, although on the weekday morning that I was there, they had not yet opened.  A stage was set up also, but the musical events were mainly scheduled for the weekends.

Since I had just repotted a couple of my houseplants, and I now have a two empty pots sitting in the apartment, I gave serious thought to buying another plant.  However, carrying it back on the Metrobus might be awkward.  So, I simply browsed and enjoyed looking at the wide variety of plants for sale.

One vendor was selling water lilies.

Beautiful hibiscus blossoms

An especially beautiful orchid

I'm not buying any more orchids until I get the one I have to rebloom!

Did you know that the national flower of Mexico is the dahlia?

There were plenty of those to be seen.

I wandered around the streets of San Angel for a little while.  Some of the public buildings, shops and restaurants were decorated for the event.  However, it was nothing to compare with the flower festival in the neighborhood of Polanco where most of the storefronts are lavishly adorned with flowers.

The first drops of the afternoon rain were beginning to fall.  So I headed back to the Metrobus stop and returned to the apartment.