Many restaurants will set up an "ofrenda", an altar in memory of the dead, during the Day of the Dead season. This place was no exception.
I ordered a kind of taco which I had not tried before. A "campechano" taco contains two or more different kinds of meat, typically "suadero", a cut of beef from the belly, and "longaniza", a type of pork sausage. With some chopped onion and cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and a spoonful of salsa, it was very tasty. Along my taco, I had "horchata", a beverage made with rice and cinnamon.
After tacos, we headed down the street to a branch of "El Moro", a chain that has been making "churros" since 1935. "Churros" are the Spanish / Mexican version of the donut. However, they are long, fluted tubes of fried dough instead of circles with holes.
"El Moro" did not have an "ofrenda" set up for the Day of the Dead, but they did have decorations of skeletal "churreros" (churro makers).
The real "churrero" was cutting the coils of fried dough into serving-size pieces, and rolling them in sugar.
Alejandro enjoying his "churro".
One of these days, I want to make churros. They're just a pate a choux dough, and I know how to make that. I just need to get the right piping tip. Maybe the next time my dad opens a new bottle of oil for the fryer, I'll make them. Making them in used oil.... eh, not so good. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe author James Michener, who traveled extensively in Spain, once described churros as the most unhealthy but most delicious breakfast ever.
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