Children of the Corn

Not far from the apartment is a small restaurant called "Hijos del Maíz" (Children of the Corn).  I have no idea if they named the restaurant with the old horror film in mind.  Probably not.  Corn has always been the staff of life in Mexico, and; in some pre-Hispanic mythologies, the gods created the human race out of corn.  The specialty of the house is "chilaquiles", a dish made from pieces of lightly fried corn tortillas cooked with salsa and a number of garnishes.

I have eaten there a number of times, especially for breakfast.  The food was pretty good although the menu was somewhat limited.  On Friday evening of last week Alejandro came to the apartment, but he arrived fairly late... around 8:30.  During the pandemic, most restaurants, other than taco joints, have been closing rather early, even on weekends.  However, I noticed on Google Maps that "Hijos del Maíz is open until 11:00, so that's where we went for supper.

We got a seat outside, and the waiter brought us an actual menu. We didn't have to scan a code onto the cell phone... something that I find very annoying.  I was surprised to see that the restaurant had greatly expanded its choices.  We began with black bean soup, which has always been on the menu, and which is very good.

We then shared some "tacos de manchamanteles" (center of the picture below).  "Manchamanteles" (which means "table-cloth stainer") is a type of  fruity "mole".  I had never seen this served in a taco before.  If was extremely tasty, and I could have made a meal on those!

Alejandro ordered "chilaquiles" with shredded chicken and black "mole" (bottom).  I ordered a "tlayuda" (top).  A "tlayuda" is a dish from the state of Oaxaca which might be considered their version of a pizza.  A large tortilla is covered with a variety of toppings.  However, this "tlayuda" was a sort of blending of regional cuisines in that it was topped with "cochinita pibil", the pulled pork from the state of Yucatán.  It was very good.

(photo taken by Alejandro)

We both agreed that we would return to "Hijos del Maíz" to try more items on their expanded menu!