Quesabirria
Wednesday, October 11
One of the (many) reasons we loved Mexico City so much was certainly the delicious Mexican food. It wasn’t just the taste itself that impressed us, but also the number of street stalls in the city. No matter what time of day, you could always find a place where you could buy freshly baked corn tortillas with long-braised meat or spicy stews. Add a squeeze of lime and the sauces (“salsas”) made by each stand and you have the perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Mexican cuisine is very diverse and varies depending on the region. During our time in Mexico, we visited various cities and states and sampled many of the delicious stews, fish and meat, stuffed tortillas, sauces and snacks at both markets and restaurants. In Mexico City the density of street food stands was by far the highest, which meant we ate a lot of tacos there. Compared to most other countries in Latin America, Mexico is a fairly expensive country to travel to, and living costs such as rent, groceries and restaurants are particularly high in Mexico City. However, what was always cheap and delicious in Mexico City were the tacos from the street stalls. Each region in Mexico has its own typical taco fillings - but in Mexico City, due to the size of the city and diversity, you are lucky enough to be able to eat tacos from other regions too.
Mexico City, for example, is known for the “Taco al Pastor” (pork marinated in chili with fresh pineapple), which Christoph and I always ate at our favorite stand “Taquería Miranda”.
The “carnitas” tacos (pork shoulder cooked for a long time, which becomes tender and falls apart) are a popular type of taco from the state of Michoacán. Our favorite street food stall in Mexico City was “Carnitas Estilo Michoacán”. We discovered this place while strolling through Mexico City. Here the tacos are so generously filled that you can only manage to eat two if you are very hungry. Be careful with the guacamole-like salsa: this sauce is the spiciest thing we have eaten in all of Latin America!
Another taco stand we love in Mexico City specializes in “birria tacos” (tender beef tacos with onions and cilantro), originally from the state of Jalisco in western Mexico. We also discovered this taco stand by chance while we were shopping and it is so small that it doesn't even have a Google page. However, you can easily find the stand if you go to the following supermarket of the “Oxxo” chain. The stand is on the left hand side as you approach the door of the supermarket. We particularly liked this little birria stand because the birria tacos were simply amazing and the shop owner always was so warm and kind! After a few weeks we actually became kind of friends with him and before we left Mexico we had some last birria tacos at his stall and said goodbye to him in person. The stand mainly offers simple birria tacos (10 pesos = approx. 50 cents) or quesabirria tacos which are birria tacos baked with cheese (15 pesos = 70 cents). Birria “Consommé” is also a typical side dish you can get at Birria street stalls. It’s a particularly intense, strong beef broth that is topped with lime and spring onion and is eaten with the tacos. My taco illustration you see here shows one of the delicious quesabirria tacos from this taco stall. While I was still in Mexico I sold the original drawing from my sketchbook to the café and gallery “Mise en print” in Roma, CDMX and the drawing has been hanging there ever since.
The taco stands listed here are our favorite places to eat traditional tacos in Mexico City. If you would like to try a more modern interpretation of classic tacos, you should definitely visit the restaurant “Tizne Tacomotora”. There we had the perhaps tastiest tacos in town. Unlike the other street food stalls mentioned, Tizne Tacomotora is a real restaurant and not a stall on the street. The tacos are still eaten with your hands in a relaxed manner, but here there are slightly more extravagant taco fillings and the tacos are beautifully presented on the plate and look like little works of art.
