The Food of Mexico City!

As you all know, I like to eat.  I like to eat pretty much everything (except some seafood, but I'm working on that).  And I especially like to eat weird stuff that you would find being sold by street vendors in foreign lands (next time you're in Romania, try a pleskavita).  Which is why Sarah, in perhaps the greatest gift a woman could give to her husband, booked us for a tour of the street food of downtown Mexico City.  Basically we spent half a day walking around, taking in the sites, learning about food, and eating stuff.  Not a bad way to spend a morning in Mexico City.  So without further ado, here's a review of what's available on the streets of the DF. 

We started off the morning with a fresh tamale, and a glass of atole, which is some sort of corn/chocolate concoction that they drink in the morning.  Pretty tasty.

We had the basic corn tamale, which was loaded up with peppers (a bit spicy for breakfast).
 

Look at the size of this pork rind!  They literally skin the entire pig and deep fry it in one giant chicharron.  Don't worry, we didn't eat the whole thing.

We also stopped by a tortilleria in the morning, to watch some of the thousands of tortillas made every day in the city. 

The price of tortillas is regulated by the government since it's such a staple of the Mexican diet.  I think it's currently set around 12 pesos per kilogram (about $1 USD).

Next stop: quesadillas!  This one was filled with cheese, pork, and prickly pear cactus, which is an incredibly popular topping in central Mexico.

Another surprising twist of the morning: Sarah has a fruit smoothie.  Sarah is not a huge fruit fan, so the fact that she downed an entire smoothie must mean they are pretty good.

This was perhaps my favorite stop, the taco stand.  This guy has been selling tacos de canasta (literally "basket tacos") on this street corner for twenty years.  And the best part of all, you could buy a smooth Marlboro cigarette to finish off your meal. 

Our favorite taco was the cochinita pibil, which is a certain style of pork that they cook on coals buried underground all day.

We also stopped by a burrito stand, which isn't exactly authentic Mexican food (especially since they use flour tortillas, which are considered a big no-no), but it was still really good.

We were definitely starting to fill up at this point, but that did not stop us from passing by the carnitas truck, where they essentially deep fry an entire pig each day and then doll out the meat in tacos for the rest of the day.

As you can see, the tortilla is king in Mexico, and it is literally eaten in some form or another at every meal.

Finally, our last stop of the day was the fabled tacos al pastor stand.  Tacos al pastor are also incredibly popular on the border.  It basically consists of a giant spinning meat cylinder...

Fried up on the grill in a mild pepper seasoning...

With precisely three toppings: cilantro, onions, and pineapple.  What a great way to round out the day.  Viva Mexico!