Yesterday, I went to a drive up burrito place called Don Juan's Burritos. The way to find authentic Mexican food is to look for the following:
- A shabby shack with fairly clear name like Don Juan's Burritos or Spanish Cafe.
- It's usually take out or drive up only.
- There's usually a long line of folks at key peak hours (i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner).
- When you ask around town for the best burrito or tamale you always hear the same name.
Don Juan's Burrito only sells burritos just like it's name implies. The ordering process is quite efficient. You drive up to one side place your order, drive around the small building and pick it up at the other window. When the windows open the smell is heavenly, you know the salsa, lard, homemade tortilla smell, mmmmmm.
So far, I've only ordered the green chilie burrito with avocado and refried beans. It was fantastic! The green chilies down here are local. They come from Hatch, New Mexico the green chilie capital of the world (2 hours south east of here). Seriously, look at the cans of green chilies in the grocery stores they are usually Hatch's green chilies.
Today, I drove to Bayard, NM. It's about 15 minutes South of here. On Sunday, we ordered two dozen tamales from the Spanish Cafe. They are the white masa tamales and they are made to your specifications, which is nice for a vegetarian and almost vegan! Of course we ordered green chilie tamales, one dozen with cheese and one dozen without all for $30.
As you may have noticed by now it's all about the green chilies. They are so fresh here and they are usually picked up directly from Hatch, NM and frozen for later use. So much better than the canned version. Since I've been here I've also gone through a full Tomatillo Salsa (better known as salsa with lots of green chilies)! Green chilies have a great balance of spicy, salty and a bit of sweetness. Here's a picture of my tamale lunch, can't wait to go to the Buckhorn and order a green chilie stuffed with goodness, minus the cheese :)
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