August 25, 2010: Thick sliced home made challah, a couple of Spanish sardines in olive oil; thinly sliced onion; a few strips of mild pickled challahpeños. Dessert: more challah, spread with apricot jam.
Today, August 30, 2010: 2 huevos estrellados (sunny side up), some frijoles charros, a small piece of grilled longaniza (mildly spicy sausage), and a couple of freshly baked tortillas de harina. (Flour tortillas)
The electricity was off most of the night and the morning, so I didn't want to open the fridge any more than necesary. So we had freshly made caraway rye bread, cream cheese and sardines with onions. I drank a V-8 Juice, as the instant coffee was so awful. I just now got a mug of good brewed coffee.
After years of working the early morning bakery shift, I learned that food is food, no matter what the hour.
But actually, this habit may go back to my childhood, for once, when staying with my grandparents, my uncle asked me what I wanted for breakfast, I said "spaghetti", and he cooked it. It wasn't out of can, either.
I thought everyone occasionally had fried eggs for supper.
Mick, your answer to Don Cuevas about spaghetti & chili for breakfast sounds like the remark of a man who never had a hangover.
What's acceptable for breakfast probably depends on whether or not it's a meal you consume as soon as you get up, or one eaten somewhat later, when actually hungry.
I'd be fat as a pig if I followed the classic Mexican meal regime every day, although it might make sense for someone performing physical labor. Desayuno -- literally, "break fast" is usually a variety of sweetish breads with coffee or chocolate. Almuerzo, eaten somewhat later, consists of foods most of us would view as a substantial dinner -- meat, vegetable, & starch, or a hefty stew or soup, followed by a small dessert. This meal is available in every market in Mexico, and a basket of sweet bread is automatically put on the table with the beverage.
"Cream cheese and sardines and onions would certainly test me though....."
I tend to think of "appropriate" (although there is really no international law regarding this) by extrapolation.
Think of Scottish Kippers and onions, with scrambled eggs alongside. Think of Scandinavian cold pickled and cured herrings and brown bread for breakfast. Now, it's not too great a leap from there to sardines, cream cheese on bread.
Imagine this for breakfast. It's menudo, a popular Mexican soup of tripes, etc, in a spicy chile broth, said to be beneficial for la cruda. (hangover). For a bit of extra dinero, they'll put a foot in it (pata), wich is good nibbling, if you are not in a hurry.
It's served with tortillas or well-toasted tortillas and always, an extensive selection of very piquant condiments. I've regained a taste for it after a considerable hiatus. Now I eat it about once a week, for breakfast.
This photo is of plain, basic menudo, wthout any doo-dads.
In northern Mexico, menudo is made with hominy corn and is often "blanco" or white. The soup is served relatively unseasoned and the condiments are added at the table by the diner.
Looks like good breakfast fare to me, but I have been around. I do know that such things take some getting used to, when you have grown up on coffee and a donut or some such.
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 13, 2010 14:11:50 GMT
What a nice presentation! Is that typical of Michoacán, to serve the enchiladas folded in half? Oaxacan enchiladas/enmoladas/enfrijoladas are folded in quarters.
What a nice presentation! Is that typical of Michoacán, to serve the enchiladas folded in half? Oaxacan enchiladas/enmoladas/enfrijoladas are folded in quarters.
I don't know if it's characteristic of Michoacán enchiladas or just Chef Blanca's own preferred presentation. I have very little experience of eating enchiladas, as they are not at the top of my favorites list. But those were very good.
The menu also offered Enfrijoladas Patrias, (tortillas dipped in pureed beans, probably with a filling, presented with a garnish in the colors of the Mexican flag—I'd guess,) which I did not investigate.
Oaxacan enchiladas aren't rolled, they're folded. Large tortillas are used. The tortilla is dipped in hot fat for just a second, then dipped in the sauce*. It's laid on the plate, folded over, a little more sauce is ladled on, then it's folded again and more sauce is added. It's then garnished and often served with a piece of meat on the side.
As Don Cuevas' pictures show, folding in half can be an option, too.
*The sauce is what makes it an enchilada (with chile sauce), enmolada (with mole), entomatada (tomato sauce), or enfrijolada (with thinned refried beans).
