Crafts, Food, and Mayan Culture in Zinacantán, Chiapas: Part Three

If you have not yet read Parts One and Two of Mexico Cooks! visit to San Lorenzo Zinacantán, Chiapas, please see the articles dated March 1 and March 8, 2008.

Restaurant J'Totik Lol, San Lorenzo Zinacantán, Chiapas

As we walked through the Templo San Lorenzo atrium to the main streets of Zinacantán, our stomachs grumbling for food, we noticed that the first three cocinas económicas (cheap-eats restaurants) were closed.  At three o'clock in the afternoon--time for the main meal of the day--we couldn't understand what was (or better said, what wasn't) cooking.  Then light dawned: it was a Lenten Friday.  In Mexico, many restaurants serving primarily meat or chicken close on Fridays in Lent.  It appeared that none of the restaurants around the plaza chose to offer a menú cuaresmeño (meat-free Lenten menu).  Even though we were considerably past ready for lunch, we weren't ready to leave Zinacantán and head back to San Cristóbal de las Casas to find food.  What to do!

"Look!"  My partner pointed to a sign: Centro de Artesanía y Restaurantes.  An arrow directed us to a short flight of steps carved into the hillside.  We crossed our fingers and started up.  At the top of the steps was Restaurant J'Totik Lol, jam-packed with San Cristóbal secundaria (middle school) kids on a field trip.  We felt sure that unless the ravening teenage hordes had eaten all that there was to be had, we would soon have lunch. 

The school group filled every table inside the restaurant and overflowed into the yard.  We settled ourselves outside at the single remaining table and gratefully received menus from the wait staff.  Would it be the menú del día or something a la carta?  Our choice is usually the menú, and today was no exception.  The menú at a home-style restaurant in Mexico is nearly always a treat.  It normally includes a choice of two or three sopas aguadas (soups), choice of sopa seca (rice or pasta), choice of several guisados (main dishes), frijoles, tortillas, and dessert.  Judy picked asado de puerco estilo chiapaneco as her main course and, at the waitress's recommendation, I asked for the menú con carne asada.   

Restaurant J'Totik Lol interior with clay and brick oven.

The asado de puerco estilo chiapaneco was definitely the pick of the day.  Fork-tender chunks of pork covered with a deep-brown sauce redolent of chiles filled Judy's plate, the thick sauce running gently into her rice.  She tasted it and I knew from the ecstatic look on her face that I wasn't going to finagle more than a nibble.  Yes, my carne asada was delicious.  But after I snagged a shred of her pork and a bit of sauce, it was obvious that she had bet on the winner. 

Both of us ate fresh tortilla after fresh tortilla as we enjoyed our meal.  We were joined at table by a middle-size dog which had apparently recently delivered a litter of pups.  Her beguilingly silent pleas for a snack resulted in a bone or two from Judy's asado and the crusty ends of my carne asada.

We all ate well.  You will, too.

Asado de Puerco Estilo Chiapaneco

Ingredients
1/2 kilo (1 pound) fresh pork                    1 onion, quartered
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) small pork ribs             1 corn tortilla
2 cloves garlic                                          Thyme to taste
2 chiles cascabel                                      Oregano to taste
2 chiles pasilla                                         Salt and pepper to taste
1 large or two small tomatillos                  Oil

Procedure
Cut the meat into 2" cubes.  Cut the ribs into 2" sections.  Salt and pepper well.  Using a frying pan, sauté in hot oil until well-browned, adding the quartered onion to the meat.  Reserve the meat and onion in the frying pan.

In another pan, carefully toast the garlic, the chiles cascabel and pasilla.  Don't let them become too dark or they will be bitter.  Reserve the mix in a separate bowl.  In the same frying pan, sauté the corn tortilla.  When all the ingredients are well-toasted, put them in the blender, add a bit of water, and blend until the ingredients are well blended.  Add the blended mixture to the meat in its frying pan.  Add the thyme and oregano to taste. 

Allow to cook over a very low flame for about an hour, adding water little by little as needed so that the meat and sauce do not dry out.

Serves 4-6, accompanied by arroz a la mexicana (Mexican-style rice), frijolitos negros (black beans), and plenty of freshly made hot tortillas.

Provecho!

             

Comments

[Steve]

Great post. Great photographs. Great recipe.