One of the many, many waterfalls in the Parque Nacional Eduardo Ruíz, Uruapan, Michoacán. I took this photo of the Barranca de Cupatítzio over 20 years ago, and the park hasn't changed much in all that time.
Uruapan (ooo-roo-AH-pahn), the second largest city in Michoacán, is most famous for two marvelous things: the Parque Nacional Eduardo Ruíz, in the heart of the city, and the annual Tianguis de Artesanías Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday Artisans' Market), that is normally a two week event starting each year on Palm Sunday. Uruapan, with a population of approximately 500,000, is an important economic center, in large part because of its location between Lázaro Cárdenas and Morelia. The park, an easy walk from anywhere in downtown Uruapan, consists of about 1.7 square miles of land, much of which is pine and oak forest. A small part of that area is open to the public, with wandering easy-to-walk paths, many, many waterfalls, and gentle slopes. Wonderful friends took me there the very first time I visited Michoacán, in 1982. The park hasn't changed a lot and it continues to be a delight to the senses.
Part of the opening parade of artisans at the annual Tianguis de Artesanías Domingo de Ramos. The artisans parade from the Parque Nacional to the main plaza in Uruapan's center, complete with regional dress, floats, pirekuas (typical music of the Purépecha indigenous people), and town after town carrying its arts and crafts through the parade. If you're lucky, an artisan will toss small articles made in her or his town--and you'll catch a little souvenir to bring home with you.
The Tianguis de Artesanías Domingo de Ramos showcases as many as 1400 artisans from everywhere in Michoacán, showing and selling their work each year during the week before and the week after Easter. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, but everyone is hoping that the fair will be active again in 2021. Mexico Cooks! will let you know.
Uruapan isn't a famous destination for international tourism and much of the city is unknown territory dedicated to residential areas and big business. The city does have many hotels, mostly for business travelers, but the hotels are always eager to accommodate tourists. In the photo above, you see the downtown Mercado de Antojitos--a really fun market specializing in all sorts of Michoacán sit-down snacks.
Starting fairly recently, Mexico Cooks! has had the opportunity once or twice a month to travel with a small group to Uruapan. We always leave Morelia in time to get to Uruapan in time for breakfast--and what a breakfast! Our group is quite fond of tacos de guisado--and "guisado" is a tough word to translate. Translated loosely, it's "stewy things"--like chicharrón en salsa verde, huevos revueltos con chorizo, aporreadillo, and a long list of others. Chicharrón en salsa verde is fried pork skin in green sauce; huevos revueltos con chorizo are eggs scrambled with spicy pork sausage; aporreadillo is a local dish made with cecina (in this case, very thin dried beef), scrambled egg, and a light tomato broth flavored with chile. There's a stand on the main avenue leading into Uruapan, on the right-hand side of a very busy street, where tacos de guisado have been the specialty since 1983--and that's where we stop for breakfast: Taquería La Tía (Auntie's Taco Stand).
The only sign is on the wall under the counter, behind the benches where diners sit and difficult to see. The final "A" is long gone from "Taquerí--" oops! The stand has seating for about 10 people and there is often a line waiting to sit down. But oh, it is so worth the wait!
In the center of this trio of aproned women is doña Graciela Mercado Diego, a daughter of the founder, doña Margarita Diego Reyes. On the left is Marisela Sánchez Mercado, who is the main cook and the tortilla maker. On the right is Erika Sánchez Mercado, who works with her mother and sister to run the stand. These three incredible women open the taquería Monday through Saturday from 5:00AM until noon. Maricela prepares, with some help from her pinche (Mexican kitchen slang for the person who helps peel and chop vegetables, cut up meats, and do anything that needs to be done)--15 different freshly made guisados a day! That's an incredible feat. The guisados, spooned from clay cazuelas or old-fashioned enameled pans into the freshly made tortillas waiting on your plate, are uniformly delicious and the tacos are "bien servidos"--large portions.
Luisa's first taco: egg scrambled with chorizo, topped with frijoles de la olla (beans fresh from the pot). It's mouth-watering.
My first taco: aporreadillo served atop delicious red rice. Each of us snarfed down these first tacos and ordered one more apiece.
Luisa's second taco: chicharrón en salsa verde topped with frijoles de la olla. I am not a fan of chicharrón en salsa, but I think I might be the only person in Mexico who isn't crazy about it. I like my chicharrón crunchy, not sauce-y. That's a big glass of fresh orange juice in the right top corner of the photo; we each had one, naturally sweet and newly squeezed.
It seems that I didn't take a photo of my own second taco. I probably ate it too fast to think about it! All the more reason to go back to Taquería La Tía as soon as possible.
Doña Graciela asked that I tell you that during Lent, the menu changes and is based on especialidades de la Cuaresma--Mexico's Lenten dishes.
The photo is of doña Margarita, the founding matriarch of Taquería La Tía (and doña Graciela's mother). She had 15 children, four of whom have passed away. Doña Margarita herself died just six years ago and is of course much missed. She is always present in her photograph, watching over the taco stand. Rest in peace, doña Margarita, Taquería La Tía is in good hands.
Come with us to Taquería La Tía in Uruapan!
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