Ya know? When you get a hankering for a certain something and you just go with it even if it means a 30 minute trip to town followed by a long meal prep time...
it's so worth it.
We started St. Patty's day with an Equipment Auction and ate probably the cheapest burgers known to man from the only concession stand at the sale. But it filled our tummies and kept the grumbling to a minimum.
What with all the mexican fan fare and goodies B has been eating at work and at this Mexican Deli he stops at, he has awakened a sleeping giant. The man needs his treats now.
So we stopped in at a Mexican Bakery there in Dublin that I have overlooked for years. Turns out, there's a reason I overlooked it. The place smelled horrible and was completely unorganized. I headed to the back to check out the produce and dried spices, but soon found Brandon. Among the pageant dresses and outdated pre-packaged goodies, he found a large cabinet with pastries in it. He selected a rectangular pastry with cinnamon and sugar on it.
Poor thing.
He was so excited that he tore into the bag on the way home.
"Baby, these are the best, you have to try one! I get these all the time at that Mexican place at work."
So he tears me off a piece and I pop it into my mouth expecting homemade 'delicioso' and what I got was (what's the spanish word for ) 'Disgusting'? I didn't say anything, but he took a little taste too and immediate spit it out the window.
"That is NOT what they're supposed to taste like."
I just laughed.
Two days later we are at home and B notifies me that there is a surprise waiting in the refrigerator for me.
What can I say, the man knows that my heart is in it for the food.
There on the second shelf, (which is actually the middle shelf) in a little white plastic bag sits my surprise. I cautiously open it and I can hear Brandon coming up behind me."Isn't it great?!?"
Ummmm... I peek into the bag and see some sort of meat covered in red and orange spices... I don't know what it is, but it smells good. I look back as if to say, 'Yes... great... but what is this?'
"It's Tablitas, Baby!"
Tablitas= Mexican marinated beef short ribs. It's not a specific set of seasonings, it's a cut of beef. These had a smoky, paprika delicious taste to them though. And they are cut crossways, so there is a line of small, flat, oval shaped bones going through each rib.
To go along with our Tablitas, I made a trip to the grocery store and we made cream cheese stuffed jalapenos, rice and some pico de gallo. The ribs did not take long at all to cook, and we sat down to eat with a table full of mexican treats. It was splendid and more than made up for our Mexican bakery experience earlier in the week!
The moral of the story is: just because one Mexican food store is run-down and smells like cat pee, doesn't mean you can't find amazing, fresh, good quality products at your local Hispanic Grocery Stores. Most of the time, if you know enough spanish to get by, the ladies in the shops are very helpful and will even tell you the ideal way to prepare the food you're buying.
Thanks to Jamie and his experience in a Latin Market, I have not only overcome my fear of shopping at the unknown, I have enjoyed the outcome and look forward to a day when I can go with B to the Grocer and ask my own questions about traditional Mexican Cuisine.
No comments:
Post a Comment