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As Rodolfo and I were enjoying a delicious breakfast of menudo, Jerry walked across the aisle to Comedor La Bajadita, as he was in the mood for a breakfast of barbacoa de res, which the restaurant advertises as the house specialty.
Photo: Comedor La Bajadita occupies only one stall, in the "food court" at the central market, in Cd. Mante, as it's a small, friendly operation. Comedor La Bajadita is a small operation, which only occupies one quarter of the space of its larger rival Comedor Juanita, which is located across the aisle, within the central market. Like the other restaurants at the central market in Cd. Mante, Bajadita prepares and serves the food, and the diners eat on picnic benches, in a spacious aisle between the restaurants that flank the aisle. The arrangement reminded me very much of a food court in a U.S. shopping mall, but with a definite Mexican twist and flavor.
Photo: Today's staff members, hard at work in the small kitchen, smile as I snap their photo. Today is Saturday, September 30, 2006, and we're in the mood for some great food. The kitchen at Comedor La Bajadita occupies all of the space allotted to the restaurant, and it's cramped, cluttered, and not at all clean. I hesitate to use the word filthy, but ... The kitchen needs paint, desperately. Ditto for a deep cleaning, or any cleaning for that matter. I noted that grease is spattered on the walls behind the appliances almost up to the ceiling, and the shelves were cluttered to the point where if you grabbed a box of something, a stack of something would probably fall. I won't even go into the "creative" electrical system, and the fact that there isn't a refrigerator to be seen, as ice chests are used to keep food chilled. I seem to sense a pattern, as none of the restaurants in the mercado at Cd. Mante seem to have refrigerators, despite the fact that ample electricity seems to be available. Due to the lax sanitation, food storage, or food preparation methods, Comedor La Bajadita wouldn't last five minutes in the United States before the "Restaurant Police" would shut them down for an untold number of health code violations. But in Mexico, and Cd. Mante, anything goes, and we like it that way!
Photo: A bird's eye view of the restaurant shows the whole operation in its entirety. Note the propane fired griddle towards the rear of the photo, and the tortillas toasting on the griddle. The bag of cash, which serves as the cash register, is on the counter, next to the white bag filled with sugar, as guarded by the gal in the gray shirt. On this Saturday morning, the cramped little restaurant was staffed by three very friendly women, who seemed very busy keeping the restaurant going. Despite the cramped confines of the kitchen, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, as they were laughing and chit-chatting as they performed their duties. This place is about as low-tech as a restaurant can be, even by Mexican standards, as everything is done by hand - they don't even have a blender or a mixer, and everything is made from scratch, using fresh ingredients, at the restaurant, on the spot. Since they don't have a refrigerator, nothing is saved, warmed up, or reheated, so you know you're getting fresh food. I prefer it that way.
Photo: Meat for my taco is being carved from the cabeza, as the gal in the gray shirt toasts corn tortillas on the griddle. Comedor La Bajadita doesn't have a menu, nor do they have their selections printed above the order counter, but they do have a large sign advertising the house special, which is barbacoa de res, and a smaller sign advertising menudo. Both menudo and barbacoa are very popular breakfast foods in Mexico, so this small diner would seem to have everything covered. As I looked into the kitchen, I could see a large pot of menudo simmering over a propane fired burner, along with a pot of beans on the side, and one of the ladies was carving sections of meat off a cabeza, which is the foundation of barbecoa.
Photo: At Comedor La Bajadita, tortillas are made in the restaurant, by hand, and hand-pressed on a tortilla press, as this gal is doing. The masa dough is in the plastic bag, next to the tortilla press. Note the grease splatters on the wall, the dirty, blackened pots, and the casual attire of the staff. Do you know what barbacoa is? Plain and simple, it's a cows head, that has been slow-roasted for 12 to 14 hours, in a wood-fired barbecue, or in a pit dug in the ground. When the cabaza is ready, all of the cuts of meat are separated, and sold to the customer by their preference, whether it be tongue, cheek meat, brains, eyes, or a mixture of everything. Barbacoa is a very popular breakfast food in Cd. Mante, and the state of Tamulipas, and on weekends, you can find it everywhere. Barbacoa is usually eaten on corn tortillas, topped with cilantro, diced onions, chopped tomatoes, with a squirt of lime juice from a key lime, cut in half. I'm a huge fan of barbacoa, but I'd already committed myself to a breakfast of menudo at a competitor's restaurant, so I had to pass, but Jerry carried the torch and ordered a couple of tacos de barbecoa.
Photo: One of my tacos de barbacoa, being made, literally, by hand. Sanitation is very lax in Mexico, but I have never suffered any ill effects. My tacos were delicious! Tacos are made by hand, literally, with no gloves, or sanitary protection used at all. Personally, I don't care, as practically nothing affects me, but many folks might be a little squeamish if they saw how the tacos were made. Meat is cut from the cabeza, and placed on two freshly made corn tortillas, and then the completed tacos are placed on a plate and served to the customer. The diner can garnish the barbacoa taco with a number of choices, including chopped lettuce, diced onions, cilantro, and squeeze lime juice on the taco for added flavor. Picante sauce and salsa is available, but its not a common condiment in this part of the country.
Photo: This is the dining arrangement, shared by all restaurants, in the central market "food court" area. Jerry ordered two barbacoa tacos, for the small price of MEX $15.00 each, and said that they were delicious. I didn't want to take his word for it, so I took a bite, and confirmed that the tacos were delicious, as the meat was cooked perfectly, and it was very tender and juicy. Of course the freshly-made corn tortillas were delicious, and the garnishes were crisp and fresh. Comedor La Bajadita serves delicious barbacoa de res!
Photo: These gals are enjoying a bowl of menudo that they've just purchased from Comedor La Bajadita. I quizzed the gal that was cutting the meat from the cabeza if they cook it at the restaurant, as I couldn't see a barbecue, oven or a pit, or for that matter, a pot large enough to hold a cow's head. She told me that it's actually cooked at home, in a pit in their back yard, and then its wrapped in aluminum foil and brought to the restaurant, while its still hot. I noticed that the cabeza was covered in plastic wrapping, and when I asked her about that, she said it was to help keep the flies away. The next question was how do you reheat the meat? She told me that after the meat is cut from the cabeza, it's placed in a frying pan and reheated before it's placed on a warm, corn tortilla. It was very interesting to have a conversation with this gal, to get a bit of insight how barbacoa is made in Cd. Mante.
Photo: A close-up photo of the cabeza, and the bowl of meat that the gal is removing from it. She's rolling up a taco, to be deep fried, for another customer. When it came time to pay for the meal, Jerry noticed a funny thing: The restaurant doesn't have a cash register, or even a cash drawer, as they keep their bills and change in a plastic freezer bag! Jerry presented the gal a $50.00, and she dug into the plastic bag and produced a $20.00 bill, for change. We got a laugh out of that.
Photo: My tacos de cabeza, garnished with diced onions and cilantro. These tacos were delicious. The U.S. "health police" may cringe at the thought of Bajadita's method of food preparation and sanitation standards, but the proof is in the food, and this barbacoa is delicious. If you're in the mood for great barbacoa, pay a visit to Comedor La Bajadita, located in the central market, of Cd. Mante. Comedor La Bajadita Copyright(c) 2006 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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