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It's hungry work exploring the streets of Cd. Victoria, the capital city of the Méxican state of Tamaulipas, and after ohhhing and awwwing over the sights of El Centro, especially after the mercado centro, it was time to locate some serious food. We can't say that we know the city very well, but if you've ever visited any Méxican city, you know it's not hard to find street vendors selling endless varieties of tacos, and other delights. After touring the market, we headed toward the Rio San Marcos, and found ourselves at the busy intersection of Calle 15 y Calle Rosales, where there were a cluster of several food vendor carts, catering to the folks congregating at the nearby bus stops, on their way home from a hard day at the office.
Photo: Our girl carefully places a bacon-wrapped hot dog on a bun, while her helper looks on and munches on candy.
Photo: Our hot dog is almost ready. The fat sausages are known as salchichas, and are aa local favorite of the citizens of Cd. Victoria. From the sea of vendor carts, we immediately focused on a small cart with no name, but manned, err... personed by two teenage girls. A hot dog cart with no name caught my attention... as my eyes lowered to the sign on the cart, I couldn't believe what I saw: Bacon-wrapped hot dogs for MEX $6.00! Holy cow! Sign me up! If you're not familiar with Mexican-style hot dogs, they're wrapped in bacon, always grilled and offered with condiments of mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, diced peppers, tomatoes, and sometimes onions. If you've ever had the pleasure to feast on a Mexican hot dog, you'll balk at the thought of spending nearly $5.00 for one of the pathetic, boiled "Dodger Dogs" pawned off on captive baseball fans, as they watch the baseball team of the same name. So for around a half U.S. dollar, you get a bacon-wrapped Mexican hot dog, with all the condiments. Also you have beautiful teenage girls serve you, which enhances the taste and the presentation of the hot dog. Their hot dog cart didn't have any sort of name on it, except for the painted name "Hot Dogs," and crudely hand-lettered signs advertising the price of their fine wares. I asked one of the girls what was the name of their business, and she sort of shrugged her shoulders and replied "Hot Dogs." So I guess you could call this vendor the "No-Name Hot Dog Stand." The fact that they don't have a name doesn't detract from the fine product they sell.
Photo: My bacon-wrapped hot dog, loaded with all the condiments that the vendor offers. You tell the vendor what condiments you want on your hot dogs and they'll dress it to your liking.
Photo: Jerry and Rodolfo enjoy their hot dogs, as I snap their photo and enjoy all the glory that downtown Cd. Victoria has to offer. Besides "tocinos," this vendor sells hamburguesas, and salchichas, which is a very chunky sausage, which seems to be an indigenous creation of the state of Tamaulipas. The word "tocino" in Spanish means bacon, but the term "tocinos" means a bacon-wrapped hot dog. As an aside, that term isn't used on the west coast, because if you were visiting Tijuana and you asked for a "tocino" they would either look at you as if you were crazy, or offer you a piece of bacon. The friendly girls also pointed out to us the pile of salchichas placed on top of the cart, and the fact that they also sell hamburguesas, or hamburgers. In my travels to Mexico, I have never had the opportunity to sample a hamburguesa, but I plan to at some point in time. If you're not familiar to what a salchicha is, it's a locally-produced sausage made of pork, and resembles a polish sausage in appearance, as its quite fat. Unlike a polish sausage, its quite spicy in taste, and seems to be only offered in Tamaulipas. We didn't eat a hamburguesa or a salchicha, as the "tocinos" or hot dogs, had captured our attention.
Photo: The "No-Name Hot Dog Stand" at the busy corner of Calle 15 y Calle Rosales, near a well-patronized bus stop. Jerry, Rodolfo and I each ordered a hot dog, then another, another, and... At less than a half a buck each, we had a delicious, cheap dinner. Come to think of it, I'd rather dine at a place like this than a sit-down restaurant, as when you're on the street of Cd. Victoria, eating a "tocino" from an un-named vendor, you're sampling the cuisine of Cd. Victoria at it's finest. I wouldn't trade an experience like this for the world. No-Name Hot Dogs Copyright(c) 2006 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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