Dallas Food - Mexican on Maple (Part 3)

In the last report, I had my first encounter with Hidalgo-style barbacoa. Less than a quarter mile up the road, near La Guadalupana Meat Market, Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo offers even more mutton. On to the food...

La Guadalupana Meat Market, 4238 Maple Avenue.

At first glance, the “dine-in” options at a small Mexican market might seem unpromising. Their kitchens are often small. They usually have few (if any) tables, requiring that customers sit on bar stools. Menu offerings can be limited. Yet these places often exceed the low expectations. In large part, that’s because the taqueria benefits from the wide range of meats and meat by-products stocked in the carniceria. This advantage is particularly noticeable with carnitas and chicharrones which are fried on-site in enormous vats of fresh lard--not the bland, white, hydrogenated stuff sold in bricks and tubs at the supermarket. (Most taquerias that serve Michoacan-style carnitas are buying them from a carniceria, anyway. Might as well go to the source.)

Sitting at the taco bar at La Guadalupana offers dinner and a show, because the women behind the bar are always cooking something. Usually it’s a lot of something. Maybe it’s a mountain of nopales (i.e., cactus paddles) being expertly stripped of spines and neatly cut into nopalitos. Or an aluminum pot the size of a Jacuzzi, filled to the bubbling brim with tomatillos for salsa verde (which they sell to other restaurants and taquerias). An industrial vat of lard for carnitas or chicharrones is stirred with what looks like a metal boat-oar.

The menu at the taco stand doesn’t extend much beyond tacos and gorditas. The most common meat options are carnitas, fajita, barbacoa, chicharron, pastor, lengua, deshebrada, and costilla con nopalitos. None of their offerings are straight-ahead “dry heat” meats, but are more stew-like preparations. That usually bothers me. But at La Guadalupana they tend to deliver on the flavor. The taco de fajita, pictured above, didn’t have the appealing texture and simplicity of freshly grilled carne asada. But the meat was tender, juicy, and well-flavored with onion, chiles, and tomato.

The taco de deshebrada has been a favorite every time I’ve ordered it. The long strands of shredded beef were always intensely flavorful and very moist. The particular flavor profile varied from visit to visit. One day, onions and bell pepper dominated. On another, the taco was blazing with chile de arbol and contained chunks of potato. No matter what changed, the deshebrada remained tasty.

The taco de costilla con nopalitos (pork rib with cactus strips, pictured on the far left) was another winner. Tender meat (but watch out for bits of bone and cartilage), mild spiciness, and a tart, vegetal note from the nopalitos. (I’ve had rib sandwiches before, but this was my first rib taco.)

Other tacos were variable, but mostly good. The carnitas were decent, though not quite as crisp on the outside and succulent on the inside as I’d like. Barbacoa was good. The pastor--stewed, with slices of pineapple over the top--wasn’t in the spit-roasted style I prefer, but was still very enjoyable.

Though tacos comprised the bulk of the menu, there were occasionally daily specials, such as the caldo de res (i.e., beef soup) pictured above. The beef was firm, but not tough. There were abundant chunks of tender potato, carrot, and squash. The broth had a robust flavor and no noticeable spiciness. A pretty good soup. It also arrived with a dish of rice (flecked with potato and carrot) and corn tortillas.

A word about tortillas. On each visit, my tacos came with average taqueria-quality corn tortillas from a bag. (La Guadalupana--like most taquerias that use thin, factory-made tortillas--doubles the tortillas so they won’t fall apart under the weight of the meat.) However, in the last visit, I watched one of the cooks making fresh tortillas, pressing them under a sheet of wax paper with a plastic dinner plate and tossing them onto the grill. When I settled up, I asked the cashier if they could do hand-made tortillas on request. She said that ordinarily they won’t; but, if they happened to be making them, I could ask them to use them for my tacos. My Spanish wasn’t good enough to figure out why this cook was making the fresh tortillas at this time. Special order? For sale to another restaurant? Lunchtime for the staff? I don’t know. But, in the future, it can’t hurt to ask for tortillas hechas a mano.

The taco bar at La Guadalupana Meat Market is well worth a visit. If you’re in the area, go in, grab a Mexican Coke from the refrigerator section, sit down at the bar, order a few tacos, and enjoy the show.

Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo, 4310 Maple Avenue.

Sheep on the wall = Mutton barbacoa. After some positive experiences at Esquivel’s (with its barbacoa al estilo Ixmiquilpan), I was looking forward to trying Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo. Like Esquivel’s, this place has a large and mostly empty dining area. Unlike Esquivel’s, the menu here is extremely limited. Actually, there isn’t a menu. You just have to ask them what they have. It’s usually only two or three items, one of which will be mutton barbacoa. The offerings are few, but usually of very good quality.

With a name like Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo, the question of what to order on a first visit is pretty much settled. Learning my lesson with the enormous tacos at Esquivel’s, I only ordered two barbacoa tacos this time. That was the right decision, as you can see from the photo above. Mountains of mutton. The barbacoa here was very moist. It also had a more assertive gaminess than Esquivel’s, allowing it to stand up to more garnishes.

The tacos were served with limes, minced cilantro and onion, and two table salsas. One salsa was tomatillo and serrano based, while the other was a very vinegary red (almost like a bottled hot sauce). As you can see on the side of the building, they also advertise with the magic words: tortillas hechas a mano. Excellent corn tortillas, warm and thick. (See the picture at the top of the article for a close-up.) Extra tortillas were provided with the tacos.

On a repeat visit, they were offering caldo de res. The thin broth had pretty good flavor and a slight spiciness. Beef was plentiful and reasonably tender (though not tender enough to cut with the spoon provided). Corn and tomatoes comprised most of the vegetable matter. The soup was served with a side of somewhat mushy rice, which could be used to add some extra volume to the bowl. Not a bad soup.

The front window advertises caldo de camaron (shrimp soup). I’ve asked for it several times now, but they’ve never had it. When I’ve asked when they would have it, I’ve been told, “Mañana.” Translated literally, that means, “Tomorrow.” They must be using the word in some other way. I’ll keep trying.

I made one visit on a Saturday, hoping they might have the caldo de camaron as a weekend special. They didn’t. But one of the two specials they were offering intrigued me: consome de borrego, or mutton consommé. Having never seen this dish, I instinctively ordered a bowl. But, as I waited for it to arrive, I started having second thoughts. Would the reduction of the broth concentrate the mutton’s gaminess? Would it be one painful spoonful, then out the door?

I needn’t have feared. The thin broth smelled great and had a surprisingly delicate flavor. (No gaminess at all.) The only additions to the soup were some chickpeas and rice. Though the consommé was delicious as served, it could also be shaped to one’s liking with lime juice, cilantro, or dried chile flakes. (As I eyed a bowl of dried Mexican oregano, the waitress informed me, in a scolding tone, that it was for menudo and not for the consommé. She was about to take the bowl off the table, until I was able to assure her I wouldn’t use it.) I don’t know if this is a recurring weekend special. But, if it is, I’m going to be a recurring weekend customer.

On one Wednesday, the menu was unusually extensive, with three tacos (barbacoa de borrego, fajita, and pastor), two soups (res and pollo), albondigas (i.e., meatballs), and chicken in mole colorado. Business was also much brisker, suggesting that people were expecting the expanded offerings. Five dollars bought me a plate of the chicken in mole colorado, a bowl of brothy rice, and a stack of handmade corn tortillas. The ancho-based mole was mild, with fruity undertones. Spiciness and bitterness were very subdued. The chicken, simmered in the mole, was very tender and moist. An enjoyable dish.

If you look on the exterior wall, you’ll also see a sign for Sanchez’s Pasteleria and Panaderia, a bakery that shares the same building with Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo. (I just noticed that the acronym for Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo is “BEH.” Was that an intentional onomatopoeia?) I’ve only sampled a couple of their offerings. They seemed reasonably priced and of decent quality, though I’m not enough of an enthusiast of panes dulces to offer more of an opinion than that. My only suggestion is that, since the pastries are baked in-house, one should ask them which items are most fresh. Almost anything warm from the oven will trump an item that’s been sitting around for a few hours.

So far, I’ve really enjoyed Barbacoa al Estilo Hidalgo. Quality has been consistently good and the prices are very reasonable. (Nothing above was more than five dollars.) The staff are friendly and, if my experience is any indication, willing to tolerate bad Spanish. My only complaint is that the offerings aren’t more numerous and/or predictable. But that won’t keep me from going back.

Next week: Victor’s Taqueria and La Paisanita.