One of the most uniquely Mexican things to do in this town is to watch a quesadilla being made on the street and then bite into it while it’s still hot.
The women — it’s almost always women making quesadillas — slap a ball of masa into shape, or press it inside a tortilla press. The tortillas cook on the comal until they’re golden and crisp. And then, once the tortillas are firm but not overdone, the fillings are spooned (or tossed with one’s fingers) inside: anything ranging from squash flowers to huitlacoche to chicken tinga. The first few mouthfuls of a street quesadilla might be tortilla-only, and then the filling comes on like a little gift, warming your tongue.
I used to have a quesadilla lady in my old neighborhood whom I liked a lot. But I didn’t know what was available in my new ‘hood until a few days ago, when Jesica and I were poking around in Condesa for possible tour stops.
We asked a newsstand vendor if there was a place to buy quesadillas around here, and she motioned to some blue plastic stools that I could vaguely see in the distance. “Son muy ricos,” she added.
And man, as we got closer, we could see they definitely were ricos: maybe six or seven people sat on the stools, eating quesadillas. A few more were standing up and eating, and yet a few more folks were placing their orders. This place was slammed.
A team of three employees kept things moving. One woman grabbed handfuls of masa and pressed them into shape. Another woman hovered over the buckets and filled the cooked tortillas, somehow without burning her hands. The lone man of the bunch clutched a long spatula and flipped the quesadillas as they cooked, occasionally drizzling them with oil.
I think I may have murmured “Órale.” (I’m starting to get a lot better at using that word.)
We ordered one with half huitlacoche, half rajas with potatoes. We didn’t specifically ask for cheese and so because this is Mexico City, the quesadilla arrived without it.
After we turned in our plate and paid, we had to ask: How long has this place been here?
The answer was more than 40 years. Now that deserves an órale.
If you’re interested in going to this stand, it’s at the corner of Juan de la Barrera and the Viaducto, where it intersects with Avenida Chapultepec. In addition to huitlacoche and rajas with potatoes, they also had chicken tinga, mushrooms and maybe three other options that I can’t remember.
More photos below.
Where it all starts: big hunk of masa, and an industrial-looking press.
As is common in Mexico, the fillings are served out of plastic buckets. These are larger than usual, no doubt because of the stand's high turnover.
Yes, those are small bite marks you see on one side, because I just couldn't resist before I took the photo.
“We didn’t specifically ask for cheese and so because this is Mexico City, the quesadilla arrived without it.”
Haha! I’ve never tried the quesadillas from Mexico City, but whenever I visit Puebla, I’m always trying them out. I love quesadillas. The best quesadillas I’ve ever had were from Guadalajara in this market place that was like a huge shopping mall, but filled with vendors and stands and stuff. I think what made them so good was the side of liquified refried beans.
Forty years of steady business is as good a recommendation as I’d want; but I wonder, probably naively, if such puestos receive any formal sanitary inspection or licencing.
Shreeman: The concept of sanitary inspection doesn’t really exist in Mexico. That’s partially why so many of these stands have been allowed to thrive — if they had to go through the typical Mexican paperwork hassles, they probably wouldn’t ever sell the first taco. To my knowledge, the stand-owners do have to pay a sort of “rental fee” to the local government, and I’ve heard they have to submit some type of paperwork. But I’m not sure it’s a license in the traditional sense. If anyone else out there knows more about that, I’d love to hear your comments.
I want to stress: even though some street stands *are* unsanitary, there are plenty that are very clean. It’s unfair to shun all street stands as dirty because that’s simply not the case.
Yum! I live in El Paso, Texas. As you know we can’t go to Juarez anymore. Boy do we miss the food, really the only reason to go. BTW, I made the tacos de canasta from your link. Thank you, a very good starting off recipe. I read a bunch of the comments and boy they are helpful. You did not mention what the other oblong masa thing is on the comal. Is it filled? I want to go home right now and play with masa. Great blog. I love that you live in Mexico. Que aventada, que to vaya muy muy bien. Oh yea, I have a mija Leslie, named after her father – she has limited Spanish also.
Glad you tried them! I was wondering about the recipe I linked, so good to hear that it actually worked. The oblong masa thing is called a tlacoyo. They’re my absolute favorite street snack in the city. I’ll have to post about them soon.
Órale is the word, alright!
I live in a small Mexican town, and do not see street vendors selling quesadillas here. But I can get them at night at small, sidewalk eateries that emerge at dusk. Leslie, do you know the Spanish word for eateries of this type, the kind that set up their chairs and tables in front of a house, ferry the food out from the house kitchen or from a grill set up on the sidewalk, and could not be more informal?
Kathleen
Hmm… I don’t see those too often here in Mexico City, but I did see a recent article on “garage” cuisine. It sounds kind of similar to what you’re talking about, except in the garage case, these people operate fondas in the driveways of their homes. They’ve got menus and everything. I’ll have to find the article and post it. If you have a picture of one of these types of eateries you’re talking about, I’d love to see it.
I never understand the concept of calling big tacotes quesadillas. I have always believed that a quesadillas only deserves to be called like that, if it contains cheese, but those that don’t have any queso in it, should be called “sesadillas”, “honguillas” etc. Because cheese matters…a lot.
The best quesadillas with guisado filling I’ve ever tried in the D.F. are in a little stand outside of the Hospital Infantil de México, near of the metro station Hospital General.
Yummmm…you’re making me hungry. While Dallas has some great traditional Mexican spots, huitlacoche and flor de calabaza are still rare finds…I need to head back down there. Thanks for this post!
Street quesadillas are my favorite Mexican food, hands-down (although I can’t imagine them without cheese!). So delicious!
Lesley, you need to go to the quesadilla market in Coyoacan! It’s unbelievable. It’s close to the Coyoacan plaza.
Cool! Is it outdoors, like a bunch of puestos? Or is it inside somewhere?
Another great quesadilla stand is on Calle Tlaxcala, corner of CAlle Manzanillo, about a block east of Av Insurgentes, in Roma Sur. Blue corn masa.
http://www.pbase.com/panos/image/54041512/large
You heard it from me.
Mmm, well, I THOUGHT they were made with maíz azul.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
I love how big that comal is! I dream about having one that big someday, maybe in my backyard…
Thanks for sharing.
I’m mexican yaaay prepare for some information :P.
Fisrt of all, the stands. You can eat great quesadillas, we also shorten the name to quecas (you say it like kekas), on pretty much any market. The place you describe as a big warehouse with food vendors, that’s the mercado or market.
Sanitation. No, no permits on the street stands, or at least not on 90% of them. But you learn to spot the safe ones, people keep coming back, and that´s why we eat the chile, against bacteria :P.
And now, allow me to advise a dish or two for you. Pambazos, gorditas and huaraches.
Gorditas and huaraches are easy to find, but few are good, your best chance is at the mercado.
Pambazos, those are hard to find sometimes, so it might take you a while, but your safest bet could be toluca (north from where you live, lots of food there too, great food).
And last but not least, Tacos de carnitas (once you tasted those, tacos become a whole new universe with different breeds like tacos de carnitas, tacos de costilla, tacos de bistec, tacos al pastor, tacos de carnitas, etc.)
good luck ^^