The Houston Press Food Blog

Cinco de Mayo Mexican Menu: Baby Goat on a Stick or Ballpark Nachos?

Mon May 05, 2008 at 08:56:56 AM
Paul Howell
May 1st is Labor Day in Mexico. There was a big parade in downtown Matamoros and a lot of people were out in the streets. After a touring the taco stands of Plaza Allende and taking a lot of pictures, I sat down at a table at my favorite Matamoros restaurant, Los Norteños, which is located between Calle 8 and 9 near the Mercado.

Founded in 1950, Los Norteños looks like it hasn’t changed much since it opened. There’s about a dozen dark wood tables in the downstairs dining room patrolled by four mustachioed waiters in jackets and ties. The manager is a white-haired guy named Ignacio who everybody calls “Nacho.” He stands up front near the door at an old-fashioned wooden cashier stand that looks like a pulpit except for the big glass jars full of candy. There is a separate room that houses the mesquite grill where the cabritos roast, and you can see them from the street.

I ordered the riñonada portion of the cabrito, which included ribs, some tender loin meat and the kidney. First you get a bowl of bean soup and some tortilla chips. Then you get a huge stack of hot tortillas in a wicker basket, and a plate with lettuce, tomato and raw onions. Then there’s a bowl of hellishly hot pico de gallo with big hunks of raw serrano in it and another bowl of a milder cooked salsa. When you finish the soup, they bring your plate of cabrito.

Paul Howell
I made each taco slowly and carefully. I started with a layer of loin meat and some thin kidney slices which I showered with salt. Then I added raw onion and a little lettuce and squeezed a lime wedge over it. I topped this with some pico de gallo, being careful not to load the tortilla beyond its rolling point. They were magnificent tacos. The whole spread cost around $12. Our taxi driver told us that average Mexicans couldn’t afford those kinds of prices.

If baby goat on a stick is not your idea of festive Mexican food, you are not alone. The kids in Mexico aren’t very interested in cabrito either. At the most popular snack bar in the Mercado, a place called Popeye’s on Calle 9, I saw teen-agers lined up four deep to buy snacks and the fruit drinks called aguas frescas. The most popular food order was molten yellow cheese ladled over round tortilla chips. A basket of nacho chips covered with bright yellow processed cheese went for 13 pesos, or around $1.30.

Robb Walsh
Mexican kids aren’t interested in that country’s traditional foods, a restaurant owner told me. They want to eat the stuff they see on television--which is why Applebees, Chili’s, and Carl’s Jr. are among the fastest-growing restaurant chains in Mexico.

It kind of makes you wonder: If cabrito is turning into a tourist dish, and the kids are more interested in fast food nachos, what’s the authentic Mexican food of the future going to look like? – Robb Walsh

Category: Robblog

3 Comments:

Howard says:

Is that the place that is next door to the Dos Republicas Bar? The restaurant has a window to the left of the door where you can see the goats being roasted, right? I used to eat there every time I went to Matamoros. I have bought into all the hype about it not being safe "en la frontera" lately, or I would have taken the wife and kid there.

what a sweet gig you have! and i just love your food shots!

robb walsh says:

Howard-I think we are talking about the same joint. Things on the frontera seemed pretty calm to me. Except for the parade.

Sarah-Thanks! But a photographer friend named Paul Howell came along on this trip and the top two photos on this post (the good ones) are his images.

Anybody had any decent roasted goat in Houston lately--besides at Hildalguense?

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