We’ve talked about Pastor, the King o’ Taco. And yes, everybody loves this foreign ruler. But today’s story is not about royalty, today’s setting is the day-to-day life of the busy “Tacotitlán”, Mexico City, the Taco Capital of the world, the epicenter of all things Mexican.
Busy as it is, overflowing with workers, students, businessmen, and people of all sorts. The immense capital of the country bows to no king. The true ruler of the thousand hoods in the great megalopolis is mine and everybody’s homie, Taco de Suadero. The great equalizer, from the CEO, to the beggar, from the policeman to the family man, Suadero is friends with all, and will always be there, waiting for you around EVERY CORNER OF THE CITY, day and night, come rain or come shine. If that ain’t love, I don’t wanna know what love is.
I promise my dear foodies, that I’m gonna make my best effort to describe in words and images, the authentic flavor of the city where I grew up, so here we go:
WHAT IS SUADERO?
There’s a specific part of the Cow that Mexican butchers know as “Suadero”. However, when we say “Tacos de Suadero” there’s so much more to it than just what part of what animal we’re putting in a tortilla, but we’ll get to that later.
source: chilango.com
In Argentina, they call it “Matambre” (or Mata-hambre) which translates as “Hunger killer” which sounds way cooler than Suadero, which comes from the Spanish word “Sudadero”, which translates as “part that sweats”. I mean… really?
It’s basically the thin layer of meat from the belly of the animal, between the skin and the fat, underneath the ribcage. The fat is the key, if you’re a foodie you know: where there’s fat, there’s flavor. It’s a very fatty cut and it’s not particularly tender so you have to know how to cook it right, and boy do we know how to do it in my hometown. A part of the cow that used to be sold cheaply or easily discarded has become of the highest demand in the streets of Mexico City.
source: carnemax.mx
MAGIC FROM THE MAGIC HAT
Now, Suadero, like many magic recipes, starts with a hat. Or to be more precise a hat-shaped pot, that is shallow in the center, and deep around the edge.
source: rusttica.com
This is where things get tasty, the idea is to slowly confit the Suadero meat* in a beautiful pool of its own fat, water, onions, longaniza, and chorizo (Mexican sausages), and if it’s a respectable place, beef tripe.
*A single cow yields about twelve pounds of Suadero, which is really not much considering its high demand. Because of that, many taqueros include other parts of the beef in the hat such as ribs, flank, and brisket, some sell them separately as “maciza” and some just mix them in with the Suadero, it doesn’t really matter, in the end, everything gets blessed by the delicious fattiness of the Suaderito.
If this wasn’t greasy enough for you, remember the shallow part in the center? That part is where the taquero will heat the tortillas for your taco, only after dipping them in the pool first. For a single Taco de Suadero, the combined strength of two tortillas is needed to withstand the grease and the salsa without crumbling to pieces after the first bite.
This is the kind o taco you eat to pamper yourself, not a smart choice when you’re on a diet.
source: inperfecto.com.mx
¿CON TODO?
When you order your tacos, you’ll be asked: ¿Con Todo? which means “Do you want everything on it?” However general and widely unspecific this question might seem to you, every Mexican knows exactly what this means: Cebolla (Onion), Cilantro (Fresh coriander), and Salsa, yes, it’s usually very hot. Especially if it’s late at night when the party people of my city look for this magic potion to get them sober enough to pass the breathalyzer.
source: cocinavital.mx
SUADERO IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION
Remember I mentioned that Suadero is not about just what part of what animal we’re eating. The Hat is a pool party of flavor ready to entertain our palates and our hearts, apart from Suadero and Maciza, we also have Tripe, Longaniza, and/or Chorizo, so be sure to try them all.
One of my particular favorites is “Tripa Dorada” which consists in taking the tripe and then finishing it on a skillet to get it extra crispy. It’s simply Finger licking good.
source:twitter.com/mexicanfoodporn
It’s been over ten years since I became a Playense, before that, I was oblivious to the fact that Suadero was a particular thing of Mexico City, I just kinda assumed it was as national as Taco al Pastor. It came hard on me when I realized how difficult it was to find a good Suadero spot, it took me THREE YEARS. I didn’t know you could just get a guide to take you to the best taco spots in Playa del Carmen in just three hours. And that’s one of the beauties of Playa, there are so many people from so many different places in the world, that of course there had to be someone from Mexico City representing my hometown with Suadero, the way it should be.
Hasta la próxima!
The Juan and Only, Born and raised Chilango, Playense by choice.
