Sunday mornings at the farmers market are one of my favorite summer-time traditions. In the Mid-Atlantic, especially this year, the season can sometimes take a while to get rolling. Eventually though, the colors of the market turn from shades of green to orange, yellow, and red hues as the region’s bounty of fruits and vegetables comes into season. One of the first signs of the arrival of Summer for me is debut of the squash blossom. The brilliant orange, delicate crepe-like blooms are one of the reasons I wake up early to hit the market before the crowds. They’re not only beautiful but they have a certain nostalgia for me as they remind me of my time living in Rome when I was first introduced to their many varied uses. Whether stuffed with goat cheese and anchovies and fried, or tossed fresh onto pizza, squash blossoms are one of my favorite seasonal ingredients to enjoy and with which to cook. One of the simplest ways to enjoy them is actually from Mexican tradition. Throughout Mexico 'calabaza' has been grown and used since Mesoamerican times. Squash blossoms can be found in myriad places (art, pottery, etc) and many traditional dishes. Perhaps the most common of which is as filling for tacos or quesadillas. When it comes to ease of preparation, these can not be beat. A gentle rinse and pat dry, toss into a tortilla (or between two for a quesadilla) with some Oaxaca cheese (mozz works too if you do not have Oaxaca, just need a cheese that melts well) a little salt, then onion, cilantro or avocado (all completely optional) and onto the frying pan! You only need to cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla starts to turn golden, by that time the tender flowers will be perfectly wilted. These are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or even as a pop of color for a Sunday brunch spread, they are truly a symbol of summer. Next time you’re early to the farmers market or find yourself in a specialty grocer, keep your eye out for “Flor de Calabza” and give these beauties a try.

Ingredients:

6 corn tortillas (taco size) or 4 flour tortillas (quesadilla size)
10 squash blossoms (check the insides for stowaways, wash very gently and pat dry)
6-12 oz Queso Oaxaca (pulled into strips) - you can substitute any white, mild and melty cheese as if you can not find Oaxaca
Sea Salt to taste
¼ cup finely diced white onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 thinly sliced avocado
vegetable oil for pan frying

Preparation:

On a flat or shallow non-stick pan, heat the vegetable oil on medium just until it starts to pop (not smoking hot).
Put two squash blossoms, 1-2 oz Queso Oaxaca, and a pinch of your other ingredients in a tortilla and gently fold over.
Prepare a few at a time to reduce cooking time, but make sure they will not be crowded on your pan
Place on hot pan and fry until the cheese melts, flowers wilt, and the tortillas turn golden. Time will vary, but usually 2 mins and not more than 5 on each side.
Serve with a pinch of fresh cilantro and onion, enjoy immediately

Flying into Guadalajara in the daylight when the weather is nice can be a nice treat. You’ll see the verdant ridge of the Sierra de San Juan Cosala and lake Chapala beyond. The city of ~8mm Tapatios (the colloquial term for someone from Guadalajara) is actually the amalgamation of 3 municipalities, and is sprawled out in the Valle de Atemajac. To the east and north is the breathtaking Barranca Huititan and the stunning peaks of the Sierra Madre Occidental all around, Guadalajara is most deserving of it’s nick name as La Perla Occidental, the Pearl of the West. The airport is quick but not all that picturesque of a trip to most of the neighborhoods in which one would stay for a gastronomic tour and cabs, ubers, and private transport are all rather reasonable. I typically arrive on a Friday evening, and if so, I always know my first pits stop, no matter my final destination.

Taqueria Palomar Santa Rita (you can actually find it on Facebook) is my all-time favorite street food in GDL. Now this is a city KNOWN for their street food, and despite the fact this truck has roots in Sinaloa, I have made this my ‘welcome to Guad’ meal and I am pretty much always lusting for it.

Located behind a supermarket in the upscale Chapalita neighborhood, the truck is a typical, unassuming ‘taco truck’ – wagon hitch, stainless steel cart frame, grill or flat top, tortilla press, a spot for condiments and of course a tent-like cover (for the rainy season). Owner Sonia will greet you with a smile and spit off a incredibly rapid fire recitation of the night’s offerings. You’ll quickly find this greeting is very typical for street carts and market stands alike, in fact you will get so used to hearing these with every place you pass, even nonnative speakers may begin to understand what is being said. Her trusty staff, more like side kicks, welcome you with even bigger smiles than Sonia and stand at the ready for your direction. Their beaming faces and the earnestness with which they run through their menu (often injecting creative adjectives espousing the merits of a particular specialty) is just the first indicator of the famous tapatio hospitality you will continue to experience in Guadalajara.

Appearances aside, Sonia’s taco truck is no normal regular taco truck. She makes a signature dish I have yet to find anywhere else in the city, or Mexico for that matter. I call them chorreadas, in Sinaloan with a Tapatio twist tradition. They are kind of a gordita, sort of a sope, if you will. The base is a thick corn patty (picture a fat tortilla) with a slightly raised pinched rim. The key to this dish is the healthy slather of what tapatios call asientos or morusas. It’s kind of like rendered scrapple, but it has a more distinct offal taste, like there is a significant liver, tongue and tripe content in the macerated meat mixture. This unctuous and savory nectar of the gods serves as the base for the proteins and accoutrements to come. First, Sonia tops the chorreada with cheese and after crisping the bottom on a flat top grill, she melts the cheese under a tiny mobile broiler. I’m usually already salivating by the time the cheese starts to bubble and the asientos start to pop, then come the choices…

On most nights Sonia offers perfectly seasoned arrachera, Guadalajara’s own Jalisco style flank steak, and her specialty. She also offers asada style beef, chicken, and chorizo. I almost always go with arrachera, it’s the perfect marriage of Sinaloa style dish with a Guadalajara staple. She grills the flank to an expert medium rare and tosses it to her side kick who gives it a rough chop with a gleaming cleaver. She then generously mounds the perfectly pink and steaming steak on top of the cheesy asientos, and I’m drooling. Then come the toppings…

Next to the main cart there is a smaller toppings bar where Sonia offers fresh salsas, guac, nopalitos (boiled and chopped cactus), spicy cucumbers with habaneros, radishes, cilantro, charred onions and frijolitos (steaming, slow cooked, pinto beans). By the time I am done adding a spoonful of this, a splash of that, and a pinch of this and that, I am sitting down with a mountain of different colors, textures, and flavors. My masterpiece, perched on the requisite acrylic plate wrapped in plastic bag is a hearty meal. Paired with a horchata aqua fresca (cinnamon rice milk bottled beverage), it is the perfect way to sate the travel induced hunger and whet the palate for a culinary exploration of GDL.