24 Hours in Mexico: Guadalajara, Jalisco to Sahuayo, Michoacan

24 hours can be a lifetime. The routine of the gig becomes either a tedious act, or an inspired journey of growth. One way or the other, musicians jam it into their veins: airports,hotel check-in, sound check, grooming, green room, show,rock n roll glory, ass, addictions, lobby call, airports, and back to zero. The crescendo is a dynamic blur of narcotizing highs and lows.

It's in between those moments when I restlessly explore the environs. I'm exhausted but can't bare to miss a thing. Maybe there will be a stretch of barren highway so I can nod for 30 fucking minutes.

The drive from Jalisco to Michoacan round Lake Chapala via Guadalajara is short. Would I get that Michoacan that I encountered this summer? There was plenty to see on the two-lane death ride--our driver mostly drove in between the two lanes while trucks and cars made for the shoulder so we could squeeze through. The road was flanked by birrieros(birria cooks) and torteros(sandwich makers) in Jalisco, then abruptly turned to carnitas and artisans at the state line. I finally saw Mexico's largest fresh water lake: Lake Chapala.

On the Guadalajara-Chapala highway there is a truck stop for northern burritos that every driver we've ever had instinctively goes when the band is hungry. Los Burritos de Moyahua has been around for 22 years; open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

It big enough to handle bus loads--simple and hearty guisados are wrapped in fresh flour tortillas fast and delicious. I never have a problem going here.


There's always at least one banda tour bus, and bunch of big-rigs parked outside this vast property that boasts two large indoor dining areas and a huge covered patio.


Around 2PM is when the local families show up.


Pollo guisado, bistec ranchero, mole, papas con rajas, machaca con huevo, chicharron en salsa verde, and many more entice and deliver northern comfort. Burritos are tacos with rolled flour tortillas--it's a taco de guisado. Well, at least these thin burritos are still tacos.

I thought there should be something different among the known guisados served, and there it was: mole amoxóchitl. This is a lightly sweet mole from Amoxóchitl, Zacatecas with hints of apple, dried fruits, tropical fruit, and a medium mid-throat tingle of heat.

Further proof of wasted energy only talking about moles from Oaxaca and Puebla--Mexico has so much more to offer to cooks, chefs, and diners.

All I needed was this one perfect bite before heading to Sahuayo. Wonder what I'll find there?


Sahuayo is the kind of place with a population that washes into the center of town at night, draining the rest of the city of life and light, and then drifts outward like the tide during the day. Everyone comes out to hear the mariachis in the evening.


One of the signs you are in Michoacan are the fresh, toasted garbazo vendors. These take the place of street corn. A bag of scorched garbanzos topped with hot sauce is the right of every Michoacano.

After sound check there are some hours to dig around for something special, something unique, something tasty.

Wandering only leads to lonely, darkened streets, but the local market is unearthed--that'll save for tomorrow morn. There are only two competing taco stands and some scattered vendors of garbanzos in the town square, hot dogs, too. Taqueria d' Rodolfo it is: veal birria, lip, eye, brain, palate, and shank tacos. "No palate?" "Ok, veal and lip will do just fine." Very good, not great: solid.


Just about a hundred feet away is a torta and tostada stand run by these nice ladies--it seems to have most of the action on this night.

The tostada estilo Sahuayo comes with a fine head cheese, pork loin, or pig's feet. The trotters are home made, but the round of head cheese looked lovely. A thin spread of watery refried beans, pinkish head cheese, cabbage, tomato sauce, pickled jalapenos, chile de arbol salsa, and runny mustard are the components of this tostada--the same ingredients go into the torta.

This tostada is a dream. $4 into the evening and I'm completely satisfied with this result. The queso de puerco, or head cheese is tender and a dominant flavor in this substantial preparation.

This leaves a bit of time to get ready before what turns out to be a tense night on the gig in nearby Jiquilpan, Michoacan--sometimes whether or not the artist goes on stage can become a "family affair". In the end it's a good show--no need for any rough stuff--and I can now afford a 4 hour rest before checking out the local market.

I find the comedores (eateries found in all markets in Mexico) about 15 minutes prior to our departure for Guadalajara. There's menudo, birria, and lots of carnitas--after so many years of taquerias referring to their carnitas as being Sahuayo style, here I am in Sahuayo for the real thing. The busiest stand was doing tripas near the entrance of the regional food court of the Sahuayo market.

Carnitas El Indio was looking real good.


Their stunning display case of plump carnitas even mesmerized a young girl catching breakfast with her family.




I ordered a taco of cueritos(skin) and a surtido(mixed). They dress their carnitas with a spicy guacamole, and salsa; no cilantro or onions are needed. Carnitas are prepared differently all over Michoacan; there really is a noticeable difference here from those in Morelia, or Quiroga. Some of the cuts are different, and the tortillas are bigger here.

These are showstoppers, and nothing more is needed. I can go back to Guadalajara happy, and content.

It has been a little more than a day since I first showed up to LAX to catch my flight to Guadalajara--it's been another 24 hours in Mexico.


Guadalajara, Jalisco

Los Burritos de Moyahua
Carr. 23 Guadalajara-Chapala
colonia Santa Rosa, Guadalajara, Jalisco
365 days/24 hrs a day

Jiquilpan and Sahuayo, Michoacan

Tacos d' Rodolfo
6PM-1AM
Zocalo de Sahuayo
Sahuayo, Michoacan
Tostadas y Tortas puesto
6PM-1AM
Zocalo de Sahuayo
Sahuayo, Michoacan

Birria Victor, Guadalajara: Goat Stew Tail-Gate Party on a Real Food Truck, a Pick-Up Truck That Is

No!Not breakfast in the hotel lobby!!

An early flight back after a late night show is always tricky when it comes to leaving Mexico,in this case, Guadalajara, with a last taste of something memorable. I'm always willing to risk snoring and drooling on the person sitting next to me on the flight over getting a good night's sleep and missing a chance for weekend breakfasts in Mexico.

9:30AM Lobby call? Not enough time to hit the Seafood Market in Zapopan, but maybe if I leave at 7AM....what time is it? 4:30AM? Ughhh.

At 8:35AM I'm sprinting out of the Hotel Intercontinental with comically mussed hair and a shoe half on. Too late for the market, too late for the Mercado de Abastos I had visited the day before. How 'bout that brilliant tacos al vapor stand I found yesterday?..shit....they're not there!!

Only 40 minutes 'til lobby.Airport food or the hotel? Oh, well....next time.


Walking back to the hotel, and only two blocks away from the entrance, I spy a pick-up truck, a blue tarp, and some seating. OK, whatever this is, I'm doing it.

Looks like birria de chivo(goat birria), great. "What do you have?", I said."Goat udder, tripe, and leg!", the young man proudly stated. Wow, let's have it all.

Birria is a cumin and herbed stew that translate to "a mess", it can be made of any protein, but most commonly:goat,lamb,or beef. In the state of Jalisco, goat is king.

Birria Victor has operated a 7-day a week, 26 year ongoing tail-gate party of a sublime plate of birria. His son, Victor Jr., runs the stand frequented by regulars. It's not oven-roasted, the local tradition, nor is it cooked in a pot, the goat meat is first stewed,then scorched on a comal for a "special flavor". The stock is cooked in a pot, and poured on the meat only seconds prior to serving.

Victor is a riot, as is his crew. A kid rides by with the opposition's soccer logo,Atlas, Victor yells out "Chivas", the kid stands on the pedals,hunches forward and speeds off. It seems he knows everyone that comes down the street, they either stop for a bite or get hazed on the way to somewhere;the number of police that frequent this truck could make Birria Victor its own precinct.

As I'm about to dig in, a portly guy sits next to me and gets a whole shank with a hypnotizing flap of tendon giggling about. It overflows onto the table from the man's bowl. Victor looks at me and him and teases this lucky customer," Hey, pick up the bone like this(he mocks a savage bite from a bone)and let him take a picture;he'll put you on the internet,guey!" Everything here is guey,pinche, chinga..,etc.The guy turns bright red,far too embarrassed to eat his luxurious bowl of shank in front of me. When my back is turned he holds it up, then shakes his head and puts it down, laughing and flashing a red-faced smile.


Everything is cooked on site, the lip of the truck's bed has a comal with a burner beneath that fries the goat and keep the stock warm. Blackened udder, machitos(a preparation of intestines wrapped by a cord of small intestine), and leg are what make this soup so amazing, both in flavor and texture.


All his unique cuts sit in a stock pot prior to being finished on the comal.


The shank is the prize though, known as chamorro,or perico.He refers to the tissue hanging off the bone as nerves, but it is tendon.


The machitos were so good, I ordered a taco of pure goat intestine.A pleasurable amount of crisp and burnt goat flavor are found in Victor's machitos.


Would we care for some beans and onions thrown in?You betcha.


Goat udder here at Birria Victor is more delicate than any beef udder I've enjoyed, and the goat meat Mexican stand-off between the flavors of udder, machitos, and scorched leg remains at a standstill an hour after your meal.The victorious?Well, that would be you, such delightful flavors and textures linger. A salsa of chile de arbol is on the table to heat things up, warm tortillas, and quartered limes to squeeze in just the right amount of acid.

If you find yourself in the hotel zone around the Plaza del Sol in nearby Zapopan in Gaudalajara, consider your breakfast prayers answered.

Birria Victor
7 days a week(8AM 'til early afternoon or they sell out)
parked on Tenochtitlan, just west of Lopez Mateos. X-st. Mariano Otero
Cd.del Sol neighborhood in Zapopan
Guadalajara,Jalisco
Mexico
(33)3634-0209