One of the delights of living in Queretaro is the abundance of restaurants that have an all-inclusive brunch on Saturday and/or Sunday. Most of them run about $8.28 US (150 pesos). We decided to try our first one today, and happened upon La Patio de la Abuela, “Grandma’s Patio”.
The chef’s station prepared eggs to your liking, enchiladas, and fresh bacon at our request, since the bacon in the steam tray wasn’t very crispy. One special treat was the huitlacoche and cheese: a mushroom-like fungus that grows on corn. Huitlacoche can’t be cultivated, it appears when it wants to. I haven’t seen it in the States, so this was a real treat. It was served with a roasted tomato and pepper sauce that nicely complemented the mushroomy goodness.
The taxonomic classification for the cacao tree is theobroma cacao, or Elixir of the Gods. Hot chocolate here in Mexico is slightly more like the original theobroma that Moctezuma reportedly drank all day to preserve his god-like health (50 small golden cups of it, so they say.) It has less milk and more water than our American counterpart, and it is lightly sweetened. And oh, the aroma and taste! I asked the waiter how it is made, and he explained: water, milk, and Oaxaca chocolate. I asked if I could see this, and he smiled and just brought me another cup.
We sampled all of the Mexican foods on the hot trays: costilla (short ribs) with cactus strips; potatoes with rajas (pepper strips) and house-made cheese; shredded chicken in a light red sauce; and a number of other dishes. As the morning wore on the patio started to lose its morning coolness, and the Spanish love songs and the food coma took effect. Time to go out into the day and enjoy.
