Tag: mutton

July 9, 2010

New Mexico #5: Top Tastes

I ate a lot of good stuff. There’s a Flickr set here, showcasing my post-trip belly.

Highlights included:

*Doughnut from a bakery on 2nd Street in Raton, NM

It had all the crunch of a good cake doughnut, and all the airiness of a perfect yeast one. The bakery is this very bare-bones operation–a huge room with about three tables, no decoration, and a quite old, hunched-over woman shuffling slowly from table to cash register and back. The kind of service where you just stand there and wait to be acknowledged, and she finally says, after she’s completed every aspect of the current task, “OK, who’s next?”

*Roast mutton on frybread in Crownpoint, NM

Beverly and I went to the Navajo rug auction in Crownpoint, which happens once a month or so. It takes place in the elementary school gym, and a few food vendors set up out in the parking lot. Only one had the roast mutton; others just had Navajo tacos (frybread with all the taco filling stuff on top). This created an awkward situation, because early on, I’d chatted with one girl while buying a drink and said, “Oh, I’ll be back for food.” And when I came back, I totally bypassed her and went for the mutton vendor, and sure enough, she gave me the evil eye.

But it was worth it. That there’s some locavore eating, man. Mixed in with the charred slab of lamb was a slick roasted green chile, the perfect amount of heat. It was all a little hard to deal with because there were so many bones, but we managed. I think Beverly dubbed it a Navajo gyro in the end.

*Fried chicken with red chile at Halona Plaza, Zuni Pueblo

I think I’ve raved about this particular chicken before. What’s better than fried chicken? Fried chicken with red chile on the side, of course. Eaten in the back of a grocery store, and washed down with a fountain Coke, ideally after having spent a long day in a hot car. And good thing it’s good–it’s nearly the only thing to eat in Zuni.

*Indian rice ball at The Curious Kumquat in Silver City, NM

Just when my trip was seeming like slightly ahead of schedule, I figured I’d add some tension by driving all the way down to Silver City for dinner. When I was there in April, I had just missed eating dinner at the Curious Kumquat, and I was totally staggered by Chef Rob’s ideas for food. So I grabbed Beverly, and off we drove. And drove. And drove. That town is waaaaay down there, man.

We rolled in just around dinnertime, and set to eating. Rob basically gives a list of four or five entrees, and then builds a tasting menu around each one. It’s an insane amount of work, as each little taste for each entree is different. I immediately opted for the vegetarian Indian mix (again, still trying to counteract my heavy meat intake). One of the early courses was this little deep-fried rice ball, filled with a little nugget of cheese. Like arancini gone Indian. I mean, I’m sure there’s actually an Indian treat like this, but that’s what’s so great about it–eating this made me think across all ethnic boundaries and ponder rice balls the world over. And its little fuzz of sprouts on top was just adorable. And it was perfectly spicy. And I had little hits of spices popping off in my mouth for many minutes after, as I sat there grinning.

We ended the meal with something else brilliant, which I have no picture for: ice cream made of Samuel Smith cherry ale. Rob explained that he hadn’t boiled down the beer, like so many recipes for beer ice cream tell you (yeah, all those recipes–I’m clearly not reading the right books), so it wasn’t sweet or too intense–just nutty and a little hit of cherry.

Needless to say, I highly recommend the drive to Silver City–from wherever you are.

*White port with tonic water and lime at Jennifer James 101 in Albuquerque.

We ate many other delicious things, but this drink was so refreshing and lovely. Writing this in muggy New York heat, I could definitely use one now…

Haven’t gone to look at the Flickr pics yet? You really should. It’s not often I show you my stomach.

New Mexico #1: Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn
New Mexico #2: A Tale of Two Stews‘
New Mexico #3: B Is for Bizarre
New Mexico #4: Reading a Menu
Flickr sets here and here

June 28, 2010

New Mexico #2: A Tale of Two Stews

The first place I headed on my trip was Shiprock, New Mexico. Not sure why–but I just feel better if I go the farthest-away places first, and get them out of the way. Long ago, I’d heard there was mutton stew on the menu at the KFC. When I called to confirm, the guy who answered the phone said, “Hell yeah man, we got it” in a very New Mexican accent. That proud response has echoed in my head ever since, so of course I stopped at the KFC first thing.

The KFC has been spruced up and moved since I was there last. It’s about the only thing that has been spruced up and moved.

I walked in and stood in line. I was the only non-Navajo in the place. And I was the only person to order the Navajo food on the menu: mutton stew with a side of frybread.

While I was waiting, I managed to spill my ice tea all over, and got to chatting with the woman who mopped it up. After I sat down with my stew, Linda came out on her break and said, “Can I eat with you?”

So nice! This never happens to me, the lonesome travel writer. Linda and I chatted about Shiprock–no new businesses, she said, except…guess what it is? I could not even begin to imagine what Shiprock might already have too many of. Give up?

A laundromat. Apparently, they need more laundromats in Shiprock like they need holes in their head, but here’s a new one opening up.

I asked her about the air pollution–it seemed better since the last time I was here, I said. Maybe the regulations on the coal plant made a difference? She said she hadn’t noticed a thing, but admitted, “Maybe I’m just too rezzed out, you know?”

All the while, I was eating my stew. It was terrible.

Completely bland, with “baby” carrots bobbing in the watery broth, and pieces of meat that were all mysterious gristle. I eyed Linda’s fried chicken with envy.

Still, I left that late lunch so happy, so nourished. A stranger had chatted me up, laughed at me (for ordering the “Navajo stew”) and with me, and given me advice (stew across street is better, but it’s best at the flea market, where you can sit in the air and the dust). I told Linda I’d keep an eye out for her at the new laundromat, and drove off to see what they’d done with Four Corners, now that it has moved.

Much later in the trip, I ate some more mutton stew, at the Pueblo Harvest Cafe in the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The place has been given a makeover and now it looks like pretty much any casual restaurant in a pueblo casino (even though there’s not a casino here), and the menu is all over the place. But the mutton stew was really good. Thick and lamby, with great bread on the side. I wish I’d ordered a bowl, not just a cup.

But I ate it all alone.

I can’t bring myself to axe the KFC from the guidebook, even though it’s a terrible meal–who knows what other adventures readers might have when they stop in? Likewise, I can’t get really feverishly excited about the Pueblo Harvest Cafe, but maybe if I’d been sharing the meal with someone…

This is a prime example of the guidebook writer’s dilemma–recommend fundamental quality, or experience? I wrote about this same problem a few years ago, using some examples closer to home in Astoria, Queens. I guess it’s just a lesson I have to keep learning…

New Mexico #1: Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn
Flickr sets here and here

December 24, 2004

Like an elephant

So here I am back in New Mexico, land of enchantment (state bird: roadrunner; state cookie: biscochito), and I'm sitting in a cafe in Albuquerque using the wireless Internet, and I hear some guys next to me chatting.