The Street Foods of Mexico City: Don't Be Afraid, Just Eat It.

Ready to devour the tacos al pastor at El Huequito

Most mainstream guidebooks and Web sites about visiting Mexico City contain dire warnings against eating the street food. These admonitions are often panicked in tone: "Do not, under any circumstances, eat anything from a street vendor! Ever! Stay away!"

What a shame.

I cannot imagine walking by all of the glorious stands filled with beautiful tacos, papas, tortas, tlacoyos, and more - and not ever tasting one single thing. And I don't think you can get a true culinary picture of the city and its vibrant culture without experiencing the joys of street eating. Now, I am not suggesting that you eat anything you please, from any stand that strikes your fancy. Just like anywhere else, in Mexico City most food providers adhere to acceptable or even exemplary standards of hygiene, while a minority of others most definitely do not.

Zapiekanka: A Polish Street Food Goes Gourmet, with Swiss Chard Pesto, Sauteed Crimini Mushrooms, Oven Roasted Corn, and Garlic Aioli on a Fresh Homemade Baguette for the 5 Star Pizza Makeover

Imagine my surprise when the theme for this month's 5 Star Makeover - hosted as always by the prolific Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! - was announced. Pizza. But wait a minute. I just made a pizza for last month's 5 Star farmers market challenge: the glorious Tycoon, a manly pie dripping with steak and blue cheese and potatoes and quail eggs.

No matter - if there's one thing I love it's stuff on bread, and the possibilities are endless. And it seems I tend to get inspired by the various permutations of pizza  I encounter on my travels.  Last year I recreated (and created) a few versions of langos, Hungarian deep fried pizza, after visiting Budapest. So it seemed only fitting that for this pizza challenge I would create a gourmet version of zapiekanka, a  pizza-esqe Polish street food I enjoyed in Krakow. Remember?

The Street Meats of Krakow & Prague: A Tale of Many Sausages, Things on Buns, Polish Pizza, and the Mysterious Kielbasa Man

A Wenceslas Square wiener

Zapiekanka at Plac Nowy in Krakow

Prague sausage!

If you've been following my posts chronicling my recent trip to Eastern and Central Europe, you'll have figured out by now that Poppa Trix and I can eat like nobody's business. From huge bowls of pho to piles of raw meat to kilos of ham to multi-course chef's menus, we are no wilting flowers when it comes to tasting new things and experiencing other cultures through food.

Artisinal Grain "Sausages" with Sauteed Summer Vegetables

Americans, by and large, eat too much meat, but I'm not here to try to convince anyone to become a vegetarian.  It's true that I don't eat land animals, partly because of the horror that is factory farming, and partly because I'm a incurable girl and think that furry animals are cute. But I do occasionally eat seafood, and, as even a cursory glance at my recipes will demonstrate, copious amounts of cheese, so I'm not exactly on the short list to be a PETA spokesperson.  

Shrimp Remoulade and Mexican Street-Style Corn

Whenever my husband and I get back from a trip to New Orleans, we're always  inspired to try to recreate some of the many amazing  flavors we've experienced.  (Of course, we're also desperately trying to take our minds off of the fact that we're back in dreary, deadly  Baltimore ...but  that blog has already been done: baltimorecrime.blogspot.com) 

We had a hankering for shrimp remoulade, which neither one of us had ever made before. Don't let the complex taste of this rich, tangy sauce fool you - this is one easy dish to make.  If you can mix a bunch of ingredients together until everything tastes right, you can make this. And holy crap! Is it good. Eye rolling, tummy-rubbing, fight-over-the-last-bite good.