This magnificent, spacious, friendly spot does it all: Las Barbacoas de Mexico slow-cook meat underground, they ferment underground, they grill, roast and bake. Super delicious place that you should not miss if you visit Oaxaca! (Full disclosure: It's owned by the Ruiz siblings, including Chef Alex Ruiz, who are friends. It's still fricken great.)
Portozuelo's Camping Under the Moon event with Chef Alex Ruiz and guest Chef Rodrigo Martinez involved this spectacular fire-roasted goat. This was slow cooking over the fire for hours before being chopped up and fulfilling its destiny to be part of some of the most delicious tacos ever. (That's the one and only Chef Alex applying herbs.)
This is a variation on a super popular snack here in Oaxaca. Normally, they just combine roasted peanuts and roasted grasshoppers, plus chili and other flavorings. This one, served at Los Barbacoas de Mexico, also has roasted agave larvae -- also known as agave worms or picudo del agave.
Amira and I attended Portozuelo's first-ever Camping Under the Moon event with Chef Alex Ruiz and guest Chef Rodrigo Martinez. Alex brought in a young mezcal maker to set up a coal-fired still and distill mezcal on the spot. (First, he sealed the parts of the still with corn flour.) He infused it with lavender and rosemary, and it was delicious. We drank it all night and then had more for breakfast. This is, after all, Oaxaca.
It's so good, it's almost a dessert. Amazing bread, the cooks hand-whip the milk and egg batter custom with each order, tons of cinnamon, organic berries on top and whipped cream. This french toast is not to be trifled with.
It's a tiny one-room place in a tiny town in the Oaxaca valley. The lady who makes it just ladles the stuff out of the plastic buckets she ferments it in. So fresh and good. (Pictured above: The outside of the place; below: my pulque lady with one of her customers and also her pet goat, who happens to be peeing on the floor in this picture.)
