Think outside the bell: 6 true Mexican dishes in Austin

By Mike Sutter

AMERICAN-STATESMAN RESTAURANT CRITIC

Many of us grew up eating what we thought was Mexican food, food that had as much connection to Mexico as french fries have to France or Swedish meatballs have to my Swedish ancestors. What exactly was the 'Enchirito' at Taco Patio? Heckifino.

But talk to a person who was born in, travels through or loves Mexico and you'll hear about dishes worlds apart from a No. 2 plate.

We're thinking about sabores auténticos (authentic flavors) as Austin celebrates two Mexican milestones - independence and revolution - with a gala Monday at the Long Center for the Performing Arts (see the box with this story) that includes historical Mexican dishes.

Don't have $250 for a ticket to the ball? Here are six dishes from Austin restaurants that speak to the spiritual and geographical heart of Mexico.

Cochinita pibil at Sazon

1816 S. Lamar Blvd. 326-4395, www.sazonaustin.com . $11.95.

Chef and owner Margarito Aranda: 'A true cochinita is going to be cooked in the ground, in what's called a 'pib,' in an earthen oven. That's the way the Mayans would cook it. The name 'cochinita pibil' is a mixture of Spanish and Mayan, which is 'little pig cooked in the ground.' We braise it in the oven, try to mimic the temperature and the time. We grew up cooking a different type of Mexican food. I was actually born in Mexico, but I was born in northern Mexico, so there's a completely different style. There's more grilling, there's more beef than farther south. (Cochinita) is from the Yucatán. They have more black beans as opposed to pintos. They use habaneros as spices, as opposed to jalapeños or serranos. (Cochinita) is braised in a banana leaf, and it'll impart a little bit of a smoky flavor. We'll serve it with garlic rice, and it's white. That's very traditional throughout Mexico. … There's a side relish dish called 'xni pec' that comes from the Yucatán. It's pickled red onions, habaneros. It's got a Mayan name. "Xni pec" means "nose of the dog." It's called that because with the habanero peppers, when you eat it, it should make your nose run and have it wet like a dog's nose.'

El Califa tacos at La Condesa

400 W. Second St. 499-0300, www.lacondesaaustin.com . $14.

La Condesa chef René Ortiz: 'One favorite for me which is on the menu (at La Condesa) right now is the Califa. That's a restaurant in Mexico City, in the Condesa neighborhood. It's sliced rib-eye that's seared a la plancha, and then manchego cheese that's griddled next to it. And the meat is tossed over it, and the queso becomes chicharron (crispy like fried pork skin). They put this on a very tiny tortilla and then they put salsa on top of that, and the salsa's cooked in the juices of the meat. So when you're there, it's as dramatic and beautiful as it is delicious. The meat is larger than the tortilla, and the cheese is bigger than the meat. You crack the whole thing and fold the meat into the tortilla with the salsa juicing out of it. And that's your taco.'

Menudo at Joe's Bakery

2305 E. Seventh St. 472-0017, www.joesbakery.com . $4.19 for a half-pint bowl.

'Today's the day,' I told my waitress at Joe's. 'Having menudo for the first time.' God love her, she arched her eyebrows and brought a little bowl for me to taste before I committed all the way. Menudo is a fabled hangover cure, a bar snack at closing time, a comforting taste of home for Mex-pats everywhere. But the truth? It's beef tripe. Sure, they're sliced and washed and cooked in a spicy soup stock with red chiles and kernels of hominy, no matter what the purists might think of hominy. But there's no getting around the musky aroma and the bouncy texture. It's cut into sections about a square inch wide, a smooth alabaster white on one side, shaggy on the other side like a bank of sea anemones in a salty red lagoon. The more I ate, the more I warmed to the flavor and primal texture. A colleague told me the smell of menudo being made in the kitchen - like being trapped in an elevator full of shoes - will drive everybody out of the house. But sitting down to a bowl of it, that's the thing that pulls everybody back in.