Fiesta In-Crowd’s Favorite Food
A Sampling of Our Lady of Guadalupe's Mercado
By now even newbs know that the Fiesta In-Crowd’s favorite food is the Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG) tamale. For good reason: Made with skill, love, and well-worked masa, the pork or chicken cornhusk-wrapped delights draw the longest lines there in the former Catholic school grounds.
But don’t stop; chow on. Longtime tamalera Rafaela Canseco recently moved into the gorditas booth, which now draw big appreciative crowds, too. The flautas (think taquito) and tortas (sandwiches) are magnificent, as well.
But for my money, the superior Guadalupe treats are the soul-satisfying bowls of pozole, pork soup studded with hominy and seasoned with great perfume-y flavors of oregano, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime, an invigorating stew with pre-Columbian origins. The lines there are shorter, and the quick rush of deliciousness provides fine fuel to compensate for the long waits for anything else the OLG parishioners are proudly serving.
