Today culinary exploration took me to the Historic Pilsen neighborhood.
I have been wanting to check out Don Pedro’s Carniceria ever since I saw it on Foods of Chicago (if you are from Chicago be sure to check out this excellent program on WTTW) on PBS and then read the article in Time Out Chicago that featured cheap eats in Pilsen with Rick Bayless.
Carnitas literally “little meats”. Its basically fried then braised or roasted pork. Today’s deliciousness was served with fresh tortillas, cilantro, onion, lime and fresh salsas (they had both red and green salsas). It was also handy that Charlie speaks Spanish. If I were alone the language barrier would have been an issue. I’m not sure they would have understood my Spanglish. Although they don’t serve much more than pork and pork.
We also split an order of the Chicharrons. The meal was delicious. The pork was loaded with flavor, the salsas were fresh. The tortillas (though not hand made) were warm and fresh from the tortilla maker down the street. I stuffed myself. As much as I tried, I could not finish that perfect platter of pork.
On the way out we bought an arroz con leche. Its a rice pudding..but this one was thin so we could drink it. It was a perfect finish to a great meal.
We stopped at Kristoffer’s Cafe & Bakery and picked up a piece of Tres Leches Cake. It will make a great midnight snack.
We worked off our Mexican Feast by walking around the Museum of Science and Industry the rest of the afternoon.
The trees are decorated in “traditional” Christmas decorations from countries spanning from Japan, to Greece, to Slovakia to Bolivia. The trees were beautiful. It was really interesting to see how different cultures decorate their trees. How they are the same yet so very different.
It was a great afternoon…another great staycation day.
Tonight we might checkout the Longman & Eagle. I have to admit I’m still kind-of full from todays lunch. Maybe I’ll just indulge in a whiskey or two.
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