Montrose BBQ #4 [Mexican street food, Estilo D.F.] 7/12/15

The next bbq, this Sunday is going to be Mexico style Street food. I picked up a shiny new comal from maxwell st. market today, which sparked the idea.



Prior years, newcomers from time to time get lost trying to find the spot. It is just north of montrose beach, but that doesn't mean it's on montrose, and it's not exactly on the beach either. It is actually just a little north of Lawrence Ave. Please look at the map and answers to other questions here:
FAQ AND SCHEDULE.

RSVP below, and please let me know what you plan to bring. You can also RSVP, invite friends, and join the conversation over at the Facebook event page.

For the details, like where, when, what to bring, etc, please see:
FAQ AND SCHEDULE.

One of my life's goals accomplished. I'm now a proud owner of a real street food style comal!

laikom wrote:I'm now a proud owner of a real street food style comal!

Very cool, but don't you mean charola?

RST on Chowhound circa 2009
"They are called charolas metaphorically because of their shape which is like that of a charola (rimmed serving tray) and possibly also to distinguish them from the regular comales/griddles which are used from time immemorial to make tortillas, to prepare tlacoyos, quesadillas etc etc etc"

G Wiv wrote:

laikom wrote:I'm now a proud owner of a real street food style comal!

Very cool, but don't you mean charola?

RST on Chowhound circa 2009
"They are called charolas metaphorically because of their shape which is like that of a charola (rimmed serving tray) and possibly also to distinguish them from the regular comales/griddles which are used from time immemorial to make tortillas, to prepare tlacoyos, quesadillas etc etc etc"

Okay, I'll take the bait. I have been debating this fact for some time now with someone, I can't remember who... I think his name started with a Gary.

No, I do not mean charola. Simply, a charola is a tray, a comal is a pan. This item is a pan.

I have been looking for a good deal on one of these for a couple years now and have asked every vendor I have come across a couple questions. The conversations usually go something like this:

Me: "What is this thing (pointing at the item in question)?"
Vendor: "That is a comal."
Me: "Is it also sometimes called a charola?
Vendor: "No, we have those over here" (he takes me to a stack of serving trays). "these are charolas" (hands me a serving tray)

I also know a few people from DF and other parts of mexico who have called it a comal without my asking anything. I have asked them also if it's ever called a charola and they all say no, they have never heard that. It could be a regional or dialect thing.

Now, you don't have to believe me. I could be making this all up just to pick on Gary, which I'm known to do. You can check for yourself. Google image search (or just click my links) tacos and comal, you get a whole lot of pictures of meat being cooked on this pan, and almost exclusively this pan. Yes comal just means pan, but in relation to tacos or street food, you need not say more than "comal" and people know what you mean. On the other hand, if you google image search the words tacos and charola, you get pictures of tacos stacked on a serving tray already cooked, with the exception of the postings from lthforum or from websites selling both comales (pans) and charolas (trays). The same works if you search only spanish language websites. Additionally, every website from mexico selling them calls them all comales. They typically sell charolas too, but those are, again, just regular ol' trays.

Now, I'm not denying that people somewhere may call this a charola, but you cannot deny that it is primarily referred to as a comal, well... because that's what it is.

laikom wrote:Now, I'm not denying that people somewhere may call this a charola, but you cannot deny that it is primarily referred to as a comal, well... because that's what it is.

Wait, you are saying some guy on the internet might not be 100% correct? No way...............

I'm going to keep calling it a charola, if for no other reason the sheer joy of getting a rise out of you each and every time. ~

LOL.

This morning on Facebook another friend from northern mexico called it a "disco". He said he's not sure if there is a proper name for it, people just call it whatever makes sense to them. This makes the most sense to me too.

I just asked two of my Mexican coworkers and showed tbem the photo above.
The first said disco, then did a doubletake and corrected to comal.
He said disco is more like a wok and wouldn't have the large hump.

The second said comal without hesitation.

Both say charola is right out.

BrendanR wrote:I just asked two of my Mexican coworkers and showed tbem the photo above.
The first said disco, then did a doubletake and corrected to comal.
He said disco is more like a wok and wouldn't have the large hump.

The second said comal without hesitation.

Both say charola is right out.

Some distinctions I have heard/seen: Comal Bola (ball), what it is often called when the hump goes up, Comal Chino (chinese) or pozo (well) is what they call it when it goes down. When looking for these, i always wondered why they don't just make the rim extend both directions to have a dual purpose comal. Comal bola o chino. Maybe I should start the kickstarter for it. It does fit nicely on my propane burner in either config, just missing the rim when in the chino config.

Makeshift comal chino:


Normal config with the addition of a stainless steel wind guard, all ready for the beach!

man that looks badass, this is gonna be a fun one.

And excited to get to use the contraption, along with my "chino"!

My entries will be fresh picked Squash Blossom and Anaheim chili quesadillas and deep fried ground beef and turkey tacos (I have a lot of ground turkey I'd like to use up!). I have a lot of squash blossoms so may stuff a few with queso and deep fry those as well.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

I am planning to bring some sort of salpicon. Mango, papaya, pineapple with chili powder. Looking forward to all of you and all of the dishes!

Ceding the salpicon to Trixiepea. Will bring a fruit salad, possibly with a touch of tequila.

Hiya,

I'll be bringing some Mexican pastries.

--Matt

Hi,

Aldi's ad page for next week, they are offering a caste iron comal, sized about 10 inches, for less than $10. They also offer a fajita sizzler and a grill. Is a comal of that size very useful?

Regards,

"I will not miss another Montrose Beach BBQ" - whoever is reading this

Embarrassingly enough, this was my first Montrose Beach BBQ of the year, though if I could have made it to all those previously, I would have. I will not miss another one when I'm in town, and neither should you.

Bugs from ???


Pastries from several people including myself



Ceviche from boudreaulicious


Watermelon Agua Fresca from Evelyn


Chicharrón from Dennis










Salsa from Laikom and Jefe




tacos de canasta by Jefe



Leg of Lamb from Laikom






Potatoes, Chorizo

This was a great time, wish i could have hung out longer. Cooking on the comal was a lot fun...quick learning curve and it made things interactive. Highlights included the tacos de canasta (recipe please?), squash blossom/beaver dam quesadillas, and pretty much every taco I ate off the comal

Lots of fun today--thanks to everyone for your contributions. Tons of delicious bites--Alek's perfectly braised lengua was so tender yet crispy after a spin on the Comal; the lamb; Jefe's Micheladas and salsa verde; Matt's chicken Tinga; the intensely strawberry ice with a touch of salt.

The one thing I'd really like the recipe for is Pigmon's frijoles--I was too full to eat more than a spoonful there but took some home--threw in a handful of kale and chard and it became an amazing soup for a lite dinner. If you care to share, I'd love to make this!!

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Aldi's ad page for next week, they are offering a caste iron comal, sized about 10 inches, for less than $10. They also offer a fajita sizzler and a grill. Is a comal of that size very useful?

Regards,

The comal you're talking about sounds more like a tortilla pan which is also called a comal. I stopped buying cheapo cast iron, or any new cast iron for that matter since the vintage stuff is much smoother, and can be found for reasonable prices if you search a little.

Awesome pics nick, thanks for taking them!

Next time the forecast calls for rain and you'd rather it not, just plan an LTH potluck. My god, it was a beautiful day. For fear of sounding redundant, I'll fast forward through all the adjectives: ambition, generosity, enthusiasm, and talent. Great group as usual! I was very glad to see a few new faces, including a long time LTH lurker, Bernard. Hopefully he posts and convinces more to come out of the shadows!

I feel like this picture captured the energy surrounding the comal self serve rig:

A few observations about cooking on the "comal bola".

First off, I loved every aspect of it. I felt like I had an amazing amount of control over temps. I see why it is favored by street vendors. It holds things warming on the sides for a long time before they become tired, and the center crisps up food for immediate service very quickly. Somewhat of an enigma, it managed to stay hot enough to crisp things up really fast, but if you left anything on the heat for too long, it didn't burn.

Using lard, it formed a nice seasoning after a very short time using it, almost instantly. If you look at nick's pictures, that darker patch on top of the "bola" was not at all burnt, ever, it was a nice slippery season, like a well done cast iron. In fact, nothing every stuck to it the whole time, not even the pineapple chunks we cooked up for the al pastor.

As designed, tortillas crisped up really nicely and quickly, especially on the quesadillas. We achieved a quality i have never gotten in a regular cast iron pan. Of course I it probably had something to do with the use of the pooling grease to lube up the tortillas, but I am sure the extremely consistent temps had something to do with it.

Some people at the picnic reminded me that at La Chaparrita they fill it with tons of oil, sometimes over the bola completely. I'm not sure why you'd ever do that, it totally defeats the purpose of having the 2 zones. Now, don't jump on my back, they certainly know what they're doing, and their product is great. They do finish things off on the flat top griddle as their hot zone, and they don't do the tortillas on the bola, obviously. Maybe this is a solution for larger volume service.

Looking more into the history behind this type (these types) of cooking. So, I remember hearing, maybe on LTH or one of the BBQ forums out there, that these devices were originally developed by re-purposing the big discs used on the plow, thus the first ones were called "disco de arado" which translates to plow disc. Apparently they were developed in Argentina, at least according to this website: http://www.fiestacomidaaldisco.com.ar/h ... o-de-arado. The ones we are talking about are presumably an evolution of these devices.

I reminded of this information while trying to figure out what they use at La Chaparrita where the food is cooking in liquid, presumably a lot, or all oil. I do not think it is a bola or pozo, I think it's flat, based on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4GBCTH ... tu.be&t=81. My friend David, who is from northern mexico told me these flat ones are common in northern mexico, which makes sense why talking to Pigmon he said the ones in LA were all swimming with liquid as well. If anyone has info on the differences, I'd be interested to know.

laikom wrote: while trying to figure out what they use at La Chaparrita where the food is cooking in liquid, presumably a lot, or all oil.

I believe they start with lard at La Chaparrita.

La Chaparrita



Then mix in fatty beef

La Chaparrita



Then add the other meats, excluding those done in the steamer/vapor such as tongue/lengua.

La Chaparrita

I think I left my chair there; it was in a light blue bag. Did anyone happen to pick that up? If so, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

I blame the Kirkland añejo tequila, and possibly food coma.

Also, G Wiv, those pictures make me want to go to La Chaparrita right now. My office is in West Town, so it's not even that far, but lunch there is not conducive to a productive afternoon.

It seems like they have the method down for keeping meats ready to go without drying out; as always, the secret is pork fat.

Anyone going there needs to get an order of the cebollitas too; so simple, but so good. One of those things you can make at home in a snap, and people will think you are a genius!

I believe that G Wiv also said one of the most creative things he's seen in use is a hubcap. Probably you, Mr. L. could make it work.