Researching regional Mexican in Chicago. Now: May St. Mole

Researching regional Mexican food in Chicago

In Chicago, many Mexican restaurants feature the cuisine of southwestern, Pacific-side states: Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. Of course, you can find offerings from Nuevo Leon, Yucatan, etc., but I’m talking about what seem to be some predominating local trends.

There may be two primary reasons for this concentration of offerings from these four states: Chicago may attract more Mexican immigrants from this four-state area than from others, and it’s undeniably the case that there are some outstanding culinary creations from this region, which accounts for some of their popularity.

I believe one reason for the exceptional food from this region is the biodiversity of these states (as compared to more northerly states that may have a somewhat one-dimensional environment). All of these southwestern states have a coastline (so lots of access to fish), and there are mountains that tend to foster microclimates – from desert-like to lush – that favor specific crops and animals.

Another reason for the exceptional food from these states might be the fact that because they’re on the coast and were subject to early and consistent exchanges with Spain, they were and are more likely to develop interesting “fusion” dishes. Mole negro, for instance, so readily identified with Oaxaca, now contains many spices and seeds that are not native to the New World (e.g., cinnamon, sesame, among others). Spain also contributed goats, pigs and lots of other animals that become part of state-specific culinary traditions (e.g., birria in Jalisco, carnitas in Michoacan, etc.).

Yet another reason for the exceptional food from this area may be the development in pre-Industrial Mexico of relatively wealthy populations that could afford to purchase costlier ingredients. I am not referring to a general level of economic well-being, but rather to a smaller, moneyed class of people who could drive the development of – and pay for – good food. (If this were once true, it may no longer be a driver; Oaxaca and Guerrero are currently among the Mexico’s four poorest states – which might also account for heavy migration from these states. However, much Mexican wealth is concentrated in few hands, so even in impoverished states, wealthier individuals could demand higher-end chow).

A challenge with this research has been a tendency (specifically, MY tendency) to group regional foods by state. Many times a food or specific dish may have developed among native groups (e.g., Mayan, Tarascans, Mixtec), yet pre-contact tribal boundaries will not necessarily (or even usually) correspond to later divisions into states. Thus a dish like mole was developed in an early form by the Mixtec, and these people lived principally in what is now Oaxaca and Puebla, so it’s not easy to say with confidence that mole is a Oaxacan dish any more than it is a Pueblan dish.

Still, I’m looking for restaurants that might offer cuisine from some of the lesser represented states, such as Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Tlaxcala (whose name means “Maize Corn Bread,” so I got to believe that there’s something there). If you spot unusual offerings on Chicagoland Mexican menus, I’d love to hear about them.

Hammond

While I realize this isn't an answer to where to find this regional cuisine in Chicago. This is a class/trip you might be interested in.

http://www.marilyntausend.com/trips6.php

Researching regional Mexican in Chicago. Now: May St. Mole

At May Street Café last night, I ordered the chicken mole, which I have been doing lately whenever I spot it. This mole was purportedly made “in the style of Michoacán,” which according to Guadalupe, our server and mole maker, is less sweet and more hot with ancho and pasilla chilies and a relatively tiny bit of cocoa. Whether this is a distinctive style of Michoacán mole, or simply the way a person who happens to be from Michoacán makes mole, is unknown to me…and an example of the challenges of determining and defining regional characteristics of Mexican food. Reminds me of CrazyC at the VI-initiated Katrina benefit; as I recall, she brought cake, which she identified as “Chinese cake” because, as she explained with a smile, she’s Chinese and she made it.

MikeG has elsewhere, and in a different context, bemoaned the ubiquitous and anonymous chicken breasts, and those are the vehicles for May St Café mole. This, to me, seemed a mistaken effort to bump up the production values by using a “higher end” chicken product than, say, the traditional leg and thigh, which would have been preferable, at least to me.

Incidentally, May St. Café is billed as “gourmet eclectic Latino food,” and that title fits to some extent, though there’s a lot on this menu that is no kind of Latino I know…such as crusty-fried alligator clusters, actually the best alligator I’ve ever had, which is to say it was more like moist chicken and less like gristly chicken.

May St. Café
1146 W. Cermak
312.421.4442

David Hammond wrote:Whether this is a distinctive style of Michoacán mole, or simply the way a person who happens to be from Michoacán makes mole, is unknown to me…and an example of the challenges of determining and defining regional characteristics of Mexican food.

I suspect it's less challenging if you do your research in Mexico.

If May St. makes it's own mole from scratch - I'll be impressed. It's a time-consuming process that most restaurants don't attempt. Of course, there's mole, and then there's mole - displaying varying degrees of complexity and ingredients.

About the chicken breast vs. leg/thigh comment: less expensive restaurants in Mexico tend to serve chicken w/mole with the leg/thigh while the more expensive offerings of the dish feature the breast - at least that's been my observation. My favorite mole dish is pechuga de pollo con mole Poblano.

In your search for more information about the cuisine of the various regions of Mexico, why not communicate with the various Mexican hometown associations representing the largest of the regional groups present in Chicago to learn of restaurants they recommend? A google search might turn-up some contact information for the associations. As for Michoacán: Casa Michoacán at 1638 S. Blue Island Ave. has been the site of many state-related events/exhibitions.

Bill wrote:If May St. makes it's own mole from scratch - I'll be impressed. It's a time-consuming process that most restaurants don't attempt. Of course, there's mole, and then there's mole - displaying varying degrees of complexity and ingredients.

I've made mole (only once -- it is, as you rightly suggest, a big job), but I'd be a little surprised if places like Topolobampo, Fonda del Mar and even May St. Cafe do not make their own. Now, some little places, like maybe a joint like Ostioneria Playa Azul, which claims to make their own mole, may not, but there are, to the best of my knowledge, a number of places in Chicago that do.

And, of course, there's mole...then there's mole. I've seen mole receipes with up to 40 ingredients, and "quick moles" with around a dozen ingredients.

Hammond

Ironically, I was there (May St. Cafe) for lunch today and almost ordered their mole, but opted for the chayote & corn w/poblano soup and cheeseburger. The soup was absolutely amazing in flavor and texture and the cheesburger was great as usual.

I shall try the mole on my next visit.

BTW, Lupe does make it from scratch...

tortuga wrote:Ironically, I was there (May St. Cafe) for lunch today and almost ordered their mole, but opted for the chayote & corn w/poblano soup and cheeseburger. The soup was absolutely amazing in flavor and texture and the cheesburger was great as usual.

Yes, the chayote/corn soup was outstanding: hot balanced by sweet, creaminess with spice.

The Caesar salad, however, was an abomination, and if I hadn't just recently taken off after ersatz pot pies, I would have lambasted this salad (I still may).

I've heard their burgers are very good. Do they use queso Oaxaca on their cheeseburgers?

Hammond

I have yet to try the ceasar, and doubt I will since I don't care for it much anyway.

I believe they use jalapeno and v & v supremo cheeses...

We paid a visit to the newly remodeled May St. Cafe this weekend with very high hopes. I'm not sure where these hopes came from. Perhaps they came from the numerous times I drove by while they were closed for remodeling: There's nothing like the promise of the "new" to tease your expectations.

MStC is BYOB and we sat at the bar with a bottle of (non-sparkling) xarel-lo (which we chose after a very brief tasting session at West Lakeview Liquors). We were imediately served a plate of red corn tortilla chips and a roasted tomato salsa that had a well-rounded flavor and good spice level.

The owner/executive chef, Mario immediately stopped by to introduce himself, describe the menu, and give us a tour of their new cuts of Allen Brothers Beef. While this display seemed a little more "Morton's" than Latino, we weren't that far from the old stockyards so I chalked it up to historic influence and moved on. Mario is clearly passionate about his restaurant, the food, and his customers comfort. He spent the whole evening working very hard to ensure everyone had a good time.

As soon as our appetizers arrived, my heart sank. My tortilla soup and petit pois' blue cheese and pear salad were (to borrow Hammond's term) abominations. Both portions were large, bordering on obscene. The salad was both a mess on the plate and in my mouth. The tortilla soup, while it did have a good flavor to the broth, was way over-garnished, with an entire half avocado that I needed a knife to cut. Along with the avocado was a ton of tortilla chips, a heaping mound of sour cream, and way too many chunks of dry chicken. The soup was so big and overfilled that the waitress sloshed it all over the place trying to put it in front of me. It was not a pretty sight, at all.

I ordered the lechon asado and petit pois ordered the escolar with a mango salsa. I enjoyed the meat and fish, but the dishes again suffered from a messy, heavy hand, and huge portions. My plate was stacked with three large slabs of pork, a thick slice of grilled pineapple, sauteed zucchini, a large helping of black beans, white rice, cherry peppers, and a long friend plantain chip. All of these items were fine (except for the mushy zucchini), but the mound of food made it all almost impossible to enjoy. The same went for the escolar which was oddly paired with a mound of sauteed oyster mushrooms and horseradish potatoes. The whole dish, along with it's multiple lines of sauces and tray of salsa, was falling over the sides of the plate.

There is a good restaurant hidden inside May St. Cafe, aching to get out. The food is not bad, but it sufferes severely from a lack of focus, a heavy hand, and sloppy construction. Sometimes, an overflowing plate of food is appropriately rustic, but when the target is ecclectic cafe food, it comes across as messy and overdone. May St. Cafe reminded me of the new kid at school who was kinda cool, but was just falling over himself to impress.

Best,
Michael