Chiyonas (?) and Charros: La Justicia

Chiyonas (?) and Charros: La Justicia

Perusing the menu at La Justicia in Pilsen last night, my eye stopped on fajitas “chiyonas” style. I asked the host what this meant, and she said it was hard to explain…so I ordered it. I peered in the glassed-in grill area and watched the chef make it: he griddled steak and chicken, added what I believe to be chili arbol sauce, cooked some more, added strips of red and green bell pepper, onion and shrimp, and that was it. It was not bad, though it tasted pretty much exactly as you’d expect this mixture to taste; no surprises, and I was reminded why I never order fajitas.

Back home, I searched around for information on chiyonas and found nothing. Now, it’s possible that this menu item was spelled incorrectly or used some non-standard spelling, but I’m coming up dry – so if anyone knows more about this dish or preparation, I’d like to know.

Incidentally, La Justicia served up some of the best frijoles charros I’ve had in Chicago – plump beans, strips of bacon and ham in a succulent broth, far and away more flavorful than the previous benchmark charros from Real de Catorce, which made La Quebrada’s version seem like out-of-the-can Progresso.

La Justicia is a friendly place, a Latino rock-and-roll palace on weekends, and allegedly a source for Jalisciense regional cuisine (though I did not find a lot of that on the menu). Over the kitchen are written the words ““Love and Justice Go Hand-in-Hand,” which I liked.

La Justicia
3901 W. 26th Street
Chicago, IL 60623
773.522.0041

David Hammond wrote:Perusing the menu at La Justicia in Pilsen last night...

La Justicia
3901 W. 26th Street
Chicago, IL 60623
773.522.0041

David,

I think you inadvertently said 'Pilsen' instead of 'La Villita'. The address is definitely the latter rather than the former.

A

A,

I'm vague on neighborhood boundaries, though the Chicago Historial Society seems to conflate Pilsen/Little Village into one zone: http://www.chicagohistory.org/DGBPhotoEssay/plvintro.html.

The UIC Neighborhood Initiative includes 26th Street in their description of Pilsen: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci/uicni/partnerships/pilsen.htm

I think, though, that La Justicia is probably too far west and south to be Pilsen proper, and that La Villita is more accurate. Thanks.

David

David Hammond wrote:A,

I'm vague on neighborhood boundaries, though the Chicago Historial Society seems to conflate Pilsen/Little Village into one zone: http://www.chicagohistory.org/DGBPhotoEssay/plvintro.html.

The UIC Neighborhood Initiative includes 26th Street in their description of Pilsen: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci/uicni/partnerships/pilsen.htm

I think, though, that La Justicia is probably too far west and south to be Pilsen proper, and that La Villita is more accurate. Thanks.

David,

There was a thread last year in which the location of 'la Villita' was discussed:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=34060

The address you give locates the place near Pulaski and I have never ever heard anyone speak of that area as 'Pilsen', only as "little Village' or 'La Villita' -- the older term of 'South Lawndale' (on some of the UIC maps) is not in common parlance in my experience, certainly not in relation to the Mexican neighbourhoods. Similarly, from an historical standpoint, even the area from Ashland to Western is not 'Pilsen' but rather 'Heart of Chicago' but again, everyday usage of people in and around the area tends to extend the term 'Pilsen' for the Mexican area over toward Western (but in my experience never beyond).

The conflation of Pilsen and La Villita on the UIC history page is just for convenience's sake in terms of what they're discussing there.

Anyway, Pulaski and 26th is definitely 'La Villita' and definitely not 'Pilsen'.

A

David Hammond wrote:my eye stopped on fajitas “chiyonas” style. I asked the host what this meant, and she said it was hard to explain…

Chillona (sometimes spelled 'chiyona') means "crybaby" (literally 'screamer'), as in "don't be such a chillona". However, "Crybaby style" or "screaming" fajitas doesn't really make sense. Maybe they meant "chinas" as in Chinese.

d4v3 wrote:

David Hammond wrote:my eye stopped on fajitas “chiyonas” style. I asked the host what this meant, and she said it was hard to explain…

Chillona (sometimes spelled 'chiyona') means "crybaby" (literally 'screamer'), as in "don't be such a chillona". However, "Crybaby style" or "screaming" fajitas doesn't really make sense. Maybe they meant "chinas" as in Chinese.

d4v3,

I think there may be some grounds for the "Chinese" interpretation in that the resulting "mess" of meat, seafood and vegetables looks a little like a stir-fry.

The "screaming" interpretation might also work because when fajitas are served on a hot platter, they make a lot of noise.

Hammond

Maybe "crybaby" because of the hot sauce? Fajitas aren't typically spicy.

As for neighborhoods, "Pilsen," "Little Village" (or "La Villita") and "Heart of Chicago" are neighborhood names and their usage and boundaries are thus subject to flux due to market forces, media use and other such considerations. But "South Lawndale" is one of the 77 Community Areas and its name and boundaries are therefore officially defined and in permanent use, at least by government and social scientists.

Here's something from a dictionary site (via Google)

chillón,-ona adjetivo
1 (voz) shrill, high-pitched
(sonido) harsh, strident
2 (color) loud, gaudy: lleva una camisa bastante chillona, he's wearing a loud shirt

- Diccionario Espasa Concise: Español-Inglés English-Spanish
© Espasa-Calpe, S.A., Madrid 2000

I would guess the color usage might be more plausible here.

No relation to 'chino' in any of its many meanings (discussed in part here) strikes me as very likely; it just means 'noisy, (loudly) sizzling'.

Cf. chillar 'squawk, squeak, etc. etc.; of frying, 'sizzle'.

A most appropriate name...

Antonius

LAZ wrote:Maybe "crybaby" because of the hot sauce? Fajitas aren't typically spicy.

At first, I was thinking that maybe they were fajitas made for crybabies, meaning they weren't hot (as in tacos gringas). However, now that David explained that they were served on a hot platter, I am sure it means "shrieking" or "screaming" fajitas (in english we would say sizzling). What a great name.

d4v3 wrote:

LAZ wrote:Maybe "crybaby" because of the hot sauce? Fajitas aren't typically spicy.

At first, I was thinking that maybe they were fajitas made for crybabies, meaning they weren't hot. However, now that David explained that they are served on a hot platter, I am sure it means "shrieking" or "screaming" fajitas (in english we would say sizzling). What a great name.

The verb chillar has as its base meaning 'scream, shriek, squeak, squawk, etc. etc. etc.', i.e., 'make a loud, high-pitched noise'. It has been extended to cover other such sounds, e.g. 'blare' in the context of radios and, appropriate here, 'sizzle' in the context of cooking. One could translate the name as 'screamers' but I would be inclined to want to address the obvious relationship to the specialised use of chillar and translate this term for fajitas as 'sizzlers'.

A

Antonius wrote:One could translate the name as 'screamers' but I would be inclined to want to address the obvious relationship to the specialised use of chillar and translate this term for fajitas as 'sizzlers'.

No doubt. But the image of screaming bits of flank steak is so much more entertaining .

d4v3 wrote:

Antonius wrote:One could translate the name as 'screamers' but I would be inclined to want to address the obvious relationship to the specialised use of chillar and translate this term for fajitas as 'sizzlers'.

No doubt. But the image of screaming bits of flank steak is so much more entertaining .

For some, perhaps. In any event, I recall vaguely that back in the day, when fajitas had only recently been introduced to the broader population of Gringolandia, some restaurant chain or restaurant -- perhaps but perhaps not for a national market -- was pitching their little sashes as 'sizzlers' or 'sizzling fajitas'. But that was a while back and it might have all been part of a (bad) dream.

***

'Fajitas' -- when well made with good, fresh ingredients -- are in my estimation quite wonderful. The most recent memorable version I had, served with some especially great flour tortillas, was in New Mexico this past winter. Here in Chicago, I usually just make them at home but Nuevo Leon, a current GNR candidate, makes a nice version, if memory serves me well.

Antonius

Antonius wrote:'Fajitas' -- when well made with good, fresh ingredients -- are in my estimation quite wonderful. The most recent memorable version I had, served with some especially great flour tortillas, was in New Mexico this past winter. Here in Chicago, I usually just make them at home but Nuevo Leon, a current GNR candidate, makes a nice version, if memory serves me well.

Antonius

There's no reason why fajitas would not be good with, as you say, good ingredients. I guess I tend to associate them with pablumated Elmhurst-style Tex-Mex drek, but that may be unfair.

I think, too, that I tend not to order them because they seem so "easy" compared to things I would probably never make at home, like enchiladas in the style of San Luis Potosi, Oaxacan tamales, etc.

One interesting item I spotted at La Justicia, available only on weekends: champurrado tamales.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:There's no reason why fajitas would not be good with, as you say, good ingredients. I guess I tend to associate them with pablumated Elmhurst-style Tex-Mex drek, but that may be unfair.
I think, too, that I tend not to order them because they seem so "easy" compared to things I would probably never make at home, like enchiladas in the style of San Luis Potosi, Oaxacan tamales, etc.

David,

I agree -- that's why, if I have a hankering for them, I make them at home. Eating out in Mexican restaurants here, they don't seem an especially promising option sometimes or else are outshone on the menu by more interesting regional fare. On the other hand, in restaurants where norteño cooking is the featured style, as at Nuevo Leon (east and west), they make sense. And so too, of course, in lots of restaurants in New Mexico. There it's like eating saltimbocca in Rome: a good place there will most likely do a great job with a basic local dish like fajitas, meseems.

A

some restaurant chain or restaurant -- perhaps but perhaps not for a national market -- was pitching their little sashes as 'sizzlers' or 'sizzling fajitas'

I believe it was TGIF (I could be wrong about this since TGIF blends in my mind with Bennigan's Hoolihan's and other of the ilk). In any case, I had the 'sizzling fajitas' there once and came away thinking, "So this is what they mean by 'sell the sizzle, not the steak.'"

jbw wrote:

some restaurant chain or restaurant -- perhaps but perhaps not for a national market -- was pitching their little sashes as 'sizzlers' or 'sizzling fajitas'

I believe it was TGIF (I could be wrong about this since TGIF blends in my mind with Bennigan's Hoolihan's and other of the ilk). In any case, I had the 'sizzling fajitas' there once and came away thinking, "So this is what they mean by 'sell the sizzle, not the steak.'"

jbw,

Thanks!... So it was a bad dream after all!



Antonius

I worked near Pulaski and 26th a few years ago and that area is technically the South Lawndale area. Pilsen is way south and more closer to the lake.

Apple wrote:I worked near Pulaski and 26th a few years ago and that area is technically the South Lawndale area. Pilsen is way south and more closer to the lake.

Apple,

I mentioned the designation South Lawndale above but noted that the term is not at all current in the usage of people I know in the general area (Near West, Near Southwest); 26th and Pulaski is firmly in 'La Villita'.

Pilsen is not south of Little Village at all but rather east of it, extending roughly from the train tracks by 16th southward to 22nd, a.k.a. Cermak; south of Cermac is just about exclusively industrial, though it still could be called Pilsen, I suppose (a name 'Pilsen Industrial Zone' or something is used on banners in the area). On the east-west axis, Pilsen proper goes from Halsted west to Ashland in the narrow definition, to Western in common parlance from an Hispanic point of view; non-Hispanic residents of Heart of Chicago whom I know maintain the use of that term for their neighbourhood which is due west of Pilsen and historically extends from Ashland to Western. East Pilsen is the little area from Halsted over toward, I'd say, Canal (e.g., over by Ken-Tone's on 18th).

Antonius

The address you give locates the place near Pulaski and I have never ever heard anyone speak of that area as 'Pilsen'

I bet realtors do by now.

Mike G,
in (two miles) West (of the) Lake (of which he certainly does not have a) View

I still think West Wicker Park (aka Humboldt Park) is the best realtorese in the city.

According to wikipedia, the name "Little Village" was coined by realtors in the 1970s to disassociate South Lawndale from the much maligned North Lawndale which became known as simply Lawndale.

According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago from the Chicago Historical Society, Pilsen and Heart of Chicago are located in a neighborhood officially designated with the rather mundane moniker, "Lower West Side". This community is bordered by the Burlington Northern tracks on the north and west and the river on the south and east.
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. ... s/765.html

The same source states South Lawndale starts at Western Ave, as described by Antonious. However, the tracks are actually 1 block west of Western, which means there is some overlap in the description of the neighborhoods. I think that reflects the diminishing importance of railways in defining a neighborhood, and the increased importance of motorways.
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. ... /1174.html

Here is an Aerial View of Pilsen

(updated with location of RR tracks and links)

Love those aerial pix.

Just a "side note" about food.

One other thing I had at La Justicia which I kind of doubt was an authentic Mexican dish but could have been: shrimp wrapped in bacon and cooked in the stand-by chili arbol sauce. It was actually quite good, but I can't imagine that something like this originated south of the border. Seems too...I don't know, fancy-pants...somehow.

Hammond

What, wrapping things in bacon is un-Mexican? David, have you forgotten all the discussion of Mexican hot dogs?

Patricia Quintana, in The Taste of Mexico, has a recipe for bacon-wrapped shrimp (stuffed with cheese, too.) And if you google camaron, tocino, receta, I think you'll find some other Mexican recipes for this.

Amata

Amata wrote:What, wrapping things in bacon is un-Mexican? David, have you forgotten all the discussion of Mexican hot dogs?

Patricia Quintana, in The Taste of Mexico, has a recipe for bacon-wrapped shrimp (stuffed with cheese, too.) And if you google camaron, tocino, receta, I think you'll find some other Mexican recipes for this.

Amata

Amata, thanks for setting me straight.

Actually, I checked the menu and the camarones from La Justicia were supposed to be stuffed with cheese, too, though I didn't detect any queso in the dish I had (I suppose it could have melted away; there's not much room for filling inside a shrimp, and the bacon was somewhat "hard," suggesting that it was cooked around the shrimp -- perhaps even dropped in a fryer for a few seconds).

Hammond

Antonius wrote:

Apple wrote:I worked near Pulaski and 26th a few years ago and that area is technically the South Lawndale area. Pilsen is way south and more closer to the lake.

Apple,

I mentioned the designation South Lawndale above but noted that the term is not at all current in the usage of people I know in the general area (Near West, Near Southwest); 26th and Pulaski is firmly in 'La Villita'.

Pilsen is not south of Little Village at all but rather east of it, extending roughly from the train tracks by 16th southward to 22nd, a.k.a. Cermak; south of Cermac is just about exclusively industrial, though it still could be called Pilsen, I suppose (a name 'Pilsen Industrial Zone' or something is used on banners in the area). On the east-west axis, Pilsen proper goes from Halsted west to Ashland in the narrow definition, to Western in common parlance from an Hispanic point of view; non-Hispanic residents of Heart of Chicago whom I know maintain the use of that term for their neighbourhood which is due west of Pilsen and historically extends from Ashland to Western. East Pilsen is the little area from Halsted over toward, I'd say, Canal (e.g., over by Ken-Tone's on 18th).

Antonius

Antonius,

I seem to be bumping into you lately.

I was describing travel from where I lived. So, to get to my office in Lawndale, I traveled very far west. I took the Red Line downtown and then transferred to the Blue Line, an hour and 10 minute commute one way. I used to walk to the town of Cicero and back on my lunch break; it was that close. It was a shorter walk to 26th and Pulaski.

On the other hand, Pilsen was directly south of where I lived.

Where I work, we refer to Lawndale as Lawndale although I am aware there is a huge ethnic divide between north and south. I am less familiar with Pilsen, more familiar with Bridgeport.

Thanks,
Apple