Everyone always asks me what my favorite food is here in Mexico. There is so much to choose from that I really struggle with the answer to this question. Tacos al pastor, tacos barbacoas, enchiladas suizas, tamales, pozole, quesadillas, chile relleno, tortas ahogadas, aracherra, guacamole– and the list goes on and on.

Now, ask me what my least favorite food is. Hands down it’s menudo. But before I tell you what menudo is, I’m going to tell you about my introduction to this delightful?? delicacy.

Several years ago, Isaias and I were on one of our weekend jaunts to some small town or other in Jalisco. We always sought out places to eat where the locals hung out. That’s where we found the best as well as the most authentic food. Isaias used to call it typical food.

We were seated at a small table and Isaias glanced up at the menu on the chalkboard. “Menudo!” And he grinned from ear to ear. He ordered for us and we were soon served warm (nothing is ever served hot here) bowls of……bowls of…… I studied the contents carefully. Was that an eyeball staring up at me? And what were those other unidentifiable pieces of, perhaps meat? or not?

I gingerly dipped my spoon into the bowl after Isaias assured me it wasn’t an eyeball. I bravely sipped some of the broth and it tasted……weird, strange, not too spicy. But as for everything else floating around in that bowl…….while I did recognize the onion and cilantro, the rest of the ingredients were still a mystery.

Isaias was now squeezing the obligatory lime into his second bowl. Come on, Karen! You can do this. After all, Isaias loves you and isn’t trying to poison you. Besides, he’s already wolfed down his first bowl hungrily. I very tentatively put a piece of who knows what onto the spoon along with the broth.

I was momentarily distracted when an older Mexican woman brought us a plate of freshly made tortillas. I had noticed her sitting at a table across from us, along with her rather large basin of masa and a tortilla press.

Back to the menudo. The spoon with its mysterious content was now in my mouth. It was chewy and felt awkward. But somehow I managed to swallow that piece of whatever it was. I passed my bowl over to Isaias who was now halfway through his second bowl.

He looked up at me questioningly. And he looked even more surprised when I flagged over our server and ordered a quesadilla.

Are you curious? Do you want to know what menudo really is? I almost puked when I got home and googled it. Cow’s stomach. Tripe. And many of my students tell me that menudo is a popular item on the menu before they come to school.

No thanks. I’ll stick to yogurt and granola.