Pelonas aka baldies

This is Pelonas

There’s lots of competition for awesome sandwiches in Mexico, and two of the best come from Puebla: cemitas and pelonas. Check out my previous post about cemitas here. You must be thinking: another dish that is unique to Puebla? Yes indeed! When I rave about Puebla, it’s rightly justified.

a pelona

street food menu

Trying pelonas on our street food tour!

A pelona is a bread roll. When fried and stuffed with naughty ingredients, it is still called a pelona. Just like cemitas keep the same name whether they are filled or not. The pelona looks similar to a cemita but with no seeds on it, which I suppose is why it was given its name; pelona means bald/without hair, in spanish.

The bread roll is unique in that when fried it doesn’t absorb the grease and become soggy, it just creates a crusty delicious exterior. The pelona is then typically filled with beans, lettuce, shredded beef, cream and your choice of salsa. As always I go for salsa ‘bandera‘ as I like to taste both green and red sauces. This is a smaller sandwich in comparison to the cemita but not one to be dismissed lightly. The crunchiness and combination of the cream and salsa, which aren’t present in sandwiches like cemitas and tortas, make it truly heavenly!

If you want to try Pelonas and you are visiting Puebla then contact us to book your free street food tour!

¡Provecho!

Taquitos de la Juarez

This is Tacos de Asada

Best Tacos in Puebla?! Well I couldn’t possibly say that, as I haven’t tried all the tacos in Puebla. However these are UP THERE! And no Mexican is going to disagree with that statement. Students of UPAEP, the University which it boarders, are probably its best customers and its biggest fans.

Taquitos de La Juarez, is an example of a Puesto. It is found, only in the evenings, right next to the very popular football pitch. If you go during the day, there is no sign of it whatsoever, but at night it appears from nowhere. This is why I consider eating tacos as a street food, a very evening affair, because many places like this one are only open at night, and their atmosphere fit with an evening mood. This place is popular throughout the evening, and even more so with drunken diners.

Taquitos de la Juarez

Tacos come in many form in Mexico, and generally a puesto will focus on one type (more posts to follow on other types). In this case they are tacos made with Carne Asada. Carne Asada are thin strips of beef which are marinaded and then grilled. They are DELICIOUS.  As I discussed in a previous post about antojitos (see post here), tacos are only ever made and sold by men. Being a taquero (the person who makes tacos) really is a man’s job.

Mercado 5 de Mayo / Mercado de la 18

This is El Mercado

Welcome to one of Puebla’s markets, officially known as Mercado 5 de Mayo but most commonly known as el mercado de la 18. Both names are due, I presume, to 5 de Mayo being historically important to Puebla and its location on Avenida 18 Poniente.

The market, which is located near el centro historico is vast inside, and also has numerous stores, fishmongers and butchers surrounding its perimeter. You know you are nearly there as you begin to smell fish as you approach the area.

Outside the market

On the outside wall of the market, it is written ‘Mercados Poblanos – Lo Mero Nuestro‘ which translated means ‘our very own’. Really the expressions means that it is a place of pride, and its what they excel at (in this case being the markets of Puebla). And from what I saw the statement can not be argued with. Inside the market, and outside it too, is filled with hundreds of stalls divided up into sections of meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruit, flowers and that’s not all…