Strange Things I Have Eaten So Far IV

This time I didn't eat something strange because I was trying to be polite or because eating it would be so strange I'd have to try it. I tried barbecued cactus because it was offered in a restaurant owned by some people from the school. They said I had to try it and that was all the encouragement I needed. The dish is a combination of barbecued nopal (cactus), queso panela (a kind of cheese), carne asada (BBQed beef), jalapeño and cebollas fritas (fried onions). To say that this dish is delicious would be a profound understatement. The taste of the cactus is the perfect complement to the cheese and the beef. They are improved further by roasted jalapeño, fried onions and their own salsa habanera (which is easily the spiciest thing I have eaten outside of Thailand). Of course, all of this goes on hot corn tortillas. By the way, this is a traditional dish found in the state of Aguascalientes. When I eventually come home, I may have to have fresh nopal airlifted into Victoria.

In other news, tomorrow I am going to an expo of foods from thirty different states in Mexico. Tomorrow I will probably be 30 pounds heavier, a few hundred pesos poorer, but very happy. I will keep you posted