Birrieria Y Tacos Alex Tijuana Style – Albuquerque, New Mexico

If you’ve noticed an increase in the number of recent visits on this blog to Mexican restaurants, credit much of that to Pati Jinich, ebullient host of the James Beard Award-winning and Emmy nominated PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table   Although we record the Saturday airing of Pati’s Mexican Table, we don’t usually watch it until Sunday…right before lunchtime.  It’s no wonder, therefore, that what we’ve been craving for lunch is Mexican food. It’s nigh impossible not to be utterly charmed (if not outright besotted) by the lovely Pati Jinich.   Her huge likeability quotient is the byproduct of a genuine warmth and self-effacing humor which come across with her every thickly-accented utterance.  She’s down-to-Earth and genuine, taking absolute joy in  broadening and sharing her expansive knowledge about the colorful tapestry known as Mexican cuisine.  In every episode, Pati embarks on an educational and entertaining journey.  Each dish she encounters serves as a launching point into explorations of the rich and diverse history and culture of her country of birth. In season eight (episode 811), which aired in January, 2019, Pati explored Sinaloa, “Mexico’s Bread Basket,” which produces about 40% of the meat and produce consumed in all of Mexico.  Inspired…

Tio’s Kitchen – Bernalillo, New Mexico

I may not have much respect for the national media or for politicians, but I sure do respect the elderly (unless they’re members of the media or politicians).  My parents engendered among their six children, respect for our elders.  None of us would ever consider addressing an elder by their first name.  We would never use the pronoun “tu” (you) when speaking with someone older than us.  We always use “usted,” also a Spanish term for “you,” but used in a formal manner for people we respect and always for our elders.  We were raised with the type of respect for seniors that is practiced in India, Thailand, Somalia, Indonesia and other nations who venerate their elderly.   Being raised in Peñasco (which is within the confines of the Picuris Pueblo reservation), we witnessed respect for seniors quite often. Similar to the aforementioned nations, many Native American cultures across the fruited plain are exemplars in how to treat their elders.  In the Lakota culture, grandfathers are viewed as “the elders of the tribe and in many ways personify the sacredness of the goodness and wisdom of the Great Spirit. Grandfathers carry the spirit of the people. Grandmothers are even more…