Tasty food, saucy expletives
By Frank Sabatini Jr.
If you’re familiar with Mexico’s lost and secret
language developed in the state of Hidalgo, then you’ll
immediately understand the expletive translation of
“Mama Testa”, which is Hillcrest’s newest and most
colorful Mexican eatery. If you’ve never heard albures
spoken then I recommend you as owner Cesar Gonzalez
for the meaning.
While the jocular interpretation isn’t fit to print,
the good and atmosphere deserve some ink. Formerly
Bombay Express, the small interior now embodies a riot
of primary colors that jump from wall to wall and bleed
onto every wooden chair and eye-catching artifact. The
artsy design also includes two televisions that play
novellas (Mexican soap operas) at night, soccer
tournaments on the weekends and black-and-white
movies from Mexico’s golden era” during the daytime.
“Everything in the restaurant is out of my head
from memories”. Say Gonzalez, who grew up in central
Mexico before moving to California 16 years ago. He
explains that the different colored walls are reminiscent
of hometown establishments that would sporadically run
out of paint during their construction.
“In Mexico” nothing matches because supplies
are limited and you must use what you can get,” he said.
A recessed water faucet near the salsa bar, framed in
hand-painted Mexican tiles, plus miniature models of
wrestling rinks on the tables also beckon back to his
childhood.
Bus is the good that Gonzalez recreates with
utmost passion as he pulls in various culinary influences
from each of Mexico’s 29 states. The Guererro style
Fish Tacos, for example, are served in crispy tortillas and
filled with breaded catfish. Or with respect to Chilango,
you’ll find large tortillas served with various types of
stews, as well as traditional “street tacos” originally
contrived in the northern states of Monterrey and
Chihuahua.
What you won’t find in any of the recipes,
however, are the cheddar and jack cheeses. “They don’t
exist in traditional Mexican cooking,” he exclaims.
Instead, savory curds such as asadero, cotija and queso
fresco are used sparingly in dishes that most Cal-Mex
tongues have probably never encountered.
Two companions and myself loaded up on a
variety of unique tacos that included Yucatecos – three
pigmy corn tortillas served open faced with tangy
Yucatan style port. The finely shredded meat is
marinated in several spices, including annatto seed, and
cooked down to a paste-like consistency for six hours in
banana leaves. It’s a delicious concoction topped with
pickled red onions and cucumbers.
Another plate, called De Bandera Guera,
consisted of five-chicken-stuffed rolled tacos sporting
red, white and blue tortillas. The arrangement was
zebra-striped with sour cream and served on a bed of
lettuce with crumbled queso fresco. They are fiercely
American in appearance, but exotically Mexican in
flavor. New comers seeking variety should consider
ordering from the menu’s Mama Cesta category, which
offers a foursome of mini tacos filled separately with
tasty mashed potatoes, carnitas, poblano peppers and
cheese and refried beans and cheese. Even better,
they’re slapped together with the thickest and tastiest
corn tortillas on this side of the border. A more
substantial meal is the Tres Conchinitos, which features a
generous portion of cubed carnitas and red tomatilllo
salsa spread over three tortillas.
All of the menu items are listed in albures
which will likely give pause to those who know formal
Spanish. “Everything has a double meaning,” says
Gonzalez, who explained that this s-called “second
language” originated in Mexico as a way for people to
curse at others without having to resort to common
obscenities. “If you grew up in certain parts of Mexico,
you’ll read the menu and laugh.”
We remained stumped for the most part. Yet no
matter what we sampled, it took only seconds before we
felt a million miles away from places like Baja Fresh and
La Salsa.
“I have no competition because Mama’s can’t
be compared to any taco shop or Mexican restaurant as
we know them to be,” adds Gonzalez. When asked what
he thinks of those California style burritos and tacos, he
responded; “The moment cheddar cheese touches the
plate, the Mexican is lost.”
Reviewed by Frank Sabatini for the “Gay
and Lesbian Times” April 8, 2004, Issue
850, pg. 54