I Ate a Chalupa Today
I ate a chalupa today at El Patio during lunch.
I didn’t know what to expect. Based on my Taco Bell experience I was hoping that it would be something deep-fried. I sat in anticipation, eating way too many chips.
When it arrived I was greeted to what looked like a tostada. It was nothing like Taco Bell’s chalupa (which is a deep-fried gordita). In order from bottom to top, the ingredients went like this:
- A flat corn tostada shell. Probably baked instead of deep-fried.
- Some wonderful shredded chicken. I think beef was an option, but I’m watching my girlish figure so I went with chicken.
- Shredded lettauce
- Guacamole
- Chopped tomatoes.
I wish I had a picture, but I hadn’t planned on writing this up until after I had dug into the chalupa.
According to Wikipedia a chalupa is:
A chalupa is a tostada platter in Mexican cuisine. It is a specialty of south-central Mexico, such as the states of Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca. It is made by pressing a thin layer of masa dough around the outside of a small mold and deep frying to produce a crisp shallow corn cup. It is filled with various ingredients such as shredded chicken, pork, chopped onion, chipotle pepper, red salsa, and green salsa.
El Patio came pretty close to the Wikipedia definition. They skimped on the corn shell, but I can understand why they would cut corners on this ingredient. The super flat shells take up less space and it is probably easier to use one instead of deep-frying a shell for each order.
I’m not quite sure how Taco Bell got away with calling their creation a chalupa. Maybe there is no one standing up south-central Mexican cuisine? More likely us gringos don’t care if the Bell is being accurate as long as they give us deep-fried foods.
I’m not sure I’ll buy the chalupa at El Patio again. I won’t say never, because I may feel the need for something a bit lighter that isn’t filled with beans and cheese.
Well, time to go enter a food coma.
