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Mexican Soul Food at Taqueria Morelos
For over 20 years, Taqueria y Panaderia Morelos has been serving up homemade Mexican favorites along Telephone Road on Houston's east side.
Upon entering, visitors are welcomed by the warmth of the panaderia and the swirling smells of sweet bread and savory meats. If you're lucky, the special of the day will be costillas en salsa verde. Normally, the costillas are served in salsa roja, but on rare occasion, Morelos serves them drenched in a slow-cooked salsa verde.
On my most recent visit, the costillas were served hot. The pork meat was falling off the bone. What I loved most about these ribs was the fact that they weren't pretty. They had fat and cartilage and weren't perfectly browned. But they tasted like something I'd eat when visiting family.
My favorite meals are ones that make me think of my family. They're the meals that take me back to that feeling of walking into my grandma's house and inhaling the aromatics of cumin, garlic, peppers, and onions.
The flavors of this dish: the taste of the spicy and garlicky meat, coupled with the tangy salsa verde and calabasas cooked so thoroughly that they'd lost all texture but held all the flavor of the pork and salsa - had me licking my plate clean.
Las calabasitas had so much flavor!
And I wasn't the only one enjoying my meal. Men kept entering the taqueria and walking up to order or pick up their costillas en salsa verde. It's the dish that your family begs your mom or grandma to make when everyone gets together, and when they finally do, you can't help but return for seconds.
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Of course... the costillas were not the only thing we ordered. I want you to pay special attention to the torta. This one was the size of nearly two tortas served as one. It was on bread used for una hamburguesa mexicana - soft and flaky. It was full of carne asada, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, and crema. The meat itself was perfectly seasoned, and once we squeezed a bit of lime and dropped some of that notorious salsa verde that is a must at nearly every taqueria in existence, we were in torta heaven.
I had a cinnamon roll for desert when I came home to write this post. Twenty seconds in the microwave and paired with a cup of cafecito. Y'all, it put me right to sleep.
If you're in need of some homestyle Mexican cooking, then swing by Morelos on Telephone Road!
Price of our meal:
1 torta de carne asada
1 taco de carnitas
1 taco de pastor
1 costillas en salsa verde
1 limonada
1 agua de jamaica
1 cinammon roll
1 galleta
Total: $22.00 (and change)
My family and I use "Mexican soul food" to refer to dishes that can be easily made in a large quantity and make you feel good: fideo con pollo, carne guisada, arroz con pollo, etc.
What's your favorite Mexican soul food dish? Let me know in the comments!