Wine Paring Story : Burritos

Wondering what to drink with burritos (burrons actually) Mexican food or Tex-Mex food has been around in Paris for years without (I feel) enjoying much publicity in the food media, compared to a few other ethnic food, say Japanese and Chinese. But whenever I get the rare chance and opportunity, it has often been a pleasure to try even though we're less familiar with it here in Europe than, say, the United States (and of course Mexico), where you find these Mexican joints almost at every corner. Having brought burritos back home the other day, I discovered that this robust and expressive dish pairs particularly well with Rhone reds. I thought I'd try an Alsace wine but B. said Rhone was probably more fit for the job. On this occasion we were lucky that I forgot to take the hot sauce which was supposed to come separately in a small plastic pot : the Rhone I chose was a ten-year-old Côtes du Rhône Valréas from Chateau La Decelle which I had stored partly in the shack in the garden in Paris and partly in the wine fridge for the last years. It had aged a bit more quickly than planned and its tamed character paired beautifully with the burritos without hot sauce. My original intention was to use some of the hot sauce because I understand that without the hard stuff, this is not really a burrito. whatever, the Valréas was beautiful even if it showed its premature aging, and this went well with the juicy but non-hot burrito.

Emmanuel & Jose of El Nopal I bought the burritos in El Nopas, a tiny venue near the Canal Saint Martin, and actually very close too from the iconic wine shop & restaurant Le Verre Volé, where you could choose the wine to go with them. Emmanuel and Jose are preparing the food in this miniature restaurant where most of the room is actually the kitchen. There are actually a couple of tiny tables but with the waiting line this is certainly not a good idea to plan to eat inside. Emmanuel likes to joke that the venue has a very roomy annex : the banks of the Canal Saint Martin 10 meters away, along which many young Parisians like to picnic on sunny days.
The manager of El Nopal, Alejandro, is not often in the restaurant from what I understand, and all these guys are Mexican and come from Monterrey in the north of Mexico. You can of course choose the easy choice to drink beer with your Mexican food, and El Nopal has a good choice of Mexican beers to go : Bohemia, Sol, Dos Equis (amber and lager), Negra Modelo, all for 4,5 € a bottle. I like several of these beers but for a little more (twice that price) I'd prefer to see what Le Verre Volé can offer in wine, as this wine shop is only a couple of minutes down the canal.
I'll needto learn the difference betwee a burrito and a burron, I actually bought burrons which are big size, a single of which making easily your lunch or dinner. Speaking of prices, a burron costs 8 €, a burrito 6,5 €, a veggie burrito 6,5 €, three tacos cost 6,5 €, 2 tostadas 7,5 €, a Campechana 6,5 €, the Quesadilla El Nopal 6 €, a torta 8 € and a gordita 3 €. They have several types of meat : chicken cooked on different manners, beef (plancha or picadillo) and pork. On weekends they have additional Mexican dishes.
What people think of El Nopal on Yelp Paris
David Lebovitz on El Nopal
El Nopal on Facebook
Map location of El Nopal
Map location of Le Verre Volé (very close indeed) Another try, another wine This was another try, made in another part of town, at Rice & Beans near rue Etienne Marcel and rue Saint Denis, on rue Greneta to be precise. this a place almost as small as El Nopal, if not for the 4 theorical seats along the counter. The street being virtually pedestrian, you can enjoy the two or three tables outside. The whole neighborhood is pedestrian, from the rue Saint Denis to the rue Montorgeuil, which is fine to enjoy dining outside. There are 4 staff in this small restaurant and I bought a single beef burrito the other day for 7 €. THe food is packed in an insulated foam box, burger style, so that you can bring your burrito hot at home. I liked this one particularly, it was less rice centered and more black beans and beef, very interesting food. The salsa was separate in the box and I could have some with the burrito but with control, which I prefer. I'm a bit ashamed to say that whith this burrito I had a great wine from the Languedoc that we had the previous day with a visiting friend from Japan, drinking it with squid cook in its ink and rice (gorgeous). B. had picked this bottle from her own cellar in her artist studio as it seemed time to drink it. It was a Chateau de Rieux 2002, a bottle that she had bought when we visited this small estate back in 2005. It cost 10 € at the time. Very nice wine with a thin, tight texture and refined tannins. THere were complex nuances of intertwinned aromas including blueberries, prune and well-integrated wood, the wood going away after the bottle was opened for a couple of hours, it seemed to me. The estate was rated "Good" on Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide (page 496), something that may have pushed the prices up I'm afraid.
Rice & Beans on Yelp Paris
Rice & Beans : the Website
Map location for Rice & Beans El Rio tortilla factory (Austin, Texas) As illustration, here are a few pictures that I shot years ago in a tortilla factory in the United States.Tortilla is a unique type of bread, and real tortillas needs to be handmade, I feel, to really get that tasty, nourishing texture that could feed millions of people in the past. I read that the Aztecs lived on a diet made mostly of tortillas, maize and tamales, another great and utterly-simple Mexican dish, the ancestor of fast food with its disposable wrapping leaves. I may be wrong about the need to do all the work by hand because you have now efficient machines to mix the dough, but when I look to the pictures that I shot years ago in the late 1980s' in Austin, Texas, I feel again that with food, the more personnal (and muscular) care is put into food, the more enjoyable it will be.
I shot these pictures in Austin, Texas somewhere in the late 1980s', you can see here an authentic tortilla factory with the Mexican flavor. The quality of the pictures is not rendered by my improvised scanner but the original slides are quite good. Tiny balls Cooking balls Conveyor Drying tortillas Packing Raw material Rudy Cisneros & staff in the kitchen at Cisco's While I'm at it, here are a few more pictures I shot in Austin back then, this was at Cisco's : a simple, relaxed and cheap venue where I liked to hang out. Not a sophisticated place to eat but a real place with real people, also very good for Mexican food. Cisco's has been around in Austin since 1948 and this man with the cigar was the real soul of the place. Rudy Cisneros (it turned into Cisco's) was a humorous self-deprecating guy who boasted that the powerful had approached him, people like US Presidents Johnson, Bush, Clinton, but also Willie Nelson....and Bert Celce. I guess Austin readers will be pleased to see these uncovered pictures of Rudy, who passed away a few years ago.
A few pictures of similar historic places in Austin. Cisco's Rudy in the coffee shop with staff Rush hour at Cisco's The artist behing Cisco's bakery unloading a sliced cake Crispy breakfast Lastly, here are a few pictures I shot back then near El mirage, California as I was shooting illustration pictures about farm workers (which ended up at Sipa Press). this was early in the morning in autumn if I remember and the Mexican workers prepared their food before going to pick oranges. Here again, authentic tortillas, made like at home in Michoacan (my guess). Flattening the white balls Mascot dog

Comments

[Aaron]

Great post! I used to live in Austin, and I'm impressed that you went to such an authentic, old-school place like Cisco's.

[Richard Ewen]

As a current Austin resident and frequent visitor to Paris where I have eaten at Rice and Beans ( and Rice and Fish ) I found this article fascinating. Many expats in France from the US have long lamented the lack of good Mexican food in Paris. But the new trends to hit Paris recently ( better espresso, Mexican food, and the burger craze ) have changed all that. These 1980s photos of Austin's tortilla factory and restaurant are indeed interesting. You can find many supermarket bakeries making their own tortillas now and a breakfast burrito more common here in Austin in many diets than the Egg McMuffin, often bought and consumed for the drive to work.
Not the experienced wine expert that you are, I actually prefer the Rhone Reds with much of the foods we prepare at home. You should consider sending this to the Austin American Statesman, the local newspaper here. Cicso's is still going strong. The interior has never bee updated and it is still a neighborhood restaurant.

[Caleb Hart]

I think this would be such a fun trip and experience! I have loved wine for as long as I can remember. My father was quite the connoisseur when it came to his wines. The correctly paired wine to any meal can make it quite extraordinary. Thanks for the pictures !

[Ashlea Godwin]

I was born in Austin in the 80's and grew up eating at Cisco's. My grandparents knew Rudy as did everyone. According to my grandfather who at one time worked for the Johnson administration the stories of all the political and fame connections to Cisco's are very true and thats all I was allowed to know. As for the food its still wonderfully the same and I drive 30 miles passed probably hundreds of mexican places in Austin and Central Texas just to get to Cisco's! Thanks for this post and pictures of a truly special place and time when Rudy was stil there. Although today when I go back it is still great to see the rest of his family still keeping the place just like Rudy left it! They are all An Austin Staple Family!!! We all wouldn't be the same without these wonderful people!

[Bert]

Thanks Ashlea !
Your comments brings back to me the moments I spent in this authentic venue in Austin, a place with a soul !