While visiting different cities, I always look for Mexican restaurants or grocery stores. In Mississauga, ON, in Canada, there are several taco places, but a very authentic place for antojitos (Mexican snacks, “little cravings”) is La Patrona ; located in the food court inside the Mississauga Flea Market (3092 Mavis Rd, unit #205, Mississauga, ON, Canada), it is open every weekend. From looking at the stand, Mexican expatriates may be in denial and pretend they are still in Mexico:
The owners came from Estado de Mexico (EdoMex), a state neighbouring Mexico City; the menu might be a little pedestrian, but I have tried almost every item, and all are as authentic Central Mexico as it gets.
The first choices are for tacos, served by the unit, or in orders of four with the option of pastor (marinated pork/pineapple), carnitas (pork meat confit), chorizo (Mexican sausage), asada (grilled beef), pescado (fish), and pollo (chicken). Note: the menu includes lengua (beef tongue) but I have asked a couple of times and they usually don’t have it. In the photo, below, an order of tacos with green and red salsas, from left: chorizo, pastor, and two with carnitas:
They come with double corn tortillas, either to have a solid taco, or to divide into two thinner tacos, for a total of eight in an order! And I always get a cold glass of horchata (rice-based beverage.)
The same fillings may be picked as toppings for huaraches or sopes. I have yet to order a sope (grilled or fried corn dough rounds with toppings), but their huaraches (elongated and larger version of a sope), are really large, and really tasty. In the photo below, a vegetarian huarache with beans and cheese:
Although not on the menu, they also offer quesadillas, corn dough patties with choice of filling (and in the Central Mexico tradition, they may or may not have cheese). I ordered one with chicharrón prensado (pressed pork cracklings) and another with deshebrada (shredded beef). They had no cheese inside, but as a topping, along with lettuce, onions and cream:
The cross section of the first quesadilla revealed a delicious filling of pressed pork crackling in guajillo sauce:
The prices are very reasonable, since the stand is inside the Flea Market. Although there are a few tables, I would feel a tad cagey about recommending eating there, because it is hectic, and confined to a tight corner of the building; I always get my food to go.
All the highlighted text for dishes and fillings will link to my posts with full stories and my recipes.
I am sharing my post at Thursday Favourite Things #646, with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.
I am joining Fiesta Friday #523 with Angie @ Fiesta Friday.
My Slice of Mexico 
There are a lot of Mexican restaurants here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. It seems to me that non-meat options are very rare in Mexican cooking?
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Oh no, there’s lots, just many restaurants outside Mexico go for the better-known dishes. Beans/corn/squash is the famous three sisters staple, plus peppers and tomatoes make a well-balanced diet. Add paddle cactus, wild mushrooms, eggs, and after the Spanish conquest, cheese … and so on. Yum, I’m hungry now.
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So am I LOL! Beans, corn, squash (zucchini), peppers (red bell) and tomatoes are pretty much daily staples for me along with either rice or buckwheat or some other grain. Spices I’m not so good at because I never know what to get or in what measurements to use them so I just default to red pepper flakes and garlic powder.
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