I rode my bike to 47th st. to eat at La Cecina. Its located in the Chicago neighborhood, “Back of the Yards,” which refers to the old stockyards. The South Side has a lot of industry as reflected in the chemical smells. To start off I had the jugo 7 vidas- beet, celery, apple, orange, carrot, perejil and pineapple. Perejil is parsley. The drink tasted healthy and good but was too viscous to cleanse my throat from the ride down. Served first with warm tortilla chips and salsa de mulcajete.
The caldo de pollo flavor was so bright. It helped that it was served with almost half a juicy lime plus lots of chopped onion and cilantro. The squash, zuchini, carrots and potatoes were also cut small. The broth flavor was limey and it sang more with the vegetables than the meat. I drank a glass of horchata at this point- the house horchata had flecks of spice, really good.
Their torta ahogada was something I had to try- its the signature dish at my restaurant. Instead of pork carnitas, the meat we use, I ordered the torta with cecina. The specialty of La Cecina- salt cured thin cut steak. The tomato sauce was wicked spicy- the chile seeds are visible in the photo. The salty steak was cut by the acidic sauce, creamy avocado and cooled off with sour cream. At my restaurant the torta ahogada is not available for take out- it is dine in only. There was some joy in taking this torta ahogada to go for the 8 mile trek home.
que rico, pero mejor comer vegetariano