Pasillo de Humo, the KiwiFav of the week

Pasillo de Humo is a small corner of Oaxaca in Mexico City, and it is the perfect place to immerse yourself in Oaxacan cuisine with its delicious tlayudas, moles, and cocktails. The legendary Celia Florián, one of the most important and awarded traditional cooks in our country and the mastermind behind the restaurant Las Quince Letras in Oaxaca, along with her son Alam Méndez, who brought Oaxacan food to Washington, are the ones who have brought authentic Oaxacan cuisine to Mexico City. The dishes you will find at Pasillo de Humo are a contemporary version of Oaxacan food, but always with the flavors that characterize this culinary tradition. Through their recipes, Celia and Alam have set out to show the world that traditional Oaxacan food is as complex and splendid as any other. To start your journey through the culinary tradition of Oaxaca, I recommend the Isthmus-style fried plantain with red mole, which is the perfect balance between sweet and spicy, a worthy representative of Oaxacan cuisine. For the main dish, you can try the crispy and delicious tlayuda with chorizo and chapulines, the aromatic red mole, the decadent pork belly with manchamanteles mole, or the yellow mole with beef. Each of these dishes will make you fall in love with Oaxacan cuisine bite by bite. Pasillo de Humo also offers an incredible selection of cocktails and the best mezcals. I recommend the cocktail with chepiche, mezcal, cucumber, and lime. However, you can also order the traditional Oaxacan chocolate. For dessert, I suggest trying the classic chocolate tamale. If you visit this little piece of Oaxaca at breakfast time, you cannot miss the sweet bread and hot chocolate. Then you can order the casserole with sunny-side-up egg, hoja santa, quesillo, and chapulines.