Recently, I went to the Feria de la Enchilada in Iztapalapa of Mexico City.
As you can see in this video here, it's an event held seemingly every year and they've been at it for 19 years from what I gathered.
And, as you can see here, they even broke the world record for having the biggest enchilada in 2010.
Though I can't imagine they were competing with too many people outside of Mexico. Kinda of like Americans claiming to be the best at football but also not having much competition.
At any rate, I currently live in Iztapalapa and the event was held at the Macroplaza of Iztapalapa.
The Macroplaza is an important area of Iztapalapa where a lot of the more important events for Iztapalapa are held multiple times every year (including the Grito a la Indepdencia for Iztapalapa that I wrote about here with photos included).
Which is only about 5 minutes away more or less from my apartment.
Once I got there, I found the event easy enough as you can see here.
Then, as you can see here, they have a bunch of little restaurants all over the place that each make their own enchiladas.
I really had no idea who makes the best enchiladas in this place.
So I just went with whoever.
There was one place calling themselves "La Condesa" and so obviously I didn't go there because we aren't in Condesa!
There was another place calling themselves "De la Chinampa a la Cazuela" as you can see here.
Sounds like a place from Xochimilco.
Which there were enchiladas being served from people as far away as Milpa Alta and other neighboring areas close to Iztapalapa.
If you like mole, I'd definitely recommend you go for a restaurant here that claims to be coming from Milpa Alta as they produce most of the city's mole.
When I was in Milpa Alta for a brief visit as I wrote here, I tried some of their mole in San Pedro Atocpan and it was pretty good.
Anyway, here's some more photos of the event.
Where, in one of those photos, you can see that they also had live music being played.
Some classic cumbia songs actually that you can hear in this video here.
And they had a bunch of people sitting down in front of the little concert.
Others dancing.
Not sure if those seats are reserved or not but, for those attending the event, it wouldn't be a bad idea to figure out how to get a seat.
I didn't care enough to do so as I just learned about this event the night before showing up and didn't even know there would be music.
But, for a longer stay than just an hour or so, it's definitely recommended to maybe sit around for some music if you like cumbia and whatever else they might play.
Which, for those who don't know, the event goes on for several days.
This year, it went on from the 23rd of September to October 2nd with the hours being 10 AM to 8 PM everyday.
The prices of the enchiladas themselves are, at cheapest, 83 pesos and go higher from there depending on what you order.
Eventually, I chose to sit down for some enchiladas.
While you can get various styles of enchiladas here, I chose the enchiladas full of cochinita pibil.
Cochinita pibil is one of my favorite things from Mexico to eat.
Here's a description of it.
"Cochinita pibil (also puerco pibil or cochinita con achiote) is a traditional Yucatec Mayan slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatán Peninsula. Preparation of traditional cochinita involves marinating the meat in strongly acidic citrus juice, adding annatto seed, which imparts a vivid burnt orange color, and roasting the meat in a píib while it is wrapped in banana leaf."
Food was pretty good overall.
There are many other things you can try in Mexico as I wrote in this article here with over 100 suggestions.
And, at this event, there was no shortage of various styles of enchiladas to try.
One thing I kinda wish they would've done here is maybe have "mini enchilada" options for those who, at such an event for enchiladas, can try many different options without killing themselves from too much food.
Maybe where you can order a very mini version of just one piece of an enchilada of a certain style and have other mini versions of other styles?
Or, at the very least, give us the option to just have one piece of an enchilada (instead of the 3 or 4 pieces of each dish).
That way you can widen your variety as to what you are eating here.
That would've been cooler and more appropriate for such an event where we are all here to eat and learn about various styles of enchiladas while listening to music.
Regardless, the event was pretty good.
I was only there for maybe an hour and a half.
Would've stayed there longer if I brought someone along with me to enjoy the music with.
Kinda reminds me of this scene here where this comedian is all alone in Cuba but at least has good food and drinks to enjoy the moment.
Conan Dines At A Cuban Paladar | CONAN on TBS
Which, for this event, that probably would've been another thing they could've done.
I didn't see anyone selling any alcoholic drinks but, if we're sticking to the theme of enjoying the cuisine of Mexico, then maybe it would've been cool if someone was selling pulque.
I didn't see any menus offering pulque but I didn't check all of them out so maybe someone was.
Though, if this event was anything like the Grito event they held at the Macroplaza that I visited and wrote about here, it wouldn't surprise me if they wanted to prohibit alcohol for this event also.
Who knows.
Anyway, the event was cool overall.
Makes for an easy hour to hour and a half.
I wouldn't spend more than 3 hours here at most if I had nothing else to do and if I brought someone along to listen to the music and drink some pulque.
Even though I like cumbia, I'd need some pulque to enjoy 3 hours of it.
Please just give me some pulque already with me enchiladas.
It's also one of many similar events held in Mexico City where, speaking of pulque, they do have a feria for that also as you can see here.
Never been to it as of this writing in 2022 but I'm sure it's equally cool.
Finally, for those curious, there were no other gringos or obvious looking foreigners at the event when I went.
I know some of you care to visit places or events where you won't see other foreigners and this is one of them that allows you to enjoy a bit of Mexican culture and cuisine.
Overall, I enjoyed the event.
Worth visiting if you got some time to kill.
Anyway, that's all I got to say.
If you got anything to add, drop a comment below.
Follow my Twitter here.
And enjoy some of these last photos I took of the Macroplaza and also some of the surrounding area close to the Macroplaza in Iztapalapa as I walked back to my apartment.
Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt