Hey guys this is Jenny and Kevin with Eat Baila Travel, and today we're going to be going to the mercado de Birria in Aguascalientes.
For some delicious birria today it's Sunday and luckily we
are one block from the mercado just by luck pure luck right we booked this airbnb
down that way and it just so happens to be one block down from this famous birria mercado here.
In Aguascalientes it's huge here so we're gonna go see how good it is.
Mercado Juarez. is known as the mercado for birria and shoes. So if you need to buy shoes and want to have some breakfast or lunch
this is the place to come.
Especially on the weekends they say birria and menudo are the best for a hangovers I mean not that we are hungover.
We have been sick but birria is very good for you and well tell you why,
This mercado is jam-packed almost every day so walking in it's gonna feel really overwhelming
to pick out the video spot you're going to eat at what we're going to do for you today is make
a plan and help you understand how to pick the perfect spot when you come to the mercado
First walk in confidently but slowly.
Use your peripheral vision to glance at the stalls
Make note of the meat its color will tell you whether it's pure goat meat or actually beef
Note how busy it is, do you see any empty seats? Don't be intimidated by the crowds a packed spot
usually means it's very good and high in demand.
Don't fall in love with the first video you see. Keep Walking
Nod politely when vendors invite you to sit down
How do the prices compare? when you reach the shoes you're at the halfway point
Once you've walked all the way through it's time to turn back
And straight to your chosen birria spot
The first time we came to eat here we knew nothing about this place we were just hungry we walked in
we did exactly what we just advised you to do and walk back and just chose a spot that looked good.
We had amazing birria and then went back to our airbnb to brag about it to our host um which is
when she tells us or asks us if we knew that this mercado has a birria spot that was featured on the Netflix series the Taco Chronicles
like we've seen that series and none of them really look familiar
So we re-watched the series and realized that we ate at that birria spot.
Although we ate at that birria spot we also tried a bunch of other birria spots and you cannot go wrong with any birria spot
It just depends what kind of birria you like, this specific place that we like going to
we like going to it because meat is very nice and tender that every every bite is so delicious and
the meat just like rips apart but we also tried other places like Birria Martinez and El Chivito and
they were also really really good quality birria. So really you can't go wrong it all just depends
on what you see and what you like and that's how you make your choice but for today we're going
to feature El Lago Azul because we met a very special taquero with an amazing most beautiful name.
His name is Kevin he's from the UK and he came to Aguascalientes with his wife to help
run the family business here in Aguascalientes the birria. And it lives up to his expectations
This is the spot we ate at the first time and it turns out to be the same business
El Lago Azul has four different table spots if you want to meet the owners the couple's name is Kevin and Lorena.
They're at this green location over here when you're staying here it feels overwhelming
and it feels like you're going to be waiting forever but i promise you or not the tables
go quick the turnover with people eating and leaving is super quick
so just stand close and you'll find a seat really quickly
How's it going?
you're lucky you got me in the driving seat today
So when you come and order birria the first thing is that you need to know the body parts.
They have ribs, head, liver, maciza and they do intestines.
rolled up and they grill them and they bring them to you and
For us, the first time we don't know anything so we only got what was left over and that's what we had
but this time around we're almost pros this is three weeks of uh birria in our resume so you know
that we order our birria with maciza just plain masa which is pure meat and sometimes we order
tacos like rib tacos because the rib is really really juicy and delicious.
We haven't had heart or liver or eyes yet but it's an option there if you want to give it a shot now
If it's your first time eating birria i would just recommend asking for surtida which is just a bunch of different meats
from different parts of the goat and it's the best way but look at this delicious rib just look at it
Okay what to be prepared for when you're ordering you're gonna get a lot of questions
what cut do you want? do you want onion? do you want salsa?
so what size do you want? so there are small, medium,large. I mean you can start with the small
but we went ahead for the big ones today because we know we like it we asked for our cut which is maciza.
they asked if we want onion and salsa for us the answer is always yes.
I feel like the onion helps to neutralize some of the strong odor and it just brings out some of the flavor soup
so i love the onion and and then they're gonna ask if you want consomé which is the broth
that the goat is cooked in and it is delicious it's literally just the soup they ask you
If you want your consumé with or without salsa usually we get it but since we been a little
sensitive in the stomach we asked for it separately so we can pour it in ourselves
And the salsa always comes hot. I ordered mine again without salsa because i'm going to
put it on myself Kevin ordered his with just going to do little by little
Normally it would look like that.
I love lime so I always put a ton of lime.
This has easily been my favorite food in Aguascalientes you'll see why
It doesn't smell normally goat has a very distinct smell because they
they're smelly smelly animals but this one
I said i love this! This is just pure broth.
I can tell why Kevin moved from the UK to Aguascalientes.
Because if i was him and i could eat this every day, I would move from the UK to Aguascalientes.
People are fascinated with the English guy but we all know the real star here is you, Lorena.
No, it my dad and grandfather. My grandfather was the founder of this birria.
And my dad started to work with my grandfather and my dad has been working this spot for 38 years.
What is your name?
Raudel Serna
And you the owner of Lago Azul right? Yes
Yes.
The founder was my father, he was the main founder, the best!
And then I continued the business and the brothers and sisters followed.
It's an entire family business.
Who wakes up early to make the birria?
Everyone! This is team job, with one person we wouldn't be able to do it.
Do you guys make the birria here?
No, all of the birria is made in my grandfathers house.
What time do you guys start cooking?
We leave the meat cooking the entire night and turn it off at 8am.
What is most important thing to make a good birria?
To make a good birria the most important thing is high quality meat and it has to be goat meat.
Only goat meat?
Yes, only goat meat and the quality of the meat is the most important
Here in Aguascalientes we call birria a meal that is made from goat meat.
Because in other parts of Mexico they also call it barbacoa. Like in the state of Mexico they call it barbacoa
And it's also made from goat but it's oven roasted and we steam it that the difference.
And in the north of Mexico like Chihuahua and Durango they also make barbacoa and its made from beef
but here in Lago Azul our meat is best quality goat and that's what sets us apart from other birria locations.
Here at Lago Azul they make sure that they get goat's that are eat organic foods,
That they have a good lifestyle so they can provide very good birria for us.
If you can help me clarify this goat, sheep, and lamb difference
and all of these different kinds of goats and animals please comment down below so you can
help us understand what the difference is between lamb, goat, and sheep.
because my brain is like looking at them all the same so please comment down below and make and
help me clarify what the difference is.
It's 11:53 and they say they have about a half an hour left of meat.
So you want to get here early, you want to get here on time or if you can we highly recommend
that you come during the weekdays because the weekdays weekends are weekends people get here early.
That's all that's left and it's a lot. I find it hard to believe that it's gonna be gone
in half an hour but at the same time with the amount of people that are coming it's not that surprising.
For my last taco i just got me one of just ribs
this is by far my favorite
But i don't always ask for just all the rib meat
because i want to make sure everybody gets some ribs too
How nice of you.
oh you should get one before it's gone.
When you come back let hang out and we'll plan something. How's that?
Alright Kev pleasure to meet you bud?
You too, take it easy, see you guys when I see you how's that?
Thank you so much Lorena!
Likewise! It was a pleasure meeting you guys
I just want to say thanks so much to Kevin and Lorena for allowing us to enjoy their birria and
bring our camera for some fun today we look forward to visiting the next time
and thank you so much for watching hope you enjoyed this if you did make sure to give it
a like if you're not subscribed go ahead and subscribe and we'll see until next time.
Take care of yourself, shower, and see you next time.