Where the Mexican food is authentic, but can you get past this one thing?
There are a lot of Mexican and Central American-styled restaurants in the D.C. area. And there’s often a legitimate level of authenticity to what they serve. The recipes, spices and seasonings all come from somewhere real. But one Dupont Circle chef is focused on giving you an authentic meal you’d find in the humblest of Mexican kitchens.
And by “authentic,” Chef Christian Irabién, the owner of Amparo Fondita, means you have the option of ordering insects.
“I think a lot of people … think that maybe they’re, like, fresh bugs that are full of guts and goo,” said Irabién. “They’re not. They’re already dry cured.”
Earlier this month, Irabién was cooking up grasshoppers and worms native to Mexico — some of them pricier than you’d think. He started with onions and poblano peppers sautéed on a stove, along with some seasoning before the dried and cured grasshoppers would get tossed in. Then, he splashed mezcal and other flavors on top as the pan sizzled.
“I’m hoping that people are starting to pay more attention to what bugs are, beyond the shock aspect of it,” he said. “They are staples of indigenous diets through communities from all around the world, really.”
“There’s hundreds and hundreds of years of history behind eating these bugs,” he added. “A handful of grasshoppers or a handful of worms will contain a higher amount of protein than a steak will. They will also impact the environment a lot less, because they take a lot less food, water and everything else that goes into, say, raising a pig or a cow or a chicken.”
The insects he uses are sourced from Mexico, and what appears on the menu on a given day depends on the season. You can order grasshoppers mixed inside your guacamole, or served on a small tostada with black beans. Worms might get cooked and topped with a mango salsa on a small tortilla.
Either way, they’re always going to be crunchy and filling.
“We’re not the Mexican restaurant in a box,” he said. “Our goal is to sort of disrupt the notion that a Mexican restaurant is Epcot Center … and that we have the same four tacos, the same two burritos, two chimichangas, or whatever it is that these menus across the country have. Because it really does a disservice to the level of gastronomy that exists in Mexico.”
Which is not to say you won’t get carne asada tacos, quesadillas or chorizo, if that’s what you want. That’s still real Mexican food, too. But Irabién, who was born and raised in Chihuahua, said he eats the same insects on his menu when he visits south of the border, which is as often as possible.
Once you get past your own perception of insects and give it a try, he said more often than not, you’ll realize this isn’t meant to draw attention on Instagram.
“A lot of the folks that come into the restaurant come in with a sense of adventure and they’re willing to try something new,” Irabién said. “And more often than not, they are super surprised at how much they actually like what they’re eating, once they get past the eight legs and the four eyes.
He said it’s funny to watch the different types of customers decide to take on the culinary adventure.
“There are the people that understand it, there are the people that are curious and want to know about it, and there are the people who immediately say, ‘Absolutely not, you will never see me eat a bug,’” he laughed. “For us, it’s really just kind of telling the story, connecting the story of its history and why it exists on the menu and why we prepared the way that we do.”
But those who are willing to set aside those worries discover something new — and something usually likable.
“I would say 90% of the time, they’re just shocked that it’s not what they thought it was going to be,” Irabién said. “We tell ourselves stories when we see things that are foreign, but I think 90% of the people that try them end up being super surprised at what they are. They actually enjoy them, and when they come back, they ask for them again.”
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