El Sabor del Gorge: Los Sopitos from Bendiciones Mexican Food
Column
By Arturo Leyva
Hood River, Ore., January 30, 2024 – Since this is my first column for CCCNews I want to introduce myself and tell you a little about myself. My name is Arturo Leyva, I make my living writing songs, singing and producing music. Another of my passions is cooking and trying different foods.
Aruto Levya.
As a Mexican, I feel very proud of our gastronomy, and I want to use my knowledge to share with you the best places to eat in the Gorge. (In my opinion) It is important to say that this column is only to invite you to eat where I go and has no other purpose. And I am not at all an expert food taster or a professional in the art of tasting food. But let's say that I am an expert in homemade meals, and I highly value originality in the art of cooking. Without much further ado here we go!
A new Lonchera (Taco Truck) recently opened in Hood River called Bendiciones Mexican Food. Every time a new food business opens, I give myself the opportunity to go try something on the menu, and I always ask them; ‘What do you recommend on the menu?’ And the business owners usually give me options.
This time they recommended Los Sopitos, which for people who don't know, is a small, slightly thick tortilla where various ingredients are added such as refried beans, chicken or beef, cilantro, cabbage, cream, sauce and dry cheese among other things. Sopitos may seem like a simple meal to make, but I have tried Sopitos in several places, and they always leave me wanting something in flavor or in the combination of ingredients. It is important to say that it is called Sopitos and not Sopito because more than one is always ordered.
I ordered three Chicken Sopitos and they asked me if I wanted them well fried (crunchy) and I told them to just do it how they normally make them.
The first bite gives me the first indication that it is a good Sopito according to my standards. The amount of meat and ingredients was optimal. And as I eat the Bendiciones Mexican Food Sopitos I am brought back in time to Las Cenadurias in my hometown in Mexico.
Las Cenadurias, for those who don't know what they are, is normally a small restaurant in the home of a woman over 60 years old who sells her best recipes in her living room, and everyone comes in the afternoons to eat Sopitos, Enchiladas, Tostadas De Lomo among many things.
Something that was very normal in the Cenadurias was that the Lady who cooked would know people personally and knew how each person liked the food. In my youth, these places were also where we met with our girlfriends to have dinner and talk.
Authentic food like these Sopitos are like a ticket to the past that paints memories with the first bite.
Amusingly, it reminds me how some of the ladies who cooked also had their favorites, and for some privileged people, their food order came first, for reasons that no one knew and that no one dared to investigate. Here’s why. People who dared to ask were put on the blacklist of the owner of the Cenaduria, never to be served again. Nobody wanted that.
There are many places with very good Mexican and Latin American food here in the Columbia River Gorge, so stay tuned, because I will be writing more articles to share the names and addresses of these places that I frequent. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. I hope you will consider my recommendation and enjoy Los Sopitos from Bendiciones Mexican Food for yourselves.
If you want to visit this Taco Truck you can do so at 2002 12th St Hood River, OR. Their business hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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