The gordita is the perfect Fiesta food.
I could end it there and all would be right with the world because, well, I'm right. But I can already hear those chicken-on-a-stick fans sharpening their skewers. Chicken on a stick is so puro Fiesta, they say. You can eat it on the go between beer booths, they say. Like, you still have a hand free for a selfie, they say.
Sure, fine, whatever. That isn't the point. Chicken on a stick is the hip Fiesta food, the munchie of the moment, a popularized food item whose legacy goes back just a couple of decades to NIOSA.
The gordita is eternal, older than the oldest Fiesta event. And it's the perfect Fiesta food because it's so colorful, so flavorful, so cultural, so inviting, so fried, so fun, so truly timeless and puro Fiesta as San Antonio itself.
AND WHERE TO EAT THEM: Your must-have guide to Fiesta's big three parades
Hold my greasy good pocket of beautiful while I point out the proof.
As colors go, you can't beat the gordita's Fiesta swoosh of flavors. The shredded cheese, lettuce and cilantro meshed with sliced tomato and diced onions, all on a bed of spicy protein. Maybe it's beans or ground beef. Carne asada or puerco al pastor. Basically any juicy Mexican meat or whatnot you can scoop into that pillowy masa shell fried to a doughy crisp. Yes, the gordita is the Fiesta rainbow. And it contains multitudes.
Chicken on a stick? It's just, well, chicken on a stick. A glorified chicken strip with, ooooh, a pickled jalapeño on top to make it ethnic. Yeah, right. More like gentrified pollo on a pike. Yeah, I went there.
The gordita? It drips culture in all the figurative and literal ways. Its roots trace back millennia to pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, when Indigenous cultures first whipped up the chunky goodness as part of their maize or corn-centric diet. The culinary delight gradually worked its way up south and central Mexico to the northern states and across the border to South and Central Texas. Today it bridges nations and generations of outdoor eaters who crave the four basic food groups in one sloppy handful. Make that hands full.
Because, oh yes, the gordita is a hot mess. In all the right ways.
It's fried yet fluffy, delicate yet hardy. It's very name, Spanish for "little fat one," is both a term of affection with just a hint of shade, even edge. Think chubby and adorable like Winnie the Pooh, if Winnie the Pooh was your cool tío with both paws in the honey jar, only the honey jar is a hot gordita cupped in crinkled aluminum foil or butcher paper that can barely contain its both holy and unholy contents. Inception de comida.
SAN ANTONIO EXPLAINED: Fiesta customs that have kept the party going
That's the other beauty of the gordita. The best ones require both hands to enjoy it, to savor it, to conquer it. So put your phone down and give all your attention to this glorious Fiesta repast.
For this is a sumptuous meal, an all-inclusive trip to the singularity of más Mex, less Tex food, where burger lovers, puffy taco lovers and all other lovers of food sandwiched between something that's not quite a taco, not quite a bun can find common feeding ground and festive spirit. You know, like Fiesta. Perfection.
Related Reading
Municipal animal shelters do more than ever – but they can't do it alone
Spurs to host fan festivities celebrating return to NBA playoffs
Spurs playoff TV schedule starts with NBC, Prime Video and ESPN
Subscribe
There’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.Read this story on expressnews.com
