The Blue Quesadilla Lady

I’ve been thinking about these blue quesadillas on and off for about 3 years. I watched an episode of “No Reservations” where Anthony Bourdain goes to Mexico City.

In one of the segments on the show, he eats a quesadilla made by a woman named “Doña Anastasia”. The tortilla is made fresh on the spot. The fact that it was a blue corn tortilla is probably what made it so memorable. But like I said, I’ve been thinking about it on and off for 3 years. In my head is a mental list of food I’ve seen (usually on an Anthony Bourdain show) that I want to try.

Well, I’m here in Mexico City and just happened to be working at a coworking spot 5 metrobus stops away from these blue quesadillas.

John and I went for lunch and found the stall in amongst a bunch of others. Doña Anastasia was resting her eyes in a spare moment. She immediately perked up when she saw the two of us standing there.

In my best broken spanish, we ordered 2 quesadillas each. 2 x Bistec, 1 x Pollo, and 1 x Chicharron. She encouraged us to try some fresh chicken that had just been slaughtered earlier and cooked it up for us. A fresh tortilla makes all the difference and I can say we really enjoyed our lunch.

I made an attempt to tell her that I had seen her on TV 3 years ago in the US and had been wanting to try her food ever since. I’m not sure I adequately explained how satisfying it was for me to eat these blue quesadillas.

6 quesadillas, 2 drinks and 100 pesos (USD $7.55) later, John and I were really happy and on the way back to do some work.