Get your own Bowl

Joe Hermosa / Valley Morning Star

It was one of the late President Ronald Reagan’s favorites. Even New Yorkers ask for it by name.

While pockets of worldly restaurant patrons across the country are familiar with caldo tlalpeño, one of Mexico’s classic dishes, many people in the Rio Grande Valley have never even heard of the spicy soup. Actually, the soup is quite easy to find at eateries like Casa del Taco or Don Juan’s in Hidalgo County, but it is not commonly known — and almost unavailable — east of Weslaco. One exception in Cameron County is Pilo’s Mexican Café in San Benito.

“A lot of people see it on the menu and they ask, ‘What is it?’” said owner Pilo Hernández. “We try to give them a description and let them have a taste.”

The Pilo family recipe for caldo tlalpeño circumnavigated the continent — from Tamaulipas to California to Houston, where Hernández’s family has operated restaurants — before arriving in San Benito after they took over the former site of Tico’s Restaurant last spring.

The soup consists of chicken stock, shredded chicken breast, chipotle (smoked jalapeño) in “adobo” (spice) sauce and white cheese — Pilo’s uses Monterey Jack. A side of rice — which may be added to the soup — often accompanies the dish, along with tortillas.

“It’s a spicy soup,” Hernández said. “Sometimes there are no words to describe it.”

Another main ingredient includes a garnish of guacamole or avocado. Most Mexican recipes call for garbanzo beans, carrots and green beans or zucchini. Some cooks also add potatoes, celery and tomato.

Chef Zarela Martínez, owner of Zarela Restaurant in Manhattan, where the dish appears often as a soup of the day, said that caldo tlalpeño may not be readily available in many Mexican restaurants, — whether in New York or in the Valley, — because many of them actually serve Tex-Mex foods and not necessarily authentic Mexican dishes.

“When I started (in New York), everybody was doing Tex-Mex food, which is good, but it’s not Mexican,” Martínez said. “They’re very sophisticated here.”

The soup is originally from the Mexico City suburb of Tlalpan, hence the dish’s name.

Martínez, the author of “Zarela’s Veracruz,” was catapulted to fame almost overnight in 1983 by the late Craig Claiborne, — considered one of America’s most influential culinary writers. During a visit to Reagan’s ranch by Queen Elizabeth II, she requested a light, intensely flavored Mexican soup and Claiborne provide the White House chef with Martínez’s recipe for caldo tlalpeño.

“It’s very authentic,” said Martínez, the daughter of Chihuahuan cattle ranchers and a native of El Paso.

Most Valley restaurants that carry the dish offer a choice between a cup and a bowl of the soup. If smaller portions are unlisted on menus, customers might request a “principio,” an appetizer-sized portion.

Where to get your Caldo Tlalpeño

Pilo’s Mexican Café

1100 W. B. 77, San Benito

956-361-3380

Casa del Taco

2708 N. Texas Blvd., Weslaco

956-968-2424

Don Juan’s Restaurant

3412 N. 23rd St., McAllen

956-630-3116

Zarela Martínez

To learn more about chef, product designer and restaurant owner Zarela Martinez, visit http://www.zarela.com./ Her décor is available at Wal-Mart stores and through www.melissaguerra.com.