Let El Sol burn away your Mexican cuisine malaise

I do a little bit of online sleuthing before writing any article, nosing around for new places to try or places that are creating buzz. This time, I was poking around in the Southeast Missourian's "What's for Dinner" spread, looking at a list of this area's favorite places to go to avoid cooking at home. I had been to most of the places on the list except for a couple of sweet shops. I feel like I've been doing sweet treats as articles for a bit now, so I wanted to go somewhere savory, somewhere I could get a whole warm meal. That's when I realized that El Sol has never been covered in the foodie article, and I headed there so I could correct this grave injustice.

At 1105 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, El Sol is a large restaurant with a very unique and blazing red, orange, and yellow sun emblem on the sign. I arrived at that odd in-between time, after lunch but before dinner, so the place was fairly quiet. Good, I brought a book to entertain myself while I waited for my order. I didn't need to peruse the menu, because I'd already figured that out. This is what I chose, and the blurb on the menu is magic, so I'll quote it directly: "ENCHILADAS SUIZAS Four grilled chicken enchiladas topped with queso, salsa verde, charred pineapple, sour cream and cilantro."

I have a deep and abiding love for salsa verde, or green salsa. Instead of being made out of tomatoes, it is made from tomatillos, which look like green tomatoes but really aren't. Tomatillos grow encased in a papery husk, which one peels off to get to the fruit inside and is related to the gooseberry. After peeling off the husk, the tomatillo is a little sticky so it must be washed, and then it can be processed into salsa verde. Salsa verde is tangy, almost a little sour. It has a fresh pop, and nothing else in the world tastes like it. When I saw that this dish combines my favorite sauce with the sweetness of pineapple, I couldn't imagine what that would taste like, but I desperately wanted to try.

Just for kicks, I ordered a Taco Al Pastor on the side, because that is my favorite kind of taco. I find the marinated pork to be rich and flavorful and wanted to see how El Sol's version compared to others.

I placed my order and settled into my book. It is my emergency book, the one I keep in the car at all times just in case I forget to bring reading material anywhere, a thick, beefy textbook of American short stories as selected by Joyce Carol Oates. I got it for 50 cents at Goodwill and have enjoyed it for years. Tucking into an odd story about automatons, I got about two pages in before my food arrived. Not only was the food prepared quickly, but it was also beautiful. No slapping of food and tortillas onto a plate, with a couple of scoops of sauce and cheese overflowing messily, oh no. Those enchiladas were centered on the plate, beautifully presented, with delicately julienned bits of cilantro sprinkled just right across the top. It looked amazing.

Taco Al Pastor, rich and tender pork, full of a slow-cooked flavor that can't be faked.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

And it tasted even better. After a long smell (I wanted to prime my taste buds,) I made sure to get a bit of chicken, corn tortilla, queso, salsa verde, and a tiny bit of pineapple on my fork together, so I could get the whole picture. Mmm. The enhanced sweetness of the grilled pineapple meshed and held hands with the sour salsa verde in a way that made me close my book and pay attention. Tender, juicy chicken strips, the corn tortilla adding texture, the queso coating everything with a rich, creamy, and comforting blanket...you may think I am waxing eloquent, and I am, but not a thing I've said is a lie or exaggeration. The Enchiladas Suizas were excellent.

Enchiladas Suizas translate as Swiss enchiladas, and Google tells me that it was first served in Mexico City in 1950 so it qualifies as eating authentically, which is a nice bonus.

The Taco Al Pastor that I had (or taco "shepherd style") came with a lime slice that I squeezed onto the pork. Wonderful. Rich, packed with savory spice, with that fresh pop of lime.

El Sol takes Mexican cuisine up a notch and deserves its spot on the favorites list.