Reasons To Order Esquite Over Elote
Corn dishes are very popular in Mexican cuisine, so you can expect to see a number of options on the menu — especially when you visit an eatery that offers highly authentic fare. Two specific corn dishes that you'll find at many Mexican restaurants, including food trucks, are elote and esquites. The former describes what you might refer to as corn on the cob, albeit with a variety of flavorful toppings that enhance each bite. Esquites, meanwhile, is a corn dish that is served in a cup. There's no debating that elote is delicious, and often worth trying. However, here are some reasons that you might favor esquites over elote.
Tidier To Eat
A lot of people will find that it's much tidier to eat a serving of esquites over a serving of elote. Munching on any type of corn on the cob can be fun, but it often leaves a mess on your face and causes chunks of food to fall down your front. If you're grabbing some Mexican food to eat on your workday lunch break, you won't want to risk messing up your shirt. You'll have an easier time eating esquites because you consume it with a spoon. There's a low risk of making a mess when you eat a serving of this dish.
More Topping Choices
While you might be surprised at how many enticing toppings are available on a serving of elote, you'll typically find that there are far more topping choices when you order esquites. With elote, the toppings have to stick to the cob of corn as you eat it, and this partially limits just what toppings can work in this application. Because you eat esquites in a cup, it can have many more toppings. For example, some preparations of this dish will include runny cheese sauce, which would be challenging to have on elote.
Better For Sharing
It can be fun to visit a Mexican restaurant with a friend and order several different dishes with the goal of sharing them. Esquites is easy to share. You can either use separate spoons and eat out of the same cup, or simply divide the cup onto your two plates. Elote, meanwhile, can be more challenging to share with a dining partner. Not everyone may want to eat corn directly off the cob after someone has already started to do so.
Contact a local Mexican restaurant to learn more about esquites and elote.