Menudo in Medford

Menudo is one of the oldest dishes in Mexican home cooking: beef tripe simmered slowly in a red chile broth until the broth turns deep and the tripe goes tender. It is not a quick dish and it is not a weekday dish. It takes most of a morning, which is why almost nobody makes it to order and why it turns up on weekends or not at all.

It arrives plain, and you finish it yourself. Onion, cilantro, lime and oregano go on at the table, along with tortillas on the side. How much of each is a matter of opinion, and people have strong ones.

Across Mexico and the border states, menudo is a weekend tradition — the thing families eat on a Saturday or Sunday morning, often after a long night. It has a reputation as a restorative, and whether or not that holds up, the ritual is real.

La Fondita cooks it in weekend batches. When it runs out, it runs out. If menudo is what you came for, earlier is better than later.