I first stumbled upon the Pre-Hispanic Mexican Cuisine food truck at San Jose’s Rose Garden Farmers Market. At least a dozen people were in line, and I joined the queue out of curiosity. I was expecting a traditional taco truck menu; instead, I was stunned by unfamiliar offerings. I ordered a small feast of al pastor negro, huitlacoche (corn fungus) quesadillas, and octopus and chorizo tacos. I was hooked and visited regularly to sample the rest of the menu.
Five years later, the owners have anchored down with a full restaurant serving a larger variety of unique Mexican dishes. At Pre-Hispanic Mexican Cuisine in Morgan Hill, you’ll find dishes rooted in Mayan cuisine. Present-day Mexican food is an amalgamation of the culinary techniques of Mexico’s Indigenous people groups and ingredients, like beef and pork, brought by the Spaniards in the early 16th century.
Rather than strictly re-creating pre-colonial dishes, the restaurant highlights Indigenous Mexican flavors through familiar Mexican dishes. For example, the tacos are loaded with al pastor negro, a rarity in the Bay Area. They’re made with recado negro (a smoky, Mayan chile paste) that serves as the backbone for several dishes on the menu.
Owners Jesus Varguez and Cenobio Albarran met 13 years ago while working together at a restaurant on Santana Row in San Jose. They teamed up to start the Pre-Hispanic Mexican Cuisine food truck in 2021. For the past five years, they have popped up at farmers markets, breweries and other events across the South Bay. In September, the chefs opened their first brick-and-mortar location in downtown Morgan Hill…