Corn tortillas vs. flour tortillas.
August 6th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | no responses
Simple. Always choose corn tortillas if you want a real taco.
If you’re a gringo, they’ll ask, “Harina o maiz”, (flour or corn?), because they think you want flour tortillas. If you’re not a gringo, they’ll say, “Maiz o harina”?
If you have trouble remembering the difference between “harina” or “maiz” then you are a gringo, so pick the one they don’t think you want. The second one. The good stuff.
Maiz (mah-yeez)
A few exceptions can be made. If they’re not making the corn tortillas right there in front of you, and they pull the tortillas out of a Fiesta bag, and the flour tortillas ARE homemade, then you may consider flour.
You also have the option of threatening the non-corn tortilla making lady with a Jarritos bottle until they learn how to make corn tortillas.
I am not advocating violence toward taco stand employees in any way, shape or form.
That is, unless they are not making fresh corn tortillas from scratch.
Taqueria Mi Jalisco
August 5th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | one response
I started heading Northwest. Ended up on Fulton, then just kept cruising until I found a taco stand. It was a hot day, and I was kicking the Reggae Show on KTRU.
If the taco mecca is on Irvington, the taco graveyard is on Fulton. I found close to a dozen taco establishments that had closed down, including a Taco Zone, Taco Town, and Taco Loco (The Taco Loco was barely open).
When I got to Berry Street, I found a king-size, super shiny black taco truck called “Tacorrey”, which advertised “Sabor del Norte” or “Taste of the North”. I walked up to the front, and the owner was hanging out with a police officer. I waited at the front window for a few seconds and reviewed the menu. Nobody came to take my order, so I hit the bricks.
Walking back to my car, I saw a small white taco stand that glimmered in the sun like a Los Tucanes CD hanging from a rear-view mirror. It’s amazing that every huge taco truck has a smaller, better, and cheaper taco truck nearby.
Those aren't sunbeams. A good taco truck always looks like this.
I ordered three tacos; a suadero, a longaniza, and of course the al pastor. I tried to use my best Spanish, but since I was drooling all over myself, she had a hard time understanding me at first.
These were served with key limes, a grilled jalapeno, and a magnificent sweet grilled caramelized onion.Total cost was $3. Fantastic.
I’d like to go into a long, drawn out explanation of what suadero is and act like I already knew, but instead I found a blog by a fella named Ian Froeb who figured it all out for me. In other news, there are tacos in St. Louis. (Just kidding.)
Look, I stole Ian's cow chart.
This stuff is delicious. It was a little bit tough and charred (in a good way), and the fat content was significant. I knew on the first bite that I had a winner. This would be my favorite of the three tacos.
Next I had the longaniza. This meat is a lot like chorizo. This might sound awful on a taco by itself, but longaniza is more substantial than the chorizo you may have had in breakfast tacos. This was a good taco as well, though I wouldn’t want to eat more than one.
Then I got to the al pastor. I wasn’t happy with it, but when it comes to al pastor, I’m like one of those rock stars on The Smoking Gun with the 18-page backstage riders.
I’d like to add that these were not your ordinary double-stack corn tortillas. These weren’t processed into blandness like the tortillas you see in a grocery store. They were bright yellow, toasted, and tasted like corn. You know, like they’re supposed to.
The red salsa was oil-based, similar to the salsa found at La Mexicana on Montrose and Fairview. I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t crazy about it. The green stuff had a hummus-like texture, and had a “sink-in” spiciness that was nice and hot.
They were out of orange soda, so I ordered a coke. “Mexican Coke!” she said proudly, as she charged me the $2 gringo price. So Mexican Coca-Cola is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Big deal. But it is cool that you could crack a human skull with that Coke bottle without breaking it.
Then I realized that I had forgotten to take pictures of the tacos before I wolfed them down. Damn. I had to go back and buy some more suadero tacos so I could bring them home and take pictures for you.
Suadero tacos with key limes, grilled onion, jalapeno, cilantro, raw onions. Two bucks.
Soda Naranja (Orange/Mandarin Soda)
August 1st, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | 2 responses
When you visit a taco truck, ask for a “soda naranja”. Even if you don’t care for orange soda, understand that this is what real caballeros wash down tacos with when it’s too early to drink beer. It’s imperative for these few major reasons:
- This will effectively establish the fact that you know just WTF you’re talking about. This may keep them from putting lettuce and tomatoes on your tacos. If you walk away from a taco stand with lettuce and tomatoes on
your taco, I hate to break it to you, Ace- but you’ve failed.
- Orange soda goes great with genuine tacos.
- Because real tacos are chased with either cold beer or cold orange soda. That’s the way it is, and if you don’t like it, go to Casa Ole and drink a bunch of crappy honky margaritas that were composed with that artificial sweet and sour stuff that kiddie popsicles are made of, and while you’re at it, enjoy some crispy ground-beef pseudo-tacos that might consist of floor scraps purchased from the Alpo factory.
- It tastes a lot better than the US version of orange soda
- The thick glass and large bumps on the neck of the bottle are designed to make it an optimal weapon, in the case someone should try to take your taco or salsa from you.
Disclaimer: If anyone reading this happens to be from somewhere other than Texas or California, I understand that quasi-Mexican food can be very palatable, and you may not even have access to a Taco Bell. I love this country, and every night I think of you and weep, swallowing the fact that many of my fellow Americans may never experience real tacos. Or real salsa.
Damn.
I beg your pardon.
July 31st, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | one response
Since “Link Road” goes in several directions, I had a hard time finding The Rose Garden. It was recommended by an older fella named “Pee Wee” that I met at The Tall Texan the day before.
When I stepped in there, I realized that 29-95’s review of Rose Garden was very accurate, but much more positive than what you’ll see below.
This is similar to the barber shop you hated as a kid.
This place is small. Really small. I walked up to the bar and ordered a Miller Lite like a badass.
When I walked in, the crowd looked as if they had been there all day discussing what they would do when I got there.
Which would be understandable if I was dressed up like a woman this warm Wednesday evening, but I only do that on the first Tuesday of each month, so it was disconcerting.
The music was loud. Too loud for a country bar. It wasn’t country music, but some kind of country/Polish hybrid music that you might hear in New Braunsfels during a daytime festival.
For a moment, I was David Koresh holed up in a burning closet while the ATF blasted “Achy Breaky Heart”. It was true sonic warfare, and it worked.
I hate this place.
The C&F Drive Inn.
July 31st, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | one response
The C&F Drive Inn is on North Main, just inside 610. I think they have about four kinds of beer in stock, which is really unnecessary because everyone is drinking Miller Lite.
Swanky.
You can get one beer for two dollars, or you can get a bucket of six beers for 12 dollars.
The bartender is a really sweet lady named Yolanda who has worked there for around 30 years. You will recognize her by her big hair and charming smile. She will keep serving you cold beers until you start trouble or fall down more than once. She will even put your beer in a koozie, with the logo of a local bail bonding company imprinted on the front.
Behind the bar you’ll see Bandito’s t-shirts for sale, and an autographed poster of a pre-Channel 2 newscaster Jennifer Reyna. Folks here say they’ve known her since she was a little girl, and they are all very proud of her accomplishments.
There is an internet jukebox, which is usually playing country, Tejano, or Ranchera music. If you see a local homeless guy that walks funny with a perpetual grin on his face, that’s Smiley. He picks up the place.
Out back is a patio area, where you’ll usually find someone named Albert or Roland barbecuing several chickens. And yes, they know exactly what they are doing. On the weekends, they often throw benefits for people in the neighborhood going through hard times.
It’s a good place to catch a game, and though the crowd might seem stand-offish at first, they’re a great bunch of folks. Oh, and if you happen to get here when there are a hundred motorcycles parked in front, then you just got there on the wrong day. Cruise down the street to Dan Electro’s or something.
The Channel 2 Traffic Lady.
Tacos Lugy’s
July 30th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | no responses
Located on Irvington, north of Cavalcade, you’ll see this beautifully painted bright blue chicken joint on wheels that looks like it costs a small fortune.
That is not Taco Lugy’s.
Taco Lugy’s is right beside it, and looks kind of like a junior high science project which was constructed without parental supervision. Note that there is absolutely no way to see inside this truck. They’ve placed their friggin’ rack of chicharrones right in the window.
This is not uncommon among taco trucks. I’ve never worked inside of a taco truck, so I’m not going to speculate. Okay, I’ll speculate a bit. On a hot day, when you’re trying to keep things refrigerated properly and stay somewhat cool, you want to block out all of the sunlight you can.
I ordered an orange soda, and it was ice cold. I chose the al pastor taco, because this particular taco will tell me what this stand is all about. Here’s the kicker: this taco was ONE DOLLAR.
This taco was fantastic. Unlike the Mexico City-style al pastor tacos I discussed about Sierra Caliente, these were devoid of pineapple, marinated well, and had a bit of a pan-fried taste that I really enjoyed. There could have been a slight trace of cinnamon in the marinade.
The red salsa was good, a little watery.
I forgot to mention that a single sunbeam jumped out of a cloud and illuminated my taco. But this always happens to me.
Don't be afraid of a dollar taco.
Tacos Tierra Caliente
July 30th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | 3 responses
Aptly named, the Tacos Tierra Caliente truck has one blazing characteristic: their fiery red salsa. This salsa is the real thing, and is similar to the salsa roja found at Tijuana taco stands (which are the benchmark upon which all taco stands are judged). It’s not just hot, it is delicious. Most of the time, you can judge the heat index of salsa just by looking at it. If it looks like bright, molten lava, well, yep. Their green salsa is excellent as well.
Tacos Tierra Caliente
Tierra Caliente’s lengua tacos are some of my favorite in town. I ordered one lengua (beef tongue) taco, one bistek (brisket) taco, and a mandarin soda.
I recommended the lengua to J.C. Reid from The Houston Press, and these lengua tacos soon became the subject of the historic Do-It-Yourself TacoBurger, which marked July 2, 2009 as one of the greatest moments in Houston taco history. To this day, it brings tears to my eyes.
One lengua taco, one taco al pastor. Two sorry-looking limes.
Did I drift off? Back to the tacos. These looked and tasted fantastic.
Folks, that lime is there for a reason. Put it on your taco. I don’t know much about the physics of citric acid and its effects on meat, but something remarkable happens when you squeeze lime juice on tacos.
A bad lime can almost ruin a taco, that is, unless you smother it in really delicious hot red salsa.
Their tacos al pastor are made differently than some of my favorite places in town, but don’t let that dissuade you. Tierra Caliente makes the Mexico City variety, which is stewy and paprika-red (or achiote-red) with bits of pineapple mixed in. As much as I love a juicy pineapple, I’m just not big on mixing sweet fruit with my tacos. However, Sierra Caliente’s al pastor is one of their specialties, and people come from far away to get it. If you’ve really got an appetite, order one of their tortas, topped off with lettuce, tomatoes and fresh avocado.
Tierra Caliente also offers barbacoa, beef fajita, and “Chicharrones”, or fried pork skin tacos.
Another specialty is Sierra Caliente’s agua fresca, made with fresh cantaloupe juice. They’ll serve you a huge cup for a buck or two.
Tijuana Typography
July 30th, 2009 in Tacos! by Jay | no responses
- This is how you sell barbacoa.
Notice the “E” in Caldo de Res, which is a semi-nude lady. Chank Diesel, eat your heart out. I laughed so hard when I saw this that I couldn’t hold the camera still.
