UNITED TASTES Rapping About Tamales and Deportation Photo by Axel Koester for The New York Times Chingo Bling enjoys a taco dinner before performing at the Key Club in West Hollywood. By JOHN T. EDGE Published: May 24, 2011 Chingo Bling talks tamales with John T. [...]]]> UNITED TASTES
Rapping About Tamales and Deportation Photo by Axel Koester for The New York Times
Chingo Bling enjoys a taco dinner before performing at the Key Club in West Hollywood.
By JOHN T. EDGE
Published: May 24, 2011
Chingo Bling talks tamales with John T. Edge.

Chicken Puffy Tacos at El Real

Back in August of last year I posted an item about the Tex-Mex puffy taco. We were building the menu of El Real Tex-Mex Cafe at the time. In the process we sampled a great many puffy tacos in hopes of perfecting our own. It took a [...]]]>

Chicken Puffy Tacos at El Real

Back in August of last year I posted an item about the Tex-Mex puffy taco. We were building the menu of El Real Tex-Mex Cafe at the time. In the process we sampled a great many puffy tacos in hopes of perfecting our own. It took a whole lot of trial and error, but when we opened we had our puffy taco ready. If you haven’t tried it yet, I invite you to check it out and tell me how it rates compared to the greats.

The puffy tacos at Sammy’s Mexican Restaurant in La Vernia are among the best I’ve had. They were a lot sturdier than most. As you are probably aware, the biggest problem with puffy tacos is the lack of structural integrity.

Puffy tacos have been on my mind a lot lately. A couple of days ago, I tried the incredibly fragile puffy tacos at Loma Linda on Telephone Road in Houston. They are quite tasty, but the stewed chicken version falls apart within minutes of hitting the table. The ground beef taco meat version offers a slightly longer window of dining opportunity, but both of these puffy tacos are very delicate. I am thinking these are made by frying a regular, fully-cooked corn tortilla in hot oil–just like the queso puffs.

The puffy tacos at Los Barrios in San Antonio are much more substantial. They are made from fresh masa which puffs up when it fries. I love the puffy tacos at Los Barrios, but the stewed chicken version has the same problem that every stewed chicken puffy taco has–the juicy chicken makes the fried masa soggy and the taco falls apart when you pick it up.

Los Barrios puffy tacos have lately acquired legendary status. In June, the owner of Los Barrios, Diana Barrios Trevino, prepared them on the White House lawn at the invitation of President Obama. The event was called “Taste of the States” and it was a picnic for members of congress and their families. The country was split into five regions, and Diana’s puffy tacos were chosen to represent the Southwest.

We had some excellent barbacoa y sesos tacos at Gerardo’s on Saturday morning. You don’t see brain in the tacos much anymore. Meat packers stopped shipping brains after mad cow disease made everybody so nervioso about eating them. The only place you see them anymore is in carnecerias where they make old fashioned [...]]]>

We had some excellent barbacoa y sesos tacos at Gerardo’s on Saturday morning. You don’t see brain in the tacos much anymore. Meat packers stopped shipping brains after mad cow disease made everybody so nervioso about eating them. The only place you see them anymore is in carnecerias where they make old fashioned barbacoa from cabezas–like Gerardo’s. If you thought all barbacoa was made from cabezas, you would be mistaken. The whole heads have gotten expensive so most everybody just braises cheek meat these days and calls it barbacoa. Gerardo’s still cooks whole heads in steam-jacketed kettles every weekend.

Behind the counter at Gerardo's

Victor Leal and Gerardo's owner Jose Luis Lopez

And I have to say, of all the tacos we tried, Gerardo’s barbacoa and brain taco with homemade chile arbol salsa was my favorite.

“Everybody in San Antonio makes puffy tacos the same way,” Ray Lopez at Henry’s Puffy Tacos told me. You make tortillas out of raw masa and throw them in the deep fryer in a form to keep their shape. The resulting taco shell has a bubbly, crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside texture that Tex-Mex fans in [...]]]>

“Everybody in San Antonio makes puffy tacos the same way,” Ray Lopez at Henry’s Puffy Tacos told me. You make tortillas out of raw masa and throw them in the deep fryer in a form to keep their shape. The resulting taco shell has a bubbly, crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside texture that Tex-Mex fans in the Alamo City love. Puffy tacos are also popular in the Valley, in Austin, and elsewhere. But in Houston, puffy tacos are something entirely different.

At Loma Linda, a tortilla is deep-fried until it bubbles up into a crispy shape, then its filled. But it’s nearly impossible to pick up these “puffy tacos” and eat them, they tend to shatter and fall apart. Then you eat them with a knife and fork. They’re good, but they’re not the same thing as San Antonio puffy tacos.

In our cooking experiments for the El Real Tex-Mex Cafe menu, Bryan Caswell and I are making the fresh masa variety. We both love them and we’ve found that many taco lovers swoon over them too. (Especially if they ever lived in San Antonio.) But Tex-Mex fans from Houston find them unfamiliar–they are suspicious of the fresh masa flavor. One wag said they tasted like they were made out of hush puppies.

What’s your take on puffy tacos?

California-style taco truck with skylights

This deluxe “California Style” mobile catering center is being assembled on a 1999 rebuilt panel truck. It features a quilted stainless kitchen with glass cold cases on the outside–the cantilevered skylights are distinctive of the “California” style. The finished product will cost $45,000. To build the same food [...]]]>

California-style taco truck with skylights

This deluxe “California Style” mobile catering center is being assembled on a 1999 rebuilt panel truck. It features a quilted stainless kitchen with glass cold cases on the outside–the cantilevered skylights are distinctive of the “California” style. The finished product will cost $45,000. To build the same food truck on a brand new chassis would run you about $90,000, Daniel Rodriguez of Rodriguez Brothers Catering Trucks estimated. The company designs, custom builds, and repairs food trucks in their Garrow Street garage on Houston’s East Side.

There were 14 trucks in various stages of assembly wedged into the shop when I visited. One was getting a giant elote (corn on the cob) cooker fitted into the back. Another had a hand-cranked raspa (shaved ice) contraption imported from Columbia. About 70 percent of their customers are Latinos, Rodriguez said. But lately they have done trucks for Chinese, Indian and other Asian customers. “The kitchen is designed for the kind of food being served,” he explained. Propane is not allowed in the Medical Center or downtown, so he also designs trucks with electric kitchens that run on generators. He showed me a scrap book with photos of some of the 200+ food trucks the shop has created.

All of the stainless steel is cut, bent, and scored with the distinctive quilt pattern on the premises. Born in Mexico City, Daniel Rodriguez went to college in East L.A. before moving to Houston and opening his taco truck fabrication shop. He invited me to come back soon and watch one of the taco truck artists paint the logos and designs onto a finished catering truck. I’m looking forward to it. (3210 Garrow, 713 222 0985 or 832 721 7570)

Chicken Puffy Tacos at El Real

Fruit stand at the Airline Flea Market in Houton

The “Flea Markets” on Airline Drive in North Houston form a giant mercado that draws some 50,000 Latino shoppers every weekend. Each flea market has its own taquerias and food stands.

Agua Fresca de Tamarindo

De Buey Y Vaca is the most famous [...]]]>

Fruit stand at the Airline Flea Market in Houton

The “Flea Markets” on Airline Drive in North Houston form a giant mercado that draws some 50,000 Latino shoppers every weekend. Each flea market has its own taquerias and food stands.

Agua Fresca de Tamarindo

De Buey Y Vaca is the most famous taqueria. (Buey y vaca means ox and cow, or steer and cow.) My favorite dish there was the barbacoa soup. Barbacoa soup belongs in the family of menudo, posole, and caldo de res. It’s a weekend breakfast soup eaten with a squeeze of lime, chopped onions and cilantro and a stack of tortillas. If you like barbacoa, this stuff will knock your socks off.

Barbacoa soup at De Buey Y Vaca

De Buey Y Vaca also had tacos dorados (golden tacos). These are tortillas that have been stuffed and secured with toothpicks, then deep-fried. The sweet potato version was bland, the refried bean filled taco was pretty good, but the best by far was the one filled with sesos, or brains. Brains are pretty neutral-tasting, really. That’s why brains and eggs became such a popular Southern dish–if no one told you what you were eating, you’d think it was tofu.

Tacos Dorados-de frijoles, camote y sesos

Sunny Flea Market specializes in fruits and vegetables. Cut-up melons, mangos, cucumbers and coconuts were among the fruit cups on sale at the Sunny fruit stand on Saturday morning. The lady behind the counter was also selling hot elote (sweet corn) on a stick or in a bowl along with chile powder-covered mangos on a stick and half coconuts. I had a bowl of elote, or sweet corn, mixed with sour cream, parmesan and chile powder. The strawberries on a stick covered with strawberry-flavored sour cream were quite nice too.

Fresas con Crema at Sunny

There were several Mexican hot dog stands here too. Mexican hot dogs start with bacon-wrapped frankfurters and are usually topped with beans, avocado, and salsa.

Mexican hotdoguero at Sunny

Mercado SabaDomingo has a huge dance hall and both outdoor and indoor vendor’s stalls. I had some chicharrones made from deep fried pork belly there.

Hot chicharonnes

Their food stands include several that specialize in goat tacos.

Goat tacos

If you enjoy strolling around a Mexican Mercado, check this place out some weekend. It’s open Saturdays and Sundays only.

From the Houston Press Eating Our Words blog:

This recipe originally appeared during the rodeo barbecue cook-off. It’s complicated, but the results are spectacular.

Borrego actually means mutton in Spanish, but for some reason, Anglos are more comfortable translating it to “lamb.” Which is odd when you think about it, since Anglos are [...]]]>
From the Houston Press Eating Our Words blog:

This recipe originally appeared during the rodeo barbecue cook-off. It’s complicated, but the results are spectacular.

Borrego actually means mutton in Spanish, but for some reason, Anglos are more comfortable translating it to “lamb.” Which is odd when you think about it, since Anglos are usually squeamish about eating veal, suckling pig, tiny cabritos and other baby animals.

Mutton used to be a traditional meat in Texas barbecue and is still found at a few African-American barbecue joints such as Ruthie’s in Navasota and Sam’s in Austin. So call this “Mexican mutton barbecue” if you like.The smoky-flavored, falling-off-the-bone tender meat this recipe yields is even tastier than the the stewed goat dish called birria.

Mexican barbacoa is still made in a smoker by a few Tejano barbecue enthusiasts, but commercial pit barbacoa is all but extinct in Texas. Vera’s in Brownsville is one of the last restaurants in the state to use a real pit to make barbacoa. In the old days, Mexican ranch hands used to wrap cow heads up in canvas or maguey leaves and bury them in the coals. (In the movie Giant, Elizabeth Taylor faints when they unwrap the package and show her the head.) But health departments frown on such traditional barbacoa these days.

Square-cut lamb shoulder isn’t the most common roast in the world, but if your butcher can’t find one, try a Mexican meat market.

Barbacoa de Borrego

Hope you’ve five or six hours, because this ain’t fast food. Make sure you’ve got everything you need before you get started.

Equipment: Barbecue smoker or large covered grill, charcoal, hardwood logs, chips or chunks, starter chimney, soup pot, blender, roasting pan, heavy duty aluminum foil, fire gloves or pot holder mitts

7-8 pound square-cut lamb shoulder roast
2 tablespoons grill rub (or salt, pepper and chili powder)

For the chile puree:
2 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded

For the soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery stalks, cleaned and chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, cleaned and chopped
Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh thyme, cleaned and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

For Serving:
24 warm flour tortillas
1 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 cups refried beans

Rub the lamb roast with seasonings and allow to marinate for a few hours. Light about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney and prepare a grill with the coals on one side only. Brown the lamb roast over the hot fire for a few minutes, turning often. Move it to the cool side of the grill or to the smoking chamber of an offset barbecue smoker. Put some hardwood on the coals and close the lid. Allow the roast to smoke for an hour and a half to two hours at around 250 degrees turning to cook evenly.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over low heat, simmer the chiles in water to cover. Allow them to sit in the hot water for ten to twenty minutes until soft. Puree the chiles in a blender adding the soaking water a little at a time until the puree is smooth.

In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and celery. Stir and cook for five minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook another few minutes. Add the chile puree and cook for a three minutes stirring well. Add the remaining vegetables and herbs and 8 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer while the lamb smokes.

Add more charcoal and wood to the fire. Place a metal roasting pan on the grill directly

over the coals. Carefully pour the chile broth into the roasting pan. Place the lamb roast in the roasting pan with the soup, rib bones down.
Allow the lamb to simmer and smoke for an hour to an hour and half, replenishing the liquid level if needed.

With the aid of fire gloves or pot holders, cover the roast and the roasting pan with aluminum foil and seal tightly. Simmer over the coals or in a 300 oven for another hour or 2 until the lamb meat is extremely tender. You want the roast to be intact, but the meat to be very soft.

Allow the roast to cool slightly. Clean the meat away from the bones and chop lightly. Serve the cleaned meat in some chile broth. You can also serve some of the broth in a cup as a first course. Warm the flour tortillas. Warm the refried beans. Combine the chopped cilantro with the chopped onions and place in a bowl on the table. Everybody get to make their own tacos.

Yields around 4 pounds of meat.

-Robb Walsh

From the March 2007 feature Las Fabulosas Taco Trucks in the Houston Press.

#1 Jarro Café Trailer In front of Jarro Café 1521 Gessner What to get: Don’t miss the steak (bifstek) taco made with thin-sliced Angus sirloin. Also recommended: the Campechana (beef and chorizo), cochinita pibil (slow-cooked pork) and beef-and-mushroom tacos. Flour [...]]]>

From the March 2007 feature Las Fabulosas Taco Trucks in the Houston Press.

#1 Jarro Café Trailer
In front of Jarro Café
1521 Gessner
What to get: Don’t miss the steak (bifstek) taco made with thin-sliced Angus sirloin. Also recommended: the Campechana (beef and chorizo), cochinita pibil (slow-cooked pork) and beef-and-mushroom tacos. Flour tortillas are available for a little extra. Don’t miss the salsa bar. The dark-green jalapeño-and-cilantro salsa may be the mildest; the dried chile salsa is complex and picante. Only the most dedicated chile-heads should attempt to ingest the incendiary orange chile de árbol sauce and the rip-your-lips-off neon green serrano slurry. The food is a little cheaper and a little faster at the taco trailer, but they have the same tacos inside the air-conditioned restaurant, where you also get chips, ice water, knives and forks and an expanded menu.

Photo by Robb Walsh

Photo by Robb Walsh

#4 El Norteño
Long Point and Gessner
This is a “chain” with a couple of blue school buses and at least one blue trailer. They change locations often, but they can usually be found around the corner of Gessner and Long Point. At this writing, there is a blue bus on Gessner north of Long Point and a blue “El Norteño” truck out in front of the shopping center at 9893 Long Point. What to get: “Pollo asado estilo Monterrey” is their specialty — $6 for half a chicken, $10 for a whole one. Both come with tortillas, a roasted onion, chiles and condiments. The chicken is good, but “costillas al carbón” — a whole slab of grilled spare ribs with onions, chiles and condiments for $15 — are even better. A half slab, which goes for $7.50, is more than enough for two.

#5 Tacos Tierra Caliente
1300 block of Montrose Boulevard in the “We Fix Flats” parking lot
Maria Samano and her flirtatious crew from the “hotlands” of Michoacán run this extremely popular taco trailer in the Montrose. What to get: barbacoa tacos with onions and cilantro. Ask Maria for the “salsita,” and she’ll hand you a squirt bottle full of her creamy green “hotlands hot sauce.”

#6 Sabor Venezolano
Southwest corner of Westheimer and Fondren
For a change of pace, try this Venezuelan-owned taco truck on the West side. The truck opens for business at 7 a.m. with 99-cent breakfast tacos. There’s also a Mexican taco menu if you aren’t interested in trying el sabor venezolano. What to get: The patacón looks like a sandwich, but instead of two slices of bread, there are green plantain slices that have been fried together into crispy rounds. A pile of shredded beef, a slice of ham, some cheese, and lettuce, tomato and mayo are layered between two of the plantain crusts. It tastes spectacular, and it’s also very filling. A sauce made of cream with a little feta and basil is served on the side. Chile-heads might consider taking their patacones home and doctoring them up with a little hot sauce. The corn cakes called arepas are split, gordita-style, and stuffed with your choice of meats.

#7 El Mapache III
Northwest corner of Renwick and Gulfton
The parking lot of the Bestop convenience store is attractively decorated with potted palms, giving the El Mapache III dining area a festive ambiance. El Mapache means “the raccoon.” It’s also a nickname for a bandit. What to get: The barbacoa taco features a huge mound of hot cheek meat, nicely shredded and very moist, on your choice of flour or corn tortillas. The salsa is a thick and creamy green concoction. The truck also sells roast chickens, and the beans are free on weekends.

#8 Taqueria Torres
4400 block of Caroline Street
The Mexican Consulate is on San Jacinto. Behind it on Caroline Street, there are two competing taco trucks, Taqueria Torres and Jesse’s Taqueria. Torres has the edge for tangy al pastor, best enjoyed with lots of gooey cheese on a quesadilla. But Jesse’s has a decent chicken taco. And they have a copy machine, too. What to get: quesadilla al pastor, Mexican Cokes.

#9 Tacos El Amigo
Northwest corner of Renwick and Dashwood
What to get: “torta cubana,” a Mexican twist on the Cuban sandwich made with fajita meat, ham, a hot dog cut into lengthwise sections, cheese, lettuce, tomato and lots of guacamole, with hot sauce on the side. Doña Maria is the head chef, and her food is “todo estilo México,” according to her card. The tacos are plain. The gordita is a bad joke. But Doña Maria’s Mexican Cuban sandwich is outrageous.

Photo by Robb Walsh

# 10 Taqueria Hecho en Mexico 2
Kempwood and Blalock
The taco truck with the carhops was formerly located at Blalock and Campbell. The tiny 99 cent taquitos are righteous, but it’s the plentiful condiments that really impress. Each order comes with radishes, roasted jalapeños and a host of other goodies. Aguas frescas are excellent.