"taco" news and stories

Tacodeli's "cowboy" taco. Photo: Portal and Friends/Flickr

The taco may be the perfect food. Portable and unassuming, not to mention affordable, it proffers fuss-free enjoyment for most everyone. This Slashfoodie's recent move to Austin, Texas, after residing in the taco mecca of Sunset Park, Brooklyn for three years has led him to sample Lone Star State tacos whenever possible. Naturally, a mano a mano Austin versus Sunset Park contest was inevitable.

Austin's taco scene skews toward what some might call "gringo fancy," characterized by the prominence of flour tortillas and nontraditional ingredients like bison and basil -- and fish, which is found infrequently in Sunset Park.

Brooklyn tacos, on the other hand, pay homage to one of the neighborhood's main demographics, Mexican immigrants, with tacos wrapped in two corn tortillas. They typically contain nothing more than a meat filling -- goat, lengua (tongue) and cabeza (brains) are among commonly selected options -- minced raw onion, cilantro, a spritz of lime and an optional flurry of queso fresco (white cheese).

Poll and more after the jump.

"I already ate dinner...Oh, BYOT? Did you say BYOT?!?! I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Such was my end of the mobile conversation with my sister last night when she called me over to her place for dinner. Not only had I already eaten a huge meal just before she called, but it was also Mexican food. That all went out the driver side window when she said "BYOT." When anyone in my family does BYOT, everyone and their mothers (literally) shows up.

BYOT in my Delicious family stands for "Build Your Own Taco," which isn't anything earth-shatteringly new or innovative. It just happens that BYOT is perfectly appropriate for a Super Bowl party because 1) the food is not difficult to prepare, and 2) as a "Southwestern-style" food, it matches the Super Bowl XLII's host city, Phoenix, Arizona. It doesn't hurt, either, that BYOT is highly customizable to your and your guests' tastes. It can be comprehensive, vegetarian, or even a little gourmet.

All you have to do is prep the components and set them up as a buffet. Your guests will do all the work of putting their tacos together.

• Tortillas - We typically go with hard taco shells made from yellow corn tortillas, but you can also offer soft flour and corn tortillas, flat tostada shells, or if people are picky about carbs, nothing. They can make "salads" in bowls or on plates, and you can make fun of them for being "healthy" at a Super Bowl party. Remember that while people can eat regular tacos with their hands, tostadas and "bowls" mean you have to offer silverware.
  
• Meat - Protein choices for tacos are plenty. My sister likes ground beef with the requisite taco seasoning, but we have done carne asada, carnitas, and grilled chicken. You can do grilled fish or shrimp, and if there are vegetarians on your guest list, you may want to provide black or refried beans.
• Cheese - Go with any cheese you like, and shred it. If your cheese squirts out of a can, we can't help you.
• Vegetables - The standards are shredded Iceberg lettuce, diced fresh tomatoes, chopped onions, and black olives. Don't get too fancy with vegetables. If you start grilling peppers and onions, you're crossing that fine line into fajita territory.
  
• Salsa - A simple red tomato salsa is perfect, though offering options like tomatillo, roasted tomato, and other salsas is nice.
• Guacamole - I very rarely see tacos with guacamole, but why? It's guacamole!
• Other Good Stuff - Sour cream and hot sauces (in addition to salsa) like Tapatio or Cholula.

In the kitchen, Amy Scattergood goes gourmet glam with tacos, with recipes for Achiote-marinated fish tacos, Duck tacos with chile-cherry compote, and Shrimp tacos with pumpkin seed sauce. To go with those tacos, some sangria, or refreshing tea-infused ices and granitas from the Times' archives. Product pick for the kitchen is organic clementine preserves from Les Comtes de Provence.

On the restaurant scene, Russ Parsons looks at what it really means for a restaurant to be "green." Speaking of "green," LA chefs are making Caesar salads from non-traditionally Caesar ingredients like butter lettuce and frisee. S. Irene Virbila goes to Traxx restaurant and gives it 1½ stars.

Before you get turned off by this edition of Midnight Snack allow me to explain the headline. Years ago I used to eat these wonderful tacos at a Mexican deli in Hell's Kitchen. After working my way through all the humdrum varieties (carnitas, bifteck, al pastor, cecina, etc.), I spied pancita de chivo written on the blackboard.

I asked what kind of meat it was before trying a taco. When the lady told me they were goat belly, I gladly ordered one up, after all I'd never met chivo that was anything less than cravable. When I saw that the tortilla contained blood pudding and god knows whatever other bits of goat innards I wasn't entirely turned off. In fact, my interest was piqued since I enjoy a good black pudding every now and then. When I tasted it, everything changed, for this was no mere blood pudding. It was subltly spiced with cinnamon and hot peppers and utterly delicious.

Fast forward to yesterday when I saw pansa negro de chivo on the specials menu at one of my favorite Mexican spots. When I ordered it, I wasn't entirely sure whether it would be the same meat I'd had in tacos. As it turned out it was. About five tacos worth of goat gutty goodness were sided with some of the best Mexican rice I've ever had. Usually this lackluster rice has a technicolor orange hue and remains uneaten, but not this version. It had just enough achiote to color it and was studded through with bits of fresh carrots and peas, and kept company by some great stewed beans. The whole affair was topped with four or five pickled jalapeños that had been sliced lengthwise.

As you might have guessed from the topic of this post the whole platter proved to be too much for me. Of course when you get it packed up, dump in a bowl and then nuke it, the result looks nowhere near as good as it did in the restaurant. But I can assure you, it hits the spot at midnight with an ice cold Tecate. Let's just hope I don't have any nightmares about chupacabras.

The idea of a flavored wrap isn't too unusual. Spinach and sun-dried tomato wraps, both of which are little more than colorful flour tortillas, have been popular for quite some time, perhaps even gaining in popularity as people seem to opt for soft tacos over the crunchy variety. But Old El Paso is launching some flavored hard taco shells in an attempt to capture some new interest in the crunchy shells. The shells come in Salsa and Nacho flavors and are designed with a slightly flat bottom that allows them to stand upright on their own, so they're easier to fill and serve.

Plain corn and flour tortillas will still be my favorites, but if you really like crunchy shells, this could be a nice chage from tradition.

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