It doesn’t get much better than this. I raised two pigs this year, both of them finished on heirloom apples and Asian pears. Mark practiced his class on the first pig, which was the main course of my wife’s birthday party. Two weeks later, I hosted a Pig Butchery class with Mark “The Butcher” Disharoon. Four students braved 25 degree weather for the class. Mark broke down two sides of pork, one with skin on and one without. He demonstrated cutting options for each piece of meat. Afterwards, we all enjoyed tacos of shredded pork in a tomatillo salsa, rice, beans, and salsas. The pork came from the first pig we butchered. We’re looking forward to doing it again next fall.

Mark "The Butcher" Disharoon discussing pork cutting options.

Mark "The Butcher" Disharoon's Tools.

Mark "The Butcher" Disharoon's Pork Butchery Class.

Still Life With Pork Loin.

Side of Pork on Table with Tools.

Pork Taco Buffet Lunch By Scott Wilson of TacoMatrix.com.

Deer Crashes Into Taco Mac in Georgia Town

WTWJE? What tacos would Jesus eat? I think he might like eggs and chorizo, having built up a three day hunger in the crypt. I sure enjoyed my egg and chorizo tacos this morning. It seems like tacos are resurging again after several quiet months.

Lawsuit Against Taco Bell Dropped

You may recall that Taco Bell was being sued for allegedly selling beef tacos that only contained 36% beef. Well, they came back swinging and now the lawsuit has been dropped. For the record, they use 88% beef in their beef tacos. Frankly, I prefer my beef tacos to contain 100% beef. Now they want an apology from the law firm that sued them. Watch the video of Taco Bell’s CEO Greg Creed. Notice how perfectly he touches his finger tips together after he gestures for emphasis.

The Last Fiesta

Detail of The Last Fiesta by Artist Chris Parks of Pale Horse Design

Take a click over to Pale Horse Design’s gallery of images in which the above picture is split up and affixed to 12 individual skateboard decks.

Look At This Fuckin Hipster Food Truck

Yes, that’s the name of this blog, in which are displayed, photos of aforementioned food trucks. Not just about tacos obviously, but they do appear from time to time.

Today is Fat Tuesday friends. What better way to celebrate than with tacos. Today, from 4 pm until ?, there will be tacos at the Cafe, morphing into a dance party with the Vida Girls. I have a certain nostalgia for Fat Tuesday, under another name, el “Coso”, from the Carnaval de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands in Spain. My favorite day, though, is on Ash Wednesday, with the Burial of the Sardine, a long and arduous parade of mostly men in black, many in drag as nuns and widows in mourning, following a fairly large effigy of a sardine, filled with explosives, and held aloft by mourners. Why so Sad? Because the Carnaval is officially over and Lent begins. In Plaza de Espana, they light the sardine, and flaming projectiles shoot out everywhere, sending people scattering. That’s aught to do with tacos, but it’s certainly 2nd Level Kevin Bacon.

Gettin’ Sick of these Mutha’s Yet?

Andrew Zimmern and Rick Bayless get together to eat tacos and in Chicago. Don’t pay attention to the poser fest, especially Rick. Keep your eye on the tacos. clickety click for vid.

Wall Street Journal Says Taquerias at Gas Stations are a New Trend. Not True.

Anyone who has been anywhere between Salinas, Ca. and San Mateo, Ca. since the mid-1980′s will call balderdash on the gist of this Feb 26, 2011 article in the WSJ. Thing is, those taquerias are in real gas stations, not nostalgic remakes devoid of the fumes, stench and freakiness of urban and suburban mostly corner lots. My favorite was always El Grullense #5 at the corner of Spring St. and 5th Ave.

Andrew Zimmern and Chris Cosentino Eat Crisped Pig Intestine Tacos

Another vid of Mr. Zimmern eating tacos. Kinda fun.

Bill Esparza Eats Killer Birria for Breakfast in Guadalajara

Here you can see a birria de chivo scene being run out of the back of a pick up truck that’s in it’s 26th year, according to Bill Esparza, author of the StreetGourmetLA blog. Looks like a dandy breakfast. Way up north, I was happy merely to get some awesome spicy chicken tamales in a parking lot in Medford, Oregon last Sunday. So good and moist. No salsa at all necessary.

Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg Eats Chicken Tacos

Rather than eating diamonds and gold dust, Mark Zuckerberg chose to eat chicken tacos for lunch recently, actually going out and ordering AND eating the tacos all by himself. Without any concubines, succubi, cherabim, nor seraphim that his billions of dollars could obviously buy him.

Down With Racist Haters In Idaho

It seems that some ignorant white supremacists in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho took their weak little hater campaign one step further last Thursday and cut the propane, water and power lines to Ignacio Sanabria’s taco trailer Tacos Los Panchos, causing $1500 damage. In December, thieves broke in and stole $1600 in electronics and cash. In February, he had to endure the vitriol of racists protesting at his stand, telling him to go back to Mexico.

Tacos Los Panchos wasn’t the only taco stand targeted by Aryan Nations members. El Chiludo and Taco Works, also in Coeur d’Alene, were both picketed by Wonder Bread thugs, according to an article in the Spokesman-Review.

Mucho Taco Love For Cacao Mexicatessen

I love taco orgies. So I present you a link to the great food blog Pleasure Palate, wherein our hostess dives into several awesome looking and sounding tacos at Cacao Mexicatessen. I’m so excited I’m going to make a list of tacos below to get a sense of how groovy these tacos sound.

Wild Boar Chorizo Verde Taco
Tocino en Chocolatado Taco (Made with house cured bacon, salsa de cacao, creme, bean puree and Serrano chilies)
Chicarron de Pato Taco (fried duck skin, cabbage, radish, onion, cilantro and salsa verde)
Venison a la Yucateca Taco (shredded venison, achiote, habanero, red onion and cilantro)
Cochinita Pibil Taco (smoked pork in achiote, citrus and yucatan spices topped with pickled red onions and cilantro)
Flor de Jamaica Taco (hibiscus flower with melted cheese, guacamole and pico de gallo)
Taco de Vampiro de Chicarron de Pato (The bottom layer had Mexican cheese and cebollitas and the top layer had fried duck skin, guacamole, radish, pico de gallo, cotija cheese and salsa.)

Is there room in Southern California for another hip taco slinger?

This is the question posed in this LA Times article featuring the new Taco Asylum in Orange County. And the answer in the article is Yes. (I had my fingers crossed) So the concept here is to create fillings authentic to the cuisines from which they come, such as braised duck under thin Camembert slices and a creme fraiche topping, then plop them into a house made flour tortilla. Word is that the flour tortillas are more neutrally flavored than corn and thus go better with the disparate fillings, the likes of which include curried paneer with raita and tomato chutney, grilled baby octopus under a sprinkling of feta and Kalamata olives, Provencal-style braised lamb chunks over garlicky ratatouille, and pork belly garnished Vietnamese banh mi-style with crunchy-sweet pickled daikon, carrot and a thatch of cilantro. How can you go wrong when the cilantro comes in thatches? The tacos are 5 and 6 bucks a pop, with a flight of 8 tacos at $18.

World’s Longest Line Of Sustainable Seafood Tacos

Um, like, whatever. View at your own peril.

Here’s The Beef, Well, 88% Of It!

Taco Bell has responded fiercely to the lawsuit claiming that there’s only 36% beef in their beef tacos. First, they issued a statement on their website and a YouTube response.

Then they ran full page ads in several newspapers throwing down the real dope on what’s in their beef. Turns out their beef is 88% beef and 12% “secret recipe.” Thanks for the hot tip guys. Now that I have your secret recipe, I’m gong to start putting cocoa powder, caramelized sugar and yeast in my beef tacos too.



These Tacos Blow



Talk about exotic tacos! The recent trouble poor Bryan Mazon had at his Tucson taqueria for trying to sell lion tacos is nothing compared to the troubles of a certain taco slinger in Robstown, Texas. He was nabbed for selling baggies of cocaine inside his tacos. The cops moved in after a 6 month investigation and found 11 baggies of coke in his taco stand and 11.2 grams in his home. Not exactly Tony Montoya.