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.

Where’s The Beef?

You may have heard that a woman named Amanda Obney is suing Taco Bell over their beef tacos. According to the attorney press release, “The lawsuit challenges Taco Bell’s practice of representing to consumers that its restaurants serve “seasoned ground beef” or “seasoned beef” filling in its products, when in fact a substantial amount of the filling contains substances other than beef.”

Now Taco Bell is threatening to countersue, saying that the lawyers in the case “got their ‘facts’ absolutely wrong.” Interestingly, the plaintiff is seeking class action status for the suit, on behalf of others who have eaten at Taco Bell. The law firm representing her apparently “specializes in class-action lawsuits that “obtain recoveries” and “correct corporate wrongdoing.”

Forget Taco Trucks, Get A Burrito Snow Cat

This beast, called the Roving Mammoth, serves up burritos at different locations at Mammoth Mountain. You can find out where they are on Twitter @MammothMountain. Even though they don’t sell tacos, it’s still pretty cool.

Tacos 101 With Bill Esparza

Bill Esparza, known for his blog StreetGourmetLA, is teaming up with LA Taco to present us with a series called Tacos 101. His posts on his taco adventures are quite good and the photos make me wish I was there.

Lion Tacos, Oh My!~Not!!

Exotic Taco Wednesdays seem like a pretty good way to drum up business on hump day. So you serve up some python, alligator, elk, kangaroo, rattlesnake,
frog legs, turtle, duck, Rocky Mountain oysters and what not. Try to serve up some African Lion tacos and see what happens. In the now well publicized story of a Tucson taco joint, owner Bryan Mazon of Boca Tacos y Tequila was taking pre-orders for lion tacos. He even got over 100 orders. But he also got around 30 threats, both on his Facebook page as well as to his family home. So he called the whole thing off.

This has been a great taco year. Perhaps the mighty taco was more of a media darling in 2009, but our little friend’s inexorable march toward global dominance continued unabated in 2010. I’m exited to end the year with pig head tacos. Our friends who own and operate Full Circle Bison Ranch here in the valley have started raising and breeding pigs as well. They are currently working on a cross between two heritage breeds. The exact parameters of the project are still hush-hush so I won’t say more except to note happily that they kicked down two heads and two full sets of trotters to me. It’s nearly certain that my first tacos of 2011, that’s twenty-eleven, will be jowl and head cheese tacos.

Here are a few interesting tidbits for year end amusement:

Of New York’s trendiest menu items for 2010, tacos came in at #10, according to Eater NY. Takeaway quote from the article: “Tacos are one of man’s great weaknesses.”

Another piece from Eater NY focuses on the year in tacos from a New York perspective.  It’s a fun read though my favorite piece from the east is a short film about Rockaway Taco, my favorite taqueria that I’ve never been to. I’m more fascinated by what this dude and his crew have done to re-energize a dumpy little corner of “end of land sadness.” (quote snip stolen from Jack Kerouac, who may have even blasted a fifth of Tokay at Rockaway Beach once upon a time.) It’s a little precious, especially where he wakes up on the roof and waxes inarticulate. But who am I to talk?

Rockaway Taco, A Selby Film from the selby on Vimeo.

But really, if you want to end the year with some serious new taco information, click over to Street Gourmet LA, domain of musician/food sleuth Bill Esparza. It’s worth browsing his entire site and adding it to your preferred news reader. My favorite two posts of recent vintage are the one about tacos de guisado and The Ultimate Guide To The Best Fish Tacos In Ensenada. The worthiness of the fish taco guide should be obvious. Read it. Concerning tacos de guisado, a guisado is a stew and the tortilla is filled with any number of stewed fillings. The number of guisado fillings is vastly infinite compared to the same ol’ dirty dozen of fillings found on taco trucks and in most taquerias. Check out this tacos de guisado video on YouTube that I posted here on Taco Matrix back in March. It’s worth watching again.

Here’s a video from the iCarly tv show that’s not worth watching. The subject: Spaghetti Tacos.

Sorry about that. Happy New Year.

My friend Dave called me up about 10 days ago and told me he just had a really nice gardening shed built and before filling it with tools and stuff he wanted to have a taco party in it. Would I be interested? I told him, “Of course,” and we decided on a menu for the party which was to be the following Monday (last Monday now).

The menu included:

Grilled Carne Asada

Chicken Tinga

Grilled Cod

Grilled Veggies

Salsa Roja

Salsa Verde

Salsa Pico de Gallo

Rice & Beans

There were also blended margaritas and plenty of cold beer. With a crowd of only about 20 selected guests, it was a very nice and relatively stress free catering gig.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner Taco

How fun to read in yesterdays NY Times Travel section a piece on authentic tacos in Berlin. A pair of young fellows, one from Mexico City and one from Australia, have three places in the city, all riffing on the name of Maria. There’s Maria Bonita (Mary the Pretty), Maria Peligro (Mary Danger), and Santa Maria (Saint Mary), a nice rubric under which to open a whole chain of joints.

Right across the street from Maria Peligro is another Mexican place called Ta’Cabrón Taqueria, run by a native of Culiacan. Henceforth, this section of Skalitzer Strasse shall be known as Berlin’s Taco Row.

To make things even better, a taco truck will soon be slinging tacos in Berlin. Tacos Berlin, a project of writer Laurie Isola and her husband Barrett, is kicking off soon, may even be running right now. You can follow them on Twitter and get a few more details about this cool project at Laurie Isola’s personal blog.

Upscale Mexican Restaurants Are A Hoax?

There was a post by some angry dude ranting on Yelp about paying $24 for a $5 dollar enchilada. Sure, any place that serves regular Mexican antojito combo platters thinly disguised as fine fare deserves to be yelled at. But the poor angry dude should check out the work by  Richard Sandoval, Roberto Santibanez, Patricia Quintana, Enrique Olvera, Ricardo Munoz Zurita, etc. Even if you do order enchiladas, they certainly won’t be the stuff angry dude says he can get at taco village for $5.

Why Do Weird Things Happen At Taquerias?

Maybe I’m just super sensitive to things related to tacos, but does weird stuff happen as frequently at bento joints, or pizzerias? I don’t usually bother to report on all of all the offbeat taco-related events. Today, I will, just for fun.

From the Seattle Weekly blog (scroll down to item 2), we see that a corrections officer in Texarcana, Arkansas tried to smuggle needles into the county jail hidden inside tacos. I wonder what kind of tacos they were.

A couple was recently married at a Taco Bell in Normal, Illinois. Did they seal their vows with a Volcano taco?

ICE, ICE Baby! A teenage felon was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Orange, CA after a five hour standoff.  He was found hiding in the crawl space above his family’s taco restaurant. Did they pass him tacos through the ceiling tiles while he was hiding?

I’m Rick Bayless, Bitch!

This is a big month for Rick Bayless. Of course, there was last night’s state dinner at the White House, honoring Mexico’s beleaguered president Felipe Calderon. The menu featured many wonderful items, including Waygu beef (from Oregon!) in black mole. Sadly, there were no tacos. But no worries there, because a new place in LA, called Red O, features a Bayless designed menu which does include plenty of taquitos and tacos. Not only does Red O have a selection of tacos al carbon, or wood-grilled tacos, they also feature what seems to be the continually growing trend of tacos de cazuela, or tacos de guisado. These are tacos made from fillings served from a communal pot on the table, preferably a traditional pot made of clay, or barro, in Spanish.

Note: In case you were wondering, the header for this section refers to a video from Time Out Chicago, in which Bayless slugs a Yelp reviewer in the gut and declares, “I’m Rich Bayless, bitch!” Watch it. It’s funny.

Taco Varios: Tacos de Guisado By Another Name

Since we’re on the subject of these tacos de guisado, or de cazuela, Bill Esparza has a great post about just that on his blog Street Gourmet LA. He says that in Baja California, these tacos are called tacos varios. The truck featured in the post, Tacos Aaron, has 15 to 20 different fillings on a given day! Dig that. Mr. Esparza will be guiding a street food segment for the tv show Bizarre Foods Baja on June 14. Looking forward to that.

Elk, Deer, Sheep, Bear, & Wild Pig Tacos

Talk about bizarre tacos. Well, not really. What’s more bizarre is that they were served at a Los Angeles rescue mission. There were also yellowtail, tuna, and tilapia tacos. Apparently, about 250 pounds of meat were donated by the Sportsman’s Channel as part of its “Hunt. Fish. Feed.” initiative. Some of the hunters were on hand to help serve the tacos as well. I wonder how they came upon tacos as the ideal vehicle for this meat and fish fest. The LA Times article says that the menu varies depending upon donations–anything from donuts to Dodger dogs. So, I’m thinking, who’s going to be the first to make a Dodger dog taco? Finally, as an aside, I’m curious about LA’s skid row. Where is it and why isn’t it capitalized? Skid Row. Most neighborhoods have the dignity of caps, even the crappy ones.

Hungry For Tacos In Yerevan, Armenia

The March of the Taco Brigade continues to resound across the world. Reports of tacos in disparate corners of the globe continue to appear in the blogosphere. In this article from an Independent Armenian Publication, the author posed an interesting question, one that any inquisitive taco investigator might ask, namely, “So how did Tacos end up in Armenia?”

Apparently, Sr. de Loza has been cooking for Armenian singer Tata Simonyan and her entourage during her U.S. tours, two or three times a year. They kept insisting that he go over there. The idea revolved around catering to volunteers and visitors.

‘“We knew people come over here and they’re gonna want a little piece of L.A,” he said, and he was right.”

If you have any intention of opening a taco outpost in the far flung corners of the world, read this piece. I think I’d be happier noshing on tacos in Yerevan at Taco-Maco than at Taco Bell in the local food slum.

Señor Tacombi Teams With Tortilleria Nixtamal To Open Indoor Street Food Taco Bus

First, I want to say that I’m jealous. In all my years of slacker brainstorming, and wishing that I was a key member of an enlightened think tank, I would give my left chayote to be a part of this project. I remember the dioramas of large mammals that I viewed as a youngster in Golden Gate Park. I super-dig the concept of the taco bus kicking it inside a tricked out street scene diorama.

I first came across Señor Tacombi a few years ago on Flickr and MySpace, before he was picked up by Aaron Sanchez. Bro didn’t even put his name on his site. I knew that concept was a winner. Seems like they should put one on the west coast. The weather’s better and the laid back vibe of the combi has roots out here.

[Sidebar for the Innocent: a Combi is a cool Volkswagen bus. Señor Tacombi converted a Combi into a Taco Truck, thus Taco + Combi + Tacombi.

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Tacos In Virgin Spaces



People who get into tacos, especially those who didn’t grow up with tacos, go through stages of taco awakening. First, you’re like, wow, there’s a taco truck in my town. Then you’re like, whoa, there’s all these cool types of tacos. Thirdly, you say to your friends, hey there’s these cool taco trucks you should check out. Let’s go get some tacos. By degrees, you may end up saying things like, that was more like barbacoa than birria, I’ll give it a B-, or huitlacoche is so passé. Anyhow, here are a few examples of gateway articles about taco trucks. The Colorado article demonstrates a late-early stage of taco truck infatuation, while the Detroit article is definitely stage 1.5. Luv it. If you live in or are visiting Detroit here’s a map to taco trucks in southwest Detroit.

Hacer Las Carnitas



I love this super down to earth carnitas fest video on YouTube. At exactly 3:10 into the clip, a voice off camera says, “Muevela buey, para buscarle cueros.” (Move it dude, help find the pigskins, referring to the skins that the guy with the fork is fishing out of the lard.) The bro with the paddle doesn’t do much, then the voice says, “bajale alli.” Lower it there. At 6:31, the paddle guy reappears with a taco in hand. !Qué envidia!

A few days ago I received an e-mail from Loteria Grill wishing me and my loved ones a safe, prosperous, and joyful 5 de Mayo season. Wow, that’s some heavy stuff. It’s very exciting to see this new American holiday shaping up before our very eyes. From the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which Mexican forces defeated French forces near the city of Puebla, to the taco, tequila and Tecate soaked revelries of today, what a long strange trip it’s been. It’s not even a federal holiday in Mexico. The Cinco phenomenon would be worthy of a well-researched book. I also wish you and your loved ones a safe, prosperous and joyful Cinco de Mayo season.

Consider Hard Shell Tacos For Cinco De Mayo!

The good people at the San Francisco Chronicle decided to revisit hard taco shells recently and found that Ortega shells “are still a winner.” I was intrigued by the review of Whole Foods’ 365 brand taco shells, about which one taste panelist said they had good “shatter.” That alone is worth the price of admission. I imagine food scientists in their laboratories perfecting the shatter of their respective taco shells.

The Indianapolis Star Likes My Cookbook Tacos: Authentic, Festive & Flavorful

Jolene Ketzenberger, a food writer in Indianapolis, wrote a nice review of my book recently. She wrote that my book helped her think outside the Old El Paso box. Unlike the above bit, where food reviewers revisit the taco shells for nostalgic purposes, some folks are just making the move out of shells and into soft tacos. To Ketzenberger, my “modest little book has plenty of interesting recipes that would take taco night way beyond ground beef and iceberg lettuce without a trip to a specialty market.” I was so glad to read that. As a taco missionary, it warms my heart to help fuel the taco revolution one little bit at a time. Meanwhile, Indy, keep your eyes open for a taco truck. I bet there’s one already there lurking down some side street.

Taco Tuesday In My Town

Curiously, Taco Tuesday this week falls on the 4th of May, so I’m calling it Son of Cinco. That’s tonight. I’m leaving in a few hours to finish prep for our second Taco Tuesday. Featured tonight will be Birria de Res (Brisket in Chile/Tomato Broth), Pollo en Mole Verde Chicken in Green Sauce), Pescado en Adobo de Achiote (Grilled Fish in Achiote Marinade), and Verduras en Salsa Ranchera (Vegetables in Tomato/Chile Sauce). Sides are Baja Cole Slaw, Whole Pinto Beans, and Rice with Vegetables.

Calbi Fusion Tacos & Burritos Opens Today in Austin, Texas

What began with a soft landing of sorts, with Calbi giving away 1500 tacos during the SXSW Festival in Austin last month, is now hard fact. Austin now has their own Calbi Fusion Taco Truck. In yesterday’s Business Wire press release, Calbi President Coleen Craig explained why they chose Austin: “Austin is a hot spot for nightlife, entertainment, and cuisine. With the University of Texas, and a number of large corporations headquartered in the vicinity, Austin provides extensive opportunity for Calbi to gain exposure, popularity, and a following. We are bringing California flavors to the Southwest, and they’re sure to be a hit.” If you want to folllow Calbi’s locations on Twitter, their handle is @CalbiBBQAustin.

Healthy Tacos In NY Times



It looks like the Times is kicking off a series in the Fitness & Nutrition section called Tacos: Health Food With A Kick, with an accompanying recipe for Scrambled Egg & Green Chile Tacos. The author, Martha Rose Shulman, opens with a nice paragraph that helps clarify that all tacos don’t come in deep fried shells with ground beef and yellow cheese. It may seem like a no brainer to the taco cognoscenti but to many people, tacos are still those pesky pre-fried shells. To educate the masses takes continual and gently persuasion. Way to go, Martha. Another cool thing is that her green chiles are actually fire-roasted poblanos, better known as rajas. When I first saw “green chiles” in the recipe’s title, I suspected they might be canned green chiles. When they are consistently referred to as rajas from coast to coast, we’ll know that complete victory has been gained. Ms. Shulman comes through again with this tasty looking recipe for Soft Tacos With Sautéed Winter Squash and Chipotles.
Included in the series are Soft Tacos With Fish & Spinach, Soft Tacos With Potatoes & Greens, and Mushroom & Poblano Tacos.

Shameless Plug: If you like these healthy tacos, my book Tacos: Authentic, Festive, & Flavorful has some healthy tacos too: Winter Squash Taco with Coriander-Cumin Crema, Garlic-Wild Mushroom Taco with Creamed Corn-Morita Salsa, and also a Scrambled Egg Taco with Rajas, served with Sierra-Style Tomato Salsa. (Recipe from my book below)

Sierra-Style Tomato Salsa

Courtesy of Scott Wilson and Sasquatch Books

I love anything that has been cooked over a coal or wood fire. Somehow, even food that has been charred in a pan on the stove has a satisfying campfire-like quality. The authentic texture of this salsa comes from the ingredients being mashed in a molcajete. these stone mortars are widely available in Mexican markets, and in addition to creating a salsa with excellent texture, they double as a stylish serving dish. The cebollitas found in Mexican markets are similar to scallions, but the white base is a little bulb. Use scallions if cebollitas are unavailable. I use serrano chiles in the recipe because they have a fruitiness beneath the heat.

Note: For a slightly more refined salsa, peel and seed the serranos and tomatoes before adding.

Makes about 2 cups

1 cebollita or scallion,
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 small cloves garlic, peeled
3 serrano chiles
3 medium tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat a comal, or a medium-size cast-iron pan, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until pan in hot.

2. In a small bowl, lightly coat the cebollita with the olive oil to prevent drying while cooking.

3. On the comal, cook the cebollita and garlic, turning them frequently until they brown lightly. Set aside and let cool. Cook the serranos and tomatoes until they brown and their skins blister. Set aside and let cool.

4. In a stone mortar, or food processor or blender, mash or pulse the cebollita, garlic, and salt until incorporated. Stem and roughly chop the serranos, then mash or pulse them with the cebollita mixture.

5. Core and roughly chop the tomatoes, reserving the liquid. Add the tomatoes and liquid to the cebollita mixture, and mash or pulse to incorporate.

6. Pour the salsa into a bowl or container. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. The salsa will keep in the refrigerator for a week or longer, theought he onion and garlic flavors will grow stronger.