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Mango madness

I drove up and down El Camino Real between Santa Clara and Sunnyvale and made four stops before I found them: Indian mangoes.

I’ve long heard rapt descriptions of the Indian fruit and this year I was determined to try some myself. The fruit, generally Alphonso mangoes, are flown here at great expense and only available in the spring. Once the rains arrive in India they’re gone. India has only been allowed to ship mangoes into the U.S. since last year because of concerns about agricultural pests. Now the fruit is irradiated and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says we’re safe. Now, restaurateurs and covetous consumers snap up cases of Alphonsos in a matter of hours.

The Indian markets of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale are a great source for the mangoes, if someone doesn’t beat you to them. At several of the markets I visited I was told they had just sold out. When I asked the lady behind the counter at New India Bazar she told me a new shipment would arrive in within an hour. So I staked the place out and waited. I went back in at the appointed time and looked around for the elusive fruit. Nothing. I asked the lady if the mangoes had arrived and she gave me a mildly suspicious look and then got on the phone and said something I couldn’t understand. A man appeared and she directed me to follow him. The mangoes must be near, I thought. I trailed him as he pushed a blue Sear’s shopping cart toward an unmarked white van. I knew I was going to meet my connection.

The mangoes arrive. Get them while they last.
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The Taco Project

Metro Balderas
799 S. 1st St., San Jose. 408.292.37109

Metro Balderas’ Almaden Avenue location has long been one of my favorite taquerias. Named after a subway stop in Mexico City, the restaurant specializes in tacos as well as Mexico City street food like pambazos, huaraches, tortas and alambres. It’s great stuff, especially the tacos. On weekends, they haul out an outdoor griddle and cook up delicious al pastor tacos along with grilled onions and other fixins. It’s straight outta DF. So, when the restaurant opened a new location on 1st Street I was excited. Now one of Silicon Valley’s best tacos was only a few blocks from my office. Or at least that’s what I thought.

Alas, after ordering my requite carne asada and al pastor tacos ($1.45 each) I pronounce them solidly mediocre. The tacos are served on two-ply tortillas and are nice and small and minimally adorned with just onions, cilantro and a dab of red salsa. But looks aren’t everything.

Visually speaking, the tacos are great.

The al pastor was the best of the two . The pork was crispy and juicy inside, but it lacked that sweet and savory al pastor. Making matter worse were the gummy, dense tortillas. The carne asada taco is peppery, lightly browned and sufficiently tender but otherwise unremarkable. These tacos would work in a pinch but I’d head to the original location for a better version.

Taco tally

1. Los Jarritos

2. Tacos Eva

3. Tacos El Ranchito No. 2

4. Los Dos Compadres

5. Metro Balderas (S.1st Street location)

6. La Cabana

Bugs: The other dark meat

Inspired by the chapulines I ate at El Tule I ate a few weeks ago, I wrote up a list of other edible insects from around the world. Since most Silicon Valley restaurants aren’t ready to embrace edible bugs I didn’t expect to get the opportunity try any more bugs but thanks to adventurous eater Peter Licht, I sampled another creepy crawly delicacy: a mopani worm from Botswana.

“I’m known as someone who will eat anything,” says Licht, a San Jose resident and freelance brewer.

My kinda guy.

His friends know of his unflinching appetite so when they travel around the world they bring him things like dried beef from Bhutan (which is quite good) and mopani worms.

Peter’s friend’s sister brought him about 30 smoked worms and he was kind enough to ask me if I’d like to try one. Of course I said yes. I walked over to his downtown house and he pulled out a baggie that contained the last of his stash: two worms.

After chatting a bit about worms, tacos, sourdough bread, and beer, we got down to eating to eating the worms. Here’s how they looked on the plate.

How’d they taste? Smoky, dry and a bit like beef jerky, but less salty and much less beefy. They were as crunchy as a Cheeto, but surprisingly mild and non-funky. Add a little salt and they’d go great with a cold beer. If I were a subsistence farmer in Africa trying to get by, I’d definitely eat these little buggers.

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The Taco Project

LOS JARRITOS
Keyes Rd. (at 11th St.), San Jose, next to 7-11

I started The Taco Project with the express purpose of bringing greater attention to Silicon Valley’s taco riches. Today, I hit the jackpot with Los Jarritos.

It was the words “handmade tortillas” and “chavindecas” that caught my eye on this taco truck.

The shade from the roof makes this taco truck an appealing place to eat.

I was driving down Keyes Road in San Jose researching Vietnamese restaurants when I saw a lonely taco truck parked in an empty lot that could have once been a gas station. The dusty lot was surrounded by a chain link fence but there was an opening for cars to drive through. My heart racing and stomach cheering, I drove in.

A few plastic chairs and tables had been set up under the shade of a free standing roof. Across the lot in what was maybe the gas station’s office was a makeshift kitchen where I could hear the chop-chop of knives on cutting boards. On either side of it were two other spaces that were either under construction or undergoing demolition. I couldn’t tell which. The confusing state of affairs and disrepair was pure Mexico. I knew I was in for something special. Read the rest of this entry »

Cupboard cuisine

Here a couple of meals I made during a recent spell of being broke that I wrote about here. They were good enough to make again when I had money in the bank.

Pupusas
Pupusas, griddled masa cakes, are El Salvador’s national dish and are great for a cheap and delicious meal.

Bag of masa (used for making tortillas)

Can of black beans, drained.

Grated jack cheese

Vegetable oil

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The Taco Project

I stopped in at Los Dos Compadres in Campbell the other day. This place is a taqueria and a place for mariscos–seafood. All the oysters, mussels, octopus, and lobster on the menu looked intriguing but I was here to try the tacos. This restaurant was crowded for lunch and I had high hopes but, alas, the tacos ($2.25) were less than great. I ordered carne asada and al pastor as ususal and both violated my first rule about good tacos–they were too big. The sturdy two-ply tortillas prevented them from falling apart but they were still unwieldly. The carne on the carne taco was gray and chewy and lacked that springy, juicy inside, crisp on the outside thing that I love so much. The pork specimen oozed an orange pool of grease. A little bit of grease is a good thing but part of the art and craft of a good al pastor taco is striking the right balance between grease sopped and dry. I actually poured the grease off before I had a bite. The taco gets points for the generous inclusion of pineapple (often placed on top of the pork as it roasts in a vertical broiler) but the preponderance of grease dragged it down.

Los Dos Compadres

100 W. Hamilton Ave. Campbell. 408.379.9133.

Taco tally

1. Tacos Eva

2. Tacos El Rancherito No. 2

3. Los Dos Compadres

4. La Cabana

Mexican uprising

I got some good responses to my Livefeed column about the lack of diversity among Silicon Valley’s Mexican restaurants. Here are few excerpts:

I would like to recommend that you try the restaurant El Tule. It is located at 5440 Thornwood Dr. in San Jose, and the phone number is 408. 227.1752. It is a small restaurant owned and run by a family from Oaxaca (so basically it is like having a family inviting you into an extension of their home and cooking for you.) The food is amazing - especially the traditional Oaxacan dishes like the mole and tlayudas (and they even have chapulines). All their homemade drinks are excellent too. Having lived in Oaxaca this past summer and loving the food, I now definitely go out of my way to go to this restaurant.
–Beth J.

Finally somebody (that be you) said publicly what I have been saying all along about the lack of real Mexican cuisine. I have “Mexico the Beautiful” cookbook, which is an art book on it’s own with the most sumptuous food you would ever want to find. Being French, I know that many of the dishes presented in the book could just as well be from France. As you said, Mexican cuisine is right up there with the best in the world. I am totally baffled why no one has started a Mexican restaurant featuring the wonderful food that is in this cookbook…OK, it’s one of those “if I ever won the lottery” statements, but that’s the first thing I think I would do. Hire myself a decent chef from Mexico and start cooking some of those recipes.
–Bernard M.

I feel real strongly about your article in this week’s Metro and fully agree! Where the hell is the rest of the Mexican food? I recommend Chalateco (several locations including 2323 The Alameda, Santa Clara) at the very least, because they do serve a tiny bit of outsider food, but not much. Eduardo’s (3123 Williamsburg Ave. San Jose) serves great, straight outta Mexico tacos and the like, and Mexico Bakery (2811 Story Rd., San Jose) serves the best tortas I’ve tasted from here to San Diego (tho, since their remodel, the jury is out because I haven’t been back). Up in San Mateo, Tres Amigos (243 S. B St.) serves probably the best horchata around at least, and has top-shelf burritos (get wet) among other things.
–Juan

Enjoyed your column. Have you tried the ceviche at La Costa (at 1805 Alum Rock Ave.? It’s good stuff!
–Chris K.

This is the beginning of a good list. One of the suggestions was so good that I’m planning a restaurant review of it in the coming weeks. Any more tips for places that go beyond the same ol’ tacos and burritos? Please keep them coming.

Sarticious gin

I’m not a gin drinker, but after a taste of Santa Cruz-made Sarticious gin I think I’ll become one. The highly aromatic, spice-infused gin is good enough to drink straight up. The liquor is perfumed with flavors of coriander, juniper, cardamom, cinnamon, and other spices. It’s flat-out delicious. I can’t wait to make a martini with it.

As intriguing as the gin is, the man behind the booze is a piece of work, too. Jeff Alexander built the Los Gatos Brewery and later turned to wine making. He runs Alexander Cellars in the same space as his distillery. (His oaky, but non-buttery chardonnay and powerful zinfandel are great). He also put in time at Alameda’s St. George Spirits, makers of the revered Hangar One vodka. Intrigued with making spirits, and gently nudged out the door of St. George, he starting making his own liquor. I asked him what got him into the wine and spirits business and his answer was simple: “I like to drink.”

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The Taco Project

While I’ve often lamented the lack of variety of Silicon Valley’s Mexican restaurants, we are awash in taquerias. As I drive around the valley looking for new places to eat I’m forever coming across new ones. And so I’m unveiling the Taco Project, a systematic sampling of Silicon Valley’s taco riches. In the weeks and months ahead, I’ll be stopping in at taquerias in the South Bay (and a few beyond) to try their wares and I hope you’ll steer me toward some particularly good tacos as well. Specifically, I’ll be eating al pastor and carne asada tacos. Why just those? Well, the pork and beef tacos are my favorite and I think these two varieties offer insight into a taqueria’s taco prowess.

For me, a good taco is Mexican food stripped down to its essentials: a tortilla topped with a some delicious bits of meat and salsa. A good taco is an exercise restraint. The twin tortillas should be about as big as beer coaster. It’s not so overloaded with toppings that it falls apart or topples to the floor when you bring it to your mouth. It should be gone in just two to three bites. I look upon tacos made with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and guacamole with suspicion. Cilantro and a bit of diced onion, however, are good things. And a good taco shouldn’t cost more than a buck or two.

And so here are a few of the first tacos I encountered in these early days of the Taco Project.

Tacos Eva 1565 Mabury Rd., San Jose (across from flea market parking lot).

I have a soft spot for taco trucks so when I drove past this beauty my heart leaped. As it turns out, $1 got me one of the best tacos I’ve had in these parts. The al pastor taco is particularly delicious with dry spice hints of cinnamon or clove. (The nice family inside wouldn’t tell me what it was). The meat itself was crisp and juicy. The carne asada taco was no slouch either with tiny bits of caramelized beef and juicy goodness inside. The thin but spicy salsa spooned on top was the perfect accompaniment. Extra points for the charred serrano chiles and pickled jalapenos that come with these beauties. Tacos Eva sets the bar very high. Here’s what mine looked like seconds before I chowed down:

Tacos El Rancherito No. 2 1729 McKee Rd., San Jose.

Tacos El Rancherito is another eastside SJ gem. The tacos go for a buck a piece but what’s special about this place is an extra dollar will get you tacos with freshly made tortillas. It’s money well spent. The tortillas are chewy and soft but sturdy enough to handle a payload of meat, onions and salsa. The al pastor is the winner here. The succulent bits of roasted pork commingle with the pleasingly spicy salsa to create a rich, OK greasy, sauce. Add a big squirt of lemon juice and you’ve got taco nirvana. The carne asada lacked the tender juiciness of the pork but it’s still pretty good piled onto one of those fresh tortillas. Here’s what they looked like:

La Cabana Taqueria 2332 Mission St., Santa Cruz.

My final stop of my first tour de taco was La Cabana Taqueria. It’s on the Westside of Santa Cruz so it’s not Silicon Valley but it’s near my house and I was hungry. While Silicon Valley is awash in taco riches, Santa Cruz is taco challenged. La Cabana used to be located in Davenport but opened recently next to the Arrow Surf Shop. But it does little to elevate the quality of Santa Cruz’ tacos scene.

Look at this:

Too much of everything. The weight and heat of all that beef and pork quickly ripped my tacos in half so I had to eat them with a fork. That’s unacceptable for a food that’s supposed to be a quick bite you eat on the street. And the pork and beef were adequate but otherwise unremarkable. Santa Cruz has the surf but Silicon Valley is the place for tacos.

The Taco Tally

1. Tacos Eva

2. Tacos El Rancherito No. 2

3. La Cabana

A blog is born

At long last, Live Feed the blog is finally up and running. The print version of Live Feed will continue but I imagine Live Feed the blog will become the tail that wags that dog. I’m going to quote myself from a Live Feed column I wrote a few months ago about my entry into blogdom:

At their best, blogs have a richness and immediacy that’s unmatched by any other form of media. Readers of the print version of Live Feed can write a letter to the editor, but in a blog the responses build on each other and create a kind of metadialogue, all the while taking me to task where I’m in error or opening my eyes to new information or points of interest. Or at least some really funny video. That’s good for me and hopefully good for you, the reader, too.

While many blog boosters and more than a few old-school media types say the rise of blogs is making newspapers irrelevant, that’s clearly not the case. According to data compiled by Technorati last year, The New York Times had nearly 80,000 inbound links from blogs, more than any other publication. While many of those links were undoubtedly critical and sought to prove the point that the mainstream media just doesn’t get it, I’m sure the impetus behind all those links was a healthy mix of praise, scorn and just piqued interest. And that’s as it should be. If a newspaper doesn’t engage the public, it’s little more than fish wrap. A more engaged public benefits all, and if blogs can be part of that then I’m behind them all the way.

Thanks for reading.