When Jesuses travel together, they travel in holeyness.
I saw this sign the other day. I couldn’t decide whether the bargain they promote was worth speeding things up. What if nobody dies in a timely manner and I lose out on the special? I sure hope Ric Romero does some informative analysis so I can become a better consumer.
I hate Religion just as much as the next person: from the kooky-but-accepted major ones that are often the cause of world craziness, to the just-plain-kooky minor ones that lead to individual crazies. I spit in all their general directions. Despite that, I always enjoy the arrival of the Catholic Cuaresma (aka Lent) for one reason only: the availability of the dish Tortas de Camaron. Since they have to avoid eating Cows, Pigs, and Chickens on the Fridays during this period you’ll often see some new but temporary veggie or fish related items on the menu, and the tortitas (as they are sometimes called) is usually the most popular one you’ll see.
From the little info I was able to find it seems this dish, popular in Northern Mexico, is considered a poor persons meal, and a glance at the ingredient list does not disprove that assessment. It’s not a torta as in the sandwich, it’s a whole different thing but with the same name. Basically, it’s an egg batter mixed with dried shrimp powder and fried up. Yeah, that sounds wrong but it ain’t that bad. They’re usually also covered in a red chile-tomato sauce but sometimes you’ll see them in Mole as well. And the final touch; some nice tender nopalitos. A very basic but satisfying meal, one that also seems to be an acquired taste. And since it’s only available on Fridays for the next few weeks, I’m going to sample as many versions as I can find in LH and see how they fare, follow along if you care. If you’re already starting to retch, please step outside.
This first entry comes by way of the good people at El Huarachito (3010 1/2 N. Broadway 323.223.5317)
They seem to be tripling their business now that they’ve expanded their seating into the store next door, site of the recently defunct shoe repair shop. I bet many skipped eating here before as the 5 extremely cramped tables were constantly occupied. Huarachito’s rendition of this dish sets the bar high for the rest to come, they cook a mean torta. The nopalitos were fresh and perfectly tender but yet with that perfect snap I often lose when I overcook mine. The tortas were proper with their familiar shrimpy taste, though they could have been a bit ‘fluffier’ or is it ‘airy’? Or were they just a bit greasy from not being fried in hot enough oil? Obviously, I’ll never find out as I know nothing about analyzing food and even less about writing a review. But what I do know is that the sauce they were swimming in was, ay jijo!, excellent. Or would that be fucking excellent? I don’t know much about them there grammar rules either, but one of those must be right. With a spiciness that was not hot, the sauce had a weird complexity which had me wondering what the hell was in it. Probably chiles and tomatoes and some demon spice, cuz there was no sense of holiness in this sauce, the vibrant red color points to some other forces. How can you be sacrificing with such an indulgent taste? I’m not going to probe any further, I wouldn’t want the local church to start investigating. One virtual point was deducted for the tortillas de maiz they gave me instead of the harina I asked for, which I still ate as I don’t like to complain about such petty things!
The Huarachito crew have pulled off another great dish, one that’s gonna be hard to beat. If you’re interested in trying out tortas de camaron, start here. El Huarachito is popular because it’s good and it serves food you’d think was reserved for the family kitchen. Eating here is like being in Ester’s (cook and owner) personal kitchen, it’s just disguised as a restaurant. It’s a bit more expensive than other local places but for the quality of the food, this place is a bargain.
Now i’m off to pray that my Veggie God doesn’t scold me for eating up all them poor little ground up shrimp. I must repent, repent..
EL CHAVO!
I imagine that in the suburbs (or even just some nicer parts of town) the social pressure that spawns home owner associations and pristine-but-useless gardens is heavy enough that it keeps neighbors in line, curtails fleeting thoughts of random experiments, and dampens any nascent creative urge. If that’s not the case it appears to be so; how else can you explain the overwhelming sense of void? Empty sidewalks, lawns without a single footprint, porch furniture fresh out of its packaging, curtains pulled to hide that which is lacking. Somehow, the residents of the burbs have been bludgeoned into a stupor of resignation: nothing risked, nothing lost.
Lincoln Heights can sometimes seem that way as well, but that feeling doesn’t usually last very long. This week I came upon the sight of a full fledged prodution of sausages and other jerky meats, right on someones porch. That threw me for a loop. There’s gotta be some other crazy and creative going-ons inside all these homes, at least we get an occasional glimpse into these hidden worlds. We’ll be less likely to turn up on tv resolutely ignorant of our neighbors, saying “I never thought that could happen here”, shaking our collective heads at the latest moral impropriety: we will have known all along.
Now that Hot Topics caters to the needs of your average busy working punk on the go, the D.I.Y. moniker needs a new home. I propose it takes a rest stop at this address, no doubt it’ll be better suited than on the half-wits at some lame ass magazine.
1. Other drivers are more important than you. Get out of their way.
2. It’s okay to be greedy and grab multiple copies of the same book. Just argue loudly with the other person that they were all intended for you.
3. Ed Begley Jr. talks too much and talks too loud.
4. Some Salvadoreans believe that Guadalajara is near Baja. Either that or they are just trying to confuse the uninitiated that their little restaurant is part of a bigger Corporate chain. If it’s the latter, hats off to them!
5. The city is aching for a good veggie taco. RFD? BFD.
6. People in “the industry” do exist. Rats.
Walk around most any part of urban Los Angeles and amongst all the trash you’re likely to find many empty bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. As it turns out, FHC’s are the most popular “salty snack” in the country. WTF? It’s kinda shocking that it’s become so popular, having just been introduced to the market in 2002, specifically targeted to Latino tastes. Being the occasional consumer of this particular poison, I’m gonna speculate as to it’s popularity.
For starters, chile improves most foods. My co-worker thinks Mexicans ruin good fruit by sprinkling it with chile, sal, y limon but she is wrong, we all know it only makes it better! Regular cheetos are kinda boring, but with the Flamin’ Hot caustic powder, they don’t necessarily taste better but they do become addictive. Just like garbanzos con chile, not much taste but you can’t stop eating them!
But the major attraction of these calorie curls (and I think the crucial one) is that FHC’s are sold at bargain prices and in large sizes. They go for about 1 dollar for the 10 oz size, for a whopping 1700 calories! When you are poor and hungry what you want in a snack is a good value, to “feel full” at a bargain price, and that applies across the board. This can explain the popularity of Jack in the Box tacos (2 for $1) which is a lot of food, over a normal, real taco ($1 at the truck across the way) which is smaller and not as filling. The substantial bulk of the FHC’s beats out any old bag of chips. Do some comparison snacking, you’ll know what I mean. Poverty teaches you that eating is for abating hunger, not for improving health or dabbling in foodie experiments. It’s an approach to eating that is hard to break, and that prevalent attitude begins to explain the chubbiness of ghetto kids.
It’s safe to say that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos should not be part of anyones diet but unhealthy foods like these will continue to be popular so long as the social inequities that cause poverty continue to exist. What a grandiose statement, que no? But it’s true, ese! Poor folk will eat better once they lose the fear that they’ll go hungry, which I doubt will ever happen in this country. If you ever spot some Westside gringo party sporting a bowl of FHC’s, snap a pic and send it to me, you’ll have proved my class analysis wrong. Either that or you’re just trying to prove me wrong, grovelling for some cred. Whatever, same difference.
Nuts to you. EL CHAVO!
My recent posts at LA Eastside.com
Chanfles RSS Feed