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Walleye 10 years, 7 months ago.
There is a wonderful place here in Portland called Nuestra Cocina run by a chef from Mexico. its best feature is a woman who sits at a grill in the kitchen and hand forms the tortillas used by the restaurant. The care and craft she uses are obvious to anyone viewing her at work. One of the delights of the place are the steaming baskets of tortillas(not chips) that are served with salsa that serves as a before meal appetizer and it is a real pleasure to see the process of making tortillas from start to finish.
Oh yes, what a great taste experience…my sister has lived in several places in the south west…and in both Yuma and San Diego..I’ve learned to love home made tortilla shells served many ways..including dipping in superior home made salsa…Every trip, I bring home dozens to enjoy!
Tony Bad, representin’ NYC! I love it!
I just went kayaking today on the East River in the DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) Brooklyn and I had a terrific carne asada taco with some very sprightly cilantro, tomatoes and onions on a good corn tortilla from the Calexico street cart in the Brooklyn Bridge Park. I’m not certain how soulful the surroundings were, but if I looked to my left I could see Governor’s Island and The Statue of Liberty. To my right, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. Directly in front of me, the South Street Seaport and Lower Manhattan (the Financial District). Not a bad view at all.
I too have eaten in “Real” taco places in Phoenix and old San Diego many times…no gloves….caring workers OK…I’m talking about the fast food joints around here…not well run restaurants and taco trucks…As a retired teacher , I’ve heard the stories from students who worked at two Taco Bell locations locally…and it was enough to turn my stomach…I realize such horrors can happen at any place, but building a taco requires your hands…and some of these kids….oh well…it was a point….but yes I have eaten at “authentic” taco carts,,,and bought tortillas made by hand from wonderful cooks…no problem….
There is a wonderful place here in Portland called Nuestra Cocina run by a chef from Mexico. its best feature is a woman who sits at a grill in the kitchen and hand forms the tortillas used by the restaurant. The care and craft she uses are obvious to anyone viewing her at work. One of the delights of the place are the steaming baskets of tortillas(not chips) that are served with salsa that serves as a before meal appetizer and it is a real pleasure to see the process of making tortillas from start to finish.
I watched a guy cooking yesterday. He pulled on a pair of gloves after having put a burger patty on the grill and grabbing a bun for the burger. Then he proceeded to go back into the kitchen to bring out a couple of containers to refill the tomato, lettuce, onion and pickle tubs. After opening each container, still wearing the gloves, he picked stuff out with his hands and put the stuff where it belonged. He then closed up the containers and carried them back into the kitchen. Then he came back out, grabbed a couple of order slips, then picked up food for his grill and for the deep fryers.
Frankly, I’d prefer bare hands, and wash ’em.
at least this poll didn’t have the useless “I don’t like [tacos]” option.
I’m sure this study has already been done, but how many cultures out there have the “flat bread, stuff on top, fold and eat” type of food? i.e. taco, gyro, pizza. Must be countless.
And I like ’em all.
Where I work, there are a ton of mom and pop Mexican places in the area. I’ve never noticed any difference between glove wearing at Mexican restaurants as opposed to other restaurants. There are plenty of hot dog stands, burger joints, etc. where gloves aren’t worn.
Best tacos I have ever had were from street vendors in Mexico. Gloves…We Don’t Need No Stinking Gloves…Russ
Here are some sprightly garnishes…
…and this is the kind of place you get such sprightly seasonings…in a rather soulful setting!
Just because the big plastic light up sign out front has Taco in the name don’t think they’d know a real taco if it bit them on the rump roast.
How about “any taco made not by someone with dirty hands or not wearing gloves”. Too many taco places using kids(and adults) who don’t use latex gloves…and handle all that food you eat moments later…It’s gross!!!
I’ve viewed footage taken at some of the top restaurants in the world with nobody wearing gloves in the kitchen.
What do you like best in a good steak?
1) Quality beef
2) Boeing 787 Dreamliner
3) Four cards to a flush, and you’ve just been raised
4) CSI: Special Victims Unit
How about a round of decaf?
I must respectfully disagree with the above. Have any of the previous posters eaten at an authentic taco cart in a large city in the southwest or even a city with a large mexican population? The servers who use fresh tortillas, the fortune of eating at an ethnic place where people serve the real deal and not some Americanized glop with lots of cheddar is a wonderful dining experience and soulful is not an inaccurate description. And I might add that Mexico has 53 states and a federal district and assuming that a cuisine is the same in all those states is like assuming that there are minimal differences in the foods served in California and Maine here in the United States
In twenty years as a parish priest I served communion about 3,000 times, at a guess, and at each service I took the elements last. That means drinking after uncounted thousands of people. I never caught anything from that.
Granted, my experience in that area is limited to people who were probably pretty clean, for the most part. I don’t doubt that unsanitary conditions are breeding grounds for disease, but I don’t think we need to be obsessive-compulsive about it!
How about “any taco made not by someone with dirty hands or not wearing gloves”. Too many taco places using kids(and adults) who don’t use latex gloves…and handle all that food you eat moments later…It’s gross!!!
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