La Tortilleria - real tacos in Kensington

I have just returned from Mexico.  It took me 15 minutes to get home.  Let me explain.

La Tortilleria is a tiny, authentic tortilla factory in an industrial part of Kensington.  It's owned and run by the lovely Gerardo and Diana, who are passionate about the real way to make tortillas - from wholegrain corn rather than corn flour.  Diana knows what she's doing - she's previously worked in a tortilleria in Mexico.

The way to make real tortillas is called nixtamal and, save for the machinery involved, hasn't changed since Aztec times.  Most modern tortillerias (and according to Diana, all other tortillerias in Melbourne) use processed flour, which is kind of like using instant coffee powder to make coffee.  At La Tortilleria, the process starts the night before with non-GMO Australian corn that's soaked in a calcium solution.  This helps the corn to release nutrients such as niacin (vitamin B3) and become more digestible.

The next morning it's ground in a stone grinder to create the masa or dough.  Other tortillerias start here, by mixing the prepared corn flour with water.  As I understood it, that's like instant coffee made with coffee powder...versus using freshly-ground beans and the resultant shot that's just streets ahead.  It also means that La Tortilleria's tortillas are 100% preservative and additive free.

The masa is fed into a tortilla press which rumbles and jiggles before plopping heavenly, warm, real Mexican tortillas onto a conveyer belt...into your heart.  You can buy them fresh, vacuum sealed (if you want to cook with them, say, in a few days' time) or best of all - eat them in house with some Mexican street-style toppings!

Gerardo and Diana are really proud that they have the support of Melbourne's Mexican community who have been coming in droves to have Mexican that's just like back home.  They have a disarmingly simple menu of tacos, taquitos (rolled and deep-fried filled tortillas), sopes (hand-pressed, fat tortillas) and more.  This behemoth platter for two (four goodies each, plus guacamole) was $40.  Guess what - La Tortilleria use only free range meat and eggs!

I've eaten a lot of great tacos in Chicago, which has a large Mexican community.  My fave is tacos al pastor - you can read a bit about them in Chi-town in this old post of mine.  La Tortilleria's were delicious, with the meat carved from the spit (like a souvlaki) and spiked with spiced pineapple.  I thought they needed a dash of salt, but apart from that, holy tamales!

La Tortilleria have a fantastic self-serve sauce "bench" where you can load up with amazing chipotle sauce, Gerardo's special sweet mango salsa, pico de gallo and real corn chips, made by deep-frying actual tortillas.

Adored this Mexican spiced coffee, black and sweet with cinnamon and more.  I was so excited about the food I forgot to ask how it's made, but it's delicious.  La Tortilleria also have a fantastic selection of Mexican ingredients for sale - tomatillos, achiote paste and more.

La Tortilleria are open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday.  The business is only five weeks old, but I predict it's about to go absolutely gangbusters.  This is the sort of thing Melbourne loves - uncompromisingly authentic food, made with skill and passion.  And how many times can you say you've eaten food made by someone who's climbed Mount Everest?  Gerardo has!

La Tortilleria (Facebook page)

72 Stubbs Street, Kensington

Phone:  9376 5577

Hours:  Thurs-Fri noon-2.30pm, 6pm-late; Sat-Sun 11.30am-3.30pm, 6pm-late

Tacos and live music at Footscray's The Rev!

If it wasn't already so awesome to have a new local, Footscray's The Reverence now serves a Mexican menu!  We're talking pulled pork tacos, black bean burritos, chimichangas and more.  HOT DIGGITY!

The fam behind venerable North Melbourne punk institution The Arthouse have taken up residence at the old Exchange in Napier Street, christening it The Rev.  There's live music right throughout the week but since I saw this vid last year - 

- I've been hanging for some nearby Mexy goodness.  When I saw this video for the first time with a few friends, when the dog thinks of the taco, I swear we all jumped up at once and screamed!

$6.00

There was more swooning than screaming when this wicked pulled pork number landed on our table, though.  Gorgeous silky pork with crunchy cabbage in a proper, fragrant soft corn taco - why didn't we just order 10 of these?!  PS:  The Rev are seriously vegan friendly, offering a vegan pulled "pork" taco, smoky "chicken" torta, tofu and black bean burrito and loads more. 

$5.00

More street-style goodness, with really smoky corn cobs dressed with mayo, chilli and lime.  Delish.

$6.00

Loved these shoestring fries, really crunchy with seasoned salt and vegan mayo for dipping.

$10.00

I wasn't totally sold on the corn crust Calabrese pizza - each salami slice had the anchovies and olives surfing on top, making an umami flavour bomb, but I think they'd be better spread out.  Mr Baklover thought the crust was really good though, robust and crisp.  Really, I think I was just lusting after more tacos.  There are vegan and vego pizza options, with gluten-free bases available as well ($2 extra).

Mr B wants to point out that they pour a really good Guinness and have a Roberto Sport foosball table.  I love the Coopers and Fat Yak on tap and reading all the graffiti in the toilets.

  

And evidently everyone loves the courtyard, bliss on a hot summer's eve.  The hot tip is Tuesdays, for $3 tacos and $3 Tecates.  Now - that noise would be YOU screaming!

The Reverence

28 Napier Street, Footscray

Phone:  9687 2111

Hours:  Tues-Thurs 3pm-1am, Fri-Sat noon-1am, Sun noon-11pm (closed Mon)

Food trucks a go go - tacos and burgers in the West!

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

If you were burger deprived in childhood, weep no more - Mr Burger is here!

This is one spiffy food truck operation, with two trucks dotting Melbourne now.  You'll find one semi-permanently tucked off Therry Street near the Vic Market, and one regularly roving around Melbourne including the western suburbs!

I love their clean, zippy design.  Ordering's a toss up between the "classic"Mr Burger with mustard, mayo and more, the Mr Meat with bacon and BBQ sauce, or the Mr Veg with a falafel patty.

Fries are pretty standard but hot, salty and crisp - everything you could want!

I reckon these are damn fine burgers.  Both patties that day were a little pink, which I like - it's popular in the States to have your hamburger done medium.  Often Aussie burgers taste like the sum of their parts, with dry-ish meat patty and chunky lettuce and tomato.  Not so at Mr Burger - everything gooshes together to make a juicy, meaty party in your mouth.  Love!!!

But what's this?  Two food trucks for the price of one!  Dos Diablos have also starting spreading their brand of tasty hellfire across the West.

Loving the vintage-y truck, complete with crossed pitchforks at the front.  Everything here's gluten free...

...and we love a pulled pork or "carnitas" taco, well-seasoned meat loaded generously onto a proper corn tortilla and dressed up with tomatillo salsa and a little shredded cabbage.  Wickedly good fries, too, tossed with seasoned salt and squirted with spicy ketchup.

Best of all - tomorrow, Saturday 9th Feb, Mr Burger will be at Pilgrim Street Park and the Horsey Park!  (Bristow Reserve, Seddon and Shorten Reserve, West Footscray).  As for Dos Diablos, keep your eye on their Facebook page for today and tomorrow's tasty incarnations!

Guzman Y Gomez

The burrito is the American souvlaki.  Antidote when the late-night munchies strike...seedy stomach settler, full of glorious grease and sauce.  A knight in shining silver foil armour.  When Mr Baklover moved here from Chicago, he began the transition from burrito cravings in the wee hours to settling for a souvla instead.  Of course, that was before the Mexican and American food craze swept across Melbourne, and now in Swan Street, Richmond alone - right near where we first lived - there are two new authentico Mexican joints where he could have found hangover salve in the form of burritos and tacos.

In a coup of sorts, Highpoint is the location of Victoria's first Guzman Y Gomez store - a chain that first started in Sydney, specialising in burritos, tacos and quesadillas.

It's an upmarket fast food setup similar to Nandos.  You order at the counter but take a table number and in a few minutes your grub is delivered to your table.

Thank you Ms A!

That day Mother needed a Bex and a good lie down after one Chardy turned into three.  Perfect, I thought, a big greasy burrito oozing with cheese for lunch - that will cure what ails me!  So off to Guzman Y Gomez we went.

The condiment station is extremely generous - you can load your burrito up with jalapenos and test your manliness with three different grades of Tabasco for nada.  

There are two burrito sizes - the adult mini and the kids version are the same size, as shown here.  If this is mini, the large must be the size of a small dog.  They are quite satisfyingly heavy and warm when clutched with two fists.

Two beef guerrero tacos, $8.50

These tacos were yummy.  The beef is super slow cooked and shredded in a rich, earthy sauce.  I'm pretty sure the cheese is proper Monterey Jack cheese.  The big surprise was authentic, healthy (and hard to find in Australia) black beans.  Pretty good.

"Little Guy" burrito with chicken, $5

This kids' burrito was packed with chunks of marinated chicken, smoky from the grill, white rice and a smattering of cheese.  The tortillas are delicious, really toothsome and tender.

Pork chipotle 'mini B' burrito, $6.50

This grown-up spicy chipotle pork burrito also had meltingly tender, pull-apart meat.  Those lovely black beans appeared again along with a pico de gallo chunky-type salsa, with all the juices running into soft white rice.  Out of the three meat fillings, I think the chicken was my fave.  They also do barramundi and an all-veg version.

Now hang on - where is the gloop, the mountains of yellow cheese and fatty, cheap meat?  It's clear that these were not the fast food burritos that I had been expecting.  Guzman Y Gomez don't appear to be perpetuating the Taco Bill-style cheese and sour cream fest that we have come to expect from el cheapo Mexican.  This lunch was fresh and relatively nutritious.  It's still a chain and it's still fast food, but it's a better option when you're marooned at Highpoint - although I wish they had real crockery for eat in like Nandos do, instead of everything being throw away.

So Guzman Y Gomez didn't cure my hangover.  In the long run, though, that's a good thing.  However, they do serve Coronas and margaritas, so maybe next time they can help me start a new one!



Guzman Y Gomez
Lower level, Highpoint Shopping Centre
Hours:  Sun-Wed 11am-10pm, Thurs-Sat 11am-11pm


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Los Latinos

 

I love the old-school neighbourhood shopping strip - you know the one - set back just a little from the main road, 45-degree angle parking set into the kerb in front.  There is usually a fish & chip shop, a hot bread shop and always something random like a bulk nappy outlet or "Yvonne's Yooniverse of Yarn".  More and more, though, there are empty, shuttered shops.  Such would be the case for this little strip in Mitchell Street, Maidstone, if not for Los Latinos - a little ray of Latin American sunshine!

I was lucky enough to have dinner with Deb of Bear Head Soup who, aside from being an absolute sweetheart, is a fellow Mesoamerican food tragic.  We thought we would duck the crowds by meeting at 6.30 pm on a Wednesday but even then the little place was packed.  Service is slow but don't hold that against them - they are absolutely snowed under!

 



Los Latinos serves food from across Central and South America with drinks to match.  We chose Guava and Grape ("uva", related the Latin for eggs, from whence comes "ovary" - sorry, frustrated linguist here) varieties of Jarritos soft drink which is served in all good Mexian taquerias in the States.  They were teeth-achingly sweet but good.

Arepas

We waited and waited and were just planning our escape to plan B (Hung Vuong) when the food finally began to arrive.  First we had one of the specials of the day, arepas, a Columbian version of El Salvadorean pupusas.  These stuffed pancake-like snacks differ in that they are made with different sorts of flour.  Both snacks use corn flour but the masa (flour) for arepas is not treated with lime as is masa harina (sounds scary, is actually totally natural - lime is an alkaline mineral substance that encourages the skins to separate from the kernels.).  The flour or masarepa for these had a slightly coarser texture, not unlike a thick-grained polenta.  They were stuffed with a stretchy white cheese and were absolutely delicious.  The sauce on the side was a tangy green tomatillo salsa that complemented the rich yet simple cheese perfectly.

Chorizo, $6

This was so incredibly yummy.  Little disks of authentic chorizo, fried so their edges began to curl up, in a rich tomato, capsicum and onion sauce.  This is the best chorizo I have had since first having it in London many years ago.  It came with two home-made tortillas which I have to say I found somewhat thick and stodgy, but I think they were meant to be thick like that for dipping.

Chicken tacos, $10.50

We went for the chicken tacos too, three tacos a steal at $10.50.  These were good with tender chopped chicken, a simple tomato and onion salsa and a spoonful of benign guacamole in a home-made tortilla (thankfully much thinner than those served with the chorizo).  They came with a mild chilli sauce and a very smoky chipotle BBQ-style sauce.  The tacos were good but I think Los Latinos has more exciting things on the menu.

Pupusas, $10

My friend K with whom I had travelled in the States had eaten pupusas the night after I left and she had raved about them.  I had sighed and thought there was no chance I could try these little babies until I was next in the States, and then as if by magic the review appeared in Age revealing that there was a pupuseria not just in Melbourne but right near me!  These are so, so yummy.  They are stuffed pancakes similar to the arepas but made with masa harina, the same dough used to make tortillas and tamales.  These were stuffed with a little mashed beans and tangy cheese.  They came with a super-tangy slaw and a little pot of mild chilli sauce.  Fantastic!!

I can't wait to back there with the family; kids would love the arepas and pupusas in particular.  Be patient with the service if they are busy.  They are applying for a liquor licence.  It is so great to see the bright little shopfront among all the other "dead" shops in the strip and I can only hope this trend will continue across Melbourne, that niche restaurants can find a foothold in these dying strips where there must be cheaper rent, simultaneously revitalising them.

Thank you Anonymous (commenter on Pho Tam) for suggesting Los Latinos!  I love getting all your tips and suggestions for reviews or dishes to try.  Keep them coming!

Los Latinos

128 Mitchell St, Maidstone (map)

Phone:  9318 5289

Hours:  Wed-Thurs 5pm-9pm, Fri 5pm-10pm, Sat noon-10pm, Sun noon-9pm

Wheelchair Accessibility

Door:  Moderate-sized "lip"/small step to enter.

Layout:  Small but could accommodate if not a busy time.

Tacos al pastor

One of the things I love most about the States is the perfusion of Latino food and culture throughout the country.  The Hispanic population of the States is growing and growing.  There are Latino TV channels, Latino radio stations, and whole neighbourhoods full of wonderful food, music, and culture.  Mexican food is right up there on my "to eat" list every time I return here, and top of that list is tacos al pastor.

Tacos al pastor are tacos filled with chopped, seasoned pork.  The marinade varies widely on the taqueria, but is rich and tangy, with mild chilli.  The meat is piled on doubled-up soft corn tortillas.  Many taquerias will do either "American-style" tacos, with sour cream, tomato, and lettuce, or "Mexican-style," with chopped coriander (aka cilantro), raw onion, and cheese.

Tacos al pastor are a local interpretation of Lebanese shawarma, lamb on a vertical spit (similar to souvlaki or doner kebab).  Lebanese migration to Mexico began around 1880 in response to pressure from the fragmenting Ottoman Empire.  See here for a very interesting article about the intermingling of Lebanese and Mexican cuisine during this period.  Over time, the lamb became the more locally-available pork, a transition now only reflected in the name, "tacos al pastor" - shepherd's tacos.  Above you can see the spit, or "trompo", used in some restaurants to make tacos al pastor, although at the taqueria above, the raw meat was only presented on the spit; to serve, it was shaved off and fried on a hot plate.

Another great Mexican street dish is the torta, a type of sandwich. The torta bread is soft and slightly sweet. This is torta al pastor. Divine!!

In every Mexican restaurant, while you wait for your food, you get an unlimited supply of homemade fried tortilla chips, usually with your choice of red or green salsa.  The red has a tomato base while the green is made with tomatillos, which resemble green tomatoes but are actually a separate vegetable altogether.

Another uniquely Mexican taste is horchata, a sweetened "milk" made from rice.  This refreshing, healthy drink is common across South America, but different countries use different bases, such as sesame seeds in Puerto Rico or different indigenous seeds in Nicaragua and El Salvador.  This tradition comes from Spain, where the drink was originally made with tigernuts, a type of tuber.  This plant and the tradition of making a beverage from it was brought to southern Spain by the Muslim "Moors," who ruled it from 711 to 1492.  This period, which spanned some of the darkest periods in medieval Christian Europe, saw huge developments in philosophy, science, and medicine.  It is known by many as La Convivencia ("the coexistence") for the relatively peaceful coexistence of Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Spain at this time.

If I could import anything from the States to Australia, it would be a simple little taqueria like this one, Mr Salsa in Uptown. What passes for Mexican in Australia is nothing short of abysmal.  Real Mexican food is light, fresh, both very simple and very complex.  The regional variations are staggering.  I look forward to learning more... but always after a tacos al pastor starter!

Mr Salsa (map)

1025 W Montrose

Chicago IL

If you are exploring Chicago's restaurants, yelp.com is a great place to start.