I’m back, after another, rather spur of the moment junket to Mexico in June. This wasn’t a food trip. I was visiting some of my old kitchen staff in the state of Guanajuato. I hadn’t seen these guys since before the pandemic. I had food of course, but this wasn’t a “take a picture of your dinner” sort of excursion. We ate mostly street food and drank a lot of beer. Gorditas replaced tlayudas as a source of fascination. I’ll be leading another food tour of Oaxaca in August, so I’ll talk food again then.
Meanwhile, back home, I noticed that the food trucks seem to be drawing crowds and so, since so many of them seem to be run by people from Latin America, I saw a segue. You may have noticed that at the west end of Franklin Street there is a circle of food trucks on the Carrboro side of the line. It’s been a while but, as I recall, when the Health Department decided that food trucks would be allowed, Carrboro said “Sure, sounds great” and Chapel Hill showed up with a portfolio of regulations. Enough said. The result is that within walking distance of most of the music clubs, you can grab a late-night supper before or after a show. You can eat at other times too, of course. In fact, Garnachas Rivera across from OWASA on Jones Ferry Road only serves lunch. I’ve noticed this place for a while. It always smells like good cooking when you pass by and there is always a crowd. There is a circle of picnic tables around a large tree if you want to eat there. I had the torta milanesa which is a sort of pork schnitzel sandwich.
One evening I grabbed a chicken quesadilla from Tacos El Niño. It’s in that parking lot to the left of Al’s Automotive. Quesadillas are my go-to when I’m eating on the go. They are a little less messy than tacos or enchiladas. Theirs is like an enormous crepe with a side of chopped salad. Right across the little patio from Tacos El Niño is Paco’s Shave Ice. It’s not a food truck, but it has the same vibe. They have a million flavors. It’s like one of those snowball places in New Orleans. It’s refreshing and delicious. Until the heat starts to melt it, it really is like eating a bowl of snow. The patio is cooled by a fan-blown mist.
Carrboro brought back its Latinx Pride Party this year, and among the food trucks there was Bon Fritay whose cooks come from Haiti. I had a splendid supper of fried pork and breadfruit. Meanwhile, across the line back in Chapel Hill, a food truck has been permanently anchored at Franklin Motors. It’s called Roquette. I was there last week for a benefit supper for Hidden Voices, an organization here that promotes storytelling, especially by people in the community who might seem invisible or overlooked. The organization was new to me, but I had many friends in attendance. Our dinner was a fresh beet salad followed by carnitas and risotto cakes.
I have mentioned my friend Antonio Jimenez’s Dona Lilia food truck before. He’s usually in the parking lot beside Peel Gallery and across from Bowbarr in Carrboro. His quesadillas sometimes have rice in them.
One place that I’ve just noticed but haven’t had a chance to visit yet is the Latin Grill. They had set up in the parking lot of Fitch Lumber Company last Saturday afternoon. They too had a crowd, always a good sign.
Lastly, if you look out of the back door of my former kitchen at Crook’s Corner, you can see the sun setting over Taco King in the car wash parking lot. Some days they are open for lunch and dinner. I can recommend their quesadilla as well.
This month’s recipe is not for the faint of heart, given the present price of crabmeat, but here goes anyway:
When I make guacamole I like to almost turn it into a salad, adding so much chopped vegetables that it is in danger of ceasing to be a dip. This is an unusual variation of a familiar “botana” or snack commonly eaten both in the United States and in Mexico. Set this out with drinks before a dinner party. It will easily feed six to eight people as an hors d’oeuvre.
- 2 large avocados
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- The juice of one lime
- ½ small red onion, diced
- 2 small jalapeños, seeds and all, minced
- ½ cup diced ripe tomato
- 1 small tomatillo, husked, washed, diced and lightly salted to cause it to sweat.
- 2 tablespoons canned diced pimiento
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt to taste
- One cup of backfin or special crab meat, picked over
- Pork rinds or, better yet, fresh chicharrones
Halve the avocados and pop out the seeds. Spoon the pulp into a bowl and mash it up with the oil and lime juice. I like chunky guacamole, but suit yourself. Fold in the onion, jalapeño and tomato. The pimiento and tomatillo will need to be drained. Fold them in too. Quickly toast the cumin in a dry sauté pan over very high heat. Go by smell to tell that it’s done. Taste for salt. If you want more, add it along with the cumin. Lastly, carefully fold in the crab, trying not to break it up. Chill. Instead of chips, serve with pork rinds or fresh chicharrones — sold at many Latino grocery stores or butcher shops.
“Just The Bill, Please” is a regular column on Chapelboro.com penned by local culinary legend Bill Smith. Born and raised in New Bern, Bill Smith spent 25 years heading up the kitchen in Crook’s Corner — and over the years, he accumulated the accolades to match his incomparable takes on classic Southern food.
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