Las Quesadillas Poblanas/Oaxaceñas
Ξ February 18th, 2008 | → | ∇ Beyond Northeast, Food |
“What better way to celebrate Presidents Day than to eat Mexican food served from a cart that avoids health inspection, paying taxes, and speaking English?”, I thought to myself as my girlfriend and I headed over to Echo Park for lunch. Now normally, I’m a taco man, but this cart on Echo Park Ave. just south of Sunset only serves quesadillas. However, your (or at least my) mother’s culinary standby when she didn’t feel like whipping something together more intricate, these are not. The tortillas are the first difference I noticed. Made from blue corn masa pounded into form on the spot, the tortillas add a sweetness to what I was informed was a typical dish of the Oaxaca and Puebla regions of Mexico. As the thinned masa cooks, our cocinera adds some cheese and it’s time to choose a filling. Our options are squash blossoms (flor de calabaza), corn smut (huitlacoche), mushrooms (hongos), fried pork skin (chicharrones), or chicken. We tried the flor de calabaza, hongos, and huitlacoche with delicious results and topped it off with an Orange Crush. Garnishes include a deliciously spicy red sauce, cilantro and onions, an untried green sauce, and nopales. Three quesadillas filled me to the gills, and at $3 each, they better have. With baseball season starting soon, I have a feeling I’ll be taking a few of these into Dodger Stadium instead of paying $5 a pop for the processed raccoon snouts marketed as Dodger Dogs.
