Longtime Houston food critic, author, and salsa pioneer, Robb Walsh, skips all the roasting and hard labor involved in some salsas and shows us how the taco trucks do it – quick and simple, with a few fresh ingredients thrown into the blender..
oh and by the way: Robb has a new book out called The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook.. Be sure to check it out!
The Mother Hips from SXSW 2009
Local Natives
up n comers – catchy songs and amazing singers.
2pm • The Parish (NPR) Listen Live on KUT
Fader Fort – Thursday Lineup Highlights
3:45 Neon indian
4:30 Local Natives
5:15 Bomba Estereo
6:45 the Morning Benders
7:30 Fucked Up
Dam Funk
3:30pm • Carniville Party
The Mother Hips!
5pm • Kayceman Treehouse Party @ Cheers – FREE!
11pm • Encore patio (official sxsw)
the Fathers of Califonia Soul are back in Austin – DON’T MISS THEM
Lissie
8pm • The Parish (official sxsw)
great vocals – great songs and a magnetic presence
Mountain Man (check out my interview w/ them)
9pm • Buffalo Billiards (official sxsw)
trio of girl singers from vermont – spooky and beautiful folk hymns
The Low Anthem
10pm • Palm Door (official sxsw)
Don’t call it Americana – great songs, rootsy, real, raw vocals
jj
10pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Mysterious electro pop from Sweden w/ sexy female vocals
Holy Fuck
11pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Amazing instrumental band from Toronto. Thom Yorke digs it.
TacoTown had an absolute BLAST at the BACON TAKEDOWN this past Sunday at Emo’s during the 2010 SXSW Interactive conference.
The 22 Bacon-centered entries ranged from ridiculously meaty – Frank Mancuso of Saint Arnold & his Bacon Explosion - to the sinfully sweet – Laura Finger’s Bacon Cups filled with peanut butter chocolate pudding, topped with banana & maple glaze). Not to mention Bacon Booze! Lucky 13 Mixology served up killer Bacon Bloody Mary’s…and it would be an Austin takedown with out some tacos! Absolutely NOT. That’s where we come in…So, what did we make??
Crack taco - Our Winning Entry (credit Nelson Flores onthe last one)
Crack Tacos!
Maple blueberry glazed bacon inside a fresh flour tortilla (made w/ bacon fat),
topped with blueberry-habanero hot sauce – ftw.
And to top it all off- We Won!
TACO TOWN took home 1st place in the Judges category and 2nd place in the people’s choice!
——————————
BIG BIG ShatOut to: Arnold Perez- our partner in crime and official chef of Purple Bee Crew. Arnold was the ever-smiling brown fellow rolling out over 250 fresh tortillas LIVE on-site for the hungry carnivores! We couldn’t have done this without him…really…
Big ShatOut to: Takedown honcho Matt Timms – Let’s do a TACO takedown next year, Matt!!
Big ShatOut to: The esteemed judges- Local food-blog-queen Addie Broyles and Bon Appetit Magazine’s Emily Fleischaker.
Big ShatOut to: Nelson Flores of show me your taco for sharing that last bacon photo with us.. check out his great taco blog
Big ShatOut to: our old pal Hilah Johnson’s and her Caballero Candy: a Chocolate bacon Fantasy – which narrowly beat TacoTown for the People’s Choice 1st place – also be sure to check out Hilah’s badass online cooking show.
Here’s The Official Results:
Judge’s Choice
#1 Tacotown.org – Crack Bacon Tacos
#2 Vanessa & Lisa Blackwell – Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie
#3 Amanda Joyner – Bacon Jam
People’s Choice:
#1 Hilah Johnson – Bacon Chocolate
#2 Tacotown.org – Crack Bacon Tacos
#3 Josh White - Avocado Bacon Salad on Toast
more coverage:
Takedown Website
Addie Broyles Coverage for Austin360
Hilah’s Awesome Video of the event
Cable TV’s #1 douchebag Guy Fieri tears himself away from TGI Fridays long enough to check out Maria’s Taco Xpress on South Lamar. Good to see Maria behind the counter and “cougar-like” as ever…Also, nice to get a peek at her making that amazing Chimichurri Sauce…mmm…enjoy the vid:
if my spanish > english translation serves me correct .. this kid has a good looking burrito in his pants.. and i think he said he’s drunk on margaritas.. not sure.
Taco Town is getting pumped up about tonight’s National Championship football game featuring our Texas Longhorns vs. The Alabama Crimson Tide. I know Holy Taco has their mind on other aspects of the game, but we just had to chime in, considering the major taco-related developments concerning 2 Alabama players. Burnt Orange Nation sums it up for us:
Update on Rolando McClain’s and Rod Woodson’s stomach viruses, which apparently came from bad tacos (which of course is an oxymoron, as there is no such thing as a bad taco, only tacos that make you more sick than other tacos). They will both play tomorrow, but both have been held out of practice and may have some trouble with stamina and cramping in the game as they struggle the rehydrate.
and blogger EDSBS smells a conspiracy:
Now: what do Texans pride themselves on? Besides the wanton use of firearms, Vince Young, titties, and the innate supremacy of their good-but-let’s-not-go-overboard-you-hipster-shitbags music scene?* That’s right: Mexican food. Go anywhere and Texans will whinge and bemoan the current unacceptable state of their taco, sometimes even doing this while standing in the middle of a restaurant in Oaxaca, because “Mexican food in Texas is better than Mexican food made in Mexico!”
Can’t really argue with that logic, but hold on – there’s other suspects in this crime: who could defend the state of California and their baja chipotle fish tacos garbage?…Fish and shrimp will always be the most dangerous tacos – and we have plenty of soiled undergarments to prove that/ plus SoCal’s own Poison made a comeback, and lots of people are throwing up from that, so…I’d say the jury’s still out.
Bottom Line here – Tacos are good – bad tacos are better because they destroy the bowels of your enemy. You call it food poisoning – We’ll call it Destiny! Hook em Horns!!
-cabeza
Murder Scene: La Sureña Taco Trailer (credit AAS)
Austin Police are still searching for the gunman who shot and killed a 43 year-old employee Sunday afternoon at the La Sureña Taco Trailer (translation: “The Southern”) on South Congress near Stassney. {google street view}.
Hispanic male in his mid-20s to early 30s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin build, wearing a yellow shirt under a dark jacket and dark baseball cap, walked up to the taco stand about 3 p.m. and shot the man working inside, police said. The employee was pronounced dead at the scene. statesman article >
TacoTown has never tried La Sureña, but it’s about 100 feet away from Chilango’s, which is easily one of the best taco trailers in Austin. We assume its a newer operation, cuz it seems to be in the same spot that used to be Taqueria “Angel”…
The suspect is still “on the runs“, and motive for the shooting is still unclear, though we highly suspect the chorizo.
WELL……on 2nd thought: While TacoTown has never claimed to be a “classy” outfit, we DO apologize for the light-hearted comments on this subject. Our hearts REALLY DO go out to the family of the victim and to all other mobile vendors in Austin. Stay safe you guys.
-cabeza
Music in the Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from Austin City Limits Performers
When Austin salsa music legends, Beto and the Fairlanes, were asked to submit a recipe for the newly released “Music in the Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from Austin City Limits Performers”, they of course chose the best salsa in Austin – Our own Chappy’s Green Salsa! Thanks Beto! We are honored to be included in the book.
Other recipes include My Morning Jacket’s “Quinoa Eggs with Cheese, Please!”, Willie Nelson’s “Willie’s Tequila-Mango Salsa”, and Joss Stone’s “Veggie Lasagna.” You’ll find the recipe for Beto’s favorite – our famous green salsa on page 25.. [amazon link]
TacoTown has contributed a silent auction basket of taco-goodness for this Friday’s ‘Hill Country Nights’ event benefiting the Hill Country Conservancy.
Hill Country Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust committed to preserving the natural beauty and open spaces of the Texas Hill Country – forever.
Our basket includes contributions from:
Hill Country Conservancy’s 3rd Annual Hill Country Nights
Friday, Oct 30, 7:00pm | An evening of dinner and dancing | entertainment by Marcia Ball {More Info}
There’s a new Austin-made short film available via HBO on Demand called “Taco! Taco! Taco!.” Directed by UT-alum John Estrada, all we know is that its about a taco-stand owner and his plot to bring down a new competitor.. looks spicy! [more flickr photos from the set]
Twitter Mentions Austin Chowhound Posts Dishola Austin Taco Posts
