Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Latino Fest! In Which I Am Amazed by Many Indefatigable Performers, Eat My Weight in Cheese, and Realize, Once and for All, That My Stomach Really is a Bottomless Pit



Poppa Trix and I have wanted to go to  Latino Fest and chow down on all the goodies for years, but something annoying or necessary always comes up and prevents us. This year, despite the punishing heat and humidity, we were determined to make it. And make it we did, though we both nearly had heat strokes in the process.  Was it worth it? Well, see all  the food and judge for yourselves!

Though before I get to the food - note that the dancers in the above photographs,  clad as they are in heavy costumes and hats,  do not look like they are about to pass out in the relentless afternoon sun.  This despite the fact that they were required to follow the very loud music all throughout the park, which was coming from a boom box that was pulled on a cart by a rather heavy (and, truth be told,  somewhat glum) man. All the while they kept dancing, jumping, bending - it made me tired just taking photographs. They were, in a word, awesome.

But you want to know what we ate. We started out sampling some food from a local catering company, Salsa Negra, or Black Sauce Kitchen:

Here we had some of our favorite foods of the day. Maiz tostado con mantequilla de cilantro y limon, or toasted corn with cilantro lime butter:

And pan de maiz de chipotle y queso con mantequila de mango (chipotle cheese cornbread with mago butter) and my all-time favorite, mango a la parilla, or grilled mango:

The mango was so simple, but so good - there was an initial  smoky grilled flavor, a burst of sweetness, and then a lingering spicy heat. Perfect.  And of course a refreshing bebida to wash it all down - a tamarind tea (enjoyed in the happy times before I succumbed to the heat):
There were so many food booths it was hard to pick our next stop. My love of cheese pupusas won out, and we settled on a Salvadorean stand, where we got a plate with said pupusa, a cheese stuffed plantain, and some tangy cabbage thing - I didn't get the proper name. Sorry!


A hit-and-miss plate. We thought the cheese got lost in all that plantain, and I couldn't finish it. (Poppa could!) The pupusa was a bit disappointing, as I could tell it was a frozen brand that I've bought before at a Latino market. Yummy, yes - but not what I was looking for. Though what it lacked in homemade goodness it certainly made up for in pure epic cheesiness:
It seemed as if the  tangy sauce and cabbage was the only homemade item on the plate. After this, we started noticing rows and rows of the exact same plantains we had just had at most of the stands. Hmmm ... why did everyone's plantains look the same? But it wasn't until we asked at several stands for some bacalaito (fried cod) only to be told - by every single vendor - that it wouldn't be available until 4 pm, that things clicked for us: The same place must be supplying food to nearly all of the vendors.  Gasp. Not that this is necessarily the worst thing in the world - and to be fair, it did seem as if many of these stands had at least one unique, homemade  item - but it was a little disappointing. We had hoped to discover more Mom-and-Pop places here.

So at this point we made it our mission to search for more places like Salsa Negra. First we found Max's Empanadas. That's Max handing me two homemade Argentinian spinach ones:
We loved these! Just look at that beautiful dough:
... and the spinach-filled inside:

Okay, now you will think we are foolish (definitely) and crazy (quite possibly) when I tell you that we were lured in by the grilled arepas, with their sizzling promise of crisp corniness and gooey cheesiness:

Well, these arepas lied to us! They were greasy, filling, mass-produced, and and flavorless - unless cardboard has a flavor.  And we allowed them to take up valuable real estate in our bellies! We should have known better. Besides, how could we have known that we were about to stumble upon Maria's Empanadas? The sign, while rather ... spartan ... was also somehow endearing:

These Venezuelan goodies are made by Maria's son, Anthony Zilleruelo, and follow Maria's recipe. That's him in the middle:
 I've never had an empanada like this before. It's deep fried, stuffed with cheese, and then powdered sugar is sprinkled on top. If you've ever had bastillas, the Moroccan chicken dish with pastry, almonds, sugar and cinnamon, you'll get the idea.  I really don't know how we had any room left, yet we had no choice - we had to gobble this up!
By this time, as you can imagine, we were well and truly full. Also dehydrated, sweaty, and sleepy. But I'm glad we stayed as long as we did, because we got to see another costumed dance troupe defy the heat:

But my favorite, hands down,  was el diablo. How cool is he?





29 comments:

  1. An amazing tour of the Latino Fest, I love rustic authentic foods like those, and the flavors and textures are wonderful!

    The cheesy pupusa is my favorite!

    Bon appetit!
    =:~)

    ReplyDelete
  2. trix..look at all the food! decadently lovely :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What fun this looks like have never been to one, I feel like I was there, love those costumes. My favorite foods here were the plantains and empanda then that round pancake looked interesting and too bad it wasnt good..looked it. All in all you look like you really enjoyed this....some great foods here, thanks for the lovely journey !

    ReplyDelete
  4. So many different types of foods, what a fun festival! That plantain with cheese and spinach filled empanada looks good!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am sitting here trying to work on a script, lunch uncooked and I had to read this!!! I am starving and you are killing me with this stuff!
    I attempted to make pupusas once I could have played bocce ball with them.
    It looks like you had amazing fun at this event.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Trixie! How fun! But I am having a lactose intolerance moment just from reading this post--otherwise--I love some of that yum "festival" food you have going on there, sister! And what an adorable dress you are sporting with all that print and floral going on!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ya made me drool on my keyboard. I am soooo jealous. Since moving away from California I am Mexican food deprived!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great festival! I could so eat all this cheese!

    ReplyDelete
  9. oh yum! where was this festival. i want to go!

    ReplyDelete
  10. oh what fun - of all the food, AI thint the corn and empanadas would be my favorites, the best of course was the experience....gald ya'll finally got to go...

    ReplyDelete
  11. ....sorry, tuyping bad tonite...

    ReplyDelete
  12. This looks like a lot of fun Trix and I was glad to see you wearing something sensible in that heat! I personally can't eat enough corn this time a year and as for cheese....everything looked good but you're right about being choosy about what goes in your tummy especially at a Latino Fest, hold out for the good stuff :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great post!
    Best part about it is to see the face attached to those hands we always see.
    You're lovely Trix!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks like a great time! And all those different cuisines... The arepas looks particularly tempting!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hope you had a loot.. Thanks for these festive pics.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What an eye opener - So many things I've never even heard of! The empanadas though are familiar and one of my very favourite snacks.

    The arepas do look so tempting. A pity they failed to deliver. So sad that these days, the food you get outside is so often uniform because one big production company seems to be supplying just about every vendor or establishment :(

    Btw - love the dress, the shoulder tattoo and the ring on your right hand!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Envious with the sunny weather and sundresses! And the food... I wish there is a latin fest here.

    ReplyDelete
  18. OMG the performers must be delirious with the heat and in a trance. But glad they survived and you got to see it. I love such cultural events...especially when there is so much cheese involved!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Absolutely drooling at Max's empanadas. Great post, my dear. You are such a BABE!!! *wolf whistles*

    ReplyDelete
  20. You do have a bottomless pit for stomach! Haha, I loooooove Argentinian empanadas, I could eat dozens!

    ReplyDelete
  21. wow...what a great day! so many different foods to try , so many wonderful people to meet!! We are truly blessed to be able to attend something so diverse, thanks for sharing your day with us....it really brought a smile to my face!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sounds like it was so fun! You're making me hungry with the talk of all these cheesy, delicious treats.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I just about gasped when I saw this spinach-filled pastry; we have the same here in Beirut offered at the farmer's market filled with a wild green similar to purslane. Yummy! I ate almost half a dozen in one sitting!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hey Trix, I love your dress! It's witchy...kind of (smile). Ay, y toda la comida se ve deliciosa. Me encantaria visitar y comer empanadas hasta que explote mi estomago!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh what a fun event! I can imagine the quantity of food all over those types of festivals, thanks for exposing me to South American food, I am quite clueless about their cuisine unfortunately. Everything looks exotic and delicious! pretty dress on you, especially that purple color which I know is your fav color :o)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh wow, what a celebration here! Thank you so much for sharing it. I enjoy this kind of festive season too. I bet you enjoy every single bite of those food. hehe.... So, put on how many pounds? Enjoy your day.
    Cheers, Kristy

    ReplyDelete
  27. that looks like fun! too bad it was difficult finding authentic, homemade goodies. the empanadas look delicious though!

    ReplyDelete
  28. this all looks so exciting and fun Trix! I missed this post. and you look gorgeous. LOVE the sunglasses n the sundress:)))

    ReplyDelete
  29. AAAAH! I can't believe I've never gone, I am TOTALLY missing out. The food looks incredible - I am impressing at your eating abilities :) Love your photos too!
    So glad we met!

    ReplyDelete