nosh nook #183 - wednesday, november 25, 2009

taco: the rules of engagement (link)
11.24.09 - washington city paper - by tim carman

tacos! i have this one friend & boy does she love tacos. girl is CRAZY about tacos. she'll call me up on the phone & we'll be talking & out of nowhere, she'll be all, "hey shawn. i want tacos." every time, i assure her that the only way to fix that is to eat some tacos. usually, that seems to help. i mean, why not? you can't beat a good taco. as long as it's well made & obviously soft shell, tacos are pretty much the bomb. there are a ton of good taco joints here in the city & at the moment, my fave is brooklyn's calexico (winner of the 2008 vendy awards). over the past few months, i've been making a bunch of stops there, specifically for the tacos. other than the twenty minute wait for two tacos, i have nothing but raves for them, with a special place in my heart reserved for their carne asada tacos.

tacowise, it looks like the d.c. area's doing pretty well these days. according to washington city paper (the only alternative newspaper in d.c.), there are a ton of places around the city where you can grab a couple of simple, tasty, mexican-style tacos. they might not be entirely authentic (many are made with pre-made, flour tortillas), but for the most part, they're still good. in rosslyn (VA), there's district taco, whose chorizo-and-bacon breakfast taco "possesses genuine crunch, provided by tiny crumbles of crispy bacon, which contrast perfectly with the fluffy yellow curds." dupont circle's tomatillo taqueria has barbacoa and carnitas tacos, "which rely on marinades and long, luscious braises to provide their succulence and understated flavor." taqueria la placita (in hyattsville, MD) has al pastor tacos that are apparently to die for.

la placita also goes into territories that aren't for the faint of stomach. they have oreja (ear) & cueritos (pig skin) tacos on the menu. respectively, they have "a pleasant cartilage crunch" & a "soft and unctuous" pork flavor. those are two qualities i never want in a taco. they're not the only ones in the city serving weird-ass tacos though. there's also a place on columbia road NW called pica taco, who has a lengua taco which, "may force you to reconsider your aversion to beef tongue." sorry, but i will never reconsider my aversion to beef tongue. i'm all for non-"leftover pieces of the animal" tacos, but if i'm ever eating ears & tongues & skin, i want it to be because i've survived a plane crash & have no other choice.