The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Free Chips and Salsa Bar – options including Chipotle, Pico de Gailo, Robano Pibil, Peanut, Jicama, Pecan, Soy, etc.
Baja Sur Shark Taco – Corn Tortilla with Beer Battered Wild Dogfish and lettuce with cilantro mayo
Oaxacan Black Mole Chicken Taco – Spices, Chiles, Nuts, and Chocolate
Cabo Shrimp Taco with Beer Battered Wild Tiger Shrimp and cilantro mayo, jicama
Mayan Cochinita Pibil Taco – Roasted Pork Shoulder with Achiote Rojo slow cooked in banana leaves topped with lime marinated onions and salsa habanera mayo
Realizing that an inordinate portion of our travel west, from the Port Fonda experience at Greendirt Farm outside of Kansas City to The Shed and Salsa Brava, had focused on Mexican food I couldn’t help but pass by La Condessa while my mother was in town for tacos and although I know some in Phoenix may claim the space is not “authentic” enough for them (from what I’ve gathered, according to some locals you need to have questionable evaluations from the Health Department to be legit) I can say without a doubt that although I’ve not been south of the border, these are the best tacos I’ve ever tasted.
Beginning first with another free chips-and-salsa-bar stocked with a baker’s dozen of house-made salsas and sauces paired with slightly salted, almost greaseless, and pleasantly warm tortilla chips and moving on to the four tacos featuring local produce and fresh proteins on (unfortunately not house made) imported flour tortillas I particularly enjoyed the crunchy texture and delicate flavors of the shrimp taco while the bright acidity of the pork shoulder and smoky spice of the chicken taco both worked nicely as well.
Perhaps not as regional as some taco stands (or trucks) and instead choosing to focus on the depth and breadth of Mexican cuisine from coast to coast I’m sure the is “better” or “more authentic” cuisine to be found both here and over the border, but thus far I’ve not experienced it (outside of the vastly more upscale, expensive, and certainly less authentic Distrito.)