For several years now I'd been hearing about the taco trucks of Fruitvale, a section of Oakland known for having a large Latino population. After reading endless reports on Yelp, Chowhound and an article in the East Bay Express by John Birdsall, I was ready to hit the road, or rather, International Boulevard, where there's a high concentration of taco trucks. I didn't spend a month investigating like Birdsall did (thanks John!) but I did put together a hit list, based on recommendations and testimonials. A word about pricing, you'll spend more on bridge toll than you will at most spots along the corridor. Tacos ranged in price from $1 to $1.25 and the agua fresca I ordered was $1.

First stop was the Sinaloa complex, located in a parking lot at 2138 International Blvd. You can't miss this stop and frankly, it's one of the best. Here there are two trucks to visit--one has the standard kinds of tacos, while the other is devoted to seafood. The fish taco was good, but the shrimp tostada was outstanding. A crisp tortilla was topped not just with sweet, plump and juicy shrimp, but also chunks of cucumber, tomato, onion, slivers of avocado and fresh cilantro. Not to be missed!

Across the parking lot, my partner in crime and I tried both the lengua or tongue taco and the chorizo taco. Both were very good. The chorizo has subtle sweet and sweet spicing and was not greasy. I skipped the champurrado, a type of Mexican hot chocolate but did have a very refreshing and not too sweet agua fresca made with fresh strawberries.

Next stop was not really a taco truck at all but a little storefront called Taqueria El Rebozo Blanco at 3215 International Blvd. While I never saw a menu, I knew to order the tacos dorados, the true Mexican version of the crispy taco. While a mashed potato filling is traditional, we had chicken tacos and they were very flavorful, made with delicate dark meat and topped with the traditional cheeses, crema, shredded iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. If you love crispy tacos, you will be very satisfied here.

The final stop is a little tricky to find, because it's located in the parking lot behind La Parilla Grill, at 2900 International Blvd. At Tacos El Paisa the speciality is tacos al pastor, which was very juicy, and mildly spicy, and a bit on the salty side. The tongue taco was very fresh tasting as well. Though on the downside there really is no seating in the parking lot. El Paisa definitely had the most "colorful" customers, but the service was friendly and as an added bonus, the Mexican version of an ice cream truck, a bicycle vendor with paletas or popsicles made his rounds, stopping off to get a taco as well as sell ice cream treats.


View Taco Trucks of Fruitvale in a larger map

See photos from this adventure or check out the map.

If you have any favorite taco trucks in in Fruitvale, please let me know so I can check them out on my next taco crawl.

It's not Summer until you've eaten a peach over the sink, nibbled on cherries, and enjoyed a stack of fresh blueberry pancakes. One of the most highly anticipated Summer treats aside from all the luscious fruit, is fresh corn. When I see Brentwood corn, I buy it. It's sweet, tender and pairs wonderfully with all types of shellfish, blueberries, lime and avocado.

Corn is high in starch and carbohydrates but it's also a good source of Vitamins B1, B5, and C, folate, dietary fiber, phosphorus, manganese and protein. I use white and yellow corn interchangeably. White seems a bit sweeter and yellow a has a rounder flavor, if that makes sense. Corn should be cooked as soon as possible, after it has been picked. It's particularly good in fritters, pancakes, succotash and salads. If you eat it on the cob, try squeezing lemon or lime juice over it and dipping it in something spicy like smoked paprika or chile powder. Another way to enjoy it is with crumbled Mexican Cotija cheese. Slather the hot cobs with mayonnaise and dip it in the cheese. Messy, but good.

At a recent visit to the delightful SolBar restaurant at Solage in Calistoga, I got a kick out of the menu which was divided down the middle into healthy dishes and indulgent ones. The soup of the day was a chilled corn soup and it had no cream in it. I was intrigued. After a little experimenting I found you can get the maximum flavor by limiting the ingredients to a minimum. This recipe is vegan and the exact amounts of salt and lime will vary depending upon how sweet the corn is; the sweeter the corn, the better the soup!

Note: I use a conventional blender, but I have a feeling that if you use a Vita-Mix you will get even better results! If you have one, try it and let me know.

Chilled Corn Soup with Avocado
Serves 4

Ingredients

6 ears of fresh shucked corn, yellow or white
2 limes
salt
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced

Instructions

Remove the corn kernels from the cob, using a chef's knife. Place the corn in a saucepan with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until the corn is tender, just a couple of minutes, no longer. Strain the corn out of the water, reserving the water, and place in a blender. Puree the corn with enough water to give it a smooth texture. Strain the corn puree through a strainer and and add some of the reserved water to achieve the desired consistency. Squeeze the limes into the soup and salt to taste. Chill the soup then serve with a garnish of avocado.

Enjoy!

If you haven't yet discovered outstanding organic and biodynamic wines, this is your chance. Golden Glass wine event benefiting Slow Food San Francisco is a terrific event I've had the pleasure of attending the last two year. The focus is on sustainably-produced wines from around the world, and food from local restaurants.


The line up of restaurants changes from year to year, but in my experience, each year is better than the previous one. This time around there are many award-winning restaurants and purveyors, including A16, Absinthe, Acquerello, Blue Bottle Coffee, Digs Bistro, Delfina, Heaven's Dog, La Mar Cebicheria, RN74, Poggio Trattoria, SF Baking Institute, Slow Club, Stella Cadente, and Trattoria Corso. These are really excellent establishments, in fact, the chef at A16, Nate Appleman just won the James Beard rising star award and that the chef at Poggio, Peter McNee won the Cochon 555 whole-heritage- hog cook-off last week.

This year for the first time, non-drinkers can purchase a ticket to eat only. tickets are available in advance for $60 (Slow Food members: $55); at the door $70; Food only and under 21: $20 (all entry tickets include 5 food tasting tickets. Additional food tickets can be purchased in groups of 5 for $20) Really, $20 to get 5 tastes from topnotch restaurants? That's a bargain!


Sunday June 21st, 2009
2 pm to 6 pm
The Festival Pavilion
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco

I'm so crazy about noodles I could eat them every day and never get bored. Even the family I lived with in Italy was amazed at my capacity for eating pasta. And I love all kinds of pasta--Asian varieties along with Italian, being top of the list. Happily there are two books out at the moment that make a variety of Asian noodle recipes easily accessible to the home cook. Both have great photos and recipes that will send you scurrying into the kitchen.

First up is Takashi's Noodles. They say if you get just one great recipe from a cookbook, it is worth the price. In that case, let me tell you about Spicy Eggplant Ja-Ja-Men Udon. Chef Yakashi Takashi, owner of Takashi's in Chicago describes this dish as a Japanese version of spaghetti and bolognese sauce. It's basically a spicy eggplant and ground pork sauce over noodles with peppers, spicy notes and a creamy sauce that is enriched with sesame paste. The recipe has 18 ingredients but I skipped a few altogether and used substitutions for a couple more and can't imagine it made any discernible difference. I didn't bother with the 1/2 cup dashi, 1/3 cup canned bamboo shoots, teaspoon of cornstarch or 3 Tablespoons of sake. I used Chinese chili garlic paste instead of a Japanese variety and Chinese sesame paste instead of tahini. I had to buy exactly 2 ingredients to make the dish, green peppers and ground pork. I could eat this dish every week! It is so comforting and at the same time exciting. The recipes vary in the number of ingredients but are generally not that difficult. They are all Asian or Asian-influenced but not all Japanese. You'll find crispy noodles, chilled ramen and cold soba, curry shrimp rice noodles even potato gnocchi with lemon butter sauce, scallops and sea urchin. These are restaurant dishes adapted for cooking at home.

Noodles Every Day features quick and easy recipes. For these recipes you will need the basics of an Asian pantry which are explained in detail in an early chapter. All are available at an Asian grocery store or online. However a few recipes have some more exotic ingredients like garland chrysanthemum leaves or silver pin noodles. All the recipes are titled descriptively so Pad Thai becomes Stir-Fried Rice Sticks with Tamarind Sauce, Dried Shrimp, Tofu, Sprouts, and Eggs. Over the years I've had very good luck with author Corinne Trang's recipes and this book is no exception. Her Somen Noodles with Shrimp Curry and Peas uses less than 10 ingredients and is the perfect kind of one pot meal you'll likely be able to make with peas and shrimp in your freezer and without a trip to the store. The book is divided into sections based on the type of noodle you are using--egg, rice, buckwheat, etc. and it also has a section on buns, dumplings and spring rolls.

When I was in Hawaii I was on a mission to try as many top-rated ramen joints as I could. While I'm still nowhere near satisfied with the ramen choices in San Francisco, I am pleased that on June 24th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm there will be a special program at the San Francisco Ferry Building called For the Love of Ramen sponsored by the Asian Culinary Forum. Andy Raskin, author of The Ramen King and I, Eric Nakamura, publisher and co-editor of the Asian-American pop culture magazine, Giant Robot and George Solt, assistant professor of history, New York University will be talking about ramen, a Japanese version of a Chinese noodle dish, with a history spanning the post World War II period all the way till today and including the instant version that has become so ubiquitous. There will be refreshments of course, and great conversation. As a side note, I've been to every Asian Culinary Forum event and they have all been very well-organized, good fun and offered plenty of food for thought. I've already bought my ticket, hope to see you there!

Saturday June 13th marks the first (and I hope not the last!) Great American Food and Music Fest at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View from noon until 10 pm. Get a group of four friends together and tickets are only $21.50 each, otherwise festival tickets start at $35 and go up depending upon what extras you might want such as wine tasting or backstage "meet and greet party" with celebrity chefs. All tickets include the first plate of food you try from one vendor. But undoubtedly you will want to try a whole lot more than that.

This extravaganza is a bit like a foodie pilgrimage around the country without leaving home. Try a pastrami sandwich from Katz's Deli or Graeter's ice cream from Philly, Southside Market BBQ brisket and sausage from Texas or even the original Anchor Bar Chicken Wings from Buffalo otherwise known as, "Buffalo wings."

If you want to indulge in local specialties and even see them being made, there will be plenty of those too. Incanto's Chris Cosentino will be making hot dogs, June Taylor will be creating strawberry jam, Chuck Siegel of Charles Chocolate will be forming chocolate truffles and Nate Appleman of A16 will be making some new creation that has yet to be revealed. Competition will be in the air as chefs from Burgermeister, Pearl�s, MO�s, and the Burger Joint compete for the title of San Francisco's Best Burger.

This is going to be a great event! And I have 2 tickets to give away to lucky readers. Leave a comment with your favorite regional American specialty and I will pick two readers at random. Tickets are available online now. Use the ticket code "foodfest" for $5 off ticket prices.

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ENTRIES

To cook or not to cook? THAT is the question. Of course, I love to cook. For me, cooking is a creative outlet, a way to share, to experiment and at least partly how I make a living. I also think it's a great skill everyone should know how to do. But I recognize that some people don't enjoy cooking and don't want to cook. I mention this because this past weekend an op ed piece in the New York Times took Michelle Obama to task for saying that she prefers not to cook, if given a choice.

I understand the need for a strong advocate for home cooking, really, I do. But we all get weary of cooking sometimes and if I was Michelle Obama I can imagine having other priorities. Which brings me to the savory tarts from Little Pots and Pans. Thanks to my friends over at Foodzie, I got to try a selection of their terrific pastries.

I have a hard enough time struggling with pastry dough so I was amazed at how crisp, light and flaky the crust was on each of the tarts I tried. The fillings range from a traditional spinach and feta combo to vegan indian curry and my favorite, the roasted tomato, caramelized onion and goat cheese. They heat up quickly in the oven, have a good balance of crust to filling, and delectable seasonings. In short, they are one of the tastiest prepared foods I've tried in a long time. Believe me, a lot of products I try never get a mention.

If I was better at making pie crusts I might consider making something like these pies, but actually I'm happy to let someone else do the cooking now and again.

The last few years I have been an honorary board member for the Asian American Journalists Association East West Eats event. This is a fantastic event with a silent auction, always great food and cooking demos. This year Chef Martin Yan will be providing cooking demonstrations and you can dine on cuisine from some amazing restaurants including Betelnut, Butterfly, Crustacean, Hilton San Francisco, Le Colonial, Living Room Events, Maharani, Namu, Napa Silverado, Poleng Lounge, Ponzu, Shanghai 1930, Slanted Door and Urban Tavern. Beverages will be provided by Chang Beer, Ku Day Ta Tea Lounge, New Zealand Winegrowers and Vitamin Water.

I donated a bunch of cookbooks and edible goodies to the silent auction, and you'll also find original photography, gift certificates, and more. All the proceeds help support student journalism scholarships. As part of its commitment to promoting diversity in newsrooms, AAJA SF awards up to $15,000 a year in scholarships to deserving students interested in pursuing journalism careers.?

East West Eats will be held at the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center Green Room, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco on Sunday the 14th starting at 6 pm.??In previous years tickets have been $100 but this year the price is much less. Tomorrow is the last day for discount tickets to this event! $75 per ticket or $85 after tomorrow. I hope to see you there.