Taco Truck Tacos

"Food is music inside the body, and Mexican food is a band of Mariachis"

                                                                                          -Pelagia

 

 

I never met no taco I didn’t like.  In fact, I’m headed out to buy a couple of them right now.  Not just any tacos but arguably some of the best tacos I have eaten.  And they make and serve them straight from a taco truck. Are you in?

Did you know that the original taco truck always carried a bottle of castor oil to help patrons with those delicate moments when bowels refused movement? Back in 1866 the food truck was called a chuck wagon and probably didn’t even serve tacos.  Designed to provide a proper cooked meal for long cattle drives that could take months at a time, the chuck wagon offered such fare as  beans, coffee, salt pork and greasy cloth wrapped bacon.

About 1900, food wagons showed up in big cities like New York to service night-time workers. This began a trend that spread across the country to towns and cities everywhere where these mobile kitchens provided hot, affordable meals to people where they worked. 

 Today the food wagon industry has evolved to where a gamut of culinary choices from the simple, gourmet and even exotic can be found. Many are at stationary sites, others rotate their locations and still others notify you daily of their arrival to the musical strains of “La Cucaracha”.  Yes, one can find some fine eating at your friendly neighborhood food truck.

Which brings me back to the best tacos I’ve ever had. 

The name of the truck is San Pancho’s Tacos. And you can find their mobile kitchen parked at 491 Bayshore Blvd in front of Lowes Hardware in San Francisco.  Sal and Ivonne started their food truck business in 2008 to follow their dream of being business owners but because of full time employment and schedules they had to give up that dream for 2 ½ years.  In 2010 they both made a hard decision to give up their jobs to go full time as cook and owners of San Pancho’s Tacos.

Mexican food is just a big flirt with our senses, don’t you think? The aromas awaken your hunger. The palate of colors catches your eyes. The food demands that you engage it hands on.  And the flavors dance with your taste buds till you cry out “Caramba!”  And this is what makes the food at San Pancho’s rock.    Mexican cuisine is part of their family heritage.  Sal’s love for food was kindled as he saw his mother cooking for their large family.

Today you can taste the influence of her kitchen skills through the food that Sal prepares. Ivonne is a gracious person who makes you feel like a guest at her kitchen.

Traditional tacos are usually sold with two corn tortillas. Sometimes that works for me and sometimes it doesn’t depending how dry the corn tortillas are.  At San Pancho’s they are always fresh.  But here Sal and Ivonne serve them in a way I’ve never found before. Ask for your tacos “San Pancho’s style” and besides a great array of fixings on top, you’ll find cheese melted between the two corn tortillas bonding them into a type of quesadilla taco.  Fantástico! Each one served is like a work of art. 

By the way in Mexico, Pancho is a nickname for Francisco. As Sal and friends sat around one day here in the City debating names for the new business the name “San Pancho’s” was born. 

Some of the best tacos I’ve had and they’re right here at Sal and Ivonne’s mobile kitchen called San Pancho’s Tacos.  They are available for catering. 

If you come out, let me know ahead of time and maybe I’ll join you. I’m always up for a taco trip.

Salud!

 

San Pancho's Tacos

491 Bayshore Blvd.

San Francisco, CA

(415) 275-1520

Happy New Year 2014

“For unto us a child is born…” Isaiah 9:6

  “The pleasure of a great meal is doubled when shared with one whose company you treasure”- Pelagia

 “Your smile is the best curve to make one’s life staright”- Pelagia

 

 

 

Happy MMXIV!

That’s how our friends in ancient Rome would write it, otherwise known as the 2014th year of  Anno Domini.  Did you know that the earliest recorded festivities celebrating a new year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years? And did you further know that the Ball dropping at 1 Times Square in New York City was first held on December 31, 1907 to welcome 1908?

Can you name the two years that the Times Square Ball didn’t drop since that initial drop in 1907 until today?

Try 1942 and 1943.

But let’s look at  2013.  How was yours?

Mine was fast. Very. Fast.

It was like Time sat behind the wheel of my life’s sedan with a lead foot. With eyes wide I watched as a passenger as life blurred by like telephone poles on the side of the road.

No excuses here but was I surprised to see that my last blog post was in May. Between a new job and moving and traveling and medical matters and family events and etcetera, 2013 was gone in a blink of an eye.

That doesn’t mean I havent been eating. I have. I simply havent been writing about eating. But while eating I’ve also been musing. So I wanted to take a moment and share some musings of mine on food and love and friends and family as we close out 2013 and step into 2014.

 

You are going to hear a lot about New year resolutions. Positive life changes. Exercise.  Better behaviors. New starts.  But as a Marriage and Family Therapist I’m going to share with you a resolution that is simple, achievable and a recipe for bringing cheer to life. 2013 was the year that unto us a grandaughter was born. I remember the morning this holiday season when our daughter was leaving for the long drive  home after Christmas.  Her baby, my grandaughter needed to be fed prior to departure abd I held our little princess in my arms bottle feeding her around 4 a.m.  Yes, 4 a.m. She drank hungrily but had stopped feeding for just a moment, locking eyes with mine and smiled. I had forgotten how in love one falls all over again while holding a new grandchild. Babies are truly the kiss of God’s sweet grace. But that moment reminded me of a simple truth that carries across every year. A recipe if you will for good cheer in 2014.

 

 

 All our meals and fine dining and exploration of recipes and restaraunts lose substance unless shared with others.  Friendship with food is the secret to life’s  balanced diet.  In 2014, take the hand of those in your circle of life and together enjoy the world of food, cheer and song. Your life and theirs will be better for it. And don’t forget that your smile is the one curve that will help make your world straight.

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all of you here and abroad who have been a part of my readership.  To all of you I wish a wonderful and magical New Year.

Próspero 2014!

Prosit Neujahr

Feliz Ano Nuevo 2014!

Chu Shen Tan

Che il tuo 2014 sia pieno di tranquillita' e serenita'

Happy New Year!!!