Politics is consumed with it, like a cancer, but polarization is all around us. Take the Memorial Coliseum for example. ‘You’re with us or against us.’ I unfriended someone on facebook this week because that person was painting a less-than-unfavorable picture of another US civil war. The benefits vs the inevitable horrors of such a thing fall outside the scope of a blog about tacos, but WTF!

Then there’s BP. Almost everyone is unified in the understanding that this is a terrible catastrophe, but the machine has turned this into grist for the mill, another argument for whatever the people already believe, one way or the other. Rand Paul says accidents happen in a free market. Rahm Emanuel says not to waste a crisis. I have some ideas of things we could put in that well to plug it. I bet you do too.

There is a local chain of restaurants in Corpus Christi, arguably the Exxon/Mobile of local taquerias, that polarizes local tacothusiasts. You know which one I’m talking about: Jalisco. The mention of the name in a roomful of people will illicit strong statements condemning or praising them. The criticism is usually for the chain as a whole, and the praise tends toward individual restaurants. I have never weighed in on the controversy, as I have not eaten enough of the many locations to make an informed judgement, even as vast as my experience with local tacos is – and as my straining belt can tell you, it is vast.

So this morning we moved one step forward in the quest to understand the nature of this argument by eating at Jalisco #12 on Staples at Weber. The Hat and I fought for the turn lane on the way into Jalisco’s lot, but reconciled. Can’t we all just get along? Once inside we ordered, and in a show of bipartisanship the Hat ordered chorizo & egg just as I always do. In my fashion, I also got a carne guisada. The food came to the table and was presented in a polite formality, but not before our coffee had been refilled three or four times in as many minutes. The red I expect in chorizo & egg had jumped from one side of the plate to the other – the carne g looked like it was on fire, and the other taco was a mellow yellow.

From the Hat

Taco Blanca and I attended the Star Wars Orchestra Concert last night and man, what a blast!  There were people of all shapes, sizes, and colors in attendance.  There was no arguing, no bickering, no complaining about the current political scene, or a peep about the gushing gaff in the Gulf.  We laughed, cried, celebrating in solidarity the sonic wonders of Lucas’s amazing movies.  If you can’t tell, I loved it.  It was one of those rare times where no matter who you listened to, there was no rancor.  No “Them”, only “Us”.

Refreshing in a world where no matter what the issue, there are always two diametrically opposed factions that pass on promoting the good of The People to promote their own version of “Us”.  Finding an angle at every instance to make “Them” look like devils and “Us” like saints.  It’s normal.  I understand it.  And the mechanism probably worked great when we were hunting, gathering tribes.  But now the only thing I’m really hunting is the next great barbacoa.  I don’t need a “Them” to set up as the enemy so I can gather a good guisada.  And maybe we can take a lesson from that.  I’m not getting all Cumbaya on you.  We have real, deadly enemies in the world who view us as devils, literally.  And we should make every effort to protect “Us”.  But that enemy is not those who have different opinions, or wear different kinds of clothing or hairstyles, or tattoos, or Liberals, or Conservatives.  And they’re not across the breakfast table – no matter how we might disagree about the quality of the tortillas.  Which by the way were damn good.

And the torts weren’t the only thing good at breakfast this morning.  We went to our third Jalisco this morning and I was pleasantly surprised.  I ordered a barbacoa classico (with cilantro and onions on corn) and a chorizo and egg.  The barbacoa was tender – moist, but not greasy.  Usually I would be crying “Fat is flavor.”  But this “lean” barbacoa was packed with flavor of cow head and spices.  It was served on a very corny tarpolean.  All-in-all a successful breakfast package.  The choizo and egg, usually TSH’s purview, was very good.  Different from most in that it was distinctively not-orange and not-greasy.  I’m ashamed that I could not identify a very tasty seasoning in the mix.  I’ll definitely have to go back and try again to determine the mystery spice.  A query verified that the chorizo was made on-site, but I’ll leave the details to an expert.  The flour tarpolean was fluffy, with a light coating of flour.  I like the brush of flour as long as the flour is cooked.  I’m not a big fan of raw flour.  These were to my liking.  Both salsas, red and green were fresh and tasty.  The green had a good taste of fresh peppers and the red had a pica that pleased the palate.  Definitely the best of the Jaliscos reviewed so far.

Salud

Write, delete, write, delete. Should I write about religion? No, irrelevant. Should I write about politics? No, too depressing. How about the weight issue here in Corpus Christi? How about not, keep the readership in mind. Should I rant or should I praise. Blah blah blah blah. It’s enough to drive a person up a wall. I can only imagine it’s even worse for you, dear reader, as you sit trying to decide where to go for tacos.

Today’s spot was recommended by Jim Halk. He apparently had no trouble deciding for us, an enviable quality in a citizen of Tacotopia as is his taste in taquerias. I was told by someone I’ve known since childhood the ancients recommended making a decision within the space of seven breaths. I think he ripped it from Ghost Dog, who in turn ripped it from Hagakure. In any case  using this metric I have failed at everything I’ve done today except for one thing: ordering tacos. I get the same thing every Friday, in order that I may establish an apples to apples comparison between every taco shop in Corpus. Finally, progress!!!

And once the crack appears in the Ice it’s just a matter of prying the rest of it apart. The words start to flow, the tension eases, the arrayed obstacles start to fall like dominos. If only there were fewer of those first steps. I ordered a Chorizo and Egg, and a Carne Guisada, and coffee. Oh yea, coffee, that helps with the indecision thing too. With a little caffeine in me the haze has lifted enough to make some observations about the place – and to quit being so damned meta. Alteño #3 is stucco and tile, and you can imagine it is in Mexico if you squint your eyes right.

It’s comfortable, not immaculate (that usually means the food is better) but clean, the service is pretty good. It’s in an older part of Corpus, near where my mother lived as a child, and I think that makes the food taste that much better with just the thought of her proximity, even if it was half a century ago. That isn’t the only thing that makes the tacos here good. The tortillas are good, with a little flour on the surface. The Carne G is a good texture, springy and dense but yielding to the tooth, and the gravy is bold but not argumenative. The Chorizo & Egg is just about a perfect balance of the two even though the chorizo itself is probably no different than that used by half the taco shops in town, and the whole thing has a nice mellow flavor that gets attention but doesn’t have to ask for it. The tacos came with ranchero sauce, and the pretty waitress asked if we wanted any other salsa, to which we of course replied yes. She brought out two red salsas – one had a chili pepper flavor and the other was more fresh with cilantro and the Hat says oregano. All this and good company resulted in a decision: I like this place. I’ll be back.

Oh, and we spotted this on the way out – ya gotta love Corpus.

From the Hat

Sometimes I question my sanity.  For instance, I’ve been trying to read the same book now for years.  A classic, the virtues of which are extolled by many a pointy-head.  You know, one of those books that you hear about for most of your life, and know you should take a look, but just never got around to it.  I decided at a Half-Priced Books one day that I was going to read Ulysses, by James Joyce.  I’ve read Homer’s Odyssey many times in several translations, and it’s always a good read – an adventure story of mythical proportions (literally).  It’s a flowing tale that is not hard to understand and it’s easy to put yourself in the milieu.  O Brother, Where Art Thou was based loosely on the story, there’s a musical interpretation by a heavy metal band and “between a rock and a hard place” and  “She carries a torch for him” are 3200 year old sayings from the Odyssey that still work today. [Don’t forget the Steely Dan song ‘Home At Last’ -TSH]

Ulysses is a whole other matter.  I’ve started it over a dozen times.  I’m currently at page 41, a record for me.  Lately, I pick it up before bed and try to get a page or two done.  For me, this thing doesn’t flow.  It’s not easy to understand, and I have a hard time identifying with any of the characters.  Still I nightly ram my head against the prose expecting it to suddenly become clear and make sense.  Isn’t that insanity?

Some have said I’m crazy because I can’t seem to stay out of school, and I’m beginning to agree with them.  University studies have always been for the most part, easy.  Not this time.  Daily, I bang my head against the science expecting it to suddenly become clear.  But In fact, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I’m beginning to wonder if there’s something in common with the Joyce novel.  Am I just getting old?  Is my current difficulty with Ulysses and University just the way of things?  I hope not.  I’m not one to crawl under a shawl in a rocker on the porch – rocking and talkin’ the weather.  So I probably won’t give up on either of my nemesis tasks.  I’ll just have to sprinkle some easy things to do into the mix.  Like Taco Friday’s feast with friends.

And this Friday was easy.  We heard the siren call of Alteno #3 this morning.  The first suitor was a beef fajita taco on a corn tort.  The beef was good and the lettuce, tomatoes and jalapeños were fresh, but the tort was the star.  Thin, yet resilient, and very full of warm corn flavor.  The other taco was a knockout – it snuck into the party dressed as an ordinary taco, and proceeded to wipe out even the memory of the previous poser from my pallet.  Piernas they called it (hog leg). It was roasted, then fried maybe?  Anyway, it was great and I had to have a few to go for those at the office.  It also was served with lettuce and tomato, but on a respectable flour tarpolean.  All of the three salsas were pretty good.  Let’s see what else I can ease my way into this weekend.

Salud