Continuing our quest for authentic Mexican food, we finally got down to the much discussed Red Hook ball fields. Despite the presence of the busy Ikea in the neighborhood, this place gets largely ignored by non soccer players rest of the year around; but on summer afternoons, becomes a buzzing beehive teeming with Mexican and Hispanic food afficiaonados. 
All along the boundries of the soccer fields, people line up outside mobile carts vending everything from corn on the cob and gigantic quesadillas to ceviche and tacos; and we stood in line to get ours. 
The stall offered 'huaraches' which were super sized tacos on a masa flour tortilla and we opted for a chorizo version. The Hispanic man at the counter brusquely asked we we wanted guacamole and proceeded to dab a rather large helping on to the huarache. He topped it with some shredded lettuce and some creama fresca. 
On the other hand, the tacos which were similar in concept but smaller in size, held their composure rather well. No guacamole here; we laid on a couple of spoons of their bright red and green salsas; now, this was definitely better; possibly a pointer to why tacos are the more popular dish between the two.
We washed it all down with some agua fresca - chose pineapple juice which turned out to be fresh and refreshing.
All along the boundries of the soccer fields, people line up outside mobile carts vending everything from corn on the cob and gigantic quesadillas to ceviche and tacos; and we stood in line to get ours. The stall offered 'huaraches' which were super sized tacos on a masa flour tortilla and we opted for a chorizo version. The Hispanic man at the counter brusquely asked we we wanted guacamole and proceeded to dab a rather large helping on to the huarache. He topped it with some shredded lettuce and some creama fresca. The Huarache was quite tasty; all ingredients freshly made and with a quick squeeze of lime made for a perfect start. The only downside - the tortilla started getting soggy in the center, weighed down with all the toppings and needed to be eaten rather quickly to prevent it from turning into a mush.
On the other hand, the tacos which were similar in concept but smaller in size, held their composure rather well. No guacamole here; we laid on a couple of spoons of their bright red and green salsas; now, this was definitely better; possibly a pointer to why tacos are the more popular dish between the two. We washed it all down with some agua fresca - chose pineapple juice which turned out to be fresh and refreshing.Took a long lazy break lazing around watching the football match that was playing out in front of us. The blue team had gotten a penalty which they duly converted into a goal. We felt like screaming 'goaaaal' the way latino commentators do but decided against it as no one else including the winning team looked excited enough !
We couldn't leave without trying the pupusas on offer. Looked around and decided that the best one was the one with the longest lines ! The pictorial menus looked enticing; displaying everything from corn tamales to chicharron and plantain chips. Pupusas were obviously the most popular and we quickly hopped into line for ours.
After what was a seemed an interminable wait, we got to the counter. The enterprising stall owners had a person out taking orders from people way back in the line and that was for a reason. Pupusas take real long to cook and need to be eaten hot off the griddle.They are really savory pancakes made out of a rice flour or corn flour shell and stuffed with vegetable or protein of your choice. We chose ours - cheese and flor de loroco - which are buds of a national flower of El Salvador. We couldn't resist adding a side of the lusciously long and crunchy plantain chips. The pupusas were dished up topped with pickled cabbage slaw also called 'curtido' and pickled jalapeno slices. We added a dash of their bright red salsa. The stuffed cheese had melted and flowed out forming a nice brown crust on the griddle becoming one with the outer rice shell.
After what was a seemed an interminable wait, we got to the counter. The enterprising stall owners had a person out taking orders from people way back in the line and that was for a reason. Pupusas take real long to cook and need to be eaten hot off the griddle.They are really savory pancakes made out of a rice flour or corn flour shell and stuffed with vegetable or protein of your choice. We chose ours - cheese and flor de loroco - which are buds of a national flower of El Salvador. We couldn't resist adding a side of the lusciously long and crunchy plantain chips. The pupusas were dished up topped with pickled cabbage slaw also called 'curtido' and pickled jalapeno slices. We added a dash of their bright red salsa. The stuffed cheese had melted and flowed out forming a nice brown crust on the griddle becoming one with the outer rice shell. The loroco was probably a bit tart by itself but mixed with the gooey stringy melted cheese and the mildly fermented rice shell, it was rather difficult to distinguish; kind of like finely chopped okra for the lack of a better description. Nevertheless, all of the ingredients and accompaniments gel together creating a nice melange of flavor.
The chips were fresh and crunchy; with a bit of heft that is uncommon in traditional banana chips from India. We chose a quite refreshing mango agua fresca to wash it all down. These vendors at Red Hook ball fields were a revelation and brought NYC back in contention for good Hispanic street food.
