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| VALLARTA’S GOOD TASTES |
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Wonderful chefs in their multi-starred restaurants have put Puerto Vallarta on the culinary map. Thanks to their skills with flavors and their growing interest in organic ingredients, Vallarta has become a fashionable foodies’ paradise, an eating destination. Not only for the restaurants, however.For a true Mexican taste experience, there’s no need to make reservations, just check out the streets or hit the beach. You’ll find a whole parallel universe of food vendors in stands, on bicycles, pushing carts and on foot, waiting to serve you.
Follow the crowds. Local people know where the best food is. Want more choices? Ask a waiting taxi driver, a traffic cop or a shopkeeper.
Hygiene is important. Is there a tub of soapy water for washing hands? Are the food and money handled by two different people? If not, does the money handler wash before returning to making food? Look to see if the vendor is putting a fresh plastic bag over the plate each time food is served on it. Plastic saves time and money and ensures no one else has used it.
Can you watch your order being made? Are there plenty of paper napkins? Various salsas and condiments in covered bowls? A plate of fresh cut limes? If not, ask for some, “limon, por favor.” Lime juice is naturally anti-bacterial. Squeeze some on your taco.
Now that you know what to look for, begin your explorations at a five-star taco stand. Yes, it’s true. The Insider’s Guide to Puerto Vallarta online, has rated about a dozen taco stands with one to five stars.
El Moreno, in old town, on Madero at the corner of Constitución, is a brilliant place to begin. They’ve been in business for 26 years and are a five-star stand. Chef Sandra Alicia makes the tacos in front of you and fills them with you choice of meat or cheese. Everything is made fresh, as you watch.
To drink, there’s the marvellously refreshing jamaica (huh-MY-ih-kuh), one of the appropriately named agua fresca, (fresh fruit water). Jamaica is made from dried hibiscus petals that have been steeped, like tea. It is raspberry colored and sweet-tart.
Alternatively, there’s the other agua fresca favourite, horchata (or-CHAT-ah), a milky rice-based drink with sugar and cinnamon. More complicated to make than jamaica, it’s equally popular.
It’s time to try a fish taco. Sounds a little weird? Try one at Marisma Taqueria, a five-star stand about five blocks east on Naranjo between Venustiano Carranza and Basilio Badillo not far from the market.
Equally good is the four-star Mariscos Mismaloya, serving fish for 30 years. It’s on Aquiles Serdan across from Rizo’s supermarket. Chef Adelida Perez Rodriguez offers fish tacos, shrimp tacos, fish salads and soup.
Holding it up for approval, she has an elegantly cut filet so fresh it is almost transparent. Lightly breading it and quickly frying it, it’s instantly wrapped in a soft taco and served. On the counter are bowls of accompaniments and condiments. From behind the counter, however, she pulls out a bowl of fabulous fiery red sauce that looks like achiote and oil and vinegar. There’s more to it, but it’s a secret recipe.
Moving toward the beach on Francisca Rodriguez just below Olas Altas on the way to the pier, there’s another taco stand with people everywhere. Sitting on chairs on the sidewalk, on a wall behind the chairs and just standing around, people… all eating. It’s El Cuñado, (Brother-in-law Taqueria), a four-star family enterprise that’s been serving customers for 32 years. Chef José Ramon Arbey Gamiño, his brother Esteban Eduardo Gamiño and cousin Miguel Angel Peña keep the crowd well fed and obviously happy. The most popular choice here is a taco de adobo (ah-DOH-bah-doh), grilled marinated pork. The chef’s favourite, however, is always quesadillas, he says.
