First We Feast continues to impress with their coverage of all parts of Los Angeles, rare for any publication without its HQ in the city, and often uncommon even for purely local publications. Following up on Tony Chen's coverage of The Rise of the Compton Taco, editor Erin Mosbaugh files a survey of street food options in South L.A. as recommended by Street Gourmet LA Bill Esparza.
Opening with the line "For those Angelenos who don’t make it south of the 10 Freeway, we have one thing to say: We feel sorry for you." the roundup includes ten essential street foods including this blog's favorite carnitas (Carnitas el Momo, winner of our taco of the year award). Here's an excerpt and the link:
Tortas at Super Tortas D.F.Address and phone: E 41st St (just off the southwestern corner of E 41st St and S Central Ave), South L.A. (323-351-8379)Good for: Expertly-layered combo sandwiches prepared by trained torteros
Esparza says: “These guys are genuine, skilled sandwich makers trained in Mexico City, which makes a world of difference. They’re really conscientious about the bread they’re using—it’s made for them at a local bakery to their specifications. They’re offering all those different, fun combinations that you’d find at a Mexico City-style torta stand: sandwiches named after people from different countries (Suiza, Española), states in Mexico (Poblana, Toluqueña), and sexy girls. But the Cubana is the mother of all tortas; it has everything. For the Cubana, the tortero takes some eggs, scrambles them, throws them out on a huge flat crate, and drops some chorizo in there. Then he starts cutting the omelet and folding it in layers. He takes that super-thin, layered omelet and puts it onto the sandwich, along with hot dogs, milanesa, several different cold cuts, yellow and white cheese, avocado, a thin layer of mayo and refried beans, tomato, lettuce, onion, chiles chipotles, and pickled jalapeños.”
