Meet the Taquero Behind the Nayarit-Style, Crispy-Skin Suckling Pig and Mustard Salsa Competing at TACO MADNESS

TACO MADNESS, Presented by Bud Light Chelada, is L.A.'s first and biggest taco festival. All of L.A.'s heaviest hitting taquerías will be in one place for one day only! The 21 + event is happening this Saturday, May 6, at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles. Ticket sales proceeds will support L.A. TACO's award-winning street-level journalism.sm.

Get your ticket here. 

Los Sabrosos al Horno stands out in L.A.'s highly competitive taco scene for their extremely unique mustard salsa that will astound you as soon as you take that first big bite.

Catching their stand in the wild is like catching a rare legendary Pokémon, since they bounce around from Cudahy to Wilmington, where they've been recently setting up. This is why our little newsroom was ecstatic to find out they were going to be slanging their uniquely delicious tacos at our event this Saturday!

At their stand, you will be greeted by a pair of young suckling pigs echados (lying down). They will both be peering out at you from under the veil of a checkered kitchen towel and be butterflied from head to toe, resting on a steam table. The crunchy pork skin has been broken up and gathered around the heads, while behind the ears, a spread of tortillas rest steaming on a bed of freshly chopped mountain of tender pork.

“Cuantos?” asks the taquero as he puts the chopping knife down and picks up a pair of tortillas, and starts assembling the first taco on a plate. He grabs a handful of meat, tops it with minced cabbage, drowns it in two mustard-based salsas, and adds a bronzed, jaggedly crispy piece of pork skin before handing it over.

David Delfín roasts the pig for four hours while only lightly salting it. After resting it on the steam table waiting to be served, the result is soft and juicy pork meat. It’s lean and clean compared to fat and greasy carnitas. The meat breaks apart with each bite as quickly as the tortilla, allowing that golden mustard salsa to permeate your taste buds with a flavor that can only be described as unexpected but welcomed. The crispy pork skin is the only thing on the plate providing a much-needed crunch for your bite. 

The mustard in the sauce is not the primary ingredient in either of the two salsas Delfín makes. The spicy version is diluted with Roma tomatoes and chile serranos with slices of julienned onion slices. The milder version uses tomatillos. The mustard overpowers the salsa in color and the first impressions when you first taste it, then it disappears into the balanced flavors of chile and garlic. 

After all, a taco is only as good as its salsa.