Burritos at Dee Dee’s Ice Cream

Posted on May 18, 2013 by shipwrekkt

Last week I lamented the absence of good burritos in Halifax. This was, perhaps, premature. I have not yet tried Chaechie’s Grill or Que Tal, as my feet don’t often carry me to Bayer’s Lake or Portland Hills. I am stuck downtown with the over-hyped Burrito Jaxx, and the Subway-esque Cantina Mexicana, which is always out of guacamole. Sorry downtown burrito fans! I wanted to be impressed, I really did. But there is good news! I have found burrito love in the north end, at Dee Dee’s Ice Cream.

From the outside, it looks like any other grilled Halifax burrito. But inside there is pure love! I could see the tortillas laid flat on the counter, the toppings distributed with such care and symmetry. I didn’t have to hover over my burrito as it was being made, nit-picking over this and that. A classic veggie burrito ($6.60) has rice, fresh salsa, local organic refried beans & lettuce. You can add hot sauce or banana peppers free of charge, or upgrade to the works (+ cheese, sour cream & guacamole) for $8.75. Local organic refried beans FTW! … but lettuce? I have to admit, I don’t think lettuce belongs in a burrito, but it was so crunchy and fresh at Dee Dee’s that I actually enjoyed it.

Veggie burrito with the works at Dee Dee’s

You can get local free-range chicken or grass-fed beef in your burrito for $9.60 ($11.75 with the works). I love the emphasis here on wholesome local ingredients, and I love that I don’t have to interfere with the burrito-making-process. I could just sit back and admire the quaint little kitchen and neighbourhood feel of the place, and contemplate what flavour of ice cream would follow up my meal.

As for the burrito, it was delicious! It was balanced, simple, sturdy, and wholesome. I recommend the addition of hot sauce for that extra kick.

For dessert I tried a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of the Mexican chocolate, which is perked up with cayanne and cinnamon. My burrito buddy tried the mango sorbet and the raspberry passionfruit (I think). We took our ice creams to a picnic table in the commons and watched the roller skaters in the oval. It was a lovely local day!

Dee Dee’s Ice Cream
5668 Cornwallis St.
Halifax, NS
(902) 407-6614

San Francisco Mission-Style Burritos

Posted on May 7, 2013 by shipwrekkt

The American burrito was essentially invented in San Francisco’s Mission district, which is a colourful Mexican/Latino neighbourhood that has a ridiculous amount of taquerias per capita. A burrito is really a whole meal wrapped in a tortilla, and was originally an effective way to sustain farm workers for a long hard day. When the burrito met the American belly, it adapted by becoming humongous! First, 12″ tortillas had to be invented. Next, corn tortillas had to give way to the sturdier flour tortilla, in order to aspire to this bloated glory. Flour tortillas have a high concentration of gluten (i.e. wheat protein). When steamed, the gluten in the flour is activated, giving the tortilla elasticity superpowers. The tortilla is able to stretch around the meat, rice and beans without ripping or tearing. But just in case, the burrito is tightly wrapped in aluminium foil.

American burrito ideology originated in San Fran, and the Mission-style burrito is truly distinctive of this neighbourhood.

Upon my arrival at the San Francisco airport, I immediately hopped on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and unloaded myself in the Mission district to explore while I waited for my Californian friend to get off work. I was delighted as I ascended the escalator to street level and was greeted by the sunshine and colours of a bustling intersection. This warm welcome would quickly give way to cold and fog as I ventured into other neighbourhoods. The Bay Area is composed of insanely steep hills and mini-valleys, producing a variety of micro-climates. The Mission district is one of the sunniest areas of San Francisco, as it is sheltered from much of the dampness that comes off the bay. A word of warning to my fellow travellers: San Francisco is COLD! I’m serious. Bring a sweater.

I love that feeling of being in an entirely new place, with absolutely no idea as to my exact whereabouts. But I was on a mission for Mission Burritos! First stop was El Farolito.

Burrito from El Farolito

So I’ve got a thing for veggie burritos. I don’t know why, but the addition of meat just doesn’t add anything to my delight. I am a bean paste enthusiast, lover of avocado, slurper of salsa, and an unlikely advocate of vegetarian Mexican food. El Farolito is best known for their carne asada burrito, but they had a vegetarian burrito with a roasted poblano pepper, and this simply won my heart. There was a complementary salsa bar, where we stocked up on salsas and hot (read: HOT) peppers.

You eat a Mission burrito by unwrapping the foil as you go and applying the salsa as needed. We ate our burritos at the BART station, despite the finger wagging of concerned citizens who informed us that “In San Francisco, we don’t eat at the BART station”. Who knew? Anyway, this burrito was immensely satisfying. The texture of the steamed tortilla was quite different than the cheap, cold-rolled wraps that pass for burritos here, which we struggle to improve by grilling. The flavours and layers were perfectly balanced, not a haphazard smorgasbord of choose-your-own-adventure.

This is the burrito that ruined me for other burritos.

Veggie burrito from Taqueria Cancun.

On my last day in San Francisco I had a burrito at Taqueria Cancun, and it was decent despite my Napa-valley-induced hangover. I really appreciate just ordering my choice of “meat”, and not having to fuss over this topping or that topping a la Subway. A Mission burrito has any meat, rice, beans, onions, cilantro & salsa. “Any meat” could mean al pastor (marinated pork), carne asada (grilled beef), pollo (chicken), chorizo (Mexican sausage), and even lengua (beef tongue), cabeza (beef head meat), and sesos (beef brain). I felt adventurous on this hungover morning and tried a lengua taco as well.

Beef tongue taco at Taqueria Cancun

While it was refreshing to eat an authentic taco (See ya later cheese, lettuce and sour cream! Hello corn tortilla!), I can’t say I’m a big fan of tongue. Shocking, I know.

While I’m at it, I’ll just mention another fantastic Mexican eating experience I had while in San Francisco. Gracias Madre is a vegan Mexican restaurant with terrific food. I barely missed cheese, and I definitely didn’t miss meat as I enjoyed the ingenuity of the vegan menu. I would totally eat here all the time if I lived in San Fran. What a lovely spread:

A bit of this and that at Gracias Madre

Sigh… I have been spoiled by delicious Mexican food and now stand jaded and critical in humble Halifax. Is anyone else having the same problem? Where do you go for your Mexican fulfilment?

El Farolito
Menu & Locations

Taqueria Cancun
Urbanspoon Page

Gracias Madre
2211 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
Web Site

Tofino Fish Tacos

Posted on December 12, 2012 by shipwrekkt

Thanks to this song, reminiscent of my high school taste in music, my bucket list demanded that I take surfing lessons in Tofino, Canada’s surf capital, located on Vancouver Island. So there I was, last Spring, on the rainy Pacific coast, riding a rental bike in the rain to the beach where I would proceed to get knocked over by giant waves, attacked by my own surfboard, and trapped inside an obstinate wetsuit. It was so worth it!

The whole time I was in Tofino I ate nothing but fish tacos, most notably from a little orange truck called Tacofino that has famously expanded to include two mobile food trucks in Vancouver. The original truck is always stationed in the “Live to Surf” complex, between tsunami country and the bustling metropolis of Tofino (pop. 1,876).

Tacofino truck.

If you are unfamiliar with fish tacos, I will provide some explanation. Authentic Baja-style fish tacos originated in Baja, Mexico when Japanese fishermen wrapped their tempura fried fish in the local tortillas. Or so I’m told. Nowadays they are typically composed of deep fried white fish, finely shredded cabbage, and a creamy white sauce. Other common toppings are fresh tomato salsa, avocado, and cilantro. Of course, there are further deviations. For example…

Tacofino’s tuna taco ($6.50): Lightly seared sesame-soy albacore tuna with wasabi-ginger mayo, shredded cabbage, mango salsa and seaweed salad on a fire toasted flour tortilla. Seaweed salad is certainly a strange taco topping, but it seems to work with this Asian-inspired concoction. I do prefer flour tortillas for fish tacos, and I love how they torch this one! It’s a bit pricey, but that’s fairly typical of the touristy Tofino price-scale.

Tuna taco @ Tacofino

Tacofino also has an amazing and more affordable fish taco of tempura battered ling cod with chipotle mayo, shredded cabbage and salsa fresca ($4.50). Since I am a registered bean paste enthusiast, I also ordered the refried black bean taco ($3.50). This one is on a corn tortilla and topped with feta cheese and cilantro. Quite lovely.

Cod and Bean tacos @ Tacofino

I could seriously survive on these tacos alone, not to mention Tacofino’s Lime-Mint slushy drinks and their Chocolate Diablo Cookie ($2.50)! BEST.COOKIE.EVER: Fudgy chocolate cookie with fresh ginger and chili, milk chocolate chunks, and salty sprinkles. It is all you could ever imagine and more.

Chocolate-Diablo Cookie @ Tacofino

If it was even possible to get sick of Tacofino, there is the Wildside Grill right next door which also makes some pretty mean fish tacos: 3 for $13 or $5 each. They use lettuce and cilantro instead of cabbage, as well as cheese, avocado, and a corn tortilla. Wildside has more variety than Tacofino, serving up things like fish ‘n’ chips, oyster burgers, breakfast tacos, and a cod clubhouse with bacon, avocado and chilli mayo! Unfortunately I was limited to one lonely (albeit tasty) taco.

Cod Taco @ Wildside Grill

In downtown Tofino I tried the fish taco from Big Daddy’s Fish Fry. What a mess. Thick sliced purple cabbage and what looks like tartar sauce = Fail. Well, the fish itself was very nice and the tartar sauce was pleasant. The fish ‘n’ chips at Big Daddy’s are probably stellar. It was mainly the giant cabbage tentacles that ruined this for me.

Fish Taco @ Big Daddy’s Fish Fry

Before travelling to Tofino, I read a blog about a salmon taco on a crispy blue taco shell, topped with fruit salsa. For some reason, I was led to believe that Tofino was this sunny surfer’s paradise with everyone eating blue tacos on the beach. Was I ever wrong! There are no taco vendors at the beach, and your taco would probably be soggy from the rain (if you think I’m exaggerating the rainfall, please note that this part of BC is a temperate rainforest. July and August are the driest months. You’ve been advised). This fruity blue taco is served right in town at SoBo and it was a huge disappointment. The fish wanted seasoning and the salsa wanted freshness. I didn’t find the flavours compatible, and the novelty of the blue taco shell wears off quickly when you realize it’s no different than an Old El Paso taco kit.

“Killer Fish Taco” @ Sobo = not so killer.

My favourite fish taco in Tofino is probably non-existent by now, but it was a $5 happy hour special alongside buck ‘a shuck oysters at The Schooner. The blackened fish was topped with deep fried calamari rings, jalapeno slices, cilantro, fruit salsa and creamy sauce in a grilled flour tortilla. Now THIS was killer! I think I ate two or three of these in the 2 days I spent in Tofino.

$5 Special @ The Schooner

If anyone is swinging by Tofino, you should tell the kitchen to put this on the permanent menu! In the meantime, Tacofino is more than satisfying.

Tacofino

1184 Pacific Rim Hwy
Tofino, BC
(250) 725-8228
Web Site

Tacofino Vancouver!

Blue Burrito Truck @ Burrard & Dunsmuir
Orange Taco Truck @ Robson Square

Wildside Grill
Two Locations:
1180 Pacific Rim Hwy (Live to Surf Complex)
1850 Pacific Rim Hwy (Long Beach Golf Course)
(250-725-9453)
Web Site

SoBo
311 Neill Street
Tofino, BC
250 725 2341
Web Site

Big Daddy’s Fish Fry
411 Campbell St
Tofino, BC
(250) 725-4415
Yelp Reviews

The Schooner Restaurant
331 Cambpell St.
Tofino BC
(250) 725-3444
Web Site

Other Links of Interest:
Surf Sister Surf School
Tofino Brewing Co.

Eat This Town

A Halifax-Based Food Tourism Blog

Category Archives: Tacos

Burritos at Dee Dee’s Ice Cream

San Francisco Mission-Style Burritos

Tofino Fish Tacos

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