A taste of something new: Pupusas and tongue tacos
If you’ve never eaten a pupusa, now is the time to get out and explore something new. That’s exactly what I did last week during a trip to California Bakery and Pupusas, 1500 Villa Ave., in Sioux City.
There, you’ll find a variety of these popular Central American delicacies on the menu, as well as tacos, an incredible shrimp soup, tamales and much more.
I’ve eaten here a number of times, and each time find myself trying something new, often at the prompting of an adventurous foodie friend. This time I tried lengua tacos for the first time. For the uninitiated, that’s a tongue taco. We’ll get to that in a bit.
We must start, of course, with the pupusas (left). So what is a pupusa? Good question.
This traditional Salvadoran dish is made with a handmade corn tortilla that is thicker than a normal corn tortilla because it is filled with cheese, refried beans, pork or other meat, or a combination of these. At California Bakery, these combo pupusas are called mixtas.
I’ve tried them all at California Bakery, and, truth be told, they are not all that different. It just depends on your taste preference and whether you are vegetarian or not. The chicharon, or pork, and the cheese always stick out as favorites. But a vegetarian would be right at home with the refries and cheese pupusas.
All are simple, stick-to-your-stomach lunch staples that hail from Central America. While many people think of tacos and Central American dishes as spicy, that is not the case with the pupusas, which because of the corn tortilla, are not overwhelming flavor wise.
That’s where the slaw comes in. Served aside the pupusas, the slaw is rich with flavor. We piled the pupusas high with slaw, then doused it all in hot sauce. Again, even with this treatment, it’s still not too hot, spice wise.
For the most part, pupusas are eaten with a fork. I suppose you could wrap it up like a taco and eat it, but really this is a different style of meal.
You can grab the tamale and chow down, but it might fall apart in your hands. It’s thick with cornmeal, and not overloaded with the goods inside, so it is manageable. There’s a rich corn flavor here.
They have a couple warm soups – one a corn soup that is really creamy and almost as thick as a malt, and a second one that must have a pound of shrimp on top of fresh veggies – but I’ll save reviews on those for a colder day.
Now about those lengua tacos (above). A friend who has recently traveled to Mexico ordered up three lengua tacos for the table. “You gotta try em” he said, much to my behest.
They looked like pretty much any other traditional Mexican taco, and they were bursting with chunks of beef, onion and cilantro. That’s not the part that I was concerned about. It’s the fact that this was actually an animal’s tongue. For many, it’s no different than steak or chops. But to me, the idea of eating this is crazy.
So, I let mine sit for a while as I enjoyed my pupusas and slaw. Then, in the name of being a proper food critic, I dove in. In a nutshell, it’s not as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind.
I’ll start with this: if you have texture concerns when you eat (as I do), then you will likely be in the same boat I was: uncertain about a new food that is foreign, unknown and out of the ordinary. Why would anyone eat that, I would think. Then I recalled that whole Native American concept of eating the entire animal and letting nothing go to waste. Either way, here I was faced with munching up this loaded taco, and I was nervous. Yes, really.
Cut to the chase: It was meaty, and chewier than the steak tacos you get at most Mexi and Central American eateries. But the cilantro and onions added nice flavor, as did the hot sauce that I doused it with. The texture was an issue on first bite, because the chunks of meat were large. But the flavor was very similar to a steak taco, so I let it go. Not bad, I figured, considering I’ve gone decades without this food solely because of what it’s made of.
I finished up the taco and went back to my slaw and pupusa. I think I’ll stick with the familiar next time. That’s where you should start, too. You won’t regret checking out California Bakery and Pupusas.
About the Author
Thomas Ritchie I love food, cycling, family, music, social media and especially Sioux City. Got an idea for a story - shoot me a note at siouxcitynow1@gmail.com.
Related Posts
Jose’s serves up Mexican with great flavor, quick service →
Week Ahead: Iron Chef, Wu-Tang and ArtSplash →
Farmer’s market makes food shopping fun →
