As we pulled out of Tio Juan’s lot, I suddenly thought about the weather! Ah, yes, the weather, a nice 80 degrees, with no wind. I mentioned this to Ed, who said, "you, picked a good day, this is about as good as it gets here".
We drove further up 8th Street, and noticed a Taco Stand set-up in the parking lot of this meat market:
So Ed parked, and took me on an little tour of the Market. But of course, this was about tacos. So Ed paid for two tacos, and took the receipt outside:
What Ed got were 2 Tacos Al Pastor, or "Shepard-style tacos". According to the interesting story; Lebanese immigrants brought with them Middle-Eastern style of grilling meat, mostly lamb, on a vertical spit. Eventually this was adapted by Mexicans, who marinate pork, and also apply a dry rub, usually grilling the meat on a vertical spit, topped with a slices of pineapple. The final product is a slightly spicy, red meat:
At this location, the meat is obviously grilled, and placed by the Young Lady on top of corn tortilla’s. You grab your tacos and walk over to a metal "cooler" and add whatever "garnish" you want. In this case Ed added shredded cabbage, and a nice salsa. You could clearly taste the nice "spice" and slightly smokey taste. The meat was nicely balanced, moist and tender. I was starting to understand the "other" part of eating a taco; that is the melding of textures, the soft and slightly chewy tortilla, the moist and tender meat, and the crunchy cabbage. This was a "new" location for Ed as well; He usually takes a "right" at the intersection before this market. And it actually has an address:
El Toro Meat Market
1007 W 8th St
Yuma, AZ 85364
The next stop? Ed’s favorite Meat Market, Coronado’s on 24th street. We finally saw some "Gringo’s" here grabbing a burrito, otherwise, we were the only "Gringo’s", well maybe I’m closer to a "JA-ngo" :
Though Ed shops here often; he had never tried the tacos from the market’s stand:
What we got here were two Cabeza Tacos. Literally "head" tacos; traditionally made from the head of a cow, that is steamed overnight, then shredded and mixed with the beef drippings(broth). Ed told me that these are very popular in Sonora, and most versions in Yuma are made with Beef "cheek". I’m assuming he meant the "cheeks" on the head side of the cow….
The moist stewed meat was placed on corn tortillas, Ed placed some cabbage and salsa fresca on top. The moist meat made this a somewhat ponderous taco. Oh, how did it taste? Delici-yoso!!! If one could condense "beef" taste into one bite, this is what it should taste like! Totally awesome. I asked Ed how he liked it? His response? "I’m almost ready to do a delici-yoso dance over this one." Perfect textures, for perfect beef. I’m basically at a loss for words over this.
Yuma Market Coronado’s
890 E 24th St
Yuma, AZ
Before dropping me off to "freshen up" before dinner, we went on a little side trip. Need Kim Chee in Yuma? Well the only place is the Oriental Gift Shop:
This little store is stuffed with everything from souvenirs and lucky bamboo, to health products, to asian food products. And according to Ed, on Saturday afternoon Kim Chee is delivered from Los Angeles, so he had to make sure he got a bottle. This is Yuma’s only Asian General Store, I jokingly called it Ranch 49.5 Market. The Korean Proprietor laughed when we asked when a Korean BBQ was going to open up in Yuma!
Oriental Gift Shop
1701 S Ave B Ste 107
Yuma, AZ 85364
Next – Dinner in Yuma! Stay tuned….