Posted by Carey Jones, October 8, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Editor's note: On October 18th, street vendors from all around the city will converge on the Tobacco Warehouse in Dumbo, Brooklyn for this years Vendy Awards. Tickets are only $80 and every penny goes to benefit the Street Vendor Project, a non-profit organization that fights for the rights of sidewalk vendors in New York City. Every day this week we will profile one of the five finalists, and the food they will be serving up at the competition.
Photograph courtesty of Kathryn Yu
Rafael Soler’s pupusa truck is not the only vendor of note at the corner of Clinton and Bay Streets. It’s not even the only pupusa truck of note. As any serious streetside eater knows, weekends at the Red Hook ball fields are a celebration of all things Latin—with huaraches, chalupas, watermelon juice, grilled maiz on the cob, and so much more, all sold from trucks clustered around the park's northeast corner. But Soler Dominican snagged this year’s Vendy nomination—a choice that’s hard to contest.
Pupusas themselves are perfect street food: small, flat cornmeal cakes stuffed with meat, cheese, or veggies and slapped on the grill for a hot, steamy snack. While Rafael’s range from the simple frijoles to the traditional queso con loroco—cheese with a Central American flower bud—the best might be the revuelta. Its pork-and-mozzarella filling is a salty, meaty mouthful that oozes out of its cornmeal casing the moment it gets a chance.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 12, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I’ve been to the Red Hook Ball Fields on more than one occasion and each time I’ve had a pupusa or two. While the stuffed disks of masa de maíz make for a tasty snack, I’ve never been all that impressed. That said, I’ve always been amazed to see two pupusa vendors in such close proximity to each other, since there’s only a handful of Salvadoran restaurants in New York City. And truth be told, I’ve never been all that jazzed by pupusas I’ve eaten in a restaurant. So when a Salvadoran acquaintance told me she’d found the best pupusas in the city at a humble spot called Viña del Mar II, I decided to give the cheesy corn cakes another whirl.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 5, 2008 at 2:30 PM
It's hard to believe that my life was pupusa-less up until I tried one at the Red Hook ball fields last summer. During a recent visit to the ball fields, it was the first food vendor I hit (after getting a cup of horchata from another stand; I needed sweet, rice-flavored hydration right away). For $5 you get can two thick, flattened, corn dough patties—crisp on the outside, soft on the inside—filled with your choice of cheese, vegetable, or meat matter. They come with a side of crunchy pickled cabbage and you can grab as much sliced pickled jalapeño pepper as you want from a bucket on the truck's ledge. My favorite fillings were the pork and cheese—gooey and meaty at the same time—and the jalapeño and cheese—gooey with bits of spicy mixed in. Basically, anything filled with melted cheese is going to taste good. Bay Street and Clinton Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (map)
Related:
Red Hook Vendors: A Quick Guide for the Uninitiated
Posted by Zach Brooks, May 27, 2008 at 11:45 AM
I guess we weren't the only ones with this Memorial Day weekend idea
As promised, pupusas, tacos, and huaraches made their first appearance of the season on Sunday alongside the grilled corn and fruit at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. The pupusa line was out of control (a 30-minute-plus wait at peak times), but for those who were paying attention, huaraches and tacos were being sold on a different side of the table and had little to no line for much of the day.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, May 23, 2008 at 6:00 PM
I don't know where you'll be this weekend, but I will be on pupusa patrol at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, where according to Brownstoner, the Salvadorean snack (yes, I consider it a snack!) will be sold by vendors from the Red Hook Ballfields. Last weekend the Flea teased us with corn and fruit, but supposedly this week the "big guns" are coming out (there are huarache rumors as well). The pupusa will be immediately followed by a cannoli chaser, from Salvatore Farms Ricotta. See you there...
