Tourtière vs. tortilla in Mexican street fight
MEXICO CITY— Teresa Guerra confessed to knowing little about Canadian cuisine while lining up at a food truck in Mexico City’s posh Lomas de Chapultepec office district.
On the mean streets of Mexico City, Mexicans seek fast food, and taco stands lining the sidewalks stuff tortillas with everything from tripe to tongue.
But Guerra, an office worker, wasn’t lining up at a typical Mexican food truck — and she wasn’t after a typical Mexican snack. She finally named three examples of Canadian food: maple syrup, apples and lomo canadiense (back bacon) — and her lunch contained two of them.
Part promotional concept, part curiosity, the “food truck canadiense” Guerra ordered his food from has been parked in Lomas and the posh Polanco neighbourhood for the past month, providing a taste of Canadian food products and cuisine.
The truck operates on a $50,000 budget from Agriculture and AgriFood Canada and serves an average of 150 meals daily: an appetizer of poutine made with quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese) or lentil salad; a main of course of albacore tuna or tourtière; an apple cobbler dessert and iced tea. Customers are asked for a donation, which is then given to a cancer charity.
“They laugh at first,” said José Carlos Redon, chef and operator of the food truck. But the Canada logo and cleanliness — which contrasts with street vendors serving food, then handling money — pulls people in, he adds.
Though the truck pits poutine against tacos — delights commonly downed after a night of drinking — taco-stand operators seem unfazed by a little Canadian competition.
“Rich, poor, jodidos” — Spanish slang for the downtrodden — “they all like tacos,” said one taco stand manager, Raúl Orozco, whose clientele ranges from men in suits to itinerant vendors. “It’s our fast food.” The Canadian truck, with its images of apples, blueberries and maple candies, seems an unlikely sight. But Mexico is the fourth-largest market for Canadian agricultural exports, with $1.8 billion in annual sales, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Even products such as Hamilton’s Laker lager are sold in supermarkets as a premium product. Sending a food truck into the streets of a major city to showcase the country’s wares and build “brand awareness” is a first, but Redon says there’s nothing quixotic about the truck circling an area lined with boutiques selling everything from bulletproof clothing to Gucci handbags. Catering to Mexican tastes is another matter. Much of the early crowd on a recent weekday came from a nearby United Nations office — many foreigners concerned about cleanliness and the impact of street food on their stomachs. “This is a heart attack,” said Eduardo Piquero, after eating poutine. Piquero, an Argentine working on environmental matters for the UN, added that it “isn’t as good” as the poutine he tried in Canada, but a nice change from tacos and tortas (thick sandwiches).
Eric Lagunas, an office worker, opted for lentil salad over the poutine. He quite liked it, but said of Canadians: “I don’t think that you’re famous for food.”
One chef thought poutine had potential in Mexico — so long as it was spiced up. “The Mexican palate likes the contrast of acid, spicy and salty in food,” said María José Serrano Sada, chef and co-owner of the Azul Historico restaurant.
She thought “poutine à la Mexicana,” featuring gravy made with poblano chilies and topped with Oaxaca and cotija cheeses and grilled jalapenos had potential — but not likely to make the menu of her Mexican restaurant.