The Red Hook Food Vendors are Alive and Well

el olomega, a salvadoran pupusa truckThe Red Hook Food Vendors trucks have been in operation since 1974. They currently run down Bay and Clinton Streets adjacent to a handful of ballfields that host weekend games from early morning until late afternoon. The food trucks originally provided food and nourishment to their friends and families that played games on the nearby fields. The origin of the Red Hook food trucks nearly 40 years ago has fueled the fire of interest this city has in Latin American cuisine. It is an interest that continues to grow and one that is epitomized on the corner of Clinton and Bay Street in Red Hook.

In the middle of summer, one of the jugos from Victor's and Ana's Blended Wonders is the perfect refreshment. They make juices from watermelon, mango, cantelope, tamarind, pineapple, and lime. There was a coolor of cucumber juice, a pitcher of strawberry shake, and bags of cut up fresh fruit for $3.

Victor's and Ana's Blended Wondersthe menustrawberry shake, lemon-lime, watermelonNext to Victor's and Ana's Blended Wonders, to the left, is Piatzlan. Their menu consists of tacos, tostadas, cemitas, and flautas. Tostadas are basically an open-faced taco on a fried corn tortilla. Flautas are tostadas' rolled brethren. Your choice of meats are the usual suspects: barbacoa, carne asada, al pastor, and pollo.

piatzlan truckpastor, asada, and pollo tacosAbout halfway down the lineup on Bay Street is El Olomega. A guy takes your order for you on a double pad and rips off a copy for the kitchen (truck) and gives you the other one. By the time you get up to the front of the truck, whatever you ordered is likely to be ready and you hand over your ticket and some cash in exchange for a plate of El Salvadoran pupusas. The handmade shells, made from masa, are filled at Olomega with anything from chorizo to a native, exotic flower from El Salvador called Loroco.

El Olomega truckthe menuAfter they're made by hand, the pupusas are slapped onto a flat top and watched over until they get a nice char.

The finished product. That's the Loroco pupusa with cheese on top. The pupusas are served with pickled cabbage and cream. There's a jug of what looks like red salsa where you pick up your order. You can help youself. The "salsa" turns out to be a marinara sauce. A slight surprise but a perfect sauce for the slightly salty, fried pupusa.

The history of the Loroco flower is explained on posters taped to the front of the truck; "Loroco is a delicious exotic flower, native of Central America, and cultivated in its sunny valleys. Loroco was called Quilite, which in the indigenous language means 'Edible Herb.' It's a perennial plant that produces flowers from May to October in El Salvador, but with irrigation can produce year round."