Red Hook vendors (still in session)

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of enjoying some delicous ceviche, pupusas, warm tuna soup, and sopa’s at the Red Hook soccer fields without having to wait in any lines. It was nice afternoon hanging out with some friends and being able to casually sample the tasty food. Luckily, they will be around for about 5 more weeks so their last day will (probably) be on november 9th. It was very refreshing not ot have to wait in the long lines I experienced earlier in the summer.

That being said, I would definitely urge paying them a visit now to encourage them to keep coming out and to support them and the cost they had to pay for the city approved carts/trucks. The brooklyn paper reported that the vendors were paid up to $45000 to be in compliance with the new city codes that were enforced on them this year. They also lost a few months from their season and started late july instead of the usual May this year. Luckily, we still have 5 more weeks to enjoy their delicous food before they close down for the season until next May.

What we had and snazzy photos after the jump…

My favorites was definitely the warm tuna soup and seafood ceviche from the Ecuadorian lady at the ceviche cart at the far end of the line. The tuna soup was filled with yucca root, shredded tuna, sliced red onions, tomatoes, cilantro and home made broth that they made that morning. It was great for a cool fall afternoon and healthy to boot. They served it with a slice of lime and a hot salsa that gave it a nice kick. The ceviche that they make doesn’t look like anything i have had before because it was so cloudy. I asked her why it was so and she said they put in the water they use to cook the seafood (octopus, shrimp, squid, and tuna) along with acid (probably lime or lemon) when they make the ceviche. It was a great variation I haven’t had before.

I was intrigued the cashew nut drink that the pupusa cart was making as well. It was a bit too sweet for me at first, but after I had half of it it started to grow on me a bit. While it was interesting, I think I’ll try something different next time.

The pupusa were nice as they always are. If you have never had it before, the best thing I can compare it to is a stuffed savory pancake.

We also had some ripe mango’s with chili and lime and finished up with sopes con carne.

Good stuff!

The thing I definitely want to try next time is the goat taco’s and some of the tamales.

If you are thinking about going, the porkchop express has a good write up on it, but the list of vendors is a bit out dated now since a lot of them didn’t come back when they had to follow all the city regulations. Serious eats had a good entry on the changes to expect this season. If all else fails, do a quick google search and you’ll come up with tons of blog and news coverage.

Photos

As I mentioned before, I have been having some technical difficulties the past couple days using the WordPress image uploader which has been holding up my posts. I will be just have text links to my photos for now and will come back later to update the text links to thumbnails.

Shrimp Cocktail w/ spicy green salsa
Ceviche Stand
Empty lines… no waiting!
Seafood Ceviche (squid, octopus, tuna, & shrimp)
Pupusa (chicken & pork)
Maranon (cashew drink)
Sopes con Carne
Warm Tuna Soup (yucca root, shredded tuna, red onions, cilatro, tomatoes, hot salsa, and lime)
A huarrache vendor in action