I have recipes that are my "go to" comfort foods but the food that brings a smile is from an ancient Mexican food stand in downtown Los Angeles' Olvera Street. Reportedly the first street in Los Angeles, Olvera Street is filled with little stalls selling a variety of tourist trade items, two actual restaurants, and a few food stands . Cielito Lindo is a favorite. A small menu and even smaller space produces food that has been same for the forty-nine years we've been going there.
The place has always been crowded and parking a challenge but when I was a child Dad would let Mom off and circle the block, once--sometimes twice until she'd gotten our order and navigated back to the curb with sacks full of taquitos, sauce and bottles of soda. The taquitos sat in a thin guacamole, uniquely their own, so good I could eat it with a spoon and have, on occasion, tipped the paper container to drain it of the last drops. The first crunchy bite was filled with flavors new to a young Indiana girl, spicy but easily quenched with a cold drink of soda. Heaven.
I've tried to replicate the guacamole but coming close I gave up. I'd hate to miss the whole experience which is more than taste because I take one bite and I'm transported back into an eight-year-old in the back seat of her parent's '57 Mercury with a bottle of orange soda and a taste of Los Angeles.
6 comments:
boy did that bring back some really fond memories and certainly a tear to the eye.
Does anyone have the recipe for the Guacamole Taquito Sauce made at Cielito Lindo's, Olivera Street?
nope no recipe..........sorry! Many have tried and failed BUT came close. We figure it would ruin the visit if we tried to make it and it turned out right. It's better to get it from the original.
is anyone willing to share their 'close' to Cielito Lindo's taquito sauce? We are now living 600 miles away from there. We have many fond memories of going there when dating and we just celebrated our 50th. anniversary! Still looking for THAT recipe! There's nothing like them anywhere!
I do have something close but I'll have to find it. Contact us through our e-mail pbetouffee@gmail.com and I'll try and find it.
My favorite is Juanitas at Olvera Street. The sauce sounds so familiar. Thin, spicy, definitely opens the old sinuses. Growing up in LA, we went there quite a bit. Also to La Paloma.
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