MexiCuban Food Truck -- Latinx flavors in the most unlikely of places.
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In the world of Foodwalking there is a wide expanse of culinary terrain to traverse. Each step is another into the unknown and sometimes you find food in the strangest places. Like in a rough-around-the-edges empty shipping lot in an industrial zone of West Settle. Behind the chain link fence of a commercial seafood warehouse, with a backdrop of stacked shipping containers and a random gas station where trucks pull in to fill up and get coffee, there is little to draw people in for food. Yet there sat the truck, serving — you guessed it — Mexican/Cuban fusion food. It was a classic Foodwalker find.
Approaching the MexiCuban Food Truck in its lonely location confirmed that it was neither broken down nor stolen and abandoned there the night before. The service window was open and the generator hummed from the rear of the black truck with bright tropical colors. The fold-out menu sat on the asphalt in front, welcoming any customers who just might happen along. The cook inside proudly proclaimed MexiCuban to be the first latin fusion food truck of its kind in Seattle, melding together the flavors of Mexico and Cuba. Gee, I thought, not a big surprise there… I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
It was challenge deciding between the trademark Fluffy Taco — a deep fried tortilla stuffed, open face, with roasted pork, plantains, cilantro and Yucatecan spices — and the more traditional Cubano Bowl with shredded roast pork, classic moros y cristianos (black beans with rice), yuca fries, and all the fixings found in any self-respecting bowl of Cuban Street eats. Adding a side of tostones (twice fried smashed plantains) and I had a pretty good baseline sample to taste.
Peering through the fence at the lonely truck, I dug in and — perhaps to my surprise — felt the flavors of the Caribbean come alive in my mouth. The generous mound of shredded pork was soft and stringy without being dry. It sat on a bed of tender, well-blended rice and black beans which imparted that earthy, Caribbean carbo-load that makes it a staple in nearly every Cuban household. Dressed up with pickles, banana peppers, red onions and tomatillo salsa, it delivered exactly what it purported to: solid Cuban basics interwoven with influences of Mexican flavors. While the yuca fries were an unnecessary add on, the tostones could have been straight from Hispaniola or Havana. The crunch of the warm plantain followed by the starchy almost-banana interior transported me back to an earlier time spent in the Dominican Republic. Sitting there in the middle of industrial nowhere, a nostalgic smile formed on my face as I finished my unexpected wealth of very good food.
Yes, foodwalking will take you to places where you wouldn't expect to find the food that oddly appears. Although MexiCuban was not what I expected to find in an empty backlot of Seattle’s commercial seafood industry, it was the embodiment of Foodwalker philosophy: while you don’t find good food everywhere, you can find good food anywhere. ¡Viva La Havana!
https://www.mexicuban.com
