Taqueria Sanchez

I was killing time in West LA, so I went to my favorite taqueria, Taqueria Sanchez. I discovered the place a few years ago while searching through old Chowhound threads.

From outward appearances, Taqueria Sanchez might look like any other fast food Mexican restaurant. However they do a good job with their street-style tacos. In particular, they do very good al pastor (marinated pork), but I've found their cabeza (head) and buche (pork intestine) to be quite good as well.

Today I ordered a minor feast: dos tacos al pastor, dos tacos de cabeza, un taco de buche, y un taco de chicharron (pork rind). Each taco was $1.35, but they're quite generous. When my food was ready a few mintues later, one customer thought it looked so good he asked for the very same thing.

I started with the al pastor, which was one of the reasons I had gone here in the first place. Their al pastor is very moist, which I've found to be exceptional when compared to most other Mexican restaurants, and it is bursting with flavor. Though unusually this time, they served the pork with the pineapple pieces they used to marinate the meat. Surprisingly, the pineapple wasn't overpowering, and was just as good as the pork.

I next had the cabeza, my second favorite at Taqueria Sanchez. The cabeza is tender and sopping with stew. Unlike it's name, cabeza, or head, is more like a stewed headcheese, using the cheek meat and other bits. As such, there's plenty of tender meat and soft connective tissue. Whereas the al pastor is a little savory and a little sweet, the cabeza is savory and more straightforward. It can be a bit messy, but it's worth having the tasty juices from the stew.

Next, I moved onto the buche. Like you might expect, the buche was chewy, but not to the point of being unappetizing. Intestine is always a little funky, kind of like how lamb or goat is a little funky when compared to beef or pork, but it's never off-putting. Compared to the rest of the tacos, it provided a good contrast in texture. Like everything else, it was well-flavored, but different from the rest.

Lastly, I had the chicharron. This was my first time trying it here. I've been to some restaurants that used pre-packed pork rinds, and others that used meaty chunks with a little bit of rind. The chicharron at Taqueria Sanchez appears to be prepared on site, with less meat and more rind. They're quite soft as they're stewed in a smoky, spicy sauce. It's similar to a barbecue sauce, but without the overwhelming sweetness. It was actually pretty delicious.

It turned out to be a good mixture of different flavors and textures. Six tacos was perhaps a little more than I needed to eat, but I don't regret finishing a meal that was so good.

Some other notes on Taqueria Sanchez:
- 5 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. You will need napkins.
- 5 out of 5 on my tacometer. This is seriously good stuff.

Taqueria Sanchez
4541 S. Centinela Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90066

Cage Watch

Cage Movie #40: Snake Eyes

Cool Dudes of History - Brian May

Brian May, born July 19, 1947, is the lead guitarist for the rock band Queen.

In 1968, Brian May, along with Tim Staffell and future Queen drummer Roger Taylor, formed a group called Smile. Staffel befriended fellow student Farrokh Bulsara, another cool dude of history, who would later be known as Freddie Mercury. Staffel eventually left the group in 1970, and Freddie suggested they change their name to Queen. Bassist John Deacon was then added to the mix, and thus was born the legendary rock group Queen. Queen would go on to record 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles, and 10 number one DVDs.

For his involvement in Queen alone, Brian May should be considered a cool dude. But he also built his own guitar. That's right, built his guitar. With help from his dad, May built the Red Special, his personal guitar, when he was a teen. He would use it throughout his career, on many of Queen's hits.

And if that wasn't enough to qualify him as a cool dude, he's also an astrophycist. Prior to making it big with Queen, May was studying for his PhD in physics at Imperial College London. In 2008, thirty years later, he completed his research and earned a PhD in astrophysics. He is currently serving as the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.

Here's "We Will Rock You," one of the Queen songs that Brian May composed. Ironically, it doesn't feature any instruments except for his guitar solo at the very end.

Celebrity Sightings - Ashley Jensen

Probably almost all of you are wondering who Ashley Jensen is. For "Ugly Betty" fans, you probably know her as Christina McKinney. But for "Extras" fans, she's the incredibly dense Maggie Jacobs.

I was shopping at the Hollywood Target, when I heard a distinct Scottish accent. It just so happened that I had watched "Extras" a few days earlier, and it sound a lot like Ashley Jensen. I couldn't see who was talking because her back was to me, but her voice is so distinct, that I thought it could be her. So I peeked around the aisle, and it turned out it was her. She was there shopping with her husband. It's too bad, though, since I couldn't really remember her name, so I felt awkward about going up to her and telling her that I enjoyed her work.

I don't like it when people just go up to someone they think is a celebrity and ask for an autograph, so I didn't want to be the douche that didn't know an actress' name. Oh well, missed opportunities.

Cage Watch

Cage Movie #39: Knowing

Beef Bourguignon and Peach Cobbler

Since we couldn't celebrate Fathers' Day last week, we did it this week instead. Sister C, inspired by "Julie and Julia," decided to cook beef bourguignon using Julia Child's recipe.

She labored for over five hours, but unlike Julie she didn't fall asleep, and made sure she got it right on her first try. She might not feel that it was worth it, but it was excellent, with strong, well-rounded flavors, and tender meat.

I, on the other hand, was responsible for dessert, in a change of roles with my sister. Sister C suggested a Raspberry Bavarian Cream, also featured in "Julie and Julia," but I commented I'd rather make a Raspberry Bibinka, as featured in the classic, "Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo." I'm not particularly big on dessert, but have made custards from scratch, so I wanted to try baking something instead. I didn't want to try something as elaborate as a pie, so I decided upon a peach cobbler.

I used Paula Dean's recipe, since I trust her to make tasty, fattening foods. It was an amazingly simple recipe, that was also pleasing scientifically. The peaches and syrup went on after I poured the batter in, but once baked, the crust rose to the top. It turned out pretty good, so I'll probably make it again.

In the end, everybody was satisfied with our efforts, but especially with Sister C's wonderful beef bourguignon.