Why Go South of the Border When You're in the North?

I met Travis at Stephen's birthday party about a month ago. I saw him again at their office when I met Steph to go up to Montreal last Thursday. I asked what his plans were for the weekend, and he said he was going to a Tortilla Soup party. I was intrigued. I don't think I had ever had Tortilla soup, nor have I been to a soup party. "Does everyone bring in their own soup?" Nope, just one big pot. I half-jokingly asked if he wanted to be a guest writer for my blog and asked him to take pictures. While he did not bring a camera, he did write a lovely story which I share with you today.
-n

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/How Danny's friends assisted the pirate to keep a vow, and how as a reward for merit the pirate's dogs saw a holy vision.///
by Travis Donia

Tortilla Soup, Vegetarian Chili, Sweet Corn Bread, Prunes + Mascarpone, & a splash of Sugar Hill

It’s hard to write a compelling story without drama. No mystery, no conflict – no interest. Boring. Entirely predictable. Like soup on rainy day. All creative arcs aside though, we’re talking about some damn fine soup.

Tortilla soup, like Tortilla Flat, tells the tale of warm home shared among friends that will surely end in flames. Cheese, sour cream & spicy. Add chicken, tortilla chips, beans & peppers. Make thick. Serve hot. Be sure the cheese melts commensurate to the soggy of the chips, then use the sour cream to cool everything down & make creamy. And don’t forget there’s cornbread. Not just any cornbread – like a double date with your parents, this bread’s a corny sort of sweet & crumbly, destined to end up in the soup. Unlike a double date with your parents, this cornbread will never ask you if you wouldn’t mind trading dates, muttering something about her pirate’s eyes. That’s some powerful magic. As the first coma sets in, be glad it’s only raining outside the apartment. Buck up, soldier, that bowl isn’t going to fill itself. By god, there’s Vegetable Chili to be had– who can say no to mighty chunks of peppers, tomatoes & beans, smoked out in a fetching chipotle broth? Wash it all down with a nice cold Sugar Hill – a golden ale that pairs perfectly with most things spicy.

Lions visit from the internet while the cats chase bottle caps down the hall. There are tears & laughter & that inevitable regret that can only come after 3 large bowls of soup. Delicious, defiant. – regret not that you ate too much soup but that your stomach was too small for more.

Tortilla Flat, in case you’re not familiar, is a book by John Steinbeck about the things Wikipedia says it’s about. Mostly. Wikipedia fails to elaborate on the nature of the pirate’s dogs’ vision. It certainly wasn’t a vision of sugar plums that startled them on that foggy night. Nor us on this rainy night. Rather, there were prunes long simmered to syrup in a red wine sauce with cinnamon, for the startling. This strange brew was poured like sainthood onto Mascarpone, a triple (count em’ 3) cream cheese more commonly found in tiramisu. The results? I don’t know. Blacked out from the awesome. There may have been zombies, but my 5^th amendment rights prevent me from going into greater detail. Just know that the victims settled out of court & that the recipe became public record during trial.

The moral of the story? Soup’s a virtue among friends but she who wields the biggest spoon serves the most leftovers. And there’s much to be said for hot soup on a cold night.

Thanks to Claire & Liza for that great food. Thanks to Miles & Kilo for the entertainment.

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Thanks, Travis! It sounded so enticing that I ended up ordering from La Esquina for lunch today specifically to try their Tortilla Soup (chicken, tomato broth, ancho and cotija cheese), along with a Cochinita Pibil Taco (pulled pork, shredded cabbage, habanero pickled onions jalapeno). Again, no pictures, but they were absolutely delicious. My only complaint is their soft tortillas that are very dry and fragile. (If you've ever been to Snack Dragon Taco Shack, you'd know what I mean, however La Esquina's are 10x better) They use two for a reason, but it still broke apart. They need to take a tip from the Taco Shack in New Paltz- a tiny unflashy storefront which sells cheap tacos (beef, lettuce and cheese in a hard shell is $1.09, 50cents more for soft tortilla). While it is really nothing fancy or worth a trip to New Paltz for, it was definitely a welcomed snack after being on the road for so long from Montreal. Should I ever find myself there again, I'm getting the "bag of tacos" -- 10 plain crunchy tacos with a drink for $9.99.