The Flying Carpet, a guest post for MarocMama

I traveled to Morocco in fall 2008, and spent two and a half weeks with a tour group exploring this beautiful, culture-rich country. This trip was one of the primary reasons that I started this blog, so I could keep my friends and family up to date with what we were seeing, doing, and of course eating.  When I got into Twitter about a year later, one of the users I came across was @MarocMama, who blogs under the same name. She is an American married to a Moroccan, and they live with their children in Wisconsin. She's a prolific social media user and blogger (great Moroccan resources on her blog!), and we've had occasional Twitter conversations, but have never met in person.

MarocMama became aware of The Flying Carpet, a Moroccan-inspired food trailer that had opened here in Austin by Moroccan-born Abdu and his American wife, Maria. MarocMama asked me many moons ago if I would be willing to write a guest post for her blog on them. (I have written about them before for my blog, which you can see here.) Of course! And with apologizes to her, it's taken me forever to get back to TFC. One of my coworker friends is a cousin to Maria, so I've gotten to know her and Abdu a little bit, and they are great people. We've been trying to juggle the schedules of four of us from work who wanted to go, with TFC's schedule. We've had several dates picked, going back to June (maybe even May...), but something would come up and we'd reschedule, and then Abdu was called back to Morocco when his grandmother passed, and now with the Texas heat, they've limited the days they are open. It's almost been a comedy of errors, but we have persevered, and went this past week. Ahhhhh.

The Flying Carpet, a Moroccan foods trailer, has been open a little more than a year, and in a crowded food trailer scene in Austin, they stand out. They've been about the only constant presence at the food court on South Congress and Gibson Streets, in the heart of the trendy SoCo area. Fortunately, TFC has been able to move under the canopy of a live oak tree, for at 7:45 pm when we arrived, it was still in the low to mid 90s. Abdu was flying solo that night, and he had one customer sitting on the "patio".

The trailer has it's homey touches, from the plants to the Moroccan lanterns to the painted sign with images of the Moroccan skyline above the trailer. (I was able to recognize the Hassan mosque, in Casablanca, one of the top five largest mosques in the world, as the image on the far right!) Their menu satisfies meat eaters and vegetarians, and they can even do some vegan dishes. Austin is a town with a LOT of vegetarian diners, so I don't think a food establishment could survive if it didn't at least try to cater to that population.

I was set on having The Moroccan again, their version of a burger. They take fresh ground beef, and form it kefta-style (think: small fat cigars), and grill it on the flat top, served with a fried egg that's really more of a scrambled egg (fine by me, I have issues with runny yolks!).

But after looking more closely at some newer menu items, I asked Abdu about the La Dajaj Maghrebi, a marinated chicken dish wrapped in flat bread, and he easily convinced me to try it. My friend, and cousin-in-law to Abdu, had the Sleek Vegetarian, an eggplant and falafel wrap. We also got an order of fries, just so we could have a device to get their yummy L'afrique sauce into our mouths! It's a tangy, slightly spicy (from harissa, I presume) concoction that is good on just about everything! They should bottle and sell that stuff!

My chicken wrap was delicious! Everything was so fresh, and even in the horrible heat we're experiencing, not a piece of lettuce was wilting (they have refrigeration in the trailer, but no AC). The chicken is marinated in a combination of onions, cilantro, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, ginger, and lemon juice, and was cooked perfectly in the trailer -- still juicy, not dried out. The thin fries are always perfect, not a bit greasy. My friend also loved her vegetarian wrap.

For dessert, we had the dates stuffed with almond butter, and sprinkled with sea salt. Totally divine! And while dates are something you see in multitudes (and multiple varieties) all over Morocco, this little dessert is not a typical Moroccan dish -- but it works extremely well. The sweetness from the dates, the savory (with some sweetness) from the almond butter, and the salty all play very nicely together.

After a small flurry of customers, Abdu came and sat with us. He puts it best when he says "If it's not made well, I don't want to eat it". The Flying Carpet doesn't take shortcuts; they work hard to present outstanding food. Everything is made fresh to order. Abdu and I have both experienced trailers that cheat a little bit, like using canned ingredients instead of fresh. I am sure that makes it easier, especially for working in a trailer, but it doesn't translate to a quality product. The Flying Carpet was also recently featured on a Cooking Channel episode of Eden Eats, which has brought in some new business for them since the show's airing in July. (Reruns in September, so look for it!)

If you're here in Austin, please stop by and check out my friends at The Flying Carpet! MarocMama, maybe you should start a Moroccan trailer in Wisconsin -- The Flying Carpet has set a great precedent!

New Facebook Page!

I had been thinking about it, but on Sunday, I finally did it. I created a page on Facebook for this here blog. You can click here to go directly to the South Austin Foodie page, and please "like" it! When I have a few minutes, I'll attempt to figure out how to put a widget or gadget or something on my homepage that links directly to Facebook. But for now, this will do!

Thanks for your support! And happy eating!!

Las Palomas

Tucked away in a strip mall corner in Westlake is Las Palomas, a Mexican establishment that's been around for years. It's been at least 12 or 13 years since I last dined there (and before I was "really" into food), so it was a little bit of a blast from the past when I met a friend there for lunch recently.

They still had a decent crowd at 1 pm on a Tuesday; the restaurant is very large, though it doesn't feel like it, until you start looking around for the restroom, located towards the rear. You pass some smaller dining areas that would be good for private events. It's a little dark in the main room dining though, and that's during the daytime.

My friend and I started with the rajas from the appetizer menu. Strips of poblano peppers are sauteed with onions and served with a nice melty cheese and tortillas. Their version was quite good, others I've had in town end up being rubbery, but Las Palomas has picked a good cheese to use. (I swear it wasn't as greasy as it looks in the picture.)

I picked the chicken mole enchiladas from the lunch menu, which came with a choice of soup or salad; I chose the corn soup over the tortilla, and wasn't disappointed. It had a nice velvety texture, and good corn flavor. I don't know if it was fresh corn or not, but it at least didn't taste like canned corn. Maybe a touch of heat (spice, not temperature) would be a nice addition.

The enchiladas were a disappointment. I often pick mole when I go to an interior-style Mexican restaurant (as opposed to a Tex-Mex spot), because I love a good mole for what should be it's flavor nuances. This one was flat, very little notes of chocolate, nuts, or much else for that matter. It had a little bit of sweetness to it, but was pretty much a one-note dish. The refried beans weren't much better. My friend had the fish tacos, which were deemed okay, but certainly nothing spectacular either.

To give Las Palomas a shot at redemption, we ordered flan for dessert. And we were very happy we did, because it was terrific! It was served in a wedge, like pie, rather than unmolded from a custard cup, which is more typical. It was smooth and dense, but not heavy. Now the online menu says it is prepared with Gran Marnier, and while I don't recall tasting that at all, I didn't miss it. Good choice!

Looking at their website, they do have info on facility rentals and catering, and extensive information on the family that founded and still runs it. The website seems fairly modern, with Open Table reservations added, whereas their printed menus seemed a bit dated. They had praise from an Austin American-Statesman food critic who I have never heard of (and I've been in ATX awhile....). Maybe the lunch specials are just meant to be quick in-and-out meals for the business diners, which could be why they both seemed to fall short. I'd be real curious about some of the other traditional Mexican plates like the cochinita pibil or Veracruzana. They do also have a menu with gluten free offerings, which is nice to see. And in this day and age of Facebook and Twitter, Las Palomas doesn't appear to have either accounts, but after more than 25 years in business, it looks like they don't need to.

Froyoyo

If you hadn't noticed, lots of frozen yogurt shops have been popping up all over town. For ages, all we had was TCBY near the Drag, but now it looks like every area of town has at least one. And there's at least one franchise that is trying (and I think succeeding!) in setting themselves apart: Froyoyo on Bee Caves in the Westwood Shopping center. 

I chatted with owner Joan over multiple samples of their different yogurts. They offer three distinct varieties: 1) uber-creamy, 2) a low calorie/carb, fat free, no gluten version called Only 8, and 3) a tart one (and here's where they are leading the pack) produced with locally made White Mountain yogurt. I love tart yogurts, such as the White Mountain (which is made with a lot of probiotics in it) and Greek yogurt, so it was no surprise to me that I found the original tart and pomegranate tart flavors to be absolutely delicious. Pomegranate actually tasted like the fruit, and Joan said they do other fruit flavors like mango and passion fruit. Many other yogurt shops have a tart yogurt, but it's made from a pre-made mix, rather than from real yogurt.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Only 8, in that it didn't taste like something made with artificial sugar (which I am very taste-sensitive too).... because it's not! It's named Only 8 because there are only 8 calories per ounce of it, and usually they have 3 flavors available. It's certainly not as rich as the creamy yogurts, but really, if you didn't have the regular in front of you to compare it to, you wouldn't really know the difference. All of their flavor selections vary -- they've got a huge range they can choose from, but typically, they'll have vanilla and chocolate in the Only 8, and the original tart flavor.

At Froyoyo, you pay by the ounce, rather than by a standard cup size. So you can get a little bit of yogurt with a ton of toppings on it (and, yes, there ARE a ton of toppings!) or you can get a lot of yogurt with just one topping, and still pay the same price per ounce. And in this hot weather, we can all use a little extra something to help cool us down without weighing us down! 

Ooops, I forgot to actually take a picture of the yogurt! That's ok, you can use your imagination. Or better yet, go try some yourself!

New Mexico Green Chiles

 Okay, time to vent, people. 

There is no such thing as a "Hatch chile" -- let's just get that straight RIGHT NOW, as we're getting into the chile season. They are all variations on New Mexico green chiles, and in New Mexico, they are known as GREEN CHILES. They are predominantly grown in the Mesilla Valley, which stretches about 40ish miles from Las Cruces to the northwest on Interstate 25, to the little town of Hatch. It's a fertile agricultural region, that also sees pecans, lettuce, cotton, onions, all within Dona Ana county.


This whole "Hatch" thing is something that's become trendy here in Austin from the fine marketing people at places like Central Market and Whole Foods -- places where you can buy large quantities of them, and who will dedicate a week or more-long festival to them. Also, the town of Hatch is known for it's Hatch Chile Festival every Labor Day weekend. But they can call it "Hatch" because they're IN Hatch!


Why is this such a pet peeve of mine, you ask? Because, my grandparents were farmers in Las Cruces, and one of the things they raised were green chiles. Furthermore, my great-uncle, was a researcher at the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. Known as "Mr. Chile," he developed several varieties of green chiles, including Big Jim.

Sandias are bred for their heat -- they're long and pointy. Big Jims were bred to be meaty -- a mild to medium flavor, and good for stuffing, like for chile rellenos. Other popular ones are the NuMex 6-4, Rio Grande, even the ordinary Anaheim. A good history of green chiles can be found here.

There's also a movement to preserve the heritage of the green chiles grown in New Mexico, as much of the green chile that's on the market now comes from Mexico, where it's cheaper. NPR even ran a story on the local growers and the NM Chile Association.


The pictures here are ones I took in 2005; the top one is of chile fields, with Picacho Peak in the background. To the east, are the beautiful Organ Mountains, this taken from outside my aunt's house.

Enough on this soapbox (or rather, sack of chile) for the time being. Now, ask me what "Christmas" means in New Mexico.