While summer is coming to an end, the onset of fall food festivals in New York City is just beginning.
The inaugural New York Latin Food Festival was held at Hudson River Park’s Pier 76 on Sept. 13-14. In addition to hosting more than 70 vendors from across the city, the festival highlighted different aspects of Latin American culture, showcasing art pieces and offering live salsa and Afro-Colombian music. After crawling through the crowds, I put together a list of six vendors that satisfied my Hispanic Heritage Month culinary cravings.
The Pincho Truck
Puerto Rican pinchos — not to be confused with the pincho appetizer from the Basque region of Spain — are a type of grilled meat skewer. Known for its wide variety of meats, The Pincho Truck offered several types of pincho skewers, including pork and chicken for $16 and steak for $22. Marinated, grilled and coated in barbecue sauce or with garlic and herbs, the skewers were typically served with tostones — smashed crispy green plantains — and a slice of baguette.
The Pincho Truck also offered an optional mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise to balance the zesty skewers and lightly salted plantains. You can find The Pincho Truck at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg on Saturdays and Prospect Park on Sundays.
Crazy Fire Tacos
This vendor was one of the festival’s most popular — and for good reason. Crazy Fire Tacos offered a short and sweet menu of nachos, tacos and many types of quesadillas.
The quesabirria tacos — large corn tortillas dipped in a beef consommé and later filled with beef and melted cheese — was one of my favorite dishes of the day. The consommé, a delicate broth, was meaty but not too overwhelming — a tough balance to achieve. Served with sliced radishes, lime and a tangy hot sauce, these tacos were worth the $15 price tag. Crazy Fire Tacos doesn’t have a standalone restaurant, but will be attending more food festivals throughout the city.
Rostacy Jamaican Food
One of few Caribbean vendors, Rostacy Jamaican Food brought bold flavors and an expansive menu to the festival. Attendees chose from tender and fatty jerk pork, tangy crab legs, spicy pepper shrimp, browned oxtail and more for about $20 to $25 per serving. While Rostacy’s is best known for their seafood and meat dishes, the mac ‘n’ cheese was a must-have. An aroma of salty goodness filled the air as gooey cheddar stretched far and wide.
Aguas Frescas Tlaxcalita
Aguas frescas — fruit juice drinks blended with water and ice — are the ideal cool-down treat in between savory snacks. The vendor, Aguas Frescas Tlaxcalita, offered a range of fruity flavors to mix and match –– coconut, passion fruit, mango, piña colada and tamarind. They also served mangonada, a Mexican mango slushie served with chamoy — a tangy sauce traditionally made of pickled fruits — Tajin, lime juice and chili powder. The $6 horchata, a refreshing mixture of rice, milk and cinnamon, was also a standout.
Palenque Colombian Food
This Brooklyn-based Colombian restaurant was among the most popular vendors, perhaps thanks to its gluten-free menu. Palenque Colombian Food featured empanadas, with a variety of flavors such as pork belly and sweet plantains, queso fresco and guava paste and portobello mushroom. Palenque’s empanada dough is also notably made with a unique blend of five grains — brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds, sesame and chia seeds. Another hit included agua de panela, a sugary ginger lemonade.
BarrelHouse
A Colombian vendor known for its barbecue, BarrelHouse collaborated with other Colombian businesses to add drinks and desserts to their festival menu, including $8 slushies, a $9 lemon mint soda and $10 raspados — fruity shaved ice with fruit juice and condensed milk. Barrel House’s most expensive dessert was the $15 cholado: a tall cup filled with shaved ice, fresh fruit, condensed milk, fruit juice of your choice — lime, mango, passion fruit or blackberry — and a cookie on top. The dessert, while intimidating in size, was decadent, refreshing and bold enough to end the food crawl with a bang.
Contact Mariana Arboleda at [email protected].