Ta Bom Truck - Brazilian Street Eats

It's been terrific watching the World Cup during this summer, where instead of trying to peek at the score through my desktop screen at work, I'm able to record the games on DVR and watch them shortly after I wake up. And to me, the World Cup means rooting for Brazil. Brazil, you might say? My love affair with Brazilian football started in the summer of 1994, when my greater family descended upon our home in a massive frenzy to cheer Brazil through the World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl, where our team defeated Roberto Baggio and the Italians in a stunning penalty kick final. (Their early exit this year was disappointing to say the least. BRAZIL 2014!)

Growing up in a Korean-American home is nothing unique for hundreds of thousands of people in Los Angeles, but throw in Brazilian into that mix and you've got something special. Both of my parents emigrated to Brazil in the mid to late 1960's after the Korean War and years of economic turmoil. Brazil was one of the few countries in the world that openly accepted immigrants not only from Korea but Japan and China. Though my parents' families didn't know each other in Brazil, they both formed a contingent of Koreans who quickly adopted the heterogeneous culture.

My father's family settled in farm land where they raised corn, coffee, and livestock while my maternal grandfather started a successful grocery in Sao Paulo, where most of the Asian-Brazilian population resides. To give you an idea of how "brazilian" our family is, most of my parents generation resort to Portuguese during family gatherings while I knew my uncle as "Dunga" long before I heard of the now-famous coach of the Brazilian national soccer team.

And of course Brazilian food played a large part in our family's food culture. The default celebration or summer holiday didn't involve burgers and hotdogs, or even Korean barbeque as much as it did churrasco, the Brazilian style barbeque that's now available at places like Fogo de Chao. My mom would whip up some feijao (black beans) and couve (sauteed collard greens) along with some white rice to go with our delicious grilled meat. And of course Antarctica guarana to wash it all down!


Now my knowledge of Portuguese is admittedly short - it's just enough to say "tudo bem" or "obrigado". My parents chose to keep that language to themselves to they could share secrets in the car without my sister and I knowing. But I do know "ta bom", which means, "it's good". It's also the name of one of most compelling food trucks to hit the L.A. street food scene this year.


I was invited by Bill Esparza to come out for a tasting of Ta Bom's brazilian street food inspired fare on a sunny afternoon on a side-street just a stone's throw from Downtown. We got to meet Ilse Marques and her daughters, Jacqueline and Juliana Kim. The daughters sport the Korean last name thanks to their father, who must've immigrated to Korea like my father did almost five decades ago. Naturally, this made their story that much better.


Ilse's background in catering led her to start a food truck, creating common street food items that one might see in any Brazilian city. My parents have told me of their childhood favorites: coxinha and pastel. Our first taste was the signature coxinha, made with shredded chicken, breadcrumbs, and cream cheese. It's a scrumptious taste of Brazil in a bite, especially with the side of vinagrete, or essentially pico de gallo. I remember making buckets of vinagrete with my mom - it's the perfect foil for so many wonderful Brazilian dishes.


Next came an incredible rundown of Ta Bom's pastel, which are a reasonable $4 apiece. The cheese ones came first, with thick oozy cheese that stretched out long, but the real treat was the ideal crisp from the pastry. I happen to like eating pastel with vinagrete, the tart salsa angling the rich cheese and crispy dough. My personally favorite pastel was the beef one, which is made with high-quality grass fed Estancia ground beef.


You can also get some sweet bites with the banana-cinnamon pastel. We also had a taste of banana with nutella, an incredibly decadent treat that might be better than a frou-frou French crepe (though I love those too) because of the fried pastel dough.


Some Brazilian street bites are a bit more puzzling to the gourmet but completely familiar to any college student. The cacharro hot dog comes stuffed with the usual (and expected) mayo, ketchup, and mustard, but also kernel corn and crunchy potato crisp fries. I feel like I would crave this at 2:30AM hunched over a curb outside La Descarga or another local watering hole.


The hamburgao takes an approach I would take in my own kitchen: whatever's good that's in the fridge or pantry. Think lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, ketchup...then fried egg and potato sticks. My college self would love this, but actually even my current self likes this unusual burger, and at $7 bucks, it's sure to fill you up when you're hungry.




I almost never like to end a meal with something savory, and thankfully Ta Bom provides the perfect end: sweet, chocolately brigadeiros. Sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter are made into a saccharine ball and then gets covered with chocolate sprinkles. I'd like two please.

Ta Bom Truck
www.tabomtruck.com
www.twitter.com/Ta_Bom