La Boca Del Valle Magazine Final

LA BOCA

DEL VALLE

l o c a l food by l oc al han ds

FIRST VEGAN BAR IN MCALLEN! pg. 8

NEW YORK DELI II goes back to its roots in Brownsville, TX

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH OWNER GILBERT RENDON

Q&A with GRIND creator, MaryAnn Pinon!

DATE OF PUBLICATION 1 NOVEMBER 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS Build-A-Burger launches second location....................................................................page 4

New York Deli returns to Brownsville roots..................................................................page 6

Maria Cruz - Vegan Bar and Restaurant........................................................................page 8

CC’s Sweets and Treats................................................................................................page 10

Birdie’s Bistro and Brunch Origin................................................................................page 14

Q&A with GRIND COFFEE CO. creator................................................................/.......page 16

Coffee Brew DIY...........................................................................................................page 18

Shopping and Coupons................................................................................................page 20 12

Pg. 16

Pg. 14 Pg. 8

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Build-A-Burger to launch second branch in Edinburg

By Davey Jones

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Build-A-Burger was something of an Edinburg lockdown delivery sensation.

That’s thanks to creations including their truffle steak frites burger and chicken Kiev sandwich, both of which featured their “seasoned butta” and brought lardy joy to our otherwise empty weekends.

Although the business started out as a dark kitchen, they opened a bricks and mortar branch on 137 George Street earlier this year and have just announced a second bar and kitchen at 8 Lister Square, which will be opening on December 1.

Owner, former nightclub promoter Graham Atkinson, who

set up the business along with Simon Bays, says: “Our aim has always been ambitious.

Though we started as a humble ghost kitchen we always believed that the product and brand would develop into something larger. We’d like to see Butta Burger expand across the UK”.

They’re currently searching for units in Glasgow and Newcastle for sites three and four, but the second venue will be in the former Quartermile premises of bar No.8 Lister Square. It’s near other popular food businesses, including Soderberg and Nanyang Malaysian Restaurant.

At the newest Build-A-Burg-

ers, they’ll be serving up the same dishes as you’ll find in their other branch or on their takeaway menu. However, the restaurant will also feature a physical Butta To Go area, where you can order anything, from a coffee to a full meal, to take-away.

As well as the aforementioned, you can also try the Smokey Q burger, which features a double-aged beef patty, cheddar, smoked jalapeno relish and barbecue sauce, as well as sides of Buttamilk Wings, Kiev chicken fingers and truffle, Parmesan and rosemary fries.

The new venue will also be offering cocktails including a

Peach Bellini or the Bloody Kimchi Mary, which contains Absolut Vodka, kimchi, lemon and tomato juice.

Other drinks include the milkshakes in classic chocolate-bar-inspired varieties including Bueno, Malteaser and Crunchie, which can be made grown-up with the addition of a shot of booze. On Saturdays and Sundays, they plan to offer a weekend brunch menu, with waffles, muffins and French toast, topped with offerings like strawberry and Nutella.

Build-A-Burger was something of an Edinburg lockdown delivery sensation.

That’s thanks to creations including their truffle steak frites burger and chicken Kiev sandwich, both of which featured their “seasoned butta” and brought lardy joy to our otherwise empty weekends. Although the business started out as a dark kitchen, they opened a bricks and mortar branch on 137 George Street earlier this year and have just announced a second bar and kitchen at 8 Lister Square, which will be opening on December 1.

Owner, former nightclub promoter Graham Atkinson, Build-A-Burger was something of an Edinburg lockdown delivery sensation.

That’s thanks to creations including their truffle steak frites burger and chicken Kiev sandwich, both of which featured their “seasoned butta” and brought lardy joy to our otherwise empty weekends. Although the business started out as a dark kitchen, they opened a bricks and mortar branch on 137 George Street earlier this year and have just announced a second bar and kitchen at 8 Lister Square, which will be opening on December 1.

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New York Deli returns to its roots

By Steve Clark

BROWNSVILLE — New York Deli is no stranger to Central Boulevard.

The eatery has had two different locations there over the decades, including the one that started it all: Fred’s Deli, which New York Deli owner Gilbert Rendon’s father started in the mid-1970s. Today the establishment is back on Central Boulevard after doing business on East Price Road for about 15 years.

Rendon is putting the finishing touches on the new location, 1775 Central Blvd., has all new kitchen equipment installed and aims to open for business around the middle of this month. He said the Price Road store will remain open as long as it appears the city can support both locations. There are also New York Deli locations in Harlingen, Weslaco and McAllen.

The new Central Boulevard location will stick with the same concept, which revolves around specialty meats and cheeses and classic sandwiches such as the Reuben and pastrami. The New York-style delicatessen fare was a bit of a tough sell in the early days, though Brownsville 66

long ago figured it out and embraced it, Rendon noted.

Sharing equal billing with the corned beef, sauerkraut and such are the Beatles. Rendon’s Fab Four obsession is a secret only to those who have never set foot inside a New York Deli location, all of which are packed with Beatles memorabilia. The deli hasn’t always been synonymous with the Beatles. It was only after a reporter interviewed Rendon about his monumental personal collection years ago that he realized he wanted to share it with the world.

Thus New York Deli became Beatle-ized, with no small amount of encouragement from his wife, though Rendon still has plenty of items not on display and said he’s bringing in some new pieces for the Central Boulevard location. A large John Lennon painting was donated.

Rendon is still collecting of course and sees no reason to stop, though it’s not clear he could if he wanted to, which he doesn’t.

“How can you do that?” he asked.

Rendon said he’s been offered money for his collection though no offers he could seriously consider. To anyone still unconvinced of the depth of Rendon’s devotion to the Lads from Liverpool, consider that he named his son John Lennon, who named his son John Lennon Jr. and his daughter Sadie (“Sexy Sadie,” the White Album).

Rendon has a niece named Jude and another named Michelle.

“We’re all big Beatles fans,” he said.

Rendon said he has a Beatles tribute band lined up for the big grand opening though no firm date nailed down. He said he plans to provide updates on the restaurant’s Facebook page. The new location will also feature beer and wine, including beer on tap, and Rendon said he’s toying with the idea of craft brews. He tried selling alcohol at the Price Road location but had to stop after too many people started coming in just to drink, he said.

Rendon’s return to Central Boulevard, meanwhile, is partly driven by nostalgia but also because he thinks a New York Deli will be good for that part of town — the old front door to the city, once a scenic stretch of road lined with palm trees and motor courts, where travelers bought post cards to send to friends and family members not lucky enough to be sunning themselves poolside along U.S. 77 in the resort city of Brownsville, Texas.

“I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I just think we’re good for Central Boulevard,” Rendon said.

New York Deli Hours Monday - Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Saturday: 11:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Sunday: Closed Locations Brownsville 1775 Central Blvd Brownsville, TX McAllen 829 W Dove Ave McAllen, TX

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Maria Cruz: Why Latinos Are Embracing Vegan-Mexican Cuisine

By Gustavo Arellano

V

egan Latino cuisine has received some mainstream attention this decade, from New York City (where Erick Castro shares his Puerto Rican creations on Instagram at How to Be Vegan in the Hood) to Colombian-American cookbook author Carolyn Scott-Hamilton in Miami.

But over the past year, popup festivals organized around Vegan-Mex vendors in Southern California have become a local sensation. They usually occur in working-class Latino suburbs like Santa Ana, Ontario, Highland Park, and Whittier. Full-time vegans – or white ones, for that matter — are a minority at these events. The majority of customers are young Mexican-Americans who heard about the pop-ups on social media, or through word-ofmouth best summed up the following way: No, seriously, it’s good! And it tastes like the real thing!

The movement’s hype is such that vegan caterer La Venganza won L.A. Taco’s annual Taco Madness competition for

best taco in Southern California, beating far-more-established (and non-vegan) competitors. It’s a victory that chef-owner Raul Medina quickly downplays.

“I didn’t win,” he said. “Veganism did.”

The fast-talking, wise-cracking 34-year-old Medina is typical of a new generation of Vegan-Mex chefs: He simultaneously rejects and embraces the meatier side of Mexican food. Medina uses everything from jackfruit to the hardened skim of soy milk to tackle taco classics like carne asada, chicken, and even tripitas — beef tripe.

Medina says a white vegan customer “once came up and asked, ‘Why would you veganize tripitas?’ “ he said with a laugh. “Because it’s culturally nostalgic working-class food.

You can’t just dismiss that.”

“Many of our dishes are vegan by nature,” says Loreta Ruiz, who runs La Vegana Mexicana with her two college-age children, Loreta and Luis Sierra.

“But just the word ‘vegan’ scares [Mexican] people. It’s like, ‘Our food is so rich and

so beautiful, why are you going to alter it?’”

Her brother, Luis Sierra, still encounters heavy skepticism from other Mexican-Americans about his Vegan-Mex lifestyle, but he takes it in stride.

“Guys on my crew, they make fun of me all the time,” says the 19-year-old, who volunteers for the Los Angeles Fire Department. “’Oh, yeah, that’s why you’re so skinny!’

But then I give them one of my mom’s tamales, and they change their mind right away.”

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Got A Sweet Tooth?

Visit These 8 McAllen Bakeries Today!

By Explore McAllen

Do you have a crazy big sweet tooth? If you eat sweets like there is no tomorrow, we highly recommend fulfilling your craving in McAllen! Many offer baked goods, donuts, ice cream, and more! We want to highlight eight sweet places for you to enjoy next!

CC’s Sweets offers a unique assortment of delicious cupcakes, macarons, cookies, brownies, and pet-friend treats for your four-legged friends! They currently offer curbside and delivery. Yummy’s Ice Cream & Mini Donuts offers, as their name suggests, scoops of ice cream and delicious mini donuts, which include banana splits, milkshakes, and ice cream sandwiches! PJ Pies is a cafe that offers comfort foods and sweets, such as savory and dessert pies and coffee drinks. Try their Van Goght and Chunky Monkey pies! Previously featured on the Food Network’s show “Cupcake Wars,” this baker shop sells unique flavors and gives unique names for each cupcake. You purchase them as a single, 4-pack, 6-pack, or dozen! Capricious Cake Shop is the perfect place to pick up your cakes for any occasion. Try their Gansito, Milky Way, or Crunch cakes! Keto Sweets & Treats was created by bakers with a passion for baked goods and living a healthier lifestyle! Their menu contains guilt-free sweets, such as their keto conchas!

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CC’s gave patrons a variety of sweets for the Thanksgiving holiday, such as cupcakes and fresh pies. They especially made pecan, pumpkin and sweet potato pies.

CC’s creates a plethora of macaroons, changing the flavor each week.

CC’s gets ready for the holidays, and made a charcuterie board of fallthemed sweets.

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CC’s displayed decorated sugar cookies in the forms of multi-colored pumpkins and various kinds of pies. All cookies were made fresh in house.

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BIRDIE’S BISTRO The Birth of Brunch: Where Did This Meal Come From Anyway?

By Jesse Rhodes Once a week, an email chain of epic proportions germinates in my inbox: it’s a regular call to brunch, followed by a scramble to figure out where we’re eating, how many people are in so that reservations can be made, what time we’re eating and whether or not bottomless mimosas are available. No mimosas usually means a change in venue, depending on who’s in. And come Sunday morning there’s a round of phone calls and text messages to rally the oversleeping, hung-over and/or otherwise indisposed members of the group. It’s a complicated affair.

In anticipation of this Sunday, families all across the country will be be going head-t0-head, trying to beat each other out in securing brunch reservations at their favorite dining spots in order to celebrate Mother’s Day. When did people start subjecting themselves to this delicious little slice of Sunday madness?

As is the case with many culinary traditions, the origins are a bit hazy. Some food historians think that the meal has its roots in England’s hunt breakfasts—lavish multi-course meals that featured a smorgasbord of goodies such as chicken livers, eggs, meats, bacon, fresh fruit and sweets. Others posit that Sunday brunch derives from the practice of Catholics fasting before mass and then sitting down for a large midday meal. And then there are those who look to New York’s abundance of dining spots when it comes to tracing the origins of classic brunch dishes from eggs Benedict to bagels and lox.​ ​What does seem certain is that the word “brunch”—that playful blend of

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“breakfast” and “lunch”—first appeared in print in an 1895 Hunter’s Weeklyarticle. In “Brunch: A Plea,” British author Guy Beringer suggested an alternative to the heavy, post-church Sunday meals in favor of lighter fare served late in the morning. ‘’Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting,’’ Beringer says. ‘’It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.’’

But wherever the initial spark of genius came from, the tradition definitely seems to have caught on in the United States in the 1930s, supposedly because Hollywood stars making transcontinental train trips frequently stopped off in Chicago to enjoy a late morning meal. It was a meal championed by hotels since most restaurants were closed on Sundays and, with church attendance flagging after World War II, people were looking for a new social outlet that also let them sleep in a bit. Restaurants soon hopped on the bandwagon and began offering the decadent spreads of food and signature morning cocktails, such as Bloody Marys, Bellinis and Mimosas.

“Sunday dinner became important because it was the only time people could eat together as a family unit during the week at the onset of urbanization and industrialization, 150 years ago,” according to Stanford University professor Carl Degler in a 1980 Chicago Tribune article on the rise of America’s brunch culture. He also pointed to another social change that might be responsible for why Sunday brunch became so popular here. “After World War II, large numbers of American married women entered the workforce for the first time. Married women needed a relief on Sunday, too, thus the rise in popularity of Sunday brunch eaten out.”

Chefs, however, aren’t a huge fan. After a busy Saturday night, trying to create a menu for a meal that stretches from 11 A.M. until 3 or 4 in the after-

noon—finding that right balance between breakfast foods, lunch foods and exotic hybrids of the two—is no small task.

And then there’s the issue of dealing with fussy diners.

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Q&A WITH

C

R

E

A

T

MARYANN PINON

“I fell in love with coffee roasting,” -MaryAnn Pinon

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What sparked your interest in coffee roasting?

I’ve always loved coffee. My dad would make me mugs when I was little - I’m sure they were mostly milk, but I loved the smell, the warmth, and the ritual of the percolator. In high school and college, I had opinions about what made coffee bad or good, but it was just a simple mental equation of weakness vs. strength and how long a coffee pot had been sitting on a burner. A college trip to Italy and easy access to Peet’s in Berkeley got me into espresso.

What roasters have you roasted on?

My very first go at roasting was an intro class at Bay Area CoRoasters. We sample roasted on a Probat 2 barrel and then did a 5 lb. batch on a Probat as well. Since then, I’ve found that my cast iron skillet does a pretty bang-up job, but I scorched a few batches on my way to figuring out the initial heat setting. I’ve used my Whirley-Pop too.

Have you read any books in coffee roasting?

I’ve read The World Atlas of Coffee, which I loved. It really helped me get a grasp of varietals and regions. Plus, it’s just a gorgeous book. I’ve also read The Coffee Roaster’s Companion, which was more of a standard procedural, but it definitely helped me understand industry best practices. I check out Sprudge, the Roaster’s Guild blog, and jimseven when I get the chance.

Do you plan on going to any SCA, Roasters Guild, or local coffee events this year?

Yes! I’m waiting to hear from Texas Coffee Traders – an SCA Campus – about what their class schedule will look like this year. I’m also planning on attending Coffee Champs this weekend in Austin, and I’ve gone to some cuppings. I was working a contract editorial job for the last few months, but now that that’s done, I want to ramp up my coffee learnings.

What are you hoping to get out of roasting coffee? Why is it calling to you?

I recently retired from roller derby, but I’d say, in a weird way, roasting appeals to me like derby did.

It involves a die-hard counterculture that’s getting bigger and stronger by the day. It’s tangible and physical. It handily intersects with DIY ethos, feminism, and sustainability. It involves a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but the knowledge and experience you gain along the way is pretty badass.

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COLD BREW DIY FOR THOSE HOT, BI-POLAR TROPICAL WINTER DAYS IN THE VALLEY

By Andrew Limbong and Becky Harlan

It’s hot in the room where I’m writing this. Technically it’s 93 degrees outside, but it “feels like” 103. To me the phrase “feels like” reads as a subjective term, as in it “feels like” all my clothes are stuck to my body. But this sort of heat is the perfect excuse to drink some cold brew coffee.

I’d previously thought that cold brew was a gussied up, more expensive version of regular old iced coffee, but it’s a whole different process of brewing coffee that extracts more caffeine than an auto drip. And making it yourself — taking the time to let it sit, let it steep and figure out how much coffee to water works for you? It’s revealed itself to be both a fun experiment and a gracious giver of a midafternoon buzz.

Food scientist professor Chahan Yeretzian is the head of the Coffee Excellence Centre in Zurich, and he was kind enough to hop on a Zoom chat and talk about best practices for making your own cold brew.

And sure, you can get one of those cold brew coffeemakers, but I make do with just two pitchers and a cheesecloth.

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EASY COLD BREW RECIPE Here’s a recipe below that’s less of a recipe and more of a baseline guide. (You can watch the steps in the video above!) Your brew ratio — that is, your coffee to water proportions — will vary depending on your own taste.

Yeretzian likes a 1-to-8 ratio because he likes a more “tea-like” flavor with coffee. I like it a little stronger because my palette is dumber than his, likely. So I go with a coffee water ratio of 1-to-4.

Grind 1 cup of coffee roughly, and put it in a pitcher/container.

Add 4 cups of water, stir, cover, and leave it at room temperature for six hours.* Filter the coffee beans out a couple times, then run it once more through a paper filter.

Chill, or pour on top of ice, and enjoy. *You can stick it in the fridge, if you feel uncomfortable leaving things out at room temperature for a while, but it’ll slow down the brewing process, so account for that extra time by an hour or so.

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2020

DIRECTIONS AND INGRIDIENT LIST Ingridients Wet Ingredients 1/2 cup butter, room temp 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar 1/4 cup black treacle 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 medium egg, room temp Dry Ingredients 2 1/2 cups 00’ flour 3/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsps ground ginger 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon Royal Icing 1 cup royal icing sugar, sifted(!)

1/2 - 1 tbsp milk of choice 1 tsp pure almond extract

Directions

1. Use a hand-held whisk machine to cream the butter and sugar or do it by hand. Add the treacle, vanilla and egg and whisk. Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until it turns into a dough. Cover in clingfilm and flatten into a disc. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 180°c. Double line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough on a generously floured surface and cut out the snowflakes with a cookie cutter. Transfer the dough onto the baking sheet.

3. Bake for 9 - 11 minutes until slightly firm and the edges start to brown. They will continue to crisp as they cool so don’t leave them in too long. Let cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating. If decorating the next day or later, store so they stay crispy.

4. Mix the icing ingredients together (the milk a little at a time) until you reach a thick consistency. Adjust ingredients as necessary if too thick/runny.

5. Transfer to a piping bag with a small piping tip and decorate the snowflakes. Let dry and harden for at least 20 minutes.

6. Enjoy!

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