La Super-Rica (and Mr. Food Musings First Photo!)

“It was small and unremarkable, with an open kitchen on one end where two women scooped handfuls of dough out of a large, white plastic bucket, mashed them with their palms, and lay them on a sizzling griddle. They knew exactly how much dough they needed, pinching off the excess with a practiced twist and tossing it back in the bucket.”

--- from the novel Daughter's Keeper by Ayelet Waldman

I read this passage before Mr. Food Musings and I went to Santa Barbara wine country for Labor Day weekend, and it stuck in my head. I recall wondering where the author had been and seen these tortilla mujeres, as I like to think of them in my so-broken-it-was-never-fixed Spanish.

And then I walk into La Super-Rica, Julia Child's favorite taco stand and the reason for our journey into Santa Barbara proper. After standing in a slowly winding line outside the brightly painted shack, I edge my way to the counter. As I wait my turn, I peek into the teeny weeny kitchen behind and there I see that very same sight: two plump women pinching off balls of dough, judging by the feel of their hands and by decades of instinct just how much they need to slap down onto the tortilla press before SLAM shutting the press and SLURP opening it back up, tearing the newly flattened tortilla from the thin sheet of plastic wrap and SPUTTER slinging it onto the hot grill. I watch one of them, counting as she works, and figure conservatively that one woman can make one tortilla every 60 seconds. That's nearly 1,000 a day.

But forget the circus antics -- let's get to the food. La Super-Rica is a gem, no more than a cheap wooden shack enclosing a kitchen and a concrete patio, no less than home to the best Mexican food I've ever eaten. Julia's taste is impeccable.

In an ordering frenzy, I pile item after item onto our ticket. I don't know when I'll be back and have much to sample. "Give me a number 4, and a number 6, a 17 and 18." I stare at the chalkboard to see if I have missed anything critical. "Two cokes." I peruse the specials, written in magic marker on a plain sheet of white paper taped to the glass window. The women behind me clear their throats impatiently. "And an order of the chilaquiles," I add. The women whistle, impressed by how much I've ordered. Little do they know that Mr. Food Musings, who is sitting on the back patio defending our table, will be helping me eat all this. If he's nice to me, that is.

We end up with a collection of small paper plates, each bearing two warm tortillas and various toppings: adobado (marinated pork); blistered green pasilla peppers and oozing white cheese; a mix of beans, onions and peppers cooked into a spicy approximation of a stew; creamy, freshly made guacamole flecked with red tomato.

The chilaquiles are like nachos: fresh tortillas lightly fried and topped with a warm roasted tomato sauce and traditional salsa, as well as melted white cheese and a grilled scallion. We spoon up the tomato juices pooling in the corners and the crumbly queso fresco that showers the mound. We sit on our white plastic deck chairs and sip our Cokes and pass bites around the table as we ooh and aah and roll our eyes in gastronomic orgasm. The food is damn good, folks, 45 minute wait be damned.

Now, for the exciting Mr. Food Musings surprise appearance. Can you guess which of these fine fellows is my beloved? Hint: he's tall and he's a good napkin fetcher.

La Super-Rica, Santa Barbara, 622 N. Milpas Street, 805-963-4940

Comments

[daniel]

i've been there! a long time ago, the food was good but i suppose u have to dig mexican food

i think it actually was rated on the zagat though i today find the guide a bit dubious

ur pix are very nice but i dont think they display the "shack" quality of this establishment :-)

[catherine]

Daniel -- don't let the bright paint fool you, the ceiling over the "dining room" is a plastic tarp, the floor is concrete and the kitchen is probably no more than 100 square feet!

[Robyn]

Gorgeous photos but from where I sit this post is too cruel Catherine, just *too* cruel!

[catherine]

Robyn -- touché...!

[Beth - The Zen Foodist]

Ooooohh! I've been there before! Your post and lovely photos are making me sad b/c I'm a 4-hour drive away from SB and La Super Rica. Lucky you! Wasn't it yummy?

And I love your mysterious comment about your hubby! :)

[shane]

Those pics are too cruel for someone as hungry and as far away as I am.

[catherine]

Beth -- technically, we drove 6 hours to eat there...what's a mere 4?

Shane -- yeah, there's very little really good Mexican in Virginia, at least where I'm from (Va. Beach and, for a spell, Charlottesville).

[lil bro]

hey, i know that shirt, looks like Mr FM was diving in Kauai.

[catherine]

Lil Bro - keen eye, brother, keen eye!