[This post has been on draft since 2019. It is really 6/16/2022 now. I will hit update.]
then "You are correct, sir!" (say in an Ed McMahon voice)!
Heh, only folks of a certain age will get that reference!
Cathy hadn't been to Tamales Ancira before. It's in the same strip mall as El Ruisenor (will add in Kirk's link later)...
Our tamale trio:
which we did cut with Cathy's trust Swiss Army knife. She is always prepared.
Fillings were: cheese and jalapeno (short on the latter), chicharron and cheese (can you see it peeking out?) and the picadillo.
Of the three flavors, I enjoyed the picadillo the best. I did like the texture of the chicharron with salsa verde in the other tamale. The masa was so fresh and so soft (thank you lard, ha ha). We were the only folks eating in that morning. It was still very early, maybe only 9'ish? Maybe 9:30...
Next tine, I will have to take a bag of these home. The tamales taste so much better eaten on the spot, but for when you want to enjoy later, then a dozen or so would come in handy for those times.
We headed down south to the new grocery store that took over Su Mercado. These photos are from two separate visits. The first few are from the visit Bert and I did before the new year. We went after church just to check it out.
Same food area as before but now with sushi! The tortilla area (not shown) is still there along with an area serving fresh juices.
The biggest change was that all of the produce is now in the middle of the store, out in the open. Not on the side like before, but in the middle in low bins. All of the other items (canned, packaged, etc) were relegated to shelves on the side. So, no more long aisles as you step in. Those are now on the side to give more prominence to the produce in the middle.
Prices were reasonable - not overly expensive but not dirt cheap either. The produce looked fairly fresh.
I saw this in the bakery section. Didn't get it but may get one next time.
For my recent visit with Cathy, we were attracted to this wide selection of the aguas frescas. Most places only have maybe 2 or three or sometimes four at the most. This had eight! The friendly man behind the counter offered us samples of whichever flavor we wanted to try. I tried a couple and really liked the strawberry kiwi (which is the flavor that Cathy ended up getting) and their version of fruit punch, which included the grape skins.
I saw this...
Then this...
and ended up getting 1/4 lb of fried pig skinz (this was only a few pieces). See the attached meat and fat? That's how I like it, not just the airy skin. Some of these had a good crunch to them too. Can you see the lightning bolt shaped piece? I thought that was funny.
I liked that these instant coffee labels had New Year's resolutions on them! They were all different too
"Learn history", "Begin to learn French", "Start to enjoy every day" and so on! Something fun and positive that you wouldn't expect to see on an instant coffee container.
Fresh cactus pads as well as chopped cactus in a separate cold area:
These were bags of masa. Plain, pineapple and strawberry flavored. Used for dessert tamales which I learned that day. I've never tried a dessert tamale so now I am curious to try it.
The masa was next to these giant steamer pots.
And this being a few days before Three Kings Day, boxes of roscas in many sizes were available.
A fun visit!
Here is when the store was Su Mercado:
(from my Lunch round up..." post from December 2017
and before that, Sav-a-lot (which opened in 2013):
(from my "Save-a-lot Market" post from October 2013)
Previous visit to Tamales Ancira:
August 2018 during the food crawl with Mary, Jake and Lynn
Manolo Farmer's Market
1860 Coronado Ave.
San Diego, CA 92154
(619) 575-4660
www.manolofarmersmarket.net + the (so far) sparse, five, count 'em five reviews from you know where
I'm glad the food area didn't change too much. They still have a lot of hot food items I want to try including prepared rotiserrie chickens complete with rice and beans to take home for instant lunch or dinner. Plus tacos! Yes, I'm so glad the store has reopened. We will definitely be back.
Our crawl was still in full swing. A quick drive down Palm would be our next stop.
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