It’s Not Just Maracas In The Latinas

Filed in archive Cities , Dining on July 23, 2010

© jc.westbrook

If you are a tourist caught in any of the Latin cities, you will find that maracas inviting you to sway to the zamba beat are not all that the streets have to offer.

Street food, Latina-style will surely get you all heated up. Here are a few that will warm your palate:

1. In Ensenada, Mexico

It's a rare city in Mexico that doesn't have great street food, but the tacos de pescado in the Baja port town of Ensenada demand a special pilgrimage. Join the masses at the city's fish market for corn tortillas piled high with battered fried halibut, shredded cabbage, pickled onions, avocado, jalapeños and sweet-tangy crema-mayonnaise sauce.

2. In Puerto Rico

The food stands along Piñones Road about 30 miles east of San Juan make some of the island's best frituras, or fried snacks: coconut arepas, piononos (plantains stuffed with beef) and bacalaítos -- a mixture of pancake dough and salted cod. If you hit the strip around sunset, you might even catch an impromptu salsa-thon.

3. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Health-conscious Cariocas (as locals are known) hit up Ipanema's Sunday market in Praça General Osório square, open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., for grilled-shrimp skewers and the occasional dessert splurge: churros stuffed with dulce de leche. The less guilt-inducing alternative is a fresh coconut drink or an açaí shake from one of the stands along Copacabana Beach.