Showing is Telling

My plan for today was to write about not getting yourself into a panic about Thanksgiving. For those who need a little hands on instruction, my pal Deanna Fox of Silly Goose Farm is teaching a class in Albany tonight that sounds very good and thorough. It’s not too late to get in on it. All the details are here.

But sometimes the best laid plans have to get put aside.

A few of you have suggested that perhaps the best way to close the case of “lettucegate” is to simply ask Bryan Fitzgerald for his pictures of the tacos he was served at La Mexicana. So that’s what I did. Yesterday, I sent an email which among other things asked, “Is there any chance that you would be willing to share that picture with me and my readers?” And to my surprise later that same day he sent me the following snapshots.

As a quick reminder, let’s peek back at Bryan’s review of La Mexicana and specifically his praise for their authentic tacos. He wrote, “The shells are laid flat and topped with about a quarter cup each of fresh lettuce, onion, a choice of meat and two thin radish slices.”

The only problem is that their tacos come with onion and cilantro. Neither I nor anyone else I’ve spoken with who has tried the tacos at La Mexicana has ever been served one with lettuce.

Steve Barnes on his Table Hopping blog responded to my criticism by writing, ““No. Daniel is wrong. Fitzgerald took a photo with his phone. It’s very clearly shredded iceberg lettuce.”

Well, lets look at the photo.

Actually, there are two pictures here. Let me tell you what we are looking at, because the first picture is mighty blurry. Don’t fret, the second picture is a close up and you’ll be able to see all of this much better.

La Mexicana put two sopes and the two tacos on the same plate. The sopes are in the background. They are topped with meat, lettuce, crumbled cheese and avocado slices. The tacos are in the bottom of the frame (and appear to be chorizo on the left and carnitas on the right) topped with their usual build of meat, onions and cilantro.

How, even in this blurry picture, can I tell that the tacos are made with cilantro and not lettuce? The shredded iceberg on the sopes is a uniform pale green. There are no dark green spots in the background. Now look at the tacos in the foreground and notice the deep dark green accents of cilantro.

You will see it much clearer in the vertical close up of what appears to be the carnitas taco.

It’s painfully obvious what happened here. Given the close proximity of the two antojitos on the plate, a few strands of the lettuce from the sope spilled onto the taco. You can see a few errant bits of the sope’s crumbled cheese on the taco meat too.

But you cannot ignore the prominent use of cilantro on the taco and not the sope. Again, notice the difference in color and the knife work on the cilantro versus the sope’s lettuce. Also note the presence of stems.

Did a little bit of lettuce stray onto Bryan’s taco? Sure. So did a little bit of cheese. But it is wrong to say that La Mexicana’s tacos come with a quarter cup of lettuce. They don’t. And suggesting otherwise (while ignoring the cilantro) is doing the restaurant a disservice. Onions and cilantro are essential to a traditional street style taco. This authenticity is what fans of La Mexicana prize and what compels them to drive thirty minutes out of their way for these tacos.

My work here is done.

Now the rest is on you. Please feel free to contact Bryan directly. Apparently part of his job is fielding calls from readers who would like clarifications to stories he has written. His phone number is 518-454-5414 or you can email him at bfitzgerald@timesunion.com if you prefer. Ask him about the cilantro. Maybe he’ll tell you that he didn’t taste any in his tacos. But cilantro is pretty distinctive stuff, it was clearly present in the tacos he was served, and it was notably absent from his review.

Were it the Times Union’s policy to visit a restaurant more than once, I suspect this confusion would have cleared itself up on its own.

Now, it would seem prudent for the paper to print a retraction. And to this end, you might want to contact its editor Rex Smith at rsmith@timesunion.com and mention the factual errors in the story.

Look, people make mistakes. I just think it’s important to own up to them and move on. I’m just glad to finally clear the air.