TacoPocalypse 2012

https://www.facebook.com/events/366224716799177/

This looks like it will be a really fun event this Saturday at Taco Punk. Gabe shared with me the other night when I was at Taco Punk what he is making for his entry. I have been sworn to secrecy, but it sounds awesome! I am going to be out of town, unfortunately, so I can't make it.

There hasn't been a lot of press about this event that I have seen, so I thought I would pass it on!

[Robin Garr]

FanTacoPacalyptastic! I wish they had called on us earlier to spread the word!

Here's the detail from their Facebook event page, though:

A Celebration of All Things Taco! A benefit for the Slow Foods Agri-Wish grant program. TacoPocalypse will feature a selection of Louisville's top taco bearing restaurants vending and then participating in a battle royale for taco supremacy. The event will also feature a farm market, live music, locally brewed beer and spontaneous artistic performances.

Participating Restaurants: Feast BBQ, Holy Mole and Taco Punk. Judging will take place at 3:00.

Beer: Against the Grain, BBC and Apocalypse Beer will be available.

Farm Market: Stone Cross Farms and other local farmers will be selling meats and produce.

Music: Trophy Wives and Smoke Shop Kids 3pm - 8pm

Some more details as far as I know them.

Taco vending from 12-4.
(Maybe later for the other places, but we have to skate back to the restaurant for Saturday night service.)

Each participating establishment will be vending a taco that they've run on their menu as well as a special taco. There is some sort of competition element involved and judging, but we're just showing up to have some fun and slang some meats. We're trying to determine how feasible some of my out of the box taco ideas are. Hopefully the staff here at Feast can wrangle me in.

Q: How cool is this?

A: Really cool, like Johnny Cash skinnydipping in nitrous oxide.

We're trying to determine how feasible some of my out of the box taco ideas are. Hopefully the staff here at Feast can wrangle me in.

f**k feasability. Bring on the gonzo tacos.

We're trying to determine how feasible some of my out of the box taco ideas are. Hopefully the staff here at Feast can wrangle me in.

f**k feasability. Bring on the gonzo tacos.

That's my normal MO, but after the 2011 bacon ball where my pickup had a lot of components (sous vide house cured bacon, nord's donut puree, makers 46 gastrique, pickled blueberries, sunergros coffee powdered sugar, 63C egg yolk, dehydrated something or other, etc, etc) my staff has made it a point that we have to make feasible (at least in large quantities) offerings at such events.
You live and you learn.

sunergros coffee powdered sugar

Did you leave out a comma, or is this something new and AMAZING I haven't heard about?!?

sunergros coffee powdered sugar

Did you leave out a comma, or is this something new and AMAZING I haven't heard about?!?

It is amazing, but you have to make it. I'll give you the basic run down on the process.

Set up a french press like you normally would to brew coffee and instead of adding the water add in a neutral oil (soybean, canola, something with little flavor) at 195-205F. Steep like normal. Now we have coffee flavored oil. Allow to cool and combine with enough tapioca maltodextrin to form a powder. I'd recommend using only a small portion of the coffee oil you brewed as it will take a considerable amount of tapioca maltodextrin. 60% fat to 40% tapioca maltodextrin by weight is a good starting point. Now we have a coffee powder. Combine this with powdered sugar and you have a coffee flavored powdered sugar.

Conversely you could also grind the beans into a fine powder and mix with powdered sugar, but the flavor isn't as good.

Really the best way to make it would be with a rotovap where I could make a coffee extract from the distillates, but alas I don't have the $3,500 for one or the appropriate R&D facility to host it in.

I know, I know...

The rotovap is the coolest tech-tool going. You can do so much with it.

Unfortunately, it boils down to this formula:

Expensive gadget + Lots of small, moving or breakable parts + busy restaurant = I'm going to be pulling my hair out.