Mexican Food

MESQUITE, nopal, maguey, wild maize: These were some of the foods eaten in Mexico 9,000 years ago by nomadic people. Then came squash, chiles, avocados, guava, cultivated maize and beans, the foods of sedentary people. The Aztecs made \o7tlaxcalli\f7 (the Nahuatl name for what is now called tortillas). The Aztecs, Mayans and Incas ate salsa. The foods of the nomads gave way to \o7pozole\f7 and masa and tamales. The Spaniards brought wheat and rice, cattle, pigs, sheep and sugar cane.

L.A.'S most popular cuisine is getting dressed up and heading downtown in a wave of high-end Latin-influenced restaurants. Call it "modern Mexican" or "nuevo Latino," just don't ask for a Combination No. 2. It isn't that kind of party.

Taco truck owners vowed to ignore a law passed by Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday making it a misdemeanor crime -- punishable by fines and jail -- to stay parked in one place for more than an hour. "They can try to move us, but we're not going to go," said Aleida De La Cruz, whose taco truck has been a family business for 20 years. "What are they going to do, take us all to jail?"

"Carne Asada Is Not a Crime," proclaims a website that has suddenly caught fire to rally food lovers across Los Angeles in defense of the iconic taco truck, now in the sights of a government crackdown. After county supervisors passed a law two weeks ago, threatening hefty fines or a year in jail against operators who linger too long in one place, a pair of former Occidental College roommates took it upon themselves to ignite a protest.

DON'T be surprised if, someday soon, following a meal at a Mexican restaurant, the server brings what looks like a taco-shaped fortune cookie with your check. Crack open the cinnamon-scented wafer and you'll find a slip of paper printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other with a Mexican saying, or dicho. Example: La lengua del mal amigo, mas corta que un cuchillo. (The tongue of a bad friend cuts more than a knife.

Juan Carlos Rivera knew that if he wanted to get a dishwashing job at the MacArthur Park hamburger stand, he would have to pretend to be Mexican. But the thought of lying made the Salvadoran anxious. He paced outside the restaurant, worried that his melodic Spanish accent, his use of the Central American vos, instead of the Mexican tu, would give him away. Resolving to say as little as possible, Rivera remembers steeling himself and stepping inside -- into the world of Mexicanization.

ACTOR James Roday is one of the beautiful people. People magazine said so just this year -- not that the Atwater Village resident is complaining. Blushing, perhaps, but not complaining. Yet what he's really proud of is his USA Network series "Psych," which begins its second season Friday at 10 p.m. A quiet start On a Friday night I try to keep it mellow, and that's where the Sonora Cafe comes in. Even at capacity it never feels too crowded or too hip.

IT'S hard to pin down what's great about a great taco. Is it the succulent, smoky \o7carne asada\f7? The tender, charred hand-made tortilla? The sweet, ripe, spicy brightness of \o7pico de gallo\f7? More likely it's the way all those things come together. You can find such taco greatness all over town, at corner taquerias and taco trucks with cult followings. But the best tacos in the world might come out of your own kitchen.

The vendor selling churros, snacks of fried dough tossed with sugar and cinnamon, shouted to attract customers because no one was in line. Tortas were unpopular, mariscos even more so, and some vendors quickly changed their sales strategy to selling drinks, instead of just food, in Saturday afternoon's warmth.

'Mija, how old are you?" manager Patricia Zarate calls out across Homegirl Cafe's new dining room in downtown L.A. "Nineteen," Alma Cova, a petite mother with cat eyes, tosses back as she whips up a late breakfast for an assortment of city hall staffers, downtown professionals, families and neighborhood denizens. One of the first hires when the cafe opened this past October, Cova arrived with few honed skills. Two months later, Zarate is still amazed: "I had no idea how talented she was."