In the second of our monthly street food spotlights, Street Feast organiser Adam Layton shares his thoughts on Breddos Tacos and the changing face of Mexican street food.
I grew up in the Midlands where tacos are brittle, microwave-hot Dorito shells loaded with grey ground beef, too-shiny tomato salsa and thatched with supermarket cheddar.
They’re cleverly sold in kit form (find their beaming yellow boxes next to the bog water jalapeños and long-life guacamole) making them quick, easy and fun to make while, more importantly, setting a benchmark of deliciousness unwavering from mum to mum. The one thing I could never get my head around though was, “Why the hell are they made this way?” Their tunnel-like form is a luge for grease and meat juice (a disastrous match for clean white school shirts) and they shatter like a cheap ruler upon contact.
It wasn’t until years later, when visiting friends in Los Angeles, I realised something had been lost in translation. Parked on a side street just a minute’s walk from two dive bars and one baseball stadium was a plain white truck with simple signage and a eager queue of 10 or so hungry-looking drunk dudes. To date, these are still some of the best tacos I’ve had (fish, steak and tripe) bursting with smoky, fruity, spicy and sharp flavours and all served on top of two lightly toasted super soft pliable corn tortillas. And just a dollar each.
Here in present day London, Breddos Tacos have taken the Mexican/Californian staple and put a London stamp on it. The cooking is ambitious and, at times, technical (the pork belly croquettes are cooked sous-vide and confit before being pressed and cut into perfect cubes, breadcrumbed and deep fried) and the meat is sourced from producers more used to supplying Michelin-starred restaurants than the guys on the street. “It was important our butcher had faith in our product,” says Chris Whitney (below right) – the duo’s numbers man – “otherwise he’d never have supplied us back when we were ordering just £50 of short rib a week.”
My first bite of Breddos was sensational. A (kids’) party in my mouth, thanks to a surprise sprinkling of popping candy over slow-roasted chipotle short rib, candied chilli, orange and lime-cured red onions, pickled habaneros and crumbly blue cheese. Ad exec-turned-street chef Nud Dudhia (below left) is skilled in bringing disparate ingredients together in a way that works like nothing you’ve ever eaten before. Hundreds of Street Feasters make a beeline for his Crunchy Nut-fried chicken tacos every weekend.
Like many street-food back stories, Breddos Tacos was born out of a passion for a certain way of cooking and a listlessness towards office-bound city jobs. What inspired Chris was “an overarching view of wanting to create something better. To make better Mexican food than there was available and to improve our lives. To have a positive impact on people and to push ourselves.”
In May 2014, Breddos Tacos won Taco Wars 2 – our annual search for ‘Britain’s Best Taco’ – against competition from restaurants including former winners Luardos, Rita’s and Kimchinary. In just two years, starting out Saturday day trading from a garden shed (aka ‘Taco Shack’) in Hackney, the Breddos boys have built a brand, a customer base, won over the critics, quit their jobs and developed the ‘Chilliback’ (a spicy, addictive, life-affirming tequila shot). What’s next?
“We’re returning to Street Feast at the end of the month with something new for Hawker House and working on an awesome snack menu for [Soho members’ bar] Milk & Honey. We’ll also be back at Dalston Yard and Model Market for the spring/summer and we’re opening our first restaurant.”
This year is an Olympic year for street food and Breddos Tacos are favourites for a gold medal.
