Cooking with the Flying Carpet

I had the great priviledge of cooking with Maria Souktourri of the Flying Carpet in their home in Austin last night.  I'll update the blog with the full story later, but wanted to post the video and recipe while it's hot.

Short lil minute and a half video on how we cooked the dish.

Moroccan Lemon Butter & Olive Chicken w/ French Fries


1 whole large Chicken - washed and dried skin on

In a bowl combine:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 stalk cilantro finely chopped
• 1 med. onion finely chopped
• 3 sm garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
• Juice of one med-large lemon
• 1/2 stick of salted butter slightly softened

Mix ingredients together making a paste. Cover chicken with paste outside and inside the skin.  Insert lemon halves used for their juice inside the chicken

Cook at 350 for 1 1/12 hours or until done.  Every 20-30 baste chicken in it's own juices with a spoon

Add 1 1/2 c. green olives (no brine) to the chicken the last 10-15 min. of cook time.  Olives will fall to the sides and into the chicken's juices- this is what you want.

This chicken is often served with a cucumber/tomato salad, french fries & bread to sop up the sauce.

Much love,

the Souktouri Family

Grab Some Lunch at The Gypsy Picnic

As we prepare for the first annual Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival, we are featuring the unique tastes you will have the pleasure of enjoying on Saturday, November 6th. Here is a look at the mid-day offerings from Gypsy Picnic trailers.
Continuing the exploration of one of the most popular questions I get asked, here is a question I personally ponder daily: What’s for lunch? Whether you have a friend in town that you want to share the trailer food scene with, or are just up for trying something new, I have you covered.

If you’re on South Congress, check out The Flying Carpet for some fresh and healthy Moroccan cuisine made with local love from the Souktouri family. While you’re in the area you might try the popular Mighty Cone, one of the landmark trailer businesses in Austin that offers a unique take of fried chicken with ancho sauce in a tortilla wrapped to go. Turf n Surf Po'Boys is another popular downtown trailer vendor who has a killer shrimp po’boy. You can enjoy eating it outside the trailer Ralph Gilmore green-built himself at their 2nd and Congress Av. location. Nick Patrizi, owner of The Jalopy, will slide you a gourmet rotisserie chicken sandwich from the top of his big rig that is as much a mural as it is an eatery over on 15th and San Antonio. For something south of the border, Kronic Krave Arepas is serving traditional Colombian arepas on 5th and Colorado.

Skipping over to South First, if you dine with 4th generation Austinite, John Galindo, at Izzoz, he’ll be sure to remember your name and order the next time you stop by for his tacos. Down the street from John stands the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery: home to Torchy’s Tacos, Holy Cacao and Man Bites Dog. There you can sample tacos, cake balls, and hot dogs  - all in one spot! Further down South 1st stands Pick Up Stixx, home to chef, Cowden Ward, who is developing multiple sauces for his unique fare. Down on Barton Springs, you can catch some Louisiana fried pies at Kate’s Southern Comfort, where even folks from New Orleans come crawling back for more. Last but not least, if you are up in Pflugerville, be sure to check out the Multi-tasker sandwich from 86 This, which has slow roasted brisket with cheesy mashed potatoes.


Lunch on the fly? Austin is also home to many roving units that will post their locations and hours online or via social media. Try finding Chi’Lantro for a Korean/Mexican fusion experience or Mmmpanadas for, you guessed it, empanadas. Short Bus Subs offers hot, toasted sub sandwiches on freshly baked bread out of a short yellow school bus.

Can’t get out of the office? Most of these vendors will cater upon request, but ALL of them will be at the Gypsy Picnic, showcasing up to three of their favorite menu items. If you’re still wondering "what’s for lunch?" post-picnic, you can keep a Trailer Food Diaries magazine, featuring a guide to all the vendors in Austin, in your car. We are giving away 5,000 sample copies at the picnic and will distribute a full size version in time for SXSW. Happy eating!

the Zubikhouse

- Location & Hours: 
  Tuesday - Friday: 8 AM - 2PM - 3447 Northland Dr.  
  Saturdays: 9 AM - 1 PM - 4th and Guadalupe @Austin Farmers Market
- Telephone: 512-751-1989
- Facebook: The ZubikHouse
- Cuisine: Texas Czech - kolaches, sandwiches, dessert

Andy Zubik and his brother Jason have been in business with the Zubikhouse in October or 2009.  With over 20 years of experience in the food industry roaming from Austin to Durango, Houston and beyond Andy came up with a mouth watering menu for his Texas Czech cuisine.  So how does he make this seemingly contradictory fusion work? “Kolaches and other traditional items that are a pretty big staple in Czech cuisine have a lot of weight to them. German/Polish/Hungarian winters are so long that they eat a lot of meat potato dishes.  But when you get to Texas and have 7 months of heat, it doesn’t translate as easily.  You have to be more creative with the heat.  For example, we do fried strawberries and chipotle pecan pie ice cream.  At some point the chef goes back to their roots –what they grew up with, what they started cooking.”

Andy is a big advocate for local business and leads by example by buying from local farms such as Full Quiver, Richardson, Fredericksburg beef, Slovacek and Kocurek.  He says, “If you want a good strong economy you have to have a strong local economy – I can do my part with my business by buying local products.  If I have my way, we will get nothing but local products and keep those dollars here and not sending them overseas or far away.”

Kronic Krave Arepas

- Location: Downtown - 5th & Colorado St.
- Hours: Thursday – Saturday: 7 PM – 4 AM
- Telephone: 606-369-5860 / 814.206.4090 / 512.968.0769
- Facebook: Kronic Krave Arepas / Twitter: kronickrave
- Cuisine: Sandwiches ...in an arepa-pocket


Brothers Nicolas and Andres Pombo, along with their friend Juan Carlos Delgado, opened Kronic Krave Arepas in September of 2010.  In addition to providing traditional Colombian mouth-watering arepas, Nicolas sees their food trailer as a way to share something nice about their Colombian culture. 

If you were to travel in Colombia today, you would find many different versions of the arepas the young men grew up on depending on what region you are visiting. An arepa is a cornbread-South-American version of a pita pocket that contains whatever fillings and flavors the consumer desires.  For Nicolas and Juan Carlos, their favorite arepa is the “Blondie”, which combines pulled chicken, guacamole and Monterey jack for the filling.  Andres might say his favorite is the “Don Pablo” which has pulled chicken, kronic sauce, feta and sweet plantains, or the “Mystic” which has sweet plantains, guacamole and feta.  In addition to the three described, Kronic Krave also offers two pulled beef arepas: the “Mariachi” which is embellished with cheddar cheese, and the “Carribbean Craze” which adds sweet plantains to the mariachi. 

The two brothers grew up in Bogota with a population of 8 million people, and their partner grew up in Barranquilla, where Shakira is from.  They all came to the states for a college education.  Nicolas completed a degree in industrial engineering from Penn State and his younger brother Andres is currently attending the University of Texas for supply chain management.  They have a third brother, Miguel, who is in law school in Bogota, where their parents live as well.  The entire Pombo family enjoys water skiing as a hobby and Andres is on the UT ski team as a competitive sport.  Juan Carlos graduated with a degree in finance from Arizona State.

The political climate in Colombia is changing with the inauguration of a new President in August of 2010.  The effect has been a diminishing of the terrorist groups and guerilla activity, although displaced families due to drug trafficking remains an issue.  Nicolas remembers being in high school and offering mentorship programs as a service to a smaller school for displaced children.  In fact, if you are interested in supporting displaced families due to the drug wars in Colombia, please contact one of these organizations: UNICEF or ACNUR which are international organizations, or Antioquia Presente is a local one from Medellin.  The Pombo family as well as Juan Carlos would consider travel to Colombia safe at this time and hope you will take a taste of the Colombian cuisine as a positive thing from their beautiful country.

The Peached Tortilla

- Location: Roving - follow website, facebook, and/or twitter to learn location
- Hours: Tuesday - Saturdays: hours vary according to location
- Telephone: 512-761-3241
- Website: www.thepeachedtortilla.com / Facebook: The Peached Tortilla / Twitter: peached tortilla
- Cuisine: Fusion Tacos

The Peached Tortilla is former lawyer Eric Silverstein’s mobile truck that is serving gourmet asian/southern fusion through the medium of street food.  Born in Japan, and having traveled thoroughly around Asia, Eric was exposed to a variety of cultures and cuisines.  At the age of ten, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia which offered a new range of ingredients and flavors.  “When I started that concept made sense to mingle those two cultures,” says Eric.  His personal favorite item on the menu is the Banhmi taco, which uses pork belly that is brined and braised served with a pickled daikon carrot salad with sirracha mayo and cilantro.

I asked Eric to explain the name, the Peached Tortilla, and he said, “It originates from Georgia roots because it’s the peach state.  The word “peached” is something that allows you to define it yourself.  To us, ‘peached’ is to get flavor smitten – we want people to get ‘peached’.  The tortilla ties in with tacos.  We also want to separate ourselves out from corporate America and this name was one way to do that. “

Eric represents the rebel version of entrepreneurs who aren’t satisfied working for someone else.  After discussing a new city with his girlfriend and much research on his concept, Eric quit his job and three weeks later they moved to Austin and opened the Peached Tortilla.  Why Austin?  “We felt like it was a really open minded city open to eating from a food truck.  There was already a tremendous amount of growth in trailer food industry, the city is growing, the economy is doing well, my concept is different and Austin likes different.”  Currently, Eric is dishing up his gourmet fusion at multiple locations.

Takorea

CLOSED - 8/2010 - goodbye, Takorea.

- Cuisine: Fusion tacos

“East meets Mex”

Paul Kim was in commercial real estate finance before he put Takorea on the map.  Growing up in both Missouri and Texas and living in New York for a few years gave him a real interest in eating and cooking diverse food.  His concept blends Korean BBQ and Mexican food.  He started working on his idea just by cooking and having friends over to try his food.  Once he got his recipes solidified, his friends helped improve it. 

Paul says, “I feel like I’m doing something somewhat unique.  I want to be an ambassador of the good things of Korean food are to people that haven’t tried Korean food.”  His personal favorite is the beef taco in a cabbage wrap while the crowd favorite seems to be the hot dog with beef on top.  His customers are from all around the globe, including a Chinese Bulldog, but he had the opportunity to serve his first Korean Mexican while on the job in his first year.

Kebabalicious

- Location & Hours: 
   2nd St. & Congress Av: Tuesday - Friday: 11 AM - 3 PM
   7th St. & Trinity St: Thursday - Saturday: 9 PM - 3 AM
- Website: www.austinkebab.com / Facebook: Kebabalicious
- Cuisine: Kebabs


Chris and Kristian first met in high school in Houston, Texas.  When they graduated, they went their separate ways but remained close in spirit.  Midway through their first semester of college, they took off for an opportunity to snow board and work at a hotel in Switzerland.  Although they wouldn’t be able to leave work very often, the guys took advantage of the live music scene and subsequently would hit up ‘restaurant 1001’, which was where the Kebabalicious trailer story starts.

Demir, a Turkish entrepreneur in Switzerland is who took Chris under his wing and gave him an opportunity to go into his big facility to learn how to do this style of food.   Chris says, “Without him I wouldn’t know how to do it.  He liked me, but I had to push to open the door and work with 52 turkish guys.  I had to do some smooth talking to get in.  Without that I wouldn’t know how to do any of the sauces.”  Demir started out 20 years prior with a little stand and it took him ten years to expand enough to get out of the trailer.  He is now running a million pounds of beef and lamb per week out of his factory.  Demir told Chris, “I can’t pay you but I like that you want to take this back to Texas.  You can’t ever come back to Switzerland and open a kebab stand – and put me out of business.”

So after their return, Chris was graphic design major and Kristian was a photography major at Texas State University (then known as ‘Southwest’) when they opened their test market in the quad.  Realizing they had a good enough product to impress the masses, they eventually took their trailer to down town Austin.  The official open-date for Kebabalicious as we know it was the week before Halloween in 2006.  Chris says, “We get a lot of Turkish customers that live here in Austin.  The first question they ask is ‘Are you Turkish?’ to them it’s a big deal – an American kid making Turkish food.  I tell them the story and it gives me credibility.  It’s a pretty curious thing for them to see an American owner of a Turkish kebab stand – they are always ok with it, but they are also my biggest critic.”

Each business partner has a rich cultural background, Kristian with a Costa Rican/Guatemalan/Lebanese heritage while Chris grew up with Peruvian/South American/Texan roots.  So the menu is globally inspired from their childhood through their experiences traveling.  Chris says, “Traveling was an eye opener for the both of us - it expanded our horizons with the different cultures, languages and food.  It was a big deal for us at age 20-23 in Europe.  I had the time of my life.”

G'Raj Mahal

- Location:  Downtown - 91 Red River - Rainey Street District

- Hours: Tuesday - Thursday & Sunday: 5 PM - 12 AM

              Friday & Saturday: 5 PM - 3 AM
- Number: 512-480-2255
- Facebook: G'raj Mahal Cafe 

- Cuisine: Indian

Anthony and Sidney Roberts met at Sidney’s favorite Indian restaurant in Minnesota where she was temporarily located.  She started flirting with Anthony, who she thought was a new waiter but as it turned out he was the owner.  After dating, the pair started talking about mutual projects and formulated the G’Raj Mahal concept from their mutual work experience along with her imagination and his good work ethics.  Owning and operating a food trailer in Austin, Texas may seem like an unlikely journey for Sidney, who has an International Studies degree in Biochemistries for Medicine.  But the once a foodie, always a foodie theory applies to her.  She says, “I’ve always cooked.  I knew I wanted to be a chef ever since I was a kid – it’s addictive work.” 

Her personal favorite item on the menu is the Goan Fish Curry.  Anthony is from Goa, India so the couple brought in some Goan items to honor his history and genetics.  The vegetable korma or possibly the chicken saag made with fresh spinach (never frozen) are two of the crowd favorites under the palace-like draped outdoor seating area that is also home to the Austin Bike Zoo.   

When asked about her favorite part of the business, Sidney offers: “The most intriguing thing is as a chef, you don’t get to meet a lot of the customers.  But in this case, we are face to face with our people and a lot of them want to have a conversation with you. We’ve become good friends with many of the customers there and it’s also become a good hang out for the chefs when they get off their shifts.  It’s a good thing when we know chefs are looking forward to eating our food.”

Lulu b's

- Location: Southside - 2101 South Lamar
- Hours: Tuesday – Friday: 11 AM – 4 PM

              Saturday: 11 AM - 5 PM
- Telephone: 512-921-4828
- Website: www.lulubssandwiches.com / Facebook: Lulu B's Sandwiches / Twitter: lulub0107

- Cuisine: Vietnamese Sandwiches

Laura Bayer was teaching elementary school before opening her Vietnamese trailer food business in January of 2008.  In comparison to teaching, Laura says about the trailer food industry,  “When it was new, it was completely different.  I got out of teaching because it was emotionally and physically draining.  But now that we are busy, it’s just as demanding just in a different way.”  Her mother is the beacon of Vietnamese cooking in Laura’s eyes.  In fact, when Laura was in elementary school it was well known among the teachers that her mother’s egg rolls were highly sought after.  Laura says, “Every teacher in every school we went to would ask if mom was making egg rolls.”   

A lot of her lemon grass recipes were learned from her mother including her fish sauce and summer rolls.  The grilled pork sandwich and the summer rolls are her favorite items on the Lulu b’s menu, but the Chinese BBQ pork sandwich takes the win for the crowd favorite.  One of Laura’s favorite things about the business is serving repeat customers and having the satisfaction of people who really love and appreciate our food.  Having done no advertising, all of her customers have come from word of mouth, including Jake Gillinhall and a lot of famous local musicians.  One of her customers is a dog trainer who brings dog treats for lulu b’s to give away. 

In addition to Vietnamese fare, Laura used to sell Vietnamese smoothies.  She remembers, “I went to Vietnam when I was 31.  My aunt actually had a little coffee stand outside her house where she sold smoothies, coconuts, coffee – that’s where I learned to do those items but the trailer is too small to accompany that now.”  What makes a Vietnamese smoothie different?  It is a refreshing combination fresh fruit, condensed milk, sugar, lime and ice. 

Originally from California, Laura moved to Austin in July of 1999 with her best friend at the time, whose father had recently passed away and her mother was moving back to Texas.  Initially, Laura said no, but she found herself falling in love with Austin and agreed to go only if Austin was the city her friend would choose.  When asked what inspires her, Laura says, “My love of food – I get excited when I have good food.”

Pick Up Stixx

- Location & Hours: 
  SoFi Food Court - 2202 South 1st St. - @Live Oak 
      >Monday - Thursday: 11 AM - 8 PM
      >Friday & Saturday: 11 AM – 6:30 PM
  Downtown - E. 7th St. & Trinity
      >Friday & Saturday: 9 PM - 3 AM
- Telephone: 512-234-2103
- Website: www.pickupstixx.biz / Facebook: Pick up Stixx / Twitter: pick_up_stixx
- Cuisine: Fusion Kabobs

Don’t be scared of Cowden Ward’s big sideburns and crazy eyes, he’s really a nice, cultured cook with 20 years of experience in the food industry.  Originally from Dallas and raised on Lake Buchanan, Cowden has spent time working outside of Texas in Arizona and Europe.  Having been in Austin on and off for 20 years, he finally sunk some roots, mobile though they might be, with his Pick up Sticks trailer.  Keeping his cool in the mass chaos of a busy run, Cowden likes to have the music blaring in his trailer.  He has everything from Tibetan Monk chants to Salsa to Metal to Stevie Ray Vaughn to Cowboy Junkies, Beethoven and Mozart, and his favorite – Junior Brown. 

In Cowden’s words, he loves this business: “I can do whatever I want.  I can play with food.  I’ve been known to run specials in restaurants and do well – so I can offer something different than what everyone else is doing (other than tacos and burgers).  There are so many other starches to play with! I’m going to try and run 20 different sauces – Mexican, Mediteranean, something weird like jalapeno tomato mint, or saffron pickle relish.  I’m trying to work with a local grower that is consistent with local produce and meats – that is where I can offer my special at market price and keep it real.”  And why does he do it? “To see that smile – to see people enjoy life a little more.  It’s a challenge to make someone smile through your food.”

The Flying Carpet

- Location: Gibson Trailer Park - 1318 South Congress Av. -@Gibson St.
- Hours: Wednesday - Friday: 6  PM - 10 PM
              Saturday: 12 - 3 PM & 6 PM - 10 PM
              Sunday: 12 - 3 PM & 5 PM - 7 PM
- Telephone: 512-744-5651
- Facebook: The Flying Carpet / Twitter: TFCAustin
- Cuisine: Moroccan Burgers


Maria & Abderrahim Souktouri are the heart and soul of the Flying Carpet with cultures as bold and brilliant as the food they are serving.  Maria grew up here in Austin, while Abderrahim haled from the ghetto in Morocco.  He won his United States citizenship in the lottery when he was 27 and came over to the states.  They met at a party with the Latin American studies department at UT and ended up hooking up at Club Rio.  Eventually they married and had their first-born, Talib, and with his birth came a change in lifestyle.  With a leap of faith, Maria quit her job as a paralegal for a civil rights attorney in order to stay home with Talib while Abderrahim kept his job at the Dell factory.  It was during these moments of chance that the couple decided to do something ‘just for them’ and try their hand in the food industry.   

Maria tells it like this, “We’ve always entertained and been foodies; having parties for 30-40 at our house is not a strange thing.  People rant and rave about our food and we’d always talked about what it would be like to open a restaurant ever since we first got together fifteen years ago.  But we knew enough to be scared…. When we thought about opening trailer we had plan b, c.  “b” was sell the trailer – “c” was move to Morocco.   But there were so many confirmations once we did this, and I realized the house, the biggest thing we’ll ever buy, even if we lose it, it doesn’t change who we are. Life isn’t a dress rehearsal its now.  What are we waiting for?  The trailer was something we could financially and logistically do.” 

Back in Morocco is where Abderrahim tested the waters with his trailer food endeavors.  He had a street food business there, selling roasted nuts.  He has taken his bride to his hometown twice, and his son got to go once so far.  The couple feels strongly about serving people what they would eat out of their own home, so all of the ingredients come from hormone free and cage free animals as well as organic vegetables.  Former Barton Springs Lifeguard Maria says, “The food in Morocco is clean and brilliant because it is not mass produced.  Even though I’m Mexican we never ate at trailers because they were dirty.  But Morocco is different.”   

In fact, the “Moroccan” is the Souktouri’s best seller. They use a very pure bread made of flour, salt and water which they buy daily.  Next, they pour a tomato sauce that includes tomatoes they have peeled slow cooked in spices, onions and then garlic at the end so as not to burn.  (The minimum they lovingly cook the sauce is 2 ½ hours.)  They use vegetarian hormone free beef and plop three little nuggets of the beef on top.  A vegetarian-fed, hormone free, cage free egg is fried and put on top as a final touch.  If that doesn’t have your tastebuds watering with underground soul food, I don’t know what else to write.

Chi'lantro

- Location: Roving - follow website and twitter to learn location
- Hours: Everyday - hours vary according to location
- Website: www.chilantrobbq.com / Facebook: Chilantro BBQ / Twitter: chilantrobbq
- Cuisine: fusion tacos

From bus boy to working at fast food Chinese restaurants to starting his own business at age 21, Jae Kim has always been involved in the food industry.  His family ran a food business when we has young in Korea.  “I remember growing up in the back of the kitchen,” Jae says.  His aunt and other relatives also owned restaurants and they were able to give him a lot of good advice, knowing the ups and downs of the business.

Born in Korea, raised in Orange County, California, his coffee shop “the Foothill Café” is where he found is true passion for the service and food industry.  The concept for Jae’s Korean/Mexican fusion food trailer came from his background with a large population of Koreans and Hispanics.  “I grew up with burritos and Korean food,” he says, “and the reason I wanted to do it in Austin is because Austin is culturally diverse; Austin welcomes the trailer scene and they want to try something new – this is the best location I can think of in Texas that would welcome this idea – so I put the ingredients together and did research; experimented with friends and family – and opened a truck.”

Jae’s beef dishes are sweet and smoky, while his pork dishes are spicy.  He finds that different locations have different preferences on fair and sells a good amount of tofu and vegetarian dishes as well.  You can get any of these in  taco, burger or burrito form.  Jae’s personal favorite is either beef or pork tacos.

Jae’s advice for other vendors starting out is first to have patience, and second to have determination.  “I made nine dollars my first day, four dollars my second.  So patience is the number one key… Sometimes it gets tough; you have to be really determined to serve the customers regardless of the weather and the situation…  It doesn’t matter if we have one customer, we are still going to go out there and serve; we keep our promise with our customers.”