A Torchy's Song - Ode to the Green Chili Pork Taco

Okay, so nothing new in this particular column - nothing that hasn't been written in several dozen other columns in the city of Austin, that hasn't been said by hundreds, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of others - residents, tourists, travelers - who have had the privilege of putting their lips, tongues, tonsils and tummies to one of these delightful objets. They are great - and if you don't know it, you should. This is the purpose behind this column - to get to the stragglers, hermits, outsiders and otherwise socially isolated few who haven't heard that these are the best in town. And also, just to crow - cuz they're so good they make me feel like Julie Andrews (or Mary Martin, depending on your paradigm) in the hills of beloved Austria. The tacos are alive with the taste of pork.

Roast pork, to be exact, and this is where this ode begins. Pork shoulder is a piece of meat of which no one south of the Mason Dixon line is ignorant; it's basically the front ham, a little more fatty and a little smaller than its counterpart, but with a muscly striation that makes it a wholly different piece of meat, one that does magical things with low heat applied over a long period of time. Sing, muse, of connective tissue. You see, all of those little striations are separated one from another by thin layers of tissue, tissue that, due to its chemistry (don't ask me, I don't know) will, with said low heat over said long period, liquefy. When you 'pull' pulled pork, and all of those delicious strands fall away from one another, it's because that connective tissue has liquefied, rendering the meat both devilishly tender and moist.

Pork shoulder roasted until it wilts like a Victorian maiden at the mention of her wedding night obligations forms the basis of this admirable taco, and while it's hard to go wrong from here, it's also not particularly easy to improve upon. Torchy's does - which is what makes this taco great. A sprinkling of cochitl cheese adds both a silky element and highlights the smoky, caramelly goodness of the pork. No less, the aromatic addition of a generous frissee of chopped cilantro (did I just say frissee? - I hate that word) and a fat wedge of lime to be squeezed at the eater's discretion, all topped off with as much or little of the tangy, tomatillo driven salsa that comes de riguer with the taco as one's heart desires, and you've got just perfection, a piece de amor, a magnum opus.

There are, of course, other offerings at Torchy's. My wife has a preference for the fried avocado taco. I was impressed by the Double-wide, an unholy combination of chicken fried steak, bacon, salsa and some form of ranch dressing (really good, though I could actually feel my arteries silting in as I ate it). There's also the Republican (a jalapeno sausage taco that was like, well, a hot dog), and the Democrat (barbacoa, which I love, but which is better elsewhere in town). Their chips are freshly fried, greasy and good, and their queso and guac more than passable. But really, if the green chili pork taco wasn't on the menu, I might spend more time standing in front of the trailer, perusing the menu, debating one or the other, trying to estimate from among the offerings what selections would make for a balanced dining experience.

But it is on the menu - the green chili pork taco. Let me say it again: green chili pork taco. Does it roll off the tongue? Yes, folks, it most certainly does - and right into your ecstatically dancing tummy.

Torchy's - South 1st and Milton, in a trailer in a parking lot, so you know it's good.