Kitchen Chick

La Gloria Bakery: Churros and the Best Flour Tortillas

La Gloria sits at the edge of Mexicantown in Detroit with the Ambassador Bridge just jump, skip and hop away.  We used to avoid that area of Mexicantown, as it has the most touristy restaurants, but curiosity brought us to La Gloria's doors some few years ago and we have been returning faithfully ever since.  They have the usual assortment of Mexican sweets, but what brings me to them is their flour tortillas and churros.

They have the most delicious flour tortillas I have ever had.  Hands down, the best.  (You all are welcome to offer your nominations for best flour tortillas available in the Metro Detroit area, and I'll happily try them.  I try to keep an open mind.)  If you get tortillas at La Gloria, make sure to get theirs as sometimes they also stock other companies tortillas, too.

La Gloria's beautiful cases of baked goods

Like all Mexican bakeries I've visited, they also offer an assortment of American and European-style pastries like cakes and napoleons. On Easter Sunday, La Gloria had chocolate cupcakes decorated chocolate frosting and a squiggle of white frosting, looking so much like a giant version of a Hostess Cupcake, and these delightful bunnies...

La Gloria Bakery
3345 Bagley Ave.
Detroit, MI
(313) 842-5722

Sweet Treats from Detroit's Mexicantown Bakery

A trip to Detroit usually means a trip to Mexican Town for a meal at El Comal and a bag full of Mexican baked goods. Mexicantown Bakery, located at 4300 West Vernor in the heart of Mexican Town, combines a fabulous selection of sweets and breads with a corner store grocery. When I step inside I feel six years old again with a store full of magical delights to choose from. I dash from display to display, and eventually, with regret, I make my selections. Regret because I know I can't, realistically, buy one of each treat, but I try to get at least one of my favorites and one new item each time.

Cases of Mexican baked goods line a wall of the popular Mexicantown Bakery in Detroit, while large colorful pinatas look down from above.

Grab a tray and a pair of tongs and load up. When you're ready, take your tray to the check-out counter and the cashier will ring you up.

Chilled items like flans and cakes are in chilled cases, and you'll have to ask one of the staff to help you with those. There isn't nearly enough space to display all of their goods, so make sure to peer over the counters to the breads and sweets hiding the cashiers.

Custard-topped breads.

Mexicantown Bakery also stocks many basic Mexican grocery items, which cost far less in the supermercados of Mexican town than they do in Ann Arbor grocery stores. Stock up on dried chilies and Mexican canned goods, japones enchilado, and your favorite Mexican sodas. And before the cashier finishes ringing everything up, grab a slice or two of Mexican flan to go.

Mexicantown Bakery
4300 West Vernor Highway
Detroit MI 48216
(313) 554-0001

Raw Honey!

Sparrow Market in Kerrytown sells locally produced raw honey. So yummy that I couldn't wait until after I had taken the picture to eat it...

Honey and Amish butter spread on Zingerman's rye bread.

The Magic Spade In Action

A while back I introduced The Magic Spade, but I hadn't actually taken it out of its package and used it. It had so much entertainment value just in itself. Recently, however, I was making stuffed zucchini. I usually use globe zucchini, but this time I had the usual long zucchini.

"Ah ha!" I thought to myself. "I can try to be a clever housewyffe and screw with my magic spade." Yes, indeed, with much screwing and shoveling action, the magic spade does work. Here are the pictures.

Extracting the zucchini core...

The extracted core...

Cored zucchini (and my bandaged 2nd degree burn)...

Zingerman's, Ann Arbor

"Contact Sheet" style mosaic of Zingerman's Delicatesen.

Zingerman's Deli is Ann Arbor's most famous restaurant, and rightly so. They make large over-the-top deli sandwiches from fresh top-quality ingredients. Over the years Zingerman's has branched out to sell top-notch meats, world-class cheeses, and a host of other delicacies including olives, varietal honeys, chocolates, salts, pastas, specialty sugars, peppers and sauces, tea, spices, and coffee. They have the most amazing collection of olive oils and vinegars to be found anywhere, including 150 year old balsamic vinegar that they'll let you taste for free.

Instead of expanding by opening new Zingerman's deli in different cities, they've grown by starting new food-related businesses in Ann Arbor. They've added a bakery with artisan breads and pastries, a creamery that produces wonderful butter and gelato and local cheeses, a sit-down restaurant specializing in American regional foods called Zingerman's Roadhouse, and a catering business. And, of course, for those not living in Ann Arbor, the Zingerman's Mail Order business.

Photography note:
I take most of my food photos with our very small Pentax Optio S4 digital camera because it does a good job with close-ups and is small enough to be discreet in restaurants. But the day I took this mosaic of Zingerman's, I was playing with a new zoom lens for our Nikon D70 digital camera. I shot this freehand (no tripod) and very quickly, and as you can see, my sixth frame is off quite a bit. The exposures are also all slightly different, and I didn't photoshop them to be the same. I think part of the charm of a contact sheet mosaic is it's slight exposure differences and the quirky geometry of the final image.

Szechuan Peppercorns — Legal Again!

Great news for chefs in the U.S.! Szechuan peppercorns, which had been banned in the US because they can carry a citrus canker, are available once again. Legally. The peppercorns have to be heat-treated to kill any possible canker.

You can purchase them at Adriana's Caravan.

I wonder how the heat-treating process affects the taste.

Billington's Muscovado Sugar

This stuff is fantastic! Let's face it — basic American brown sugar is not brown sugar. It's white sugar that's trying to pass. The makers add cane molasses to give white sugar its light brown color. Real brown sugar should come from all natural cane sugar.

Why care? Take the basic toll house cookie recipe. It is a good recipe that make reliably good cookies. But use real brown sugar, flavorful butter, and high quality chocolate and vanilla, (and a touch more salt than the recipe calls for, in my opinion) and this basic recipe will make standout chocolate chip cookies.

Billington's Muscovado Sugar is a rich, full flavored brown sugar that's made in Britian. The company is over 130 years old and makes its sugars with the same care found at a fine winery. Once you taste their sugar, you will understand — all of your taste buds will understand — that generic light brown sugar made with molasses is as nothing to this stuff. I use Billington's in all my cookies that call for brown sugar. It's rather expensive, so I often cut it with the cheap stuff. The flavor isn't as intense, but I get some of the benefits of that muscovado sugar taste while not bankrupting the food budget.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Billington's sugars are available from Zingerman's. Non-locals can mail-order it from Zingerman's. A quick web search will show you other places where you can find Billington's sugars.

Seared Bonito from Monahan's

Monahan's is not only the best fishmonger in town, it's also the best seafood restaurant. They'll cook anything out of the case for you on the spot for the cost of the fish. Mike Monahan is the culinary brains behind Monahan's. He not only knows his fish, he also knows a ton of seafood recipes. Take a close look at their case, because you never know what you'll find in that day, such as the fresh bonito...

I usually experience bonito as the dried fish shavings used to make Japanese broths used for soups. This time I got to try it fresh, seared on the outside, raw on the inside, and served with soysauce.

Absolutely fricking amazing.

Sweet Preserved Olives

Some foods have to be experienced to be understood.

The Magic Spade — For Clever Housewffes [sic]

I saw this amazing utensil at a local Middle Eastern grocery store. I read the back. I debated. I was, truth be told, too embarrassed to purchase it. I mean... the store owners' English is pretty good, and they have to have read the back and know what it says. Right? But I couldn't stop thinking about the Magic Spade. So I came back with Joe (does this make it worse?), showed it to him, and, ah... screwed up my courage and bought the thing.

Back photo text in the extended post.