Shreveport-Bossier’s mobile food vendor scene, which brought local food lovers Hawaiian food and German food in 2016, has added another fantastic international eatery. Mucho Rico Colombian Food has been popping up these last few weeks in the parking lot of Summer Grove Baptist Church, serving traditional Colombian favorites like arepas, tostones and empanadas. On Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, the bright yellow Mucho Rico trailer will make its first appearance at Great Raft Brewing, 4-8 p.m.
I’d never eaten Colombian food before my visit to Mucho Rico. A few of the staples of the cuisine are arepas (white corn patties that are either topped with ingredients like shredded chicken and queso fresco or split open and stuffed with ingredients), tostones (green plantain patties that are often covered in toppings, like a tostada would be in Mexican food) and condiments. There are a lot of homemade Colombian condiments available at Mucho Rico, and your experience dining there will be dramatically improved if you know what to do with ’em.
First, you’ll notice two fantastic-looking relishes in the window. They are as delicious as they look.
“The relishes are called Ají and Avocado Aji, they both are spicy homemade relishes and go great with empanadas, tostones and stuffed arepas,” one of the owners of Mucho Rico messaged me after I inquired about how to use the condiments. “About the sauces: We have mayo, ketchup and mustard, and the homemade ones – garlic, pink and pineapple. You can add these to hot dogs, arepas and tostones.”
If you stop by Great Raft Brewing on Feb. 8 to sample Colombian food, you can pair your meal with a limited release beer from Great Raft’s ongoing Sidelot Series program. This brew, a German style of beer called rauchbier, was created on Great Raft’s pilot system by cellarman Jonathan Tolar. Rauchbiers are brewed using malted barley dried over an open flame, giving them a smoky flavor that should pair nicely with the meat-forward menu at Much Rico.
“This beer turned out exactly how I had envisioned it,” Tolar wrote in an e-mail. “The smokiness takes me to a fireside or family cookout. I hope that y’all enjoy drinking it as much as I enjoyed making it.”
If you love this kind of info on local eats, download or browse the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau’s new brochure, Eat Here: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shreveport-Bossier.
You must be 21 years of age or older to attend events at Great Raft Brewing.
