flea at laff #5: red hook vendors.

snack: flautas
drink: tamarind drink

it's official. i am never ever paying attention to weather reports ever again...like ever. this past weekend, in a repeat performance from the previous weekend, the weathermen called for saturday lightning bolts from the sky. with that forecast, i was thinking that the weather was going to foil my plan to head to the brooklyn flea, but when i awoke, i saw no hint of lightning bolts, so i threw on some pants & carried on with my plan. as a special treat, after a few weeks of going to the flea solo, this time i met up with ms. jessica, a friend & proud flea neighborhood resident.

when we arrived shortly after 2pm, we were both STARVING (due to a combination of skipping breakfast & other "factors"), so we made a beeline for the food vendors. my companion had a hankering for a lobster roll, but as usual, i was being cheap, so i went to the booth for the red hook vendors, the group of award-winning vendors who set up shop every weekend (during the warmer months) at the ball fields in brooklyn's red hook neighborhood. as much as i've wanted to check them out, that part of red hook's sort of a bitch to get to, so i've yet to visit them. fortunately, they're at the flea as well, which is much more convenient.

for my snack i went for the flautas, which i believe were made by this woman. prior to ordering them, other than knowing that "flautas" is spanish for "flutes," i had no idea what they were. i was feeling a bit adventurous though, so i decided to give them a shot. it turns out that they're fried corn tortillas filled with meat. they're also referred to as "taquitos," which if you've been in a 7-11 any time in the last few years, you're familiar with. they're essentially the same thing as those meat-filled tubes they keep warm under heat lamps. so yeah...flautas = meat flutes.

these particular ones were stuffed with shredded chicken & i had them give me the works & top them with lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, mexican sour cream (crema) & cheese. after procuring them, i went & took a seat on the steps behind the booths & tried to chop them up a bit using the plastic fork they gave me. the cheap cutlery was insufficient though, so i ended up stabbing them on the end & eating them like a popsicle (without all the sexy licking). since they were covered with crema, it was sort of a mess, but i tried to make the best of it. overall, while the meat wasn't exactly mind-blowing, it went well with all the toppings & at three flautas for $5, they were definitely worth it.

i paired my flautas with a tamarind drink made by vaquero fruits, another one of the red hook vendors. along with the tamarind flavor, they offer a number of fresh fruit juices in flavors such as coconut, hibiscus & watermelon. i would've gone for the watermelon drink, but they'd run out of it, so i went for the tamarind one instead. luckily, i wasn't disappointed. it had a sweet, citrus flavor & a consistency that's slightly pulpy, sort of like a less-tart pineapple juice. i have no idea how they're able to transform weird-ass looking tamarinds into a tasty, summer beverage, but i'm not complaining. in fact, i'll definitely go back for more this summer...if they're out of watermelon, that is.