At the corner of Bay Street just off Clinton Street, one of the first sights to welcome visitors to the Red Hook Ball Fields is the Vaquero Fruit Truck. Run by Everardo Vaquero, his wife Maria, and their children, the truck opens early on the weekend, providing breakfast and drinks for soccer players. “They come to drink coffee, eat breakfast—they come hungry,” says Ever-ardo’s daughter, Kenia. The Vaquero’s shiny silver truck is plastered with a large sign showing off their extensive line of iced drinks and proclaiming “Refrescate!” It’s both a command and a promise. Whether you opt for the watermelon agua fresca, agua de Jamaica, a vivid red hibiscus flower-based iced tea or a creamy horchata, a sweet rice milk drink—you’ll soon find yourself totally refreshed.
Everardo emmigrated from Puebla, Mexico, in 1963 and initially found work here as a maintenance mechanic. He worked for twenty-four years until the company closed. “[My parents] used to come here to watch the soccer games,” says Kenia. They started thinking maybe there was something they could sell, too. “I had to find a way. If you don’t work, you don’t eat,” says Everardo. Working at the ball fields is a family affair. Kitty-corner from the Vaqueros truck is the Country Boys Truck, which is run by Everardo’s sister, Yolanda Martinez, and her husband, Fernando. While the Country Boys concentrate on food—tacos, huaraches, quesadillas—the Vaqueros sell complementary products: fruits, drinks, and snacks like elotes—grilled corn on the cob that’s brushed with mayonnaise, spritzed with lime, then dusted with cayenne and sharp and salty cotija cheese.
In many Spanish-speaking countries, arroz con leche often refers to rice pudding, but in parts of Mexico it can also refer to a hot rice-and-milk drink that is typically enjoyed at breakfast with tamales. Alas, because of permit regulations, the Vaqueros can’t sell the two together: “The health department are very strict with what we sell, so we can’t sell tamales,” says Kenia. Even without the tamale accompaniment, their arroz con leche is a nice morning alternative to coffee. If you’re feeling too hot for a warm beverage, their agua frescas are always popular. The watermelon drink, which consists just of liquefied watermelon with ice (and a squirt of lime, if desired), is like slurping the essence of summer through a straw. With mostly light and summery offerings, the Vaqueros do their strongest business during the warm months. When the Sol Goldman public pool is open across the street, swimmers hit the ball fields for food after working up an appetite, flooding the vendors with customers.
While some lament the loss of the old days and the way the ball fields used to be, the Vaqueros are happy with the physical transformations they’ve witnessed in Red Hook over the past twenty-five years.
“Now it’s cleaner, more peaceful … Now it’s pretty,”
“When we started, there was a lot of violence. It was ugly. It was a lot of garbage, prostitution, drugs,” says Kenia. Everardo doesn’t mind the transition to the truck. “For us it’s easier, but for the people, they liked it better when it was outside,” he says. Everardo can peel, cut, and prepare hundreds of pounds of fruit with great ease and speed. Doing the majority of the prep work for the day only takes him one to two hours. “He’s fast. He’s so accustomed to it,” says Kenia. During the off-season Everardo and his wife travel back to Mexico and spend five months there for some well-deserved R & R. “He gets to relax at home,” saya Kenia.
Adapted from Everardo Vaquero’s recipe
While there are many different variations of horchata, the version that the Vaqueros sell is the tres leches of horchatas. Like the Mexican cake of the same name, their recipe calls for three types of milk: evaporated milk, whole milk, and sweetened condensed milk. The result is a frothy, creamy, lightly sweetened drink that makes for a great way to beat the heat.
1 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
1 cinnamon stick
4 cups boiling water
8 ounces evaporated milk
2 cups whole milk
8 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
In a medium bowl add the rice and the cinnamon stick. Pour the boiling water over the rice. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to overnight.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the rice water. Add the rice water and evaporated milk to a blender. Pulse mixture for 1 to 2 minutes to grind the rice—rice should be very finely ground. Strain mixture over a large pitcher and discard and any remaining rice. Stir in the whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Serve over ice. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 day.
Adapted from Everardo Vaquero’s recipe
One of the most popular items at the Vaqueros’ truck is the elotes asados, grilled corn that’s dressed with lime juice and mayonnaise (or butter), then dusted in sharp and salty cotija cheese crumbles.
4 ears of corn with husks
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
2 tablespoons mayonnaise or butter
¼ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
cayenne pepper, to taste
TIP: To make elotes on the grill: remove corn from husk and place directly on the heated grill. Cook, turning occasionally until corn is tender and slightly charred, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and move oven rack to the center position. Place corn, still in the husks, on the oven rack. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove corn from oven and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes, until they are cool enough to handle. Peel back and remove husks, and transfer corn to a broiler pan. Broil for 3 to 5 minutes per side, until corn is nicely browned and some kernels have blackened. Remove from broiler, let cool slightly, rub with a lime wedge, then brush each cob with mayonnaise or butter. Sprinkle with cheese and dust with cayenne, if desired. Serve immediately.
TIP: At the Red Hook Ball Fields the Vaqueros serve their elotes on 8-inch wooden skewers, which make them a little easier (and a little more fun!) to eat. If you want to serve your elotes on wooden skewers, be sure to soak the skewers in water for 30 minutes prior to placing corn on the skewers—right before you put them in the broiler.
