Flautas & Vinegar: A Borderland Favorite Combination

If you're not dipping beef shredded flautas in vinegar, you are so missing out.  

When you think flautas, you probably think of them covered with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, or a combination of one or all.

These toppings are all utterly delicious accompaniments, but once you add some tangy apple cider vinegar to an order of crispy flautas, you are elevating your flauta plate and your taste buds to a whole other level.  

Growing up between Los Angeles and El Paso, I recall visiting my family in Ciudad Juarez and always eating at Taqueria Paly (Taco's Paly) near Parque Borunda, which still stands today.

The neighborhood eatery was our go-to place just around the corner from my aunt's house, and that is where I learned how to eat shredded beef flautas drizzled with apple cider vinegar accompanied by an ice-cold Manzanita to wash it all down.  

It's not uncommon for most taquerias serving up flautas in Juarez to offer vinegar in recycled soda or beer glass bottles that sit at the table along with the salt and pepper shakers.  

While I love my flautas stacked with queso fresco, cucumber, and fresh onions, too, I suggest you try dousing any order of flautas with apple-cider vinegar; it'll blow your mind.

If Juarez is too far a commute for flautas, El Pasoans can still enjoy an order of Juarez-style flautas with a side of apple cider vinegar at any of the El Cometa restaurants in El Paso. 

You might just be surprised how a simple condiment like vinegar will give a standard everyday plate of flautas the wow factor that your taste buds had been missing.