Pupuseria Genesis (227 George Wallace St., Pearl) wasn’t easy to find–I’ve been looking for it since I first heard a rumor about a taco truck called “Genesis” a few months ago. Google, for once, wasn’t helpful. I thought I’d gotten my big break when I saw the truck itself on the highway one day. There was a phone number on the truck…but it only had 6 numbers. And I was on my way back to work, so I couldn’t really chase it down.

So I went farther into the net and started perusing the Mississippi food inspections database. I worried that the address listed for Genesis Foods might be the residence of the person who owned the truck and not an actual place to buy tacos, but I gave it a shot. Google maps led me to a Kroger shopping center off Hwy 80. It looked like there was nothing past the Kroger but an apartment complex so I gave up on finding tacos.

But then from the back of the shopping center parking lot, I saw the boxy shape of a taco truck. It was parked (not in operation) behind a building, so I drove around to the front of the building to check it out. It turned out to be an odd mini-strip of three businesses (past the Kroger after all), one of which was Pupuseria Genesis. It was only 10am and I’m not sure it was actually open–there were no other customers and the employees seemed surprised to see me–but they welcomed me in and handed me a menu.

I gathered from the restaurant’s name that they specialize in pupusas, not tacos, which was totally fine with me. I love pupusas (thick corn tortilla-like pancakes filled with one or more of cheese, pork, and beans) and these were some of the better ones I’ve had. These pictures don’t do them justice. They were so freshly made that the steam they let off kept fogging up my camera, and after a few months without pupusas I wasn’t willing to wait around for a good picture. Sorry, (three or four) readers.

Breaking into fresh, well-made pupusas always reminds me of breaking into a creme brulee. I got one pupusa revuelta (beans, cheese and pork) and one with queso and loroco. Queso (cheese) I know and love, but I’d never heard of loroco–it turned out to be green specks that I thought at first might be green onions. This was one of those rare occasions when I liked the meatless version of something better than the one with meat, and it was all thanks to the loroco. I learned later (from Google of course) that loroco is a small green flower bud native to Central America and used as an herb. The taste is aromatic and hard to describe–others on the internet call it chard-like, “earthy-squashy,” having “overtones of nuts,” and “strangely addictive.” I can definitely get behind that last one.

I got two tacos as well, since that was what I’d come for. They were disappointing in comparison to the pupusas–the meat was fairly tasty but the tortillas definitely didn’t seem freshly made. But I’d drive to Pearl for those pupusas any day–unless I can figure out a way to get the truck to come to me.

UPDATE: I’d recommend calling ahead before driving to Pearl; Genesis’s hours are apparently not the most reliable hours ever. I saw two phone numbers posted on the wall: (601) 874-3610 & (601) 939-6333.

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