PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Now it’s time for “The Dish” and we’re talking about a summer classic: Mexican street corn.

It’s fresh, cheesy, flavorful and features one of the most delicious local seasonal vegetables: corn!

To find out how to make it quickly and easily with just four ingredients, I head to La Placita’s food truck on Cherry Street Pier.

“La Placita is simply a small square in Spanish,” says owner Mariangeli Alicea. “It’s a small square where people meet and chat.”

And with her food truck, Alicea brings a Puerto Rican pastime to the Cherry Street Pier.

“It’s called Chinchorreo,” she says. “It’s like a party with friends where you go out and try street food from different places on the island. It’s a tradition where people just meet in the square in the summer and enjoy food, music and company. That was the vibe we wanted to bring to Cherry Street Pier.”

Alicea’s food truck is located on the pier next to that of her husband, chef Dionicio Jimenez. The couple is contracted by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation to operate the pier. Together they own the James Beard Award-nominated Cantina La Martina in Kensington.

He is from Mexico, she is from Puerto Rico, and each of them brings their own flavor to the pier.

“We love competition,” she laughs. “We spend the whole day comparing who is better.”

Alicea says her journey to this moment has been surprising.

“When I came to the States, I didn’t go to school to work in the food industry or to be a chef, but life brought me into the restaurant industry,” she says.

Alicea studied architecture in her native Puerto Rico. 15 years ago she moved to Philadelphia and fate intervened.

“I was literally thrown in and had the opportunity to work with many chefs,” she explains.

One of them eventually became her husband. They are also currently working on opening their first suburban restaurant in Ambler, Montgomery County.

“I find it exciting to create projects that have a deeper meaning than just cooking food for others,” she says. “It’s about sharing your story or your life experience and culture with the people and friends you meet along the way.”

At La Placita, Alicea showed us how to prepare her Mexican street corn.

It consists of only four ingredients, starting with the corn.

“The corn has already been cooked with a little water and salt to achieve the desired tenderness. Then you take a skewer and stick it into the ground,” she says.

The stick is also useful when placing the corn on the grill to ensure it gets crispy on all sides.

Next, make or buy a chipotle mayonnaise.

“Take a brush and cover the corn on all sides,” she says. “This will help the queso fresco stick to the corn.”

Queso Fresco is a semi-soft, fresh Mexican cheese. Make sure it is super crumbly.

“You can buy it already crumbled, or you can buy the whole wheel and then just crumble it,” she says. “You can also use the grater and grate it.”

Alicea says to be very generous with it and apply it well.

Then sprinkle it with Tajin, a Mexican spice blend made from chilies, lime and sea salt.

“Add as much as you like,” she says. “It gives it a little citrus flavor and a slightly spicy note.”

Finally it’s time to walk around and enjoy! Just like on the island.