Everyone Loves Tacos E-Book

Felipe Fuentes Cruz

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

Tacos are the beating heart of Mexico's food scene. Take your pick from over 65 authentic recipes for these little pocket rocket wraps, brought to you by Felipe Fuentes Cruz and Ben Fordham of Benito's Hat, Burritos and Margaritas. From simple supermarket kits to high-end restaurant revamps, a whole spectrum of taco offerings now exists for your pleasure. These small but mighty Mexican staples are finally getting the credit they deserve on the worldwide culinary stage. Their spiritual home is the streetfood scene. With this book, you can bring the buzzing atmosphere and high-quality eating experience of street food tacos into the comfort of your own kitchen. Explained simply, a taco consists of a tortilla, filling, salsa and garnish. The salsa is an equally key component to the filling - fresh, zingy flavours are carefully selected to complement the other elements perfectly. The clever guys behind authentic Mexican kitchen Benito's Hat bring you delicious recipes simple enough to cook up a fiesta in your own kitchen. First there is a chapter of Little Cravings (antojitos), perfect as a pre-cursor or accompaniment to a taco feast. This is followed by a delicious selection of Breakfast Tacos. Next up is a mouth watering selection of Chicken, Pork and Beef Tacos such as Pork Al Pastor with tropical pineapple salsa. Following these are Fish and Seafood Tacos such as Salmon with Spicy Black Bean. Inventive Vegetarian Tacos such as Deep-fried Avocado or Turmeric and Potato really hit the spot, then discover the bliss of a Sweet Taco with recipes such as Chocolate Ice Cream with Agave. A chapter on Salsas, Relishes and Sides, such as the classic Pico De Gallo, lets you mix and match.

Leseprobe

EVERYONE LOVESTACOS

EVERYONE LOVESTACOS

BEN FORDHAM & FELIPE FUENTES CRUZ

of BENITO’S HAT & Doña Nata

To our wives, Siobhan and Kay Lee, for all that they have given and put up with as we embarked on another book. To our kids, Ferran and Yasmin; and Penelope, Beatrice and Hazel, they continue to inspire and motivate us in everything we do.

Senior Designer Megan

Smith Commissioning Editor Alice Sambrook

Picture Researcher Christina Borsi

Production Manager Gordana Simakovic

Art Director Leslie Harrington

Editorial Director Julia Charles

Publisher Cindy Richards

Food Stylist Emily Kydd

Prop Stylist Luis Peral

Indexer Vanessa Bird

Spanish Translations Dalia Garcia Aquino

First published in 2018

by Ryland Peters & Small

20–21 Jockey’s Fields

London WC1R 4BW

and

341 E 116th St

New York NY 10029

www.rylandpeters.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text copyright © Ben Fordham and Felipe Fuentes Cruz 2018

Design and commissioned photography copyright © Ryland Peters & Small 2018

ISBN: 978-1-84975-933-5

eISBN: 978-1-78879-129-8

Printed in China

The authors' moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

US Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

NOTES

• For information on unusual ingredients and substitutions, refer to page 142.

• We hope that you’ll be making lots of your own tortillas, however, we know that you’ll sometimes need to use the store-bought variety. The standard size is about 15 cm/6 inches, so we have assumed that size for the recipes. However, if you are making them yourself you’ll need to adjust the size you make accordingly.

• Whether to use flour or corn tortillas (or even mezcla, which is a combination of both) is really up to you. We generally favour corn (particularly for fish and seafood fillings), but we would certainly opt for flour at breakfast time.

• Both British (Metric) and American (Imperial plus US cups) ingredients measurements are included in these recipes for your convenience, however it is important to work with one set of measurements and not alternate between the two within a recipe.

• All spoon measurements are level unless otherwise specified.

• All eggs are medium (UK) or large (US), unless specified as large, in which case US extra-large should be used. Uncooked or partially cooked eggs should not be served to the very old, frail, young children, pregnant women or those with compromised immune systems.

• When a recipe calls for the grated zest of citrus fruit, buy unwaxed fruit and wash well before using. If you can only find treated fruit, scrub well in warm soapy water before using.

• We usually leave the seeds in our chillies/chiles but, if you prefer a milder taste, remove the seeds to tone down the heat.

PICTURE CREDITS

All photography by Peter Cassidy apart from pages:

10 left Eric Raptosh Photography/Getty Images

10 centre ©fitopardo.com/Getty Images

10-11 Stuart Westmorland/Design Pics/Getty Images

11 centre Holgs/Getty Images

11 right Margie Politzer/Getty Images

CONTENTS

about benito's hat

the history of tacos

how to make corn tortillas

1 ANTOJITOS

Little cravings

2 DESAYUNO

breakfast & brunch

3 CARNE

meat

4 PESCADOS Y MARISCOS

Fish & seafood

5 VEGETARIANOS

Vegetarian

6 SALSAS Y GUARNICIONES

Salsas, relishes & sides

7 POSTRES

desserts

8 BEBIDAS

Drinks

substitutions & Index

Acknowledgements

ABOUT BENITO’S HAT

Felipe and I started Benito’s Hat in 2008 and have grown it to critical and public acclaim since then. We have also launched a small street food pop-up, Every Juan Loves Tacos, and Felipe has opened Doña Nata Mexican Kitchen in Los Cabos, Mexico. These restaurants all have good, simple food at their core, where sharing is encouraged and there is certainly no standing on ceremony.

The taco is one of the pillars of Mexican cuisine and has rightly become one of the most famous dishes associated with it. It is composed of a tortilla (traditionally made from corn, but wheat may also be used), folded or rolled around a filling – and that is about as simple and delicious as it gets.

Once you’ve decided on the principal filling, then it is all about the garnishes and salsas and here you can mix and match the flavours to your heart’s content. There are some wellestablished classics like pork and pineapple or lamb with avocado, but as you will see, the combinations are endless. We have included recipes for meat, fish and vegetarian tacos, plus the all-important salsas and side dishes. To complete your meal, there are even some dessert taco recipes and drinks too.

Mexican food comes in all shapes and sizes, but we have always believed that the flavours shine through best if you can have as much fun cooking it as eating it. La Familia has been something we have talked about at Benito’s since opening, and we hope that, with this book, we can welcome you into ours.

Ben Fordham

THE HISTORY OF TACOS

There are several theories regarding the history of the taco and its origins. Some claim that it predates the Spanish arrival in Mexico in the 1500s, and while it is written that the Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés enjoyed a taco meal with his captains in Coyoacá n in 1520, there are references to tacos in Mexico well before that. However, another theory associates the origin of the taco to the silver mining industry in the 1900s, where the dynamite used to excavate the ore was called a taco. It was given this name because the gunpowder wrapped in paper resembled the miners’ lunch of meat wrapped in a tortilla.

Whatever its origins, the taco has become an integral part of the food prepared in every household in Mexico. Whichever village, town or city you visit when travelling around, you will find a taco stall, taco truck or taqueria (taco restaurant) – and in every one of those places you will find exciting regional variations. The majority of the tacos in Mexico are still made with corn tortillas, but flour tortillas have really come to dominate in the north of Mexico and the USA.

We’re not going to try to list every taco here, but we thought it would be useful to give you a few broad categories to help you on your journey of taco discovery. Grilled meat tacos are known as tacos al carbon, stewed and slow-cooked meat ones are tacos de guisado or canaste, whilst griddle-cooked meat and vegetable tacos are tacos a la plancha. Furthermore, there are tacos dorados which use lightly fried tortillas, taquitos or flautas which are made by putting the filling in the centre of the tortilla, rolling the tortilla into an elongated cylinder and then deep-frying the whole bundle until it is crispy. And finally, for those taco lovers who like something sweet, there are even chocolate tortillas, but more on that later.

Tacos vary considerably depending on the region of Mexico that you visit. For example, Tacos de camaron (grilled or fried prawns/shrimp) and Tacos de pescado (fish tacos) originated in Baja California. Coahuila in the north of Mexico is where a traditional vegetarian Tacos laguneros came from, while Tacos al pastor are associated with the streets of Mexico City, Tacos de chilorio (pork) with Sinaloa, marinated pork tacos from the Yucatan, and Tacos de canasta in Tlaxcala. In all these regional varieties, what links them is their simplicity. At their most traditional they are a meat, or fish or veg, and a salsa… and no more than that.

During the twentieth century, many Mexicans emigrated to the USA, bringing their traditional dishes and culinary heritage with them. The growing popularity of Mexican food brought about the invention of the hard shell taco in 1947, as the corn tortilla did not stay fresh for very long. The growth of the Mexican community in the USA resulted in a spread of the love of Mexican food, and particularly the taco (in 1962, Glen Bell opened his first Taco Bell restaurant in Downey, California) and the love of Mexican food has now spread across the world.

HOW TO MAKE CORN TORTILLAS

Here is your basic tool – the humble corn tortilla. There is nothing complicated about this recipe but if this is your first time making tortillas, you will probably get it wrong a few times before you get it right. Stick with it though, as it is just a knack that comes with practice and experience and the results will transform any taco!

Masa harina is a flour made from grinding dried field corn or maize. It is available from online suppliers if you cannot find it in your supermarket.

200 g/2 cups masa harina (fine yellow cornflour/maize)

300 ml/1¼ cups warm water

¼ teaspoon sea salt

clean plastic bag

tortilla press (optional), or a large saucepan

Makes 10 tortillas, 8 cm/3¼ inches in diameter

Put the masa harina, water and salt in a mixing bowl and mix well for 3–5 minutes until you have a smooth, pliable dough. Divide the mixture into ten equal pieces and roll into balls.

Open up a plastic bag by cutting down each side so that you have one, flat piece. Place one ball of dough in the middle of the plastic bag and place this in the middle of the open tortilla press, if using one. Fold the bag in half over the dough, close the tortilla press and push the handle down firmly to compress the dough as much as possible.

Open the tortilla press and check that the tortilla is nice and thin. Compress again if necessary. Very carefully peel back the plastic from the top of the dough, making sure the dough does not tear, then flip it over in your hand so that it is dough-side-down in your hand and gently peel back the plastic.

If you don’t have a tortilla press, place a large saucepan on top of the plastic-covered dough, repeatedly pressing down firmly and evenly. Now set the pan aside and pat firmly a few times with the palm of your hand to flatten the dough even further. Gently peel off the plastic as above.

Repeat this process until you have made ten tortillas.

To cook, heat a non-stick frying pan/skillet over a medium heat (don’t add any oil), then cook each tortilla for 1 minute on each side until cooked through. To keep the tortillas warm, place them on a clean kitchen towel and fold the cloth over to cover them.

A good tortilla is not too thick and not too thin. If it is too thin, it will break when trying to peel the plastic off and if it is too thick, it won’t cook evenly. The best tortilla should fluff up when cooked.

LITTLE CRAVINGS

ANTOJITOS

shrimp ceviche with mango

CEVICHE DE CAMARÓN CON MANGO

The original ceviche has a citrus flavour as it is made with limes. I have recently moved to Baja California, where mangoes are in abundance during the months ofJune, July and August so we have used those here. The combination of mango and lemon adds a delicious sweet and sour touch to the ceviche.

500 g/1 lb raw, shell-on prawns/shrimp

1 cucumber

a small bunch of fresh mint leaves

freshly squeezed juice of 3 lemons

pulp of ½ mango

1 red Thai chilli/chile

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ red onion, thinly sliced

SERVES 4–6

Peel and clean the prawns/shrimp, removing the head, shell and black strip from each. Cut them lengthwise (but not all the way through) to make a butterfly cut.

Bring 500 ml/2 cups water to the boil in a saucepan, add the prawns/shrimp and cook for 2–3 minutes or until opaque and cooked through, then drain and place in ice to cool.

Peel and cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and cut three-quarters of it into half-moons. Reserve the remaining quarter, along with the seeds, for the sauce.

Set aside 4–5 mint leaves for a garnish, then make the sauce by blending the remaining mint with the lemon juice, mango pulp, Thai chilli/chile, the remaining cucumber and the seeds, and salt and pepper.

Place the prawns/shrimp on a platter, then drizzle over the sauce and add the slices of onion and half-moons of cucumber. Put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

TO SERVE Garnish with the reserved mint leaves and serve on the platter or spoon on top of slices of toasted bread.

KING OYSTER MUSHROOM CEVICHE

CEVICHE DE HONGO OSTRA

We debated whether we could call a mushroom dish ‘ceviche’ but we have decided it’s OK. This vegetarian version of ceviche is packed with taste and this particular mushroom is weighty enough to absorb a lot of flavour without falling apart. We’ve suggested you let the dish marinate for at least an hour before serving, but a little longer is better as the flavours keep on growing.

6 king oyster mushrooms

60 ml/¼ cup vegetable oil

50 g/2 cups fresh coriander/cilantro

3 spring onions/scallions

3 medium tomatoes

1 red chilli/chile

zest and freshly squeezed juice of 3 limes

a pinch of salt

SERVES 4–6

Cut the king oyster mushrooms in half, then slicethem at an angle (the slices should be about 1 cm/½ inch thick).

In a steamer, lightly steam the cut mushrooms for about 3–4 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl, then pour the oil over the top and allow them to cool.

Finely chop the coriander/cilantro, including the stalks. Slice the spring onions/scallions. Chop the tomatoes and the chilli/chile into small pieces.

Place the mushrooms in a large bowl, add the zest and juice of the limes, chopped coriander/cilantro, spring onions/scallions, tomatoes, chilli/chile and salt and mix well. Cover the bowl with clingfilm/plastic wrap and refrigerate or at least an hour before serving.

BEER-BATTERED AVOCADO DIPPERS