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The Best Cookbooks of Fall 2020

New cookbooks from Ina Garten, Vivian Howard, Yotam Ottolenghi, and more will restore some much-needed joy to cooking

For many of us, cooking has taken on a different role in our lives over the past six months. As restaurants closed, cooking — and cooking well — became essential even for those who previously spent little time in the kitchen. It also became a chore. At this point, six months into the pandemic, I’m impressed by anyone who still considers cooking a creative, joyful pastime, not just a means to food.

But here to change that is a stellar lineup of fall cookbooks, bringing with them new inspiration and new comforts, and, at last, a reason to enter the kitchen with excitement. There are anticipated titles from beloved culinary figures, whose time-saving guidance and easy meal upgrades feel especially welcome now. There are books from some of the restaurants we miss the most, offering recreations of their dishes and insights that make us nostalgic for the time before shutdowns. There are primers on international cuisines; books for the adept home cook that take a studied, even scientific approach to flavor; and books that reflect the trends of the moment, including baking books for the person who has spent hours perfecting their bread game as well as the one who feels the occasional urge to bake a cake to be eaten immediately.

I’m confident that even the most reluctant cook is sure to find at least one new cookbook among these 17 to dip a fork into. And for those for whom cooking never lost its luster, it’s a feast. — Monica Burton

One Tin Bakes: Sweet and simple traybakes, pies, bars and buns

Edd Kimber Kyle Books, out now

The philosophy of Edd Kimber’s One Tin Bakes is pleasingly minimalist: Invest in one good 9-by-13-inch aluminum pan — or “tin,” in British parlance — and bake everything in it. Kimber has published three other books since winning the inaugural season of The Great British Bake Off in 2010, but this is the first that’s themed around a specific piece of equipment, and by focusing on the versatility of a single pan, One Tin Bakes prioritizes simplicity for both novice bakers and those who already know their way around a stand mixer.

For the most part, these are not show-stopper, highly technical bakes — though some, like the “Giant Portuguese Custard Tart,” are impressive by nature. The recipes are unfussy, undemanding, and a pleasure to cook. They’re all sweet, with chapters spanning cakes, pies, breads, bars, cookies, and some no-bake desserts too. And while 9-by-13-inch sheets and slabs of baked goods are the stars of the book, Kimber’s collection also includes non-rectangular treats: rolled cakes, ice cream sandwiches, and babka buns, among others. Six months ago I might have described this book as a party baking companion — most of the recipes feed eight to 12 people — but parties are in short supply for the foreseeable future. That said, even without feeding my coworkers or friends, there is something so joyful (surface area, perhaps?) about pulling a magnificent rectangular pan of streusel-topped coffee cake or gigantic British scone from the oven. — Adam Moussa

Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen

Durkhanai Ayubi with recipes by Farida Ayubi Interlink, out now

The story of Parwana, the popular Afghan restaurant in South Adelaide, Australia, has always been intertwined with history. Owners Zelmai and Farida Ayubi fled Afghanistan for Australia in 1987, during the Cold War, itself the result of hundreds of years of conflict. So it’s no surprise that the restaurant’s cookbook, written by Zelmai and Farida’s daughter Durkhanai Ayubi, would double as a history lesson. Interspersed between recipes are stories of the Silk Road, the Mughal empire, and the Great Game, which illustrate how because of trade, plunder, and cultural exchange, Afghan cuisine is both beloved and recognizable.

The book walks through classics like kabuli palaw, shaami kebab, and falooda (all of which, unlike so many restaurant dishes adapted to cookbooks, are incredibly achievable for the home cook) and demonstrate how Afghan cuisine both influenced and was influenced by nearly all of Asia. No matter what cuisine you’re most used to cooking, you’ll find a recipe, or even just a flavor, that feels familiar here. — Jaya Saxena

The Sourdough School: Sweet Baking: Nourishing the Gut & the Mind

Vanessa Kimbell Kyle Books, out now

The first thing to know about the sweets-focused follow-up to 2018’s The Sourdough School cookbook, the groundbreaking gut-health baking book by food writer and BBC radio host Vanessa Kimbell, is this: “It is not a book about baking,” she writes. “This is a book about understanding.” She’s right, sort of. It is not just a book about baking. It is, like its predecessor, a manifesto on the gut-brain connection — a guide to caring for the magical ecosystem within our own bodies, a fragile environment that, she says, our modern way of eating has ravaged, grimly affecting both our physical and mental health. It’s a book about science and bacteria and flour milling and fermenting and strategies for adjusting our lives in such a way to allow for four-day cupcake-making.

But then... it is also very much a book about baking. There are loads of delicious (if unabashedly healthy-looking) recipes with ingredients that prioritize your gut’s microbiome, everything from chocolate chip “biscuits” and Bangladeshi jalebis to swirly miso-prune danishes and a pudgy lemon-poppyseed cake with a hit of saffron. Nothing about these multi-day recipes is what anyone might call simple (I’ve never been so tempted to whip up my own couture flour blends), but Kimbell is as lovely a hand-holder as she is a writer, giving out lifelines like detailed schedules for each recipe, including the crucial pre-bake starter feedings so many other sourdough books leave out. She also is not above compromise, allowing for store-bought flours and dolling out assurances like, “if you are not into the scientific details, feel free to skip this entire section. I totally get just wanting to get on and bake.” A thorough reader, though, will be rewarded with a whole new way of thinking about the human body, along with a whole bunch of yummy new ways to indulge it. — Lesley Suter

The Mexican Home Kitchen: Traditional Home-Style Recipes That Capture the Flavors and Memories of Mexico

Mely Martinez Rock Point, September 15

Mely Martínez comes to publishing by way of the old-school world of recipe blogging on her website, Mexico in My Kitchen. Martínez was born in Mexico and traveled throughout different regions as a teacher and again later in her life, learning from local women along the way, before eventually settling in the United States. After bouncing around recipe forums, she established the site in 2008 as a way to record family recipes for her teenage son. Through the internet, she reached a far wider audience of Mexican immigrants craving their abuela’s recipes. Now, her debut cookbook, The Mexican Home Kitchen, reflects that well-traveled savvy, but it’s forgiving, too, providing helpful tips on variations of recipes and alternative methods of food preparation or ingredients.

Martínez’s book is about the basics of Mexican home cooking; recipes include comfort foods like caldo de pollo dressed up with slices of avocado and diced jalapeño and special occasion meals like mole poblano. The recipes are simple enough for people just getting into Mexican cooking, but also have a nostalgic quality that will appeal to those who grew up with homemade arroz con leche or chicharrón en salsa verde. Flipping through The Mexican Home Kitchen, I remembered my own childhood visits with my stepmother’s family, where I would sit around the table with the many other grandkids swirling Ritz crackers in steaming bowls of atole. I turned to Martínez’s atole blanco recipe on page 178, and headed to the store for some masa harina, newly inspired. — Brenna Houck

Pie for Everyone: Recipes and Stories from Petee’s Pie, New York’s Best Pie Shop

Petra “Petee” Paredez Abrams, September 22

If you’re not a pie person, then clearly you’ve never had a slice of Petra Paredez’s black-bottom almond chess pie. Growing up in a baking and farming family (her parents started northern Virginia treasure Mom’s Apple Pie Company in 1981), Paredez has considerable pie-making expertise. In 2014, she and her husband, Robert Paredez, opened their Lower East Side shop Petee’s Pie Company on a shoestring budget, and today, the sweet, sunny cafe on Delancey Street is considered one of the best pie shops in New York City.

At the heart of Petee’s Pie, the goal is simple: a flavorful, flaky, tender crust and perfectly balanced ﬁlling. Pie for Everyone teaches readers how to achieve this at home. The book begins with foundational information (how to source ingredients, the tools to buy to make pie-making easier and more efficient) followed by chapters on crusts and crumbs and pie fillings. And while there are hundreds of ways to make pie, Paredez believes in the merits of a super-buttery crust. “If you only use one of my pastry dough recipes,” she writes, “I hope it’s my butter pastry dough.”

With recipes that are both sweet and savory (including quiches), Pie for Everyone covers the shop’s year-round signature pies, like maple whiskey walnut and chocolate cream, as well as seasonal favorites, like strawberry rhubarb and nesselrode, a New York specialty consisting of chestnut custard with black rum-soaked cherries. But whether you’re a fan of Petee’s Pie or you’ve never been, bakers and pie lovers will appreciate learning from Paredez, a baker for whom pie-making is a ribbon-worthy feat every single time. — Esra Erol

Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ina Garten Random House, October 6

There are many cookbooks that you want to read more than cook from, but Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook is not one of them. In her 12th cookbook, Ina Garten, the queen of timeless, expertly tested dishes, shares 85 recipes for the kinds of comfort foods we’re craving more than ever. Dedicated home cooks may already know most of these unfussy foods by heart, but with Garten’s thoughtful techniques and guidance on how to find the best ingredients, dishes like chicken pot pie soup, baked rigatoni with lamb ragu, and skillet-roasted chicken with potatoes feel new and exciting. The skillet-roasted chicken and potatoes, for example, calls for a buttermilk marinade to make the bird juicy and moist, while potatoes are cooked with the chicken jus under the chicken, on the bottom of a hot skillet, to absorb extra chicken flavor, turning two humble ingredients into a fabulous dinner.

This being a Barefoot Contessa cookbook, it also comes with all the stories and aspirational photos (including many heart-melting pictures of Garten and husband Jeffrey) that have long inspired fans to want to live, cook, and eat like Ina. But, compared to Garten’s other books, Modern Comfort Food depicts the culinary star more as a loving neighbor who will bring you chocolate chip cookies on Sundays than the imposing queen of East Hampton. In the intro to this book, Garten admits that these days, she’s a little grumpier than usual (just like the rest of us), says it’s okay if we reach for a cold martini and a tub of ice cream for dinner, and reminds us once again how she managed to capture so many hearts over more than two decades as the Barefoot Contessa. — James Park

Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason

Julia Bainbridge Ten Speed Press, October 6

A lot of people feel weird about drinking nowadays. Our spending habits show it, through products like low-ABV hard seltzers, chic nonalcoholic aperitifs, or just the ongoing popularity of sober months like Dry January. Author Julia Bainbridge understands the fluid nature of this type of sobriety, which is why she subtitled her book of spirit-free drinks as “for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason.” After all, you don’t need to eschew alcohol forever in order to enjoy a thoughtfully blended drink that isn’t trying to get you sloshed.

The drinks in Good Drinks are structured by the time of day you might enjoy them (brunch accompaniment, happy hour treat, aperitif), and are as complex and innovative (and labor-intensive) as anything at a fancy cocktail bar. They call for ingredients like black cardamom-cinnamon syrup, buckwheat tea, and tomato-watermelon juice, each of which get their own recipes. There’s even a whole recipe for a dupe of nonalcoholic Pimm’s (involving citus, rooibos tea, raspberry vinegar, and gentian root). The results are festive, celebratory drinks for any occasion, so the nondrinkers need not be stuck with cranberry juice and seltzer anymore. — JS

Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook

Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage Ten Speed Press, October 13

It’s probably a good thing Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook isn’t called Plenty 3 or More Plenty More, veering the chef’s cookbook oeuvre into Fast & Furious territory. But by the London chef’s own admission, that’s a good way to understand Flavor, his newest book, which like its Plenty predecessors focuses on vegetables and all the creative ways to prepare and combine them.

Co-written with Ixta Belfrage, a recipe developer in the Ottolenghi test kitchen, Flavor presents recipes from three perspectives. The “process” chapter explores specific techniques to transform vegetables, such as charring and fermenting. “Pairing” takes an angle that will sound familiar to Samin Nosrat fans, with recipes rooted in the perfect balance of fat, acid, “chile heat,” and sweetness. And “produce” focuses on the ingredients with such complex tastes, usages, and sub-categories that they deserve examination on their own: mushrooms, onions (and their allium cousins), nuts and seeds, and sugar in fruit and booze form.

The result, in typical Ottolenghi fashion, is multi-step, multi-ingredient, and multi-hued recipes whose promised flavors leap from the page — from cabbage “tacos” with celery root and date barbecue sauce to saffron tagliatelle with ricotta and crispy chipotle shallots. Chipotles and other chiles are actually in abundance here (as well as “a lime or two in places where lemons would appear in previous Ottolenghi books,” as the intro notes) thanks to Belfrage’s roots in Mexico City. Those flavors, as well as those from Brazilian, Italian, and multiple Asian cuisines (spy the shiitake congee and noodles with peanut laab), unite with the usual Ottolenghi suspects — za’atar, star anise, harissa, labneh — to make Flavor worth the look, even for the home chef who already has Plenty and Plenty More on the shelf. — Ellie Krupnick

Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop

Jason Wang with Jessica K. Chou Abrams, October 13

The debut cookbook from the New York City restaurant chain Xi’an Famous Foods is worth picking up whether or not you have slurped the restaurant’s hand-pulled noodles. This is a book on how to operate a food business — CEO Jason Wang outlines five lessons to know before diving into the business and strips away the glamor of running a restaurant empire. It’s also a food history of the flavors of Xi’an, China. With so many layers to appreciate, Xi’an Famous Foods is a prime example of what a restaurant cookbook can be.

Much of the book reads like a TV series. It’s broken into episodes covering Wang’s challenges, failures, and successes, from his life-changing move from Xi’an to a rural town in Michigan, to his nights out in New York City’s Koreatown, to taking over his father’s business, Xi’an Famous Foods. Interspersed with these anecdotes, there are recipes for the restaurant’s fiery, mouth-tingling dishes, including Xi’an Famous Foods’ famous noodle sauce (accented with salty and spicy flavors from black vinegar, oyster sauce, fennel seeds, and Sichuan peppercorns), along with techniques for making hand-pulled noodles paired with helpful illustrations and visual references. For avid home cooks who want a challenge, Xi’an Famous Foods also provides tips on putting together the best hot pot at home, and for those who are confused at Asian groceries, there’s a list of basic pantry items with flavor notes and how they are used in cooking. And whether it’s Wang’s personal connection to a dish or its wider history that draws you in, each recipe will broaden your knowledge and appreciation of Xi’an cooking. — JP

Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen

Lara Lee Bloomsbury, October 13

In the introduction of her debut cookbook, Lara Lee writes that an overflowing generosity is central to Indonesian culture; meals are shared freely between neighbors and friends. This generosity fills the pages of Coconut & Sambal, each recipe heightening the sense that as a reader, you’ve been let in on something special.

Lee, who was born in Australia, didn’t spend time in Indonesia until later in life, so early memories of Indonesian cooking come from the trips her grandmother Margaret Thali — whom Lee lovingly refers to as Popo throughout the book — would take to Australia. Each of the cookbook’s chapter introductions is deeply researched: Some recount stories of Lee’s grandmother, and others focus on the Indonesia that Lee fell in love with as she traveled across the archipelago collecting stories and recipes for this book.

The recipes that fill Coconut & Sambal demonstrate that Indonesian cuisine cannot be painted with one brush. The food of the nation — made up of more than 15,000 islands — incorporates the sharp heat of chiles, the mellow hit of fermented shrimp, the sweetness of coconut in nearly every form, and always enough rice to go around. You’ll find curries fragrant with makrut lime leaf, ginger, and turmeric, and bright ceviches adorned with thinly sliced chiles, banana shallot, and palm sugar; I was particularly drawn to a fried chicken dish (page 142), its crisp shell smashed and laced with fiery sambal. Lee explains that recipes are typically passed down orally in Indonesian culture, which makes me even more grateful for these written ones. What Lee has given readers is a gorgeous document that sets in stone food traditions passed down through generations, as well as some she’s created herself. You’ll want to dedicate an evening to turning the pages of this book, planning out feasts of green chile braised duck, Balinese roasted pork belly, and perhaps some sticky ginger toffee pudding to top it all off. — Elazar Sontag

In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean

Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen Ten Speed Press, October 13

Recipes are almost always the main attraction in a cookbook. But In Bibi’s Kitchen, written by first-time author Hawa Hassan in collaboration with veteran cookbook writer Julia Turshen, there’s so much to enjoy before you even get to the first recipe. The book focuses on dishes from eight African countries, linked by their shared proximity to the Indian Ocean and involvement in the region’s spice trade.

Each chapter, divided by country, starts with a brief history of the region and question-and-answer-style interviews with one of the bibis, or grandmothers, who call these places home. The answers to these questions find the grandmothers speaking about the meaning of home, the gender roles in their communities, and the importance of passing on food traditions. Each interview is as beautiful and varied as the recipes that follow: kadaka akondro (green plantains and braised beef) from the home of Ma Baomaka in Ambohidratrimo, Madagascar; digaag qumbe, a Somalian chicken stew rich with yogurt and coconut milk, served with sweet banana; kaimati, crisp coconut dumplings in an ambrosial cardamom syrup, this batch cooked in Ma Shara’s kitchen in Zanzibar, but popular all along the Swahili coast. A practical advantage of collecting recipes from home cooks is that these recipes are all approachable, most calling for fewer than 10 ingredients.

In many ways, In Bibi’s Kitchen breaks ground. It pays tribute to a part of the world that has been criminally overlooked by American publishers, sharing the stories of these African countries from the perspectives of home cooks who actually live there. The book is full of intimate portraits of the grandmothers in their kitchens, captured by Kenyan photographer Khadija M. Farah, who joined these women in their homes. The result of this collaborative and ambitious effort is a collection of heartwarming photos, tidbits of history, and, of course, plenty of mouthwatering meals. — ES

This Will Make it Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking

Vivian Howard Voracious, October 20

Reading through Vivian Howard’s This Will Make It Taste Good is like reading a cookbook by your real or imagined North Carolinian best friend. The design itself is cheerful, full of 1970s serif fonts and colorful badges that are reminiscent of a children’s workbook. Dishes are photographed from above, in the same style as Alison Roman’s Dining In and Nothing Fancy, often showing Howard’s hands as they work away chopping herbs or spooning chowder. The A Chef’s Life host’s goal is simple: to teach home cooks that easy meals can be exciting rather than bland.

Howard’s intended audience is the time-crunched kitchen novice, though a more experienced cook will surely find some useful tips, as well. Each section is based around a recipe that can be prepped in advance and then used throughout the week in a multitude of dishes: Among the most promising are the “Little Green Dress,” a dressing with flexible ingredients that can gussy up anything from mussels to crackers to soft-boiled eggs; the “R-Rated Onions,” which you can keep in an ice cube tray in the freezer to use at your convenience; and the “Citrus Shrine,” i.e., preserved citrus that promises to elevate dishes like shrimp cocktail and rice pilaf — you can even use it in margaritas! In any time, This Will Make It Taste Good would be a great help to those of us who prefer recipes that look and taste more complex than they are to prepare. That it happens to arrive at a moment when we’re likely all sick of the contents of our fridges and our own culinary limitations is just a bonus. — Madeleine Davies

The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food

Marcus Samuelsson with Osayi Endolyn Voracious, October 27

“Black food is not just one thing,” chef Marcus Samuelsson writes in the introduction to The Rise. “It’s not a rigidly defined geography or a static set of tastes. It is an energy. A force. An engine.” The cookbook that follows is an invigorating, joyous, and deeply nuanced illustration of the complexity of Black foodways, one that weaves together conversations about history, artistry, authorship, race, class, and culture with 150 recipes that incorporate ingredients and techniques from around the globe.

Each of the book’s recipes was created in honor of “someone who is illuminating the space we share,” as Samuelsson writes: chefs, artists, activists, authors, and historians, all of whom are profiled by the book’s coauthor, Eater contributor Osayi Endolyn. The recipes are organized to demonstrate how culinary rituals and traditions evolve according to time, place, and cook. In the first chapter, “Next,” for example, you’ll find food that speaks of forward-thinking innovation, such as baked sweet potatoes with garlic-fermented shrimp butter, created in honor of David Zilber, the former director of fermentation at Noma. (That butter, pureed with avocado, sweet soy sauce, and fresh thyme, is not only easy to make, but so good that you can be forgiven for eating it straight from the food processor.) “Migration,” the third chapter, speaks of the American South, with recipes like spiced lemon chess pie, broken rice peanut seafood stew, and Papa Ed’s shrimp and grits, named for Ed Brumfield, the executive chef at Samuelsson’s Harlem restaurant the Red Rooster.

The Rise doesn’t claim to be an encyclopedic compendium of Black cooking; instead, it’s a celebration, one that honors the past while looking ahead, challenging assumptions even as it feeds you well. — Rebecca Flint Marx

The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes

Nik Sharma Chronicle Books, October 27

Nik Sharma begins his second cookbook by explaining that we rely on a variety of senses and feelings when we eat: sight, sound, mouthfeel or texture, aroma, taste, and even our emotions and memories. These components make up what he refers to as the “Flavor Equation,” and this concept and the role it plays in everyday cooking is the guiding principle of his book of the same name.

Following a thorough and captivating science lesson on the equation, Sharma lays out seven chapters dedicated to basic tastes and flavor boosters — brightness, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, savoriness, fieriness, and richness — each with its own set of recipes: pomegranate and poppy seed wings exemplify brightness, roasted figs with coffee miso tahini or hazelnut flan highlight bitterness, “pizza” toast for saltiness, masala cheddar cornbread in the sweetness section, and more. Through these achievable recipes, many of which rely mostly on pantry essentials, Sharma helps readers better understand how flavor works and how to use that to their advantage to become more confident home cooks. Whatever your skill level in the kitchen, with its more than 100 recipes, illustrated diagrams, and Sharma’s own evocative photography, The Flavor Equation is an engrossing guide to elevating simple dishes into holistic experiences. — EE

Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives

Nadiya Hussain Clarkson Potter, November 10 (originally published June 27, 2019)

Nadiya Hussain is just like you and me. That’s the guiding principle behind her public persona, her BBC Two cooking show Time to Eat (now on Netflix), and her cookbook Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives. “I know what it’s like to have just one head and one pair of hands,” the Great British Bake Off winner writes in the introduction of Time to Eat, a new stateside version of her U.K. cookbook of the same title. Her book, she promises, will help you become a smarter home cook in between chores and kids, thanks to heavy use of the freezer and other time savers.

On the page, that looks like tips for prepping and freezing, recipes that leave you with enough leftovers to make a second dish, and ideas for remixes and variations. There are more than 100 recipes, divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and basics. Many of these dishes may be unfamiliar to American audiences — hello, kedgeree and fish pie burgers! — but the instructions are as approachable as Hussain’s on-camera demonstrations. With enough variety to keep it interesting, balanced with dishes easy enough to work into your weekly rotation of meals, e.g., eggs rolled onto tortillas, Time to Eat offers something for any home cook looking for new ideas and time-tested, time-saving methods. — Jenny G. Zhang

Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End

Magnus Nilsson Phaidon, November 11

Last December, after more than a decade of acclaim, accolades, and meals rooted in seasonality and locally produced ingredients, Magnus Nilsson closed his restaurant Fäviken in Jämtland, Sweden. In the lead-up to the closing, he told the LA Times that he wanted to focus on the restaurant, not elegies or explanations. Now, the explanation has arrived in the form of Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End, Nilsson’s latest monograph with publisher Phaidon.

Although the book covers the lifespan of Fäviken, including lookbacks at the first title Nilsson published about the restaurant, it is not an elegy. There are no laments here, but rather a thorough catalogue of all the dishes that Fäviken served, ruminations about craft and haute cuisine and sustainability, and a long-awaited account of “Why Fäviken had to close, really.” The book contains recipes for many of the restaurant’s dishes — ranging from the simple berry ice to the more demanding “Scallop I skalet ur elden cooked over burning juniper branches,” with extensive headnotes — but its purpose is not as a cookbook. It is a tome (beautifully put together, as is typical for Phaidon) that is made for fans of Fäviken’s, of Nilsson’s, and more importantly, of the way of life he espouses, one that is passionate but measured.

That is best expressed in one of the book’s final essays, one dated May 12, 2020, in which Nilsson articulates gratitude that he was able to close his restaurant on his own terms, for Fäviken would not have survived the pandemic. “If one day some years from now I wake up in the morning and feel the same burning desire to run a restaurant that I felt for many years at Fäviken, I won’t think twice about it,” Nilsson writes. “But if that doesn’t happen, that’s okay too. There are many other things to do in life.” — JGZ

A Good Bake: The Art and Science of Making Perfect Pastries, Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and Breads at Home

Melissa Weller with Carolynn Carreño Knopf, November 17

There are people who treat baking like a hobby and there are people who treat baking as a raison d’etre, a life’s purpose. Melissa Weller’s A Good Bake is for the latter, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering Weller’s resume, which includes creating pastry for some of New York City’s most revered restaurants, such as Per Se, Roberta’s, and her acclaimed SoHo bagel shop, Sadelle’s. Before she became an expert baker, Weller was a chemical engineer, and as such, she tackles recipes with a scientific approach, getting the fermentation, proofing, and pH balance of her dough down to, well, a science.

If you’re a quarantine baker who’s mastered sourdough and is ready for the next challenge, consider Weller’s takes on NYC classics like chocolate babka, spelt scones with raspberry jam, and even traditional hot dog buns. A Good Bake will thrill bakers who rejoice in doing things the difficult way (but note that there are beautiful and detailed photos of her process to help guide ambitious bakers through the recipe). Of course, this means that failing will hurt all the more, considering the hours (or days, even!) of work that you’ve put into your bake, but success? It will taste all the sweeter... or more savory. It depends on your tastes, and Weller expertly caters to both. — MD

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32cznPz https://ift.tt/3m7fLo0

New cookbooks from Ina Garten, Vivian Howard, Yotam Ottolenghi, and more will restore some much-needed joy to cooking

One Tin Bakes: Sweet and simple traybakes, pies, bars and buns

Edd Kimber Kyle Books, out now

Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen

Durkhanai Ayubi with recipes by Farida Ayubi Interlink, out now

The Sourdough School: Sweet Baking: Nourishing the Gut & the Mind

Vanessa Kimbell Kyle Books, out now

The Mexican Home Kitchen: Traditional Home-Style Recipes That Capture the Flavors and Memories of Mexico

Mely Martinez Rock Point, September 15

Pie for Everyone: Recipes and Stories from Petee’s Pie, New York’s Best Pie Shop

Petra “Petee” Paredez Abrams, September 22

Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ina Garten Random House, October 6

Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason

Julia Bainbridge Ten Speed Press, October 6

Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook

Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage Ten Speed Press, October 13

Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop

Jason Wang with Jessica K. Chou Abrams, October 13

Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen

Lara Lee Bloomsbury, October 13

In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean

Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen Ten Speed Press, October 13

This Will Make it Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking

Vivian Howard Voracious, October 20

The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food

Marcus Samuelsson with Osayi Endolyn Voracious, October 27

The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes

Nik Sharma Chronicle Books, October 27

Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives

Nadiya Hussain Clarkson Potter, November 10 (originally published June 27, 2019)

Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End

Magnus Nilsson Phaidon, November 11

A Good Bake: The Art and Science of Making Perfect Pastries, Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and Breads at Home

Melissa Weller with Carolynn Carreño Knopf, November 17

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igrublocal · 4 years ago

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9 best Mexican food restaurants in the San Fernando Valley for takeout, delivery – Daily News

One of the family activities that has helped pass the days during the forced quarantining of the pandemic has been taking field trips with my daughter, every couple of weeks, to the Me Gusta Gourmet Tamales factory in the north San Fernando Valley. (Located at 13754 Van Nuys Blvd., Pacoima, 818-896-8789, www.megustagourmettamales.com, for those who might be curious.)

We go there because my daughter lives for tamales, maybe her favorite food in the world aside from Carmela Chocolate Sorbet. We regularly buy a bagful of tamales, always chicken, and always pineapple. They freeze very nicely. And along with the quesadillas we make at home, my fine chicken mole, and my tasty guacamole, they give us a taste of the Mexican cooking we crave as Southern Californians. More than hamburgers and hot dogs, this is the cuisine of our part of the world. And very reassuring and soul-satisfying it is too.

Like many of the best Mexican food experiences, tamales are easy, casual, just plain tasty and they don’t demand a great deal of formal consideration. They bring back so many memories: There were the elote corn cakes, for instance, which women sell from baskets they carry on top of their heads in towns way down south on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. There were the quickly grilled steaks which I’d eat in the marketplace just off the Plaza de Garibaldi — mariachi square — in Mexico City, which come with quickly braised green onions called cebollitas. There was a red snapper, pulled fresh from the Sea of Cortez, rushed to a pan, and then to my table, on a small peninsula called Isla de las Piedras, just off Mazatlán. And then there were the grasshoppers — chapulines — I became so fond of munching on as I’d stroll around the Mercado de los Indios in Oaxaca.

I’d be less than honest not to admit that the grasshoppers I’d munch on down in Oaxaca were really very good. They were sold from large baskets by women who’d hunker down near entranceways to the market. People would buy a small paper package of grasshoppers to eat as a snack as they shopped, or to take home as a treat for the kids. The grasshoppers were relatively small, not much larger than M&Ms, and sprinkled with salt, chili powder and a bit of lime juice.

I remember feeling very brave and adventurous when I bought my first package of grasshoppers. I also remember taking a tentative nibble on a leg and finding it edible, before moving on to more significant parts of the insect. They reminded me of croutons in their taste and texture, and although they haven’t become a mainstay of my diet, for me eating grasshoppers is a socially acceptable practice.

Grasshoppers are found in the Mexican restaurants of Los Angeles, but not in many of them. Many of our local restaurants do carry dishes that break away from the litany of tacos, enchiladas and burritos. Not that there’s anything wrong with tacos, enchiladas and burritos. Or tamales either. This is comfort food at its finest.

And, as with Me Gusta, the food travels very well. While there is some getting out and about these days, we may be mostly stuck at home a bit longer. Use some salsa to give your life the spice it desperately needs. A face full of hot peppers does wonders to distract you from bingeing on the news. Too much CNN can be toxic. Too much salsa — not so much. And it’s good for you too!

For this carefully curated list, let us begin with a taste of the past:

Carne asada and chorizo tacos make up a colorful Mexican food entree. (File photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Burrito Guadalajara with slow-cooked carnitas and a side of rice and beans is a delicious, filling meal for lunch or dinner. (File photo by Cindy Yamanaka/Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Combination plates are a staple of Mexican food dining. This one features a pork chile verde burrito and two beef and potato taquitos. (File photo by Nick Agro)

A chile relleno stuffed with white fish is a must-try Mexican food option. (File photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

13301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; 818-788-4868, www.casavega.com

Here’s an homage to a restaurant that’s been serving tacos and enchiladas to a loyal following for more than six decades. As it says on the website: “Casa Vega is…one of the longest continuously family owned restaurants in all of greater Los Angeles. Casa Vega’s roots go back to famous Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. Rafael “Ray” Vega opened Casa Vega in 1956 after being inspired by the success of his parents’ earlier restaurant, Café Caliente, which was on Olvera Street and operated throughout the 1930s.”

This is — much like Lawry’s, Musso & Frank, El Cholo, Phillipe the Original and many other local legends — a restaurant that, sooner or later, we all go to. It’s part of our culinary heritage, the thread that runs through life in Southern California for longer even than the freeways.

Casa Vega remains a fine place to go for the Mexican dishes so many of us grew up with. And what I grew up with was the notion that Mexican food existed almost solely as a combination plate. There’s much more here, of course. In the middle of the menu, there it is — the #1 House Combination and the #2 House Specialty Combination. Both include Spanish rice and refried beans (and the inevitable chips and salsa as well), and a choice of two dishes for #1, or three dishes for #2, selected from a greatest hits list of enchiladas, tacos, tamales and rellenos.

The sweet corn tamale is always a good choice; ditto the grilled chile relleno. One bite and the years fade away. The guacamole is good, freshly made, not chopped too much — and chopped less in the hand-chopped option.

I have a closet love of queso fundido, which does little to help my diet, but does much to sooth my soul. It’s basically a plate of melted cheeses, with sour cream added on for good measure, and beef chorizo.

There are two appetizer combos — enough chow for a light meal shared by two, with a margie or two added on for good measure. Those in need of something more serious might head for the pollo en mole — with a choice of red or green mole. Or maybe the seafood enchiladas, filled variously with crab, shrimp and lobster. There’s no ceviche on the menu. But there is a shrimp cocktail that comes close.

Casa Vega opened in 1956, and the Ventura Freeway followed in 1960. To pre-date the 101 is an amazing accomplishment. It’s a great thing.

10717 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake; 818-927-4210, www.cascabelrestaurant.com

This is not the Tex-Mex, enchilada-and-taco, rice-and-beans chow from back in the day. This is Mexican cooking with an edge, with style, with panache — drawn from a menu that will make you want to order everything you can, at prices that (like the shots of tequila) can add up if you go hog wild.

And speaking of hogs, the most excellent guacamole comes three ways — classic style, topped with slices of radish and mixed with smoked bacon, which adds both flavor (lots of flavor, both bacon makes everything taste better!) and texture. Crunchy guacamole is a fun concept — more restaurants should give it a try.

Ditto the scallop agua chile, a very tasty variation on the much more common shrimp agua chile, which is essentially a dish of crudo marinated in a sauce that’s both acidic (to “cook” the seafood) and potentially very spicy. Though my sense here is that the kitchen’s opted to turn down the fire a notch or two — which is wise; the delicate flavor of good quality scallops would be overwhelmed by too much pepper.

The scallops sit on the section of the menu dedicated to ceviches, five of them, though only the albacore ceviche tostaditas are from the usual school of ceviches. The rest run to a lobster and beet ceviche, and a dish of marinated white anchovies with avocado and lime. There’s a shrimp cocktail too, only in this case, made with a charred tomato sauce. Small touches like that — culinary trim tabs that are small, yet change the whole dish — are everywhere: in the jicama and pepitas in the burrata salad, the lemon-goat cheese cream with the beet salad, the maitake mushrooms used in the tostadas, the chile honey sauce with the fried chicken, the roasted radishes (yes, radishes again!) with the braised pork carnitas, the tangy cotija cheese in both the roasted cauliflower and the sautéed string beans.

There’s a taste for the many peppers of Mexico here — you’ll find morita chiles on the menu, along with chile verde, guajillo, chile arbol, serrano and the namesake cascabel chile.

If there are dishes I dream of, along with the room itself, they would be the Mexican corn bread topped with melt-in-your-mouth short ribs, pico de gallo and salsa verde. And the Mazatlán bouillabaisse of mussels, shrimp, scalper and scallops with white beans — sort of a south of the border take on what you’d get if you combined bouillabaisse with cassoulet.

14902 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys; 818-786-0328

Have you ever had a cemita? There are cemitas to be found all over Los Angeles. But as a rule, you have to go to a cemitas shop, a cemitas stand or a cemitas truck to find one. It’s a bit like a hot dog — though it may appear on a restaurant menu, it probably won’t. And, indeed, most of the places that offer cemitas, offer mostly cemitas, perhaps with a smattering of tacos. But mostly, this is not a dish buried among a multitude of other dishes. It’s a cemita — and those who hunger for a cemita want only a cemita, want only a cemita.

And what is this wondrous dish, for which fans have an obsessive need that has them waiting on long lines for their culinary object of desire? It’s…a sandwich. A torta. A dish eaten by hand — though it will very possibly fall apart, and crumble into the basket in which it’s served, for the cemita is not a simple sandwich.

This is not a slice of ham and a slice of cheese on white bread. This is a dish much beloved in the city of Pueblo, which is why it’s known as a cemita Poblana. The bread is a softish roll, made with egg, which gives it a brioche-like texture. The roll is often seeded. But mostly, the roll is filled, packed, stuffed, jammed with…stuff. Almost certainly there’s avocado, onion and chiles (either jalapeños or chipotle). It may have cilantro and radish.

If in season, it will have an arugula like herb called papalo. And, of course, it will have meat and cheese, a world of meat and cheese. Though on the menu at the Cemitas Poblanas Don Adrian on Victory Boulevard, there’s the option of getting your cemita “traditional” style, with no meat — sin carne. Where should the cemita novice begin? Well, the pollo adobado cemita is a wonderful starter — a marinated chicken sandwich with all the fixin’s.

There’s a breaded chicken (Milanesa de polo) as well. And the lamb barbacoa is a thing of wonder — so moist, so well spiced, so substantial.

You’ll notice many of the cemitas are made with head cheese, which is a bit of an acquired taste, a bit like Spam — you love it…or you don’t. If you feel like The Big Cemita, get the “La de 100 Percent,” made with five meats!

16856 Sherman Way, Van Nuys; 818-988-2700

The menu, extensive as it is, inspires a fair amount of over-ordering. Did I need both a ceviche and a seafood cocktail? Not really, since they’re close culinary cousins. But the prices are so good, I couldn’t resist. You can get raw oysters, along with pata de mula, which translates as “mule’s foot,” and is also known as a “blood clam,” because of the red color of its liquor — a shellfish not often found in LA. But here it is. You can get it in a cocktail as well as raw on the half shell. For those of us who like our seafood uncooked, this is a bit of heaven.

And for those who need a modicum of heat, no worries. The fish tacos served here, utterly greaseless and very tender, make me wonder what I’ve been eating in the multitude of “I Heart Fish Tacos” joints out there. Ditto the tostadas, topped here with shrimp, octopus and a mix of fish and shellfish. The experience is one of eating the real deal, the food found at a really good casual fish house way south of the border, that gives you an idea of how unfortunately Americanized so much of what we eat can be.

Though it’s easy, and tempting, to eat small dishes here, there are 18 plates as well, all served with rice, French fries and salad, built around a nicely cooked bit of seafood — lots of shrimp dishes (the shrimp in garlic sauce is about as good as it gets, the grilled shrimp blessedly undercooked), up to big combos like the shrimp, octopus, abalone and clams.

And if you have a yearning, do get one of the big caldos, soup-stews packed with much of the menu, from a simple fish soup, up to a Seven Seas Soup that covers all bases. Do be careful with the crab legs, which can splatter, and leave stains that don’t wash out with ease, if at all.

As at Café Vega, Melody’s Mexican admirably clings to its roots in the past. This is a restaurant that does most everything it does the old way — a way that brings back wonderful memories of big plates of rice, beans, guacamole and tortillas, with endless amounts of sundry salsas and condiments from a convenient self-service bar, and substantial portions of just about every dish found in the Northern Mexican canon of dishes.

I guess you can order light at Melody’s — though it isn’t easy. There are 10 platos fuertes, and about the same number of combinaciones — dishes that will leave you well-filled even hours later. Consider the retro pleasures of the enchilada and hard shell taco combo, for instance, with a choice of meats in the taco, made using that eternally crunchy taco shell we all grew up with, that’s been replaced for so many with a soft taco shell. It tastes, simply speaking, of history. And it falls apart when you bite into it. Just like it did back in the day.

If you want to further experience the ability of the kitchen at Melody’s to maximize any of the dishes, try one of the seven tortas — tasty Mexican sandwiches on crunchy French rolls — the biggest of which is the Reseda Special, a gut-buster of a sandwich packed with chopped steak, grilled onions, mushrooms, Monterey Jack and mayonnaise, with an accompaniment of beans, sour cream, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños and avocado. It costs all of $6.85. Finishing it all can be serious labor.

The menu rambles from soft shell tacos to hard shells, from quesadillas (try the model with poblano chiles, very tasty) to tostadas — one of which, the salpicon tostada, is described as “Our Known Specialty.” The tostada verde offers the annotation, “This Will Become a Favorite.” This is the sort of pleasantly naïve menu writing that warms the cockles of the old heart.

If there’s a single dish that dominates the menu, it would be the burritos, which approach the size of the fabled Hollenbeck Burrito served at Manuel’s Original El Tepeyac Café in East LA, which isn’t so much a dish as it is a construction project. There are burritos served dry, and burritos served wet (topped with cheese and salsa), though in all cases, they’re far too big, and too messy, to actually pick up and eat like a sandwich.

A burrito mojado de pollo pretty much took up the whole plate — and it wasn’t a small plate. There was a considerable topping of mild ranchero sauce, and stretchy melted jack, covering a softish tortilla, inside of which was what seemed to be at least half a chicken breast, cut up, and waiting for salsa and cilantro and chopped onions from the salsa bar.

The presence of rice and beans is ubiquitous. And the beans are honest and thick — these aren’t nouvelle beans, but the sort of beans you might find at a stand in a Mexican market. Which is to say, rich with flavor and texture, beans in excelsis.

Rosarito Fish Market Deli

1534 San Fernando Road, San Fernando, 818-361-7227, https://easystoremanager.com/flashmobile/productdisplay.aspx?loc=1382

The much loved — and for good reason — Rosarito is less a market, and less a deli, than it is a hugely popular, noisy, cheerful, joyous fish house. It’s a restaurant that wouldn’t be out of place on the beach in Mazatlán, or near the bars in Cabo. Coming upon it in a San Fernando mini-mall would be a surprise — were it not that so many great restaurants in the Valley are found in mini-malls.

If you crave simplicity, and a sort of culinary purity, you’ll do well going for the seafood cocteles — big ice cream sundae glass, packed with fish stuff, onions, lime and sauce. There are eight of them, all of them giving you a lot of fish for the money, all coming in two sizes: medium and large. (There is not a small. Kind of like olives.)

Most of the cocteles include camarones — shrimp — perfectly textured, fully flavored, nothing bland here. You can get the camarones all by themselves if you wish. Or mixed with octopus, oysters and abalone. Adding oysters makes for a fun mix of textures. Adding octopus and especially abalone makes for a chewy experience. Not a bad one. But the abalone in particular tends to need some masticating. It always does.

There are lime slices on the plates, along with a tostada, and some little plastic packages of crackers. You get crackers with pretty much every dish on the menu. I guess it’s just a tradition. And indeed, those tostadas can also be found as a dish on the menu, topped with a dozen different seafood options — including imitation crab (I don’t love surimi, but I guess it’s how it is goes these days; real crab is becoming a serious luxury item, and faux keeps getting more real) and my favorite Mexican seafood dish, aguachile, which I’ve loved since I first encountered it lo’ these many years ago.

In case you haven’t encountered the wonders of aguachile, in its original form it was just camarones (of course!) flavored with chile peppers, lime juice, salt, cilantro, cucumber and onion. It’s essentially ceviche, but with a lot more heat — it can be downright combustible in terms of peppery goodness. At Rosarito, it comes six ways — traditional camarones, camarones with octopus, camarones with scallops (*callo de hacha”), camarones with octopus and abalone and so forth. It’s one of those dishes that seems too hot to eat on first bite. But then, your mouth settles in for the ride. And it’s a good one.

For a restaurant that only dates back to 2004, it has the look of a venerable culinary institution that’s been around for decades, centuries even. It’s a classic Mexican restaurant, a restaurant of the old school, with a many-paged menu of small dishes (“botanas” — not all of which are especially small), ensaladas y tostadas, sopas, platos fuertes, Molcajete Sol y Luna, seafood, platos populares, burritos, rolled specialties, a la carta, seasonal, side orders, desserts and of course, a full line of margaritas, and tequila-based drinks.

There are, as is often the case, easy ways to deal with the sprawl of the menu. For openers (and perhaps for the whole meal), get the appetizer platter (“serves 2 to 4,” it says) of quesadilla, sopes with carnitas, mini potato and chorizo tacos, chicken wings, nachos, taquitos dorados, flautas, beans, sour cream, guacamole, cotija cheese and pico de gallo. Plus the requisite chips and salsa. Which is a pretty big feed.

Of course there’s an oversized order of nachos — that pretty well goes without saying, for Mexican restaurants of the old school love to create nachos mountains that tower over the table. In this case, the corn chips are topped with refried beans and melted cheese, ranchera sauce and guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo — with the option of tricking the whole thing up with steak, shredded beef, carnitas, chicken or shrimp. Once again, it could be a meal in itself. But for most, it’s just the beginning.

If you want to stay on the lighter side of the menu (where the options are a bit limited), try the large bowl of ceviche, made with either shrimp or fish. The grilled halibut salad is a lighter option as well. And obviously, so is the “Light & Delicious Fish Mexican Salad” — the fish is grilled, but the salad is made with jack and cotija cheese as well. Let’s just say, it’s lighter than most. But then, this isn’t a restaurant built around culinary denial.

This is where you go for abundance. Which is defined by the Molcajete Sol y Luna — a dish for two, or three, served on a hot stone — steak and chicken, shrimp, cactus leaves and panela cheese, scallions and peppers, rice and a choice of three beans, and of course tortillas. It’s not so much a dish as it is a show.

And though it’s the biggest dish on the menu, it’s not the only major plate. I like the pescado a la parrilla — a whole grilled trout, served with veggies cooked in garlic butter. The camarones a la diabla are properly spicy. And the dozen or so burritos fill up the plates upon which they arrive.

If you have room, the flan is just fine. And the crème brulee — called “jericalla” — is a treat. There’s Jell-O under the desserts as well. Like I said, old school. Much older than 2004.

The Village at Westfield Topanga, 6316 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills; 818-992-7930, www.xoctequilagrill.com

Along with “tequila,” the restaurant’s name includes the word “grill.” And “grill” is the dominant theme here, for the menu is long and complex, almost encyclopedic in its depth.

There’s an opening page that describes (in very small type) the roots of Mexican cooking in Mayan cuisine, which gave us maize, tomatoes, tomatillos, cocoa, beans, avocados, chiles and more. We’re told XOC was a Mayan queen. And the décor of the restaurant echoes the Mayan pyramids and open-air markets.

The menu says, “Dare to explore.” And so, we do. What we come up with is a nifty platter of crispy tostaditos the size of Ritz crackers, topped with ceviche, shrimp and ahi, with guacamole on the side. There’s a Caesar salad prepared tableside, in the style of Caesar Cardini of Tijuana. There’s a fine mole poblano from Oaxaca, a dish with deep Mayan roots, and a platter of cochinita pork from the Yucatan.

There’s a whole section of ceviches — and yes, I know they come from Peru, but it’s good to have them anyway. And along with the ceviches, there’s an unexpectedly large assortment of seafood dishes, though I’m not at all sure that either salmon or mahi-mahi were known to the Mayans. The dishes are well-crafted — even the complimentary chips are extra crunchy, and come in a brown paper bag, with a big bowl of hard-to-resist salsa.

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hellagaymccree · 7 years ago

Text

Flowers for a King

mcreyes week day five - c a m p i n g

Jesse had plan the perfect evening for today. He had reserved a table for Gabriel and him; a private booth on a nice and tasteful restaurant, yet not overpriced. He would order the best wine, saved especially to get Gabriel’s favorite, a sweet dessert, then a walk under the stars and end the night—or go all night—between Gabriel’s sheets. He would say the words that have been itching in his tongue for months. He would recite poetry to Gabriel, come up with the cheesiest of pet names and look into his eyes all night under the candlelight. Maybe it would get the older man to laugh, but that would be enough for Jesse.

But no. Even if both had saved this day to be alone, trouble always finds them. They’ve gotten word that Los Muertos were soon to run another purge. They do this randomly over the year, raid the streets, steal from stores and people, destroy everything in their path, scare little kids, injured and kill people. Blackwatch was spread out over the town. Even with their warnings of the surprise purge, people still went out to dine, walk together as a family and browse the colorful shops. The bakery is always full with the smell of good and warm pastries in the air when the door opens. Yet, Jesse could tell a few looked over their shoulders or held on to their kids tighter. At least there weren’t any children by themselves at this hour of the night.

They received this mission a week ago and Jesse was disappointed as soon as he heard. He had to cancel his reservation and everything else. There’s no way they would be back in time for Gabriel’s birthday. It’s the third night he’s watching over the street. At least he got assigned Gabriel as a partner during the special day. Is not like they didn’t had their moment in the morning, on Gabriel’s bed back at the hotel, but it’s never enough. They had to part too soon and pretend like they didn’t want to reach for the other’s hand. They had to avoid eye contact when all Jesse wanted was to count the stars reflected on Gabriel’s eyes.

The clock was ticking and his only present to Gabriel so far was a ‘happy birthday, darlin’’ before their morning sex. But that’s not enough for Jesse. Gabriel is more than a morning fuck. More than a good time after a mission and a need for someone to kiss the pain away. He was going to tell Gabriel this and it would happen before the night ended.

Gabriel and Jesse were situated on an empty house near the fountain of the plaza. The family living in it was out for the weekend and they managed to sneak in. The balcony was a good view of the plaza and where most of the citizens spent their evening, buying from the stands or trying out food. Gabriel had excused himself to take a shower while Jesse watched over. As soon as Gabriel went inside, Jesse took out his phone.

The king has left the throne, he types. Soon enough, he sees checkmarks under the message.

Chips on the way, Rainer answers.

Jesse leans from the edge of the balcony and whistles at the crowd. Only a few pay him mind, but a girl and a boy run towards him. The girls carries a basket, while the boy carries a bouquet of bright flowers.

“Well done, angels,” Jesse tips his hat before he unhooks a plant in a pot hanging by his side. He grabs a rope that had been at his feet and places it through the hook. One end reaches the kids.

“Do me another favor and tie it around the basket fer me.”

The girl nods to him and does as he asked, tying the end around the handle. The boy gets what’s next and places the flowers in the basket.

Jesse tips his hat once again, “Thank you kindly. Run back to yer parents now.”

The kids giggle and ran off. Jesse watches over them as he pulls the basket up. Once the kids reunite with their parents, he takes his eyes off to prepare the table. There’s already a nice wooden one on the balcony, round and good enough for two. Jesse finds a red velvet blanket in the hallway closet and drapes it over the table. He grabbed one of the used candles from the dining table and brought it out, along with plates and silverware. He lights the candle with his lighter, places the beautiful colorful flowers on the other side of the table and waits.

Gabriel comes out in casual clothes, like the one they’ve been sporting since they arrived to blend with the locals. He stops at the door when he notices the small table, Jesse smiling at him and the flowers on the space reserved for him.

“What’s this?” Gabriel asks, approaching the table.

“What we’re supposed to be doing, darlin’,” Jesse answers as he takes off his hat.

“We don’t have time for this, Jesse,” Gabriel says, yet he picks up the flowers, a mix of lilies, two sunflowers and a few others Jesse can’t call right now. Gabriel smells them and his eyes tell Jesse he’s enjoying this already.

“Stones, Ford, Shannon and Cameron came from Numbani after they wrapped up their mission early,” Jesse says as he stands up and goes around the table to pull Gabriel’s chair. “They’re keeping extra eyes on this part; nothing will come in our out without us knowing.” He kisses Gabriel sweetly on his cheeks and waits for the older man to accept the seat.

Jesse can see his lover blush against the candlelight. The commander side of him is arguing, probably not convinced, but Gabriel is fighting it. He wants to enjoy what Jesse has to offer, enjoy the few moments they get by themselves where they can love one another without fear. Gabriel sits down and Jesse pushes the sit closer to the table.

Before he can sit down, he hears a whistle and Jesse looks over the railings of the balcony. A young man waits for him there, wearing shorts and a simple shirt. Jesse lowers the basket and waits for it to be filled.

“Thank you,” Jesse nods in appreciation before pulling the basket up.

He takes out a nicely wrapped plate with a dipping bowl in the center, surrounded by nachos, and places it on the table. Jesse takes off the plastic wrapper as he sits down and looks at Gabriel, who is paying attention to his every move.

“Appetizer: nachos with guacamole. Oh, be right back, start stuffing yer pretty mouth, babe.” Jesse winks and stands up. He hears Gabriel chuckling before he goes for a nacho.

Jesse searches through the cabinets in the kitchen until he finds two glasses and fills them with ice and water. He grabs two empty wine glasses on the way and brings them to the table. When he sits down, he notices a few nachos have been eaten already.

“Hungry, aren’t we?” Jesse says before going for one himself.

Gabriel hums in responds before licking his lips, taking away a bit of guacamole on the edge of his mouth. Something Jesse had been tempted to kiss away. “You planned a dinner for us?”

“Not just a dinner—your birthday dinner.” Jesse wiggles his eyebrows before eating a nacho full of guac.

“Jesse, you didn’t have to—”

“I wanted to, sugar,” Jesse interrupts with a smile. “I had planned this all a month ago, but then this damn mission ruin it. Or tried to.” Jesse reaches over the table for Gabriel’s hand. Gabriel lets it be held and enjoys the small circles Jesse’s start drawing with his thumb. “You deserve it. We deserve to be together, amor. One round of morning sex isn’t enough to show how much I appreciate you being alive with me for another year.”

Gabriel smiles at him, a genuine, unique smile Jesse only sees when he’s present. The cowboy responds such beautiful gift and kisses Gabriel’s knuckles.

“Jesse,” Gabriel sighs before Jesse’s phone vibrates on the table.

Drinks up!, Kimura wrote

The fish is in the net, Taylor followed.

“Main curse is ‘bout to arrive,” Jesse tells Gabriel before he stands up.

He only waits a minute before another man, this one around Jesse’s age, comes. He’s wearing a waiter outfit and apron, carrying a bag and a bottle of wine as he smiles at Jesse. Jesse drops the basket and picks up the meal. He thanks the waiter and lets him go.

“The finest wine, for the finest lover I know,” Jesse says, showing the black and red bottle to Gabriel.

“My favorite kind,” Gabriel smiles as he looks at the slick bottle with velvet seal. “Pour some of that before you do anything else.”

“As the birthday boy wishes,” Jesse says before breaking the seal.

The pours the crimson liquid onto Gabriel’s glass as the older man holds the base between his fingers. Gabriel is eager for a taste as soon as Jesse finishes pouring. He closes his eyes and hums to the flavor in his mouth, cascading down his throat.

“This is delicious,” Gabriel says before Jesse leans in and has a taste from his lover’s mouth.

Gabriel moans between the kiss. Savoring some guacamole after taste on Jesse’s tongue. Meanwhile, Jesse drinks the raspberry flavor from Gabriel’s exquisite lips. He bites lightly on the older man’s bottom lip before letting go. He pours his own drink before pulling the bag of food from the basket. He opens the container and shows I to Gabriel.

“Grilled lime salmon with mango-avocado salsa, rice and beans. And I can never leave behind garlic bread.”

Gabriel laughs as he nods in agreement. The air around him is filled with so many aromas watering his mouth, including Jesse himself. Jesse serves Gabriel’s plate and then his own.

“Enjoy, mi angel,” Jesse says, kissing Gabriel’s knuckles one more time.

“I’m glad you did this,” Gabriel confesses as he caresses his thumb over Jesse’s hand. “It’s a nice change.”

Jesse pulls back Gabriel’s hand against his lips and murmurs, “Only showin’ ya how much you mean to me, Gabriel.”

“You mean a lot to me too, dulcito. And you’ve let me speechless.”

Jesse chuckles, “Gotta have to find a way to make you scream later, then. Can’t have you holding back on me.”

“I won’t. I promise.” Gabriel smiles and Jesse can see a spark of something. A bit of hope that says he feels the same. An encouragement for Jesse to say what has been on the tip of his tongue for months.

But he enjoys the meal first. Gabriel doesn’t know if it was plan, or it was coincidence. But Dorado’s own crowd starts singing to a mariachi band that enters the plaza. But once they ignore the couple on the balcony, he just takes it as a sign that it’s all meant to be in place. That he’s meant to share this moment with Jesse. He looks at the younger man and doesn’t believe how lucky he is. Once he started on Overwatch, Gabriel didn’t think he would find love like this. He didn’t think he deserve it or had time for it. He did not want to lose anyone that was this deep into him to death. But Jesse never gave up, no matter how rough life had been to him. He had lost an arm and been in more life threatening situation than Gabriel would like to say, but the cowboy comes back from hell and keeps going. At first, Gabriel was afraid of being Jesse’s death, now he will take on the whole world with the gunslinger by his side.

“Full, angel?” Jesse asks as he stretches and leans against his chair.

“Yes, it was delicious,” Gabriel answers as he rests back.

“Well, hope you’ve got room for dessert.” Jesse winked and stood up.

There was a young girl in a light yellow dress waiting for him. She held a basket of her own and a flower in her hair. Like before, Jesse used the basket to receive the treat.

“Thank you, pretty lady.” He tips his hat and the girl giggles before walking away.

Gabriel comes around Jesse and wraps his arms around the younger man’s waist.

“What you got there?” Gabe asks over Jesse’s shoulders before kissing under his ear.

“Birthday cake.” Jesse snaps open the plastic container to reveal a medium square tres leches cake, with whip cream and cherries on top.

Gabriel can feel his stomach shifting, making room for the treat. Jesse laughs when he notices Reyes licking his lips. He knows how big of a sweet tooth Gabriel has and he loves to spoil him. More like tempt him. He prefers to taste the sugary treat from the older man’s lips after.

Jesse turns around in Gabriel’s arms, dipping his finger on the frosting and brushing it over Gabriel’s lips. Gabriel takes Jesse’s finger in his mouth and moans softly to the fluffy taste.

“Mi amor,” Jesse whispers, leaning closer to Gabriel. “Even if this evening was special, it’s not enough for me to show you. You deserve everything; a crown, jewels, all the gold in the world and you’d still deserve more.” Jesse’s hand moves to Gabriel’s cheek. “I definitely don’t deserve your attention. I don’t deserve to wake up almost every morning to a god. To capture the sunlight profiling your curves and shinning on your skin. I don’t deserve the gemstones in your eyes being the last thing I see before I fall asleep.”

“Jesse, don’t…” Gabriel trails.

Jesse smiles, “You’re a hero. And you could’ve left me behind, but ya didn’t. You help me find myself and be a better person. When I was willing to give my whole life to you, you made me stop. You made me realize that wasn’t love. But now I know what love is.”

Gabriel’s eyes widen and his pupils start to go darker.

“Love is giving you a half of me. Love is accepting the half you offer me so we can make a whole, but I keep my part. I get to keep my own life and be by your side. Love is watching you go through hell and still want to hold your hand at the end of it all. Love is knowing when to let go and I am willing to let you go if you wish, but for now you are with me, cariño.” Jesse’s cradles the back of Gabriel’s hand. “We’re both alive on this moment and I know that I love you. I will follow you to the ends of the earth, if you wish for my company. I love you, Gabriel Reyes.”

They both smile together and Gabriel feels out of breath. His words melt in his mouth and he forgets how to spell. He just pulls Jesse closer, crashes their mouths together and lets time run around them. He feels Jesse’s heart beat and how alive he is. The moment is passing by slow, but its vivid. It’s wild, yet gentle. One of his hands travels over Jesse’s chest. He can feel the younger heart almost on his palm.

“I love you, Jesse,” Gabriel whispers when they pull an inch apart.

Jesse’s breath shutters when he sighs and he pulls his lover for another kiss. Gabriel doesn’t forget the tres leches, but it can wait while he feast on Jesse first.

“Muertos sighting,” Gabriel’s comm breaks the silence. “They’re burning the court.”

They slowly stop, a string of saliva hanging between them. Their eyes flutter open and they smile once they can see the other clearly.

“Dessert can wait,” Gabriel says and bites his lip. “And I’ll try a piece of that tres leches after.”

Jesse laughs and kisses Gabriel quickly, “Happy birthday, mi amor.”

#mcreyes #mcreaper #mcreyessummerbreak #writingramblings #I think this is not my best and I'm not that proud of it #but I'm having bad days and I also don't wanna stop writing these #id like to finish the week but hopefull ill do better for the remaining two

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agendahammer79-blog · 5 years ago

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Chilaca Pork Stew

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

I fell in love with chilaca chiles the moment I learned about them, which, I am not ashamed to say, is fairly recently.

Chilaca chiles are long, slender, medium-hot chiles from Mexico. Think poblanos, only stretched out and a bit spicier. Pronounced chee-LAH-kah, they are popular in Michoacan, which is where many of the Mexican immigrants here in the Sacramento area came from.

I first heard about them in Diana Kennedy’s book From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients, which I bought some years ago.

I later saw an entry for them in a book I am currently obsessed with, Marciel Presilla’s Peppers of the Americas, which has entries on all sorts of chiles from the US down to far South America.

As a side note, Maricel notes that there is an amazing woman in Indiana who raises maybe 1000 kinds of chiles and sells seedlings. She’s known as the Chile Woman, and I highly recommend here. Tell her I sent you…

Then, one day, in a local Mexican market, I saw the prettiest chilacas, some a full foot long. I had to buy them. See the serrano in the corner? Yeah, that’s how big these chiles are.

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

I sliced some crosswise for a sort of Mexican stir fry, and they were kinda cool: inky forest green on the outside, light green on the inside. I then made a green salsa with some that were just cut up. It was, well, just OK.

Where chilaca chiles really shine is as rajas, which means strips in Spanish. Most of you who know what rajas are know them as a poblano thing, and that they are. But chilacas are better. They shred nicer, and in longer strips.

I blister all my chiles directly on my gas burners, which is a far superior way to do this than using the broiler, which will overcook any chile, but especially a thin-walled chilaca. You could blister them directly over a hot wood fire, too, which would be even better.

If you don’t know how to fire-roast chiles, here is a tutorial.

How did I use my chilaca rajas? In this wonderful, comforting Mexican stew I found in another of Kennedy’s books, her My Mexico.

It is a fascinating technique, basically a reverse seared stew: You simmer the pork first, remove some broth, let the pot simmer dry until the pork’s fat renders, then fry the tender pork chunks in its own fat.

A quick, tomato-based sauce coats the pork, the chilaca rajas go in, and you’re ready to rock. This can be eaten as a stew, over rice, or in tacos or a burrito.

You’ll find chilacas in the produce section of Mexican markets. You can also find them dried, where they are an entirely different thing: chile pasilla. If you want to grow some, The Chile Woman has seedlings, or you will find them as pasilla chiles in most catalogs, after what a chilaca becomes once it’s ripe.

Chilaca Pork Stew

Obviously I use chilaca chiles here, but don't get hung up on it. You can use the easier-to-find poblanos instead, which are in most supermarkets. Everything else is easy to find.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: 6 people

Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

6 to 9 chilaca or Anaheim chiles, or 4 to 6 poblanos

2 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks

6 to 8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 to 4 avocado leaves, or bay leaves

Salt

1 pound plum tomatoes

3 to 6 large tomatillos, husks removed

3 to 5 serrano chiles, stems removed

Black pepper to taste

Instructions

Roast the chilacas or other chiles as directed here. Remove the stems and seeds and tear into long strips, You can cut the trips shorter if you want. Set aside.

Set the pork in a Dutch oven or other large pot and cover with water. Add the crushed garlic and avocado or bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste. Simmer for a good 30 minutes, partially covered.

Add the tomatoes, tomatillos and serranos to the pot, whole. Let them cook in there for 10 minutes. Fish them out, along with some of the crushed garlic cloves, and puree them in a blender with some of the broth. Set aside.

Let the pork continue to simmer until it is mostly tender. For wild pigs this could be an hour. Store-bought will be about another 20 minutes or so. Let the broth cook down while this is happening, but don't let it dry out just yet. Once the pork is tender, ladle out most of the broth and use for something else. It's tasty.

Allow the pot to cook dry. There should be a few tablespoons of fat rendered off the pork, if not, add some (or oil). Let the now-tender pork fry in its own fat. The debris that came off the pork while simmering will brown. Pick out the bay leaves and discard.

When the pork is nicely browned, add the chilaca chiles and the sauce in the blender. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, let this all simmer for 10 minutes and serve.

Pork Recipes

You can find all sorts of recipes for pork, wild or store-bought, here on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook!

Source: https://honest-food.net/chilaca-chile-recipe/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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carsusan0-blog · 5 years ago

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A Healthy Hedonist’s Guide to Mexico City

Mexico City has been top of my travel wish list for some time.

It seemingly has everything: walls of crazy colors, vibrant vegetation on (and inside) every block, dirt cheap accommodations and uber rides, a thriving contemporary art scene, and ALL THE TACOS. Needless to say, when I got invited to a wedding in Guadalajara this fall, I made stopping in Mexico City an essential leg of the trip flanking the weekend of festivities.

If you’re visiting Mexico City as a gluten-free goddess like myself, you will have an epic few days of eating your way around the city. Since the cuisine is primarily reliant on corn, there are very few risks of cross-contamination, though if you have a sensitive immune system like me, it’s a high possibility that you will return home with some sort of critter, even if you stick to the fancy restaurants. It’s the price of admission!

Tummy troubles aside, I have no regrets. The street food around the city rivals the best restaurants, and it’s hard to resist sampling some of the region’s typical dishes straight from the “specialists.” Still, we also made it a point to tick off some of the most popular upscale eateries off our list, and those too did not disappoint.

A few things to note: though the city is much safer than it used to be, it’s still best to use uber versus taxis (again, they are insanely cheap) and not walk around alone at night in certain areas. We stayed at a lovely B&B in Condesa for under $100 a night. I’d highly recommend making that neighborhood or Roma your hub. Polanco is fancier, has less of a personality and isn’t as central.

Like Los Angeles, the city is quite spread out, but if you bring walking shoes you can still cover a lot on foot—most sites are about a 30 minute walk from Roma or Condesa (or a $4 uber).

As for the food scene, like most big cities, you can find great versions of any regional dish, but I’d recommend not leaving without trying chilaquiles for breakfast, tacos al pastor (Mexico City’s most famous taco), pozole rosso, and sangrita, a tomato-based drink that’s served alongside the best sipping tequilas to cleanse your palate. I could have drank a jug of it with every meal.

Rarely will you find a flour tortilla, which means less risk that there’s an issue with tortilla chips being thrown into the same fryer, but if you’re celiac, it’s still worth inquiring about cross-contamination and mole preparations, since it’s an everything but the kitchen sink sort of dish. I’d highly recommend, if you’re worried and don’t speak much Spanish, that you check out my friend Jodi’s gluten-free travel card for Mexico City and her travel guide for Mexico.

Read on for some of the best restaurants we ate at in Mexico City, sites and activities that shouldn’t be missed, and some other helpful recommendations I got before our trip, including where to find the best gluten-free and vegan options.

With health and hedonism,

Phoebe

THE BEST UPSCALE AND TRENDY RESTAURANTS IN MEXICO CITY

Pujol (Polanco)

If you’ve sought out restaurant recs from any gringa “foodie,” Enrique Olvera’s world-renowned spot for artistic tacos was probably top of the list. He was featured on Chef’s Table a few seasons back, and like my globe-stalking of this Slovenian star, I knew that I needed to add Mexico City to my travel list just to taste his 1,000 day mole. The restaurant lived up to the hype and may just be one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. It’s especially enticing for gluten-free folks since you’re able to eat 95 percent of the menu (save for dessert).

Reservations need to me made a month or so out for the Taco Omakase or the Tasting Menu. We did the latter, which I was kind of bummed about because the concept of 10 courses of tacos might be my dream, but it ended up blowing my mind. Chef Olvera’s food is pristine, but unfussy. Surprising, yet comforting. It’s exactly what you didn’t know you wanted to be eating.

Our favorite dishes were the octopus, softshell crab, quail egg papadzul, and all the street snacks. Also, order the tamarind margarita and thank me later.

Contramar (Roma)

This daytime seafood spot, with waiters toting giant clams and crab claws, feels like you stepped off the wrong plane and ended up in Miami. It was described to me as where the Mexi Mad Men go for their power lunches, and I was so into this idea, and the tuna tostadas included in it, that I went not once, but TWICE during my stay.

In addition to the atun, you should also try the crab tostadas, fish al pastor tacos, and if you have enough people, the whole fish with green and red salsa, which comes with a basket of warm tortillas. Everything is incredibly fresh and expertly cooked. They also served one of the best sangritas (little shot of bloody Mary-like mix that’s served alongside sipping tequila) that I tried in Mexico.

Paramo (Roma)

If you’re in Mexico City on a Sunday, make a reservation at this cozy, Mexican speak-easy, which is one of the few places on our hit list that was open that night. It’s a fun, lively crowd – a mix of locals and tourists – and between the exposed brick and twinkle lights strung along the ceiling, feels like somewhere in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The service is a little slow, but luckily the delicious cocktails will keep you entertained. It’s a great spot to take a group since you can order any of the tacos as cazuelas—larger casseroles of the filling that you can share and DIY in your own warm tortillas.

Rosetta (Roma)

I know, I know. You didn’t come all the way to Mexico City for Italian food. But if you’re looking for an escape from the parade of tacos, Rosetta has a charming ambience that’s very much of the city: a candle-lit interior that’s covered in plants, including trees that are taller than most on the exterior sidewalk. They have plenty of vegetarian options, among them a mean mushroom risotto and a delicious beet appetizer with pink mole. Make sure to make reservations in advance, or try going for lunch when it’s easier to walk in.

THE BEST CASUAL RESTAURANTS AND TAQUERIAS FOR LUNCH AND BREAKFAST

Fonda Mayora (Condesa)

We ate at this little breakfast spot in the Condesa / Hipodromo neighborhood on our last morning before leaving for the airport. They had a great chilaquiles and rancheros, along with plenty of other options. If you have a stomach of steel, you can even try the green juice!

Lardo (Condesa)

A sister restaurant to Rosetta, this chic daytime cafe strikes a great balance between Mexican influences and more familiar dishes. For breakfast, the black rice porridge with mango is delicious, as well as the poached eggs in red sauce. They also serve an assortment of teas and homemade nut milks for your coffee. The interior is beautiful and I almost attempted to steal one of the stools and bring it back in my carry on.

Los Creadores Del Taco al Pastor (Condesa)

We mostly ate our tacos on the street in Mexico City, but after missing out on the city’s most famous taco—al pastor—we decided to pop into this taqueria that pretty much serves only that…since they claim the invented it. I’m sure Eater has sussed out the best al pastor (a shawarma-style pork with slices of pineapple) in the city, and that this is not it. But we couldn’t tell! I loved every bite of these juicy little guys, especially with the salsa and pickled vegetables served on the side.

La Clandestina

This mezcal bar was a great place to stop before or after dinner if you want a chill place to have one more sip of smoky libations. It’s in Condesa, right near many of these restaurants. I loved the spicy margarita, and a friend of mine ordered an interesting one with avocado and basil!

OTHER EATERY AND BAR RECOMMENDATIONS

We didn’t make it to even a fraction of the recommendations on our list. Here are some more in the same area that we want to try next time:

San Angel Inn — In the south of the city, which is why we didn’t make it, but incredibly charming for lunch in their courtyard among MXC elite. Very romantic!

Lalo – Another great breakfast spot similar to Lardo.

Masala y Maiz – In a slightly more far flung neighborhood near Casa Barragon. We were told to go for lunch and check out the cool interior and cuisine, which is Indian meets Mexican!

Azul – A spot for healthier Mexican favorites with great veggie enchiladas.

La Buena Tierra – Another veg-centric place for vegetarian options.

Tacos Veganas – A completely vegan taco place in Condesa!

Marrakech Salon – Sweaty silly fun drag bar, Mexican queens singing in Spanish standing on top of the bar in sequin dresses…on my list for next time.

COOL STORES WE VISITED

Goodbye Folk

If you’re into vintage finds or custom shoes, you should definitely stop in this little shop that sources great hipster shirts and sweaters, and also locally-made leather shoes and boots. It’s not too far from Rosetta and Arena Mexico if you need somewhere to stop on your walk to either.

Onora

In the upscale neighborhood of Polanco, this home store is small but packs in a lot of beautiful, artisan finds. If I wasn’t going straight to dinner at Pujol, I would have walked out of there with an entire dinner set and pile of linen napkins.

Lago DF

Also in Polanco, this trendy boutique has lots of local clothing designers if you’re looking for a chic caftan. They also have some vibrantly colored tequila glasses and other home goods.

THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN MEXICO CITY

The Best Markets of Mexico City

One of the most fun things to do is eat your way around some of the various markets. San Juan is the largest, and you can find a few tours during the day or at night through Eat Mexico if you want to really cover a lot of territory. A friend of ours raved about the nighttime taco tour. Mercado Medellin near Roma is a smaller indoor market but much more of a local’s affair. It’s a great place to pick up some dried chiles to take home with you or sample al pastor tacos. Mercado Roma is a more upscale hub of food stalls from restaurants around the city – similar to Chelsea Market in New York. They have an outpost for La Otilia, a gluten-free bakery! I didn’t love their cookies, but it’s a good option if you’re craving a sweet. Mercado de Artesanias is the craft market that is overflowing with finds. Great as a weekend activity if you like to shop and want to find some incredibly affordable wares.

Casa Barragon

This is the home of the most famous architect in Mexico, and definitely worth a visit. Tours book up months in advance, but if you are willing to risk it, I’d recommend just showing up early and hoping that the people there take pity on you, as they did us! The hallmark of his designs is that you can’t tell what kind of colorful treasures reside on the interior. This was one of the highlights of our trip.

Arena Mexico / Luncha Libre

If you’re skeptical of the magic that is Mexican wrestling due to the mediocrity of the movie Nacho Libre, please keep an open mind. This was the most fun thing we did in Mexico City and I am still giggling thinking about it. You will be surrounded by locals drinking, booing, cheering, you know…telling the wrestlers to go F themselves. It’s a rip roaring good time, especially on a Sunday afternoon in between meals. The stadium is small, so you really can’t go wrong with your seat, but I would recommend facing the side of the arena where the players walk out. The Luncha Libre show is on Tuesdays and Weekends. You can buy tickets at the booth right before the show – they don’t really sell out. Just try to avoid the annoying scalpers outside, who can be quite aggressive.

National Museum of Anthropology

We were told that this was a museum not to be missed, but honestly, we were a little lukewarm on it. If you like antiquities, old pots and the like, you will have a great time. It’s vast and very well organized. The building is also very cool. We were probably too hungover to fully appreciate it. It was also a Sunday, when tickets were free, and it was a zoo.

Xochimilco

My biggest regret is not making it to the floating canals on the outskirts of the city. As we learned at the Anthropology museum, Mexico City used to resemble Venice when it was first settled, meaning most of the city was built on the bottom of a lake bed that once housed a complex system of canals and waterways. Xochimilco is what’s left from that period. It’s a fun place to ride around in colorful, very instagrammable “gondolas.”

I was only in Mexico City for a weekend and was mostly interested in eating, so there are many sites that I didn’t get too. Also keep in mind that Mexico City has a great contemporary art scene (most of which Charlie has already done a million times) and many museums worth visiting.

Have you been to Mexico City? Tell me your favorite restaurants and sites! I will add them to the reader rec section and also to my to-do list for next time I go down there.

Source: https://feedmephoebe.com/a-healthy-hedonists-guide-to-mexico-city/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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toddlazarski · 5 years ago

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A Definitive Taco Truck Tour

Shepherd Express

Before 2010, when The Fast Foodie trademarked the name “Globaco” in some kind of full shark-jumping signifier of the epochal food truck wars, and long before today’s scene of the Zocalo food truck park, complete with the backing of real estate developers and an “incubator” program; before food truck festivals, Food Truck Friday, Food Truck Thursday, Takeout Tuesday, changing locations necessitating hungers be equipped with GPS-capabilities, before $12 crepes, $5 mushroom tacos, takeovers, residencies, Food Network validation, before the food truck was a hip wedding menu option—almost all somehow worth it, all ridiculous but inevitable, overdone but delicious—there was the taco truck.

Really since, probably, 1974. That is when Raul Martinez converted an ice cream truck into King Taco and parked it outside of an L.A. bar. Lines formed, a legend was born, offshoots ensued, and it was a first step toward fixed, consistent locations. A metaphorical flag seemed planted. The dawn of an era, certainly, but really it was but the next step in a lineage that flows organically, pragmatically, from roaming street tamale vendors that date to as early as the late 1800’s. Also, more simply, from lunch carts at construction sites. Any time humans move, mass, and build, portable kitchens will surely follow. Today, in an era of mobile offerings listing the likes of Mochaccino cupcakes, how much said kitchens choose to raise their fists in culinary challenge to brick-and-mortars really just seems a matter of ambition and philosophy.

But a quest for such bygone spots is not just an act of nostalgia. It’s far from slumming or the loaded, problematic idea of authenticity. It’s a harkening of a simpler time, before we gussied menus and overshadowed the farmers at farmers markets with lines for $8 waffles, before mobile grilled cheeses required “Cedar Valley 2 Year Aged Cheddar,” before what Ta-Nehisi Coates, in a skeptical essay penned in the Atlantic in 2010, termed with some derision, “nuevo-food trucks.”

If you know where to look, when to stop, how to navigate crinkly handwritten placards of exotic sounding mouth meats and such, can make yourself heard over grumbling generators attached to rickety Freightliners, glimpses of this old world still abound. Quick, cheap, consistent, doused in multiple salsas, chased with frigid Jarritos, this is a pursuit of no-frills, flavorful, long-stewed quick meal. You don’t have to live every moment like it’s a beer commercial afterall, with an Instagrammable converted camper, with clever alliteration names, hyper-specification, like it was Austin, like it was Portland, pesky cities of smug overachieving and some oblique pursuit of “weirdness.” Sometimes you just want a taco. Through a hungry and thorough survey of Milwaukee summer streets, these are your best bets for such movable feasts.

12. El Charrito

Some slithery cooked onions and half of a huge charred jalapeño side a taco plate—the only real indicator this is anything but standard, cheap workaday Mexican fare. But that might very well be what you’re after, especially after shopping at the never-ending Restaurant Depot, or cranking on the sprawling hard hat site that is the new Michels Corp development that one of the four El Charrito’s sits beside. If so the pastor is a satisfyingly seasoned pork filling, tender and mostly drowning in blood red adobo-rich sauce. The asada might land on the dry side, but that actually makes it rightly fit for salsa water-falling. A chorizo torta, with not quite crisped but not too greasy meat, is a big-hearted lunchtime bomb of a sandwich just this side of nap-inducing, held together precariously by a griddled bolillo roll, souled up with the usual filler of cream, lettuce, tomato. Side anything with the special stewy charro beans—pintos in a smoky, soupy broth—to fill out a full appetite. Otherwise it is limited-menu, no-frills starter platter fare starring prominently two-buck, double corn tortilla tacos, packed with the salty meatstuff of your preference, peaked with heaps of onion and cilantro, sided by exactly the well-executed baseline taco truck spirit that flattops-on-wheels should always embody.

11. Tacos El Amigo

Perhaps as a nod to the neighborhood’s encroaching condo sprawl the menu here sports the likes of nachos, wings, pulled pork, other Philly sandwich type stuffs. Also, perhaps in protest, the dark truck appears in raggedy, noisy form, the service comes sans smile, and the vibe is that of the Black Hat character on the 1st and National scene.

Skip the drunk college kid fare, also the singular allure of what proves to be a docile shrimp taco. Rather the milanesa torta hits all pleasure points for a quick lunch or a hunger-necessitating buzz from too many nearby craft cocktails. Inside the pale, soft bolillo roll, breaded, lightly fried chicken cutlet hunks form a well-rounded flavor squad with pinto beans, avocado, mayo, and melty queso. Or try the pastor, which is tender and scooped in smoky hunks that are a bit sweet, minimally saucy. There is also the always helpful campechano - a taco filling combo of the eater’s own calculus, for those who can’t decide. Chorizo and asada is a personal favorite. But they even have hot dog on the meat list here, so a choose-your-own adventure might be endless.

10. Taqueria Buenavista

Despite consistency woes, and worse, a reliance on lettuce-and-tomato taco topping sacrilege, this rolling outpost of the ‘Stallis taqueria deserves much matchmaker credit for my introduction to this verde salsa, a comforting friend now oft-found about the southside taqueria scene. The emulsified sauce is a spicy viscous goo: part oil, part cream, plenty of green pepper capsaicin zing, and a whole lot of soul. It can perform the soft miracle of making dry pollo good, or further enhance a stew-y birria that is by itself a saucy hangover comfort blanket. Really anything at the spot—regularly stopped suggestively outside of the Piggly Wiggly, seemingly nudging, prodding, asking: “why cook yourself?”—is mostly canvas for the bite-back salsa.

9. Las 7 Estrellas

Even an unabiding love for the singular offering of albondigas couldn’t sell me on any exceptionalism at the brick-and-mortar branch of this new-ish Bay View spot. Then the truck popped up nearby, and seemed aggressively approximate to Buenavista—a decidedly unchill encroachment of competition. Nonetheless, there is our local Home Depot, and there are Saturday to-do lists, and there is a unique “order ready” system that finds a siren wailing once your number is up. Ringing like Pavlov’s perro, it is an indicator that it’s time to get your fingers greasy, the cuticles a bit burnt, especially by way of pambazo. This is a soft-bunned bruiser of a sandwich, the bread of which is dunked in fire-y hot sauce, griddled, and then lined reasonably with meat, lettuce, crema. The salty chorizo, or a saucy, pineapple-flecked pastor are ideal.

Or there is tripa, cabeza, lengua—more proletariat cuts for less Americanized palates. No matter the filling, the bun will bleed delicious salsa onto your fingers, staining skin, implicating eaters, making it obvious you did more than make a productive run for yard work supplies.

8. Taqueria El Paso

The good guy in the white vs. black hat rivalry in the 1st and National zone of moving taco trucks, El Paso belies it’s mildly racist caricature—brown skinned man in a sombrero and pancho, holding a burrito, grinning under a mustache amongst desert and cactuses—with smiles, a welcome picnic table, and even friendlier meat cuts. Look no further than the alambre. It’s a gargantuan two-meal styrofoam plate of melty queso, variably crisped asada bits, salty, suggestive bacon hunks, onions and peppers, and beefy, grounded flavor scoops for personal taco crafting. Spike it with the spark plug orange-red salsa, which also works well with a dry, salty, scrappy take on pastor.

Bold, or, possibly too-drunk Walker’s Point feasters might combine these two and venture a stomach for the El Paso Special: steak, pork, bacon, onions, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, pineapple. It is basically like an alambre on steroids, which is a dish that is already itself like a Mexican skillet on HGH. Maybe American obesity is a bit inspired afterall.

7. El Tapatio

Speaking of American appetites, a white person order, the Taco Bell-ification of our view of Mexican cuisine, the oft-called “gringa” is a popular truck option mistakenly easy to sleep on. It’s basically a quesadilla—a large, griddled flour tortilla, lined with gooing cheese and whichever meatstuff. Simple, basic, here it is the everything you want in one bite, especially with the asada. Deep, greasy, fatty grilled steak flavor, aggressively chopped, almost pulled, sticks and makes close friends with half-soft queso. Smoky rojo elevates it well beyond the realm of packaged ‘Fire’ sauce and into something that reeks of an old country. The same can be said about the pastor, another in the line of adobo-seasoned pork offerings, one with murmurs and rumors of pineapple, something sweet, something smoky, chopped and sauced to the point of making salsa optional, the taco package happily sassy as is. It’s maybe the best such version around, and is offered generously, heaping.

It’s a truck along the lines of Charrito—in fact they also have 4 roaming kitchens about town, and a minimal menu. But you can tell by the milling eaters huddled across the street from Koz’s: these are the basics cooked slowly, carefully, everything seemingly done, welcomely, much better than it has to be.

6. La Mazorca

Sometime early next summer, when the troves of “Actually, Milwaukee’s Not So Bad” headlines make their way through the national press to preview how to spend time here during the DNC, there will certainly be an article fronted by a picture of Mazorca, the entirety of the new Zocalo food truck park. Perched against not-quite gentrification—the shell of Camacho’s bar and a discarded sidewalk syringe loomed over a recent Sunday afternoon visit—it is still adorably cutesy, the taco truck made for Instagram. It’s almost worth an eye-roll. As a tree grows in Brooklyn, so a food truck grows in a gentrifying warehouse district. The tacos themselves also come overly-crafted, like a contoured Mexican experience: the pastor is pre-topped with avocado cilantro salsa, the birria with pickled red onions, the bistec is marinated in “Wisconsin beer” and topped with pintos and tomatillo salsa. It’s a tad unfortunate, a bit prefab-feeling. Especially as the two fire-colored squirt bottles of salsa and endless to-go containers pack so much arbol sizzle, creamy piquant buzz.

It’s also not that unfortunate, because said tacos are indeed bursting with vitality, high-end flavor. The pastor especially oozes with adobo essence and juicy grilled-ness, the birria is a perfect texture template for an overly avuncular orange salsa pour, the steak strips are smartly seasoned and thin and unimpeachably beefy.

On a true crawl of southside streets, amidst grime and espanol-only ordering, a trek here can seem like selling out, like going Pirates of the Caribbean. But then you walk out, past the patio lights and bumping “Wonderwall,” and realize you’re sucking air, craving water, and wondering why your mouth is still on fire. Serious tacos come in many backdrops.

5. El Comedor

The on-paper listing of the aptly named Torta Suprema here is absurdly gluttonous, borderline-stunt-ish: ham, mozzarella, chorizo, milanesa. That’s not a choice of meat types, it is the lineup. Additionally, unannounced, coming off the bench, there are refried beans. Then you see it, scoop it, can’t stop. And you realize it’s actually an exercise in restraint, with thin, minimal layers of each ingredient laid carefully atop one another, all beautifully constructed for integrity, neatness, consistency, the whole beast cut in half for easy, no-fallout management. Of course it is still absurdly gluttonous. It is two kinds of pig—crumbly, greasy chorizo and fatty golden ham slices, with chicken—golden-fried strips of barely-breaded breast, all tied together with stretchy, melty virgin-white mozzarella gliding throughout, every bite contrasting soft and crisp, as the fluffy bolillo has been gently charred both inside and out, and lined with mayo, lettuce, tomato.

There’s, also, somehow, a Cubano, the same sandwich with American cheese and turkey added to the fertile fray. And, according to handwritten cardboard signs, there are occasional special mole offerings. But Comedor is definitely, foremost, the rolling torta king, the truck on 13th and Hayes good enough to make it forgettable that their brick-and-mortar big brother is mostly known for its pastor. Which, when you try it here, is a succulent, juice-running, half-crispy shimmering pork take, delicious and welcoming of fiery red or fresh green salsa. No matter though, the most important impression you’re taking away is really that other half of torta, for the fridge, and then for a brilliant late-night snack.

4. La Flamita

Flamita might serve the greasiest chorizo around, the finest, tiniest dice of any meat on any menu, and the most over-stuffed of all taco truck tacos. There’s also a big, bad alambre— an asada, bacon, cheese, pepper, onion melange of heft and farmland machismo.

But, on Sundays, between 3pm and midnight, when pastor tacos are $1, when the crowds gather, when the knives are being sharpened by big laughing men glimpsed through the little window, it’s trompo time on 20th and National. It’s the only time of the week they use the vertical spit of Lebanese, Greek, Turkish descent. As if coming to life for everyone else’s day of rest, it wields slithery wedges of reddish-brown and amber, the half-charred pig flavor dribbling juice, the tacos decked with huge wedges of pineapple, splashed liberally with onion and cilantro.

Some bites come on like bacon, some like semi-fatty shoulder, taste profiles bounce between rich, fruity, bracing, and, if you’re doing it right with the orange sauce, tingly and blood-flowing. They are little six-bite nuggets of life affirmation, pillowed by double corn layers, gleaned for less than it costs to park downtown for an hour-and-a-half.

3. Marta’s Tamales

There is no way to half-ass tamales. A labor-intensive dish of corn husks, steam, and up-at-dawn love, it would be like your doctor just sort-of practicing medicine. That’s why if it’s in the name, if it is in the taco-slinging game, there’s certainly legit pedigree. So it is with the Christmas-lighted truck on Cesar Chavez, amidst the cacophonous intersection by El Rey. You can tell the seriousness from the crumbly, heavily seasoned, ground-beefy asada, from an inspired, neatly shredded, soupy barbacoa, rich with faraway spices and earthy, funky sweet-savory balance. Big appetites and food pic takers will be drawn to the pambazo. The chorizo and potato mix is especially hearty, filling, crisped with lettuce wedges, the entire drowned-roll concoction crowned with a sea of crema and a little mountain of crumbly cotija. It’s a sandwich basking in photo op. Then there are elotes—the favorite Mexican street dish of corn smeared in mayo, cream, cheese and spicy pepper seasoning—served either on the cob, or, for those dainty or with a too-nice-an-interior to spill queso, in a dish.

And what of those tamales? Bulbous and piping hot, try the puerco, which is tender pale chunks chock with a potent red-hot chile pepper mash. It is 2-buck brilliance. And somehow almost an afterthought.

2. La Guelaguetza

Rick Bayless once famously opined that the best taquerias are those attached to grocery stores. So it would follow that Guelaguetza, it’s extra long frame situated outside El Rey at 13th and Burnham, is a natural extension, a vomitorium, if you will, of the always-bustling, teeming, slightly-stressful emporium of meats, seasonings, breads, and everything that you could possibly imagine inside. Pig’s feet? Yes. Jewelry? It’s by the checkout counter. Take, for example, the fact that a recent trek found radishes and fresh cucumber offered along the counter salsa bar. Like they belong to a CSA and aren’t sure what to do with all their extra stuff. Sometimes though, there is a downright ferocious onion-habenero pickled mix. In a world of menu repetition, it’s such small touches that add up, that get you a top-2 ranking. It helps that they have a trompo, one of the very few in town. This spit yields pale, red-hued chopped pork scraps, a touch fatty but beautiful, with whiffs of adobo-seasoning, maybe cinnamon, something bright and sweet and indefinable in each balanced bite. There is also a deep-stewed, earthy barbocoa, with intense, unrelenting beefiness. There are, maybe, if you know how to ask, homemade tortillas. And, of course, there is an alambre. It is best as a piping, queso-gooey gumbo of steak, chorizo, crumbly bacon bits, peppers, onions, and the subsequent happiest grease slither of DIY-taco mix possible. Or try try one of their specials that might team ham with pastor. Either way it’s sided by a baked potato, seemingly as that something extra, to give the feel of going to grandma’s house, her wanting to show that she loves you very much, wants you to eat, and to get fat.

1. Taqueria La Costena

There is a filter on Instagram—Nashville, Ludwig, whatever—that brightens, lightens, accentuates, makes pop all the colors and vividness of the happy summer days of life. The tlayuda here, once you pour some thick smoky rojo salsa atop, seems to exist in this doctored state of beauty all on its own: dazzling green avocado, pristine and pure crema, milky queso, sheeny tomato and lettuce flecks, the whole thing framed by they earthy tones of a griddled tortilla and pinto beans. Red, white, green, it looks like the Mexican flag, waving loudly, begging to be scooped, one triangle wedge at a time, folded like a NY-style slice, and devoured. Top it with perfect crumbly chorizo—like a little but ambitious cousin of piquant pepperoni—to complete the Mexican-pizza experience. It’s a destination-worthy dish. But really the fake-wood paneled, slant-roofed mini house is more, much more than just an adorable tlayuda outpost between St. Luke’s and the Domes.

They also have a specific take on pastor: drier, but still liberally seasoned, small-diced, with half-blackened bits, the result yielding moist, just-grilled flavor that allows the meat itself to shine. The same can be said about the smoky, beefy barbocoa. Or even the asada—-so often rote, so often a shoulder-shrug of a meat offering, here is tender, juicy, and seems to fully reveal a careful hand at the flattop. It’s indicative of a subtle touch, a deft hand, offered with friendly delivery. Everything here is more than enough reason to stop the car while cruising 27th Street. It’s actually inspiration to get in the car, to get a car-meal, in the first place.

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sally-annesstories · 6 years ago

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Day 5 - Mexico City, Mexico

G Adventures part one of trip commences now.

1. This morning was a fairly early start as the plan was to go to the Anthropology Museum. On Sunday in CDMX, museums are free for locals so there was potentially a chance it could be super busy. At 8am we were in an Uber and on our way to the museum. Despite CDMX having pretty epic traffic the journey was all good. He did drop us with another 5 minute walk to go because in Sunday’s in Mexico City they shut one of the main drags. This is to allow runners / bikes to take over the city. It’s really cool to see them all doing down this straight road through the park in droves. Similar to Venice, Mexico City is actually sinking and you can see it all around. Throughout the historical district there are buildings at a different base because for years they’ve been putting piles underneath and so some areas are more raised than others in the historic district. This is because Mexico City was originally a lake area. Walking around the museum the signs are largely in Spanish rather than English (similar to everywhere, there are next no signs in English not people whom speak it) so I mainly looked at the artefacts - reading the signs I could. The colours in the clothes are amazing near the end of the walk as is the artwork and sculptures they created!

2. After the museum it was a walk to lunch. We wanted to head to the Roma and La Condesa area. Likening Mexico City to home I’d say it’s like the Ponsonby kind of area with heaps of amazing eats all around. The Anthropology museum was in Chapultepec Park so when we walked out of the museum it was the same experience as the other day of kids asking for help with homework. This time there were 5 kids with their mum and they interviewed Christophe and Kristin (both speak Spanish so mum explained homework and then kids asked questions in English). It was really cute. This time around the questions were slightly less intense with things like where are you from / what do you do / what do you like about Mexico City / what do you like about home etc. Was a cool experience and nice to know you’re helping them learn a second language. Aim is to get to Spanish school once I’m in Guatemala as would love to have more down than thank you / one ticket please / how are you and the other quick and easy ones I’m using a bit. We walked glacially through the park and via the long route to Roma area (seeing a few monuments on the way) before ultimately landing at a Mexican seafood restaurant (I know me...) but the avocado and beans/cheese tacos were delicious. Alongside the tacos 3 of us ordered Michelada which is tomato juice and beer a traditional Mexican drink. In someways maybe their version of a Bloody Mary (not that I typically drink them at home). Not entirely my jam but it has India beer and that was quite dark so perhaps I need to try with a lighter beer. A good experience none the less and the taco found continues!

3. We’d hit maybe 15000 steps for the day by the time we’d finished lunch and the plan was to head to the Historic District (Zócalo). We had two options - first - walk which google maps said it would take approximately an hour or Uber (maybe 40 minutes). The food had given us newfound energy and to be honest traffic in CDMX is comparable to Bangkok so we opted for the walk. It’s largely flat which is nice though there are cracks and pot holes in the pavement. By the time we were 3/4 of the way through we were the definition of team slow. It was about 30 degrees out and I looked at my phone which said 10 minutes walk to go. Well 10 minutes past and it still said we had 10 minutes. We must’ve been dragging our feet because I usually use google maps estimates as a challenge to beat but there was no way that was happening this day. At 3.30pm we finally made it! We headed to the area with the Aztecs to take a look at the blessing etc that they do. It’s not necessarily a tourist trap. While some tourists do participate there is also a huge number of locals lining up to be ridden of their bad juju. Then it was a final look inside the cathedral before headed back to where we were staying at 5pm.

4. Originally I hadn’t planned to go to the Lucha Libre; watching fighting isn’t my scene and I struggle with seeing people in physical pain (worse so when it’s intentional! Or even if on the TV- I am that person that hasn’t watched GoT at all). So I just couldn’t see my happiness levels being super high in that environment. Anyway after chatting around others that are interested or had been, in the end I did go. So glad I did. Hopefully not being too cynical but I suppose it was obvious from the outset that a lot of it was acted (eg pretending to stop someone when actually jumping so your other food takes load/makes sound). Because of that it made it easier for me to watch. Anyway the whole order going in was a bizarre experience in itself. We got to the match, they didn’t let us in (something about practicing), then they let us in still talking about practicing (but no one was when we went inside). Then this man talks over a speaker for quite a while (both English and Spanish) before were told to put our heads/hands in our lap (imagine like on aeroplane instructions) before ultimately an alarm went off and the whole stadium was kicked out. All the practice they were talking about was a fire alarm practice !! So now there’s a few 1,000 people standing on a random road after the evacuation. 10 minutes later the whole shebang of entering commences with 10 ticket scanners this time and many queues as they scan out tickets and let us inside. All in all like a 30 minute ordeal (and to be honest given all the walking we’d done already - I was looking forward to sitting ! So then it was the time for the LL. We saw 3 fights. First one on one and then 2x three on three matches. With the third match having a midget show up for a celebrity shot and then disappearing. Slightly random but got the crowd excited! It’s actually quite impressive what the guys do. While the idea of fighting isn’t my cup of tea, like I said you can tell it’s all a bit premeditated with them (‘secretly’) helping one another get into position. From a gymnastic point of view it’s really well done. So in my mind it’s like aggressive gymnastics and with that mindset it’s great. Kind of like some sort of dancing competition with the good guys and bad guys. The baddies make sneaky moves jumping out of the ring. The good guys might lose the first round or appear to be struggling along the way but then they ultimately take the win! Overall glad I went and would recommend.

5. The Lucha Libre went till circa 7.30pm and then it was time for our planned taco night. Originally a taco crawl we ended up at one spot eating lots of tacos before crawling our way to Churros. Honestly the place we went for tacos you wouldn’t turn your head at twice (looking like a random side stall) however if you’re in the know you go up there crickity metal stairs and there’s 3 levels of seating filled with locals! I ordered this dish (I forget what it’s called) but ultimately lots of veges and cheese and so many taco sheets to make to your hearts content. Anywhere you go it’s up to you to determine the spice level you’re after with at least 4 options on the cards. I’ve gotten v confident in my chilly / salsa consumption and always give them all a shot! But there’s a few that have a really yum flavour so typically I stick to them for the majority. After we were taco’d out we headed to a shop for churros. These were way better than the ones the other day. The first churros I had were quite crisp (so I assumed that was how they were in CDMX). But these were still golden but fluffy in the middle with slightly less sugar. I had both as is and with caramel and chocolate sauce (plain or caramel sauce was my favourite!). So yum but completely chocka by the end. Then back home for the night. I think from all the food and walking I had gone past being tired and was wide awake. A few others were feeling the same so we ended up heading to the bar (before being kicked out) and then to one of our rooms just yarning away about nothing. Finally tiredness kicked in around midnight so back to our room we went for a decent sleep for the early morning tomorrow!

Tally:

Steps walked: 38,608

Tacos eaten: 7

Litres of water: 4-5

Giraffe at the zoo (wandered through in Chapultepec Park) / classic tourist at the CDMX sign / lunch food and drinks / Cathedral / Lucha Libre

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cablecold1-blog · 6 years ago

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Kyirisan (Washington, DC)

Kyirisan Restaurant 1924 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20001 202.525.2383 www.kyirisandc.com Thu 07/26/2018, 08:10p-11:20p

For the third and final dinner of my latest DC visit, I chose a lesser known restaurant that sounded interesting to me. Kyirisan was opened in March 2016 by Chef Tim Ma and wife Joey Hernandez and serves Asian-French fare in the northern portion of Shaw. A note about the name: it's formed from a combination of "Kun" (the generational name of the couple's three children) and the numbers 1-2-3 (yi-er-san) in Chinese.

About the Chef: Ma was born in 1978 to parents who immigrated to the US from Taiwan in the 1970s, and he grew up in the midst of their Chinese restaurant in Maumelle, Arkansas. The family eventually moved to New York in the 80s, where his uncle ran the well-regarded Paul Ma's China Kitchen in Yorktown Heights. Later on, they relocated to northern Virginia, and Ma attended Centreville High School in Fairfax County, where he excelled in math and science. Following, he chose to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in electrical and computer engineering, and graduated from Georgia Tech in 2000 after spending five years there; he later went on to attain a master's degree as well. He then became a government contractor, working in engineering for Raytheon in Falls Church.

However, Ma was always drawn to the kitchen, and, after a sushi meal with his sister and brother-in-law in LA in 2006, declared that he wanted to have his own restaurant. His family was not pleased, but he pushed forward, moved to New York with Hernandez, and enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in 2008. During this period, he externed at David Chang's acclaimed Momofuku Ko, and upon graduating, cooked briefly in Saint Thomas. Ma and his now-fiancée subsequently returned to NoVa and opened their first restaurant in August 2009: Maple Ave in Vienna. Located in a former donut shop in a somewhat odd part of town, the spot started out slow, but eventually made a name for itself for its Asian-inflected new American cuisine. After leaving the day-to-day running of Maple Ave to CdC Nyi Nyi Myint, the couple followed up with Water & Wall in Virginia Square, Arlington. The restaurant bowed in November 2013, and was named after the NYC intersection where the two lived while the Chef was attending culinary school.

In 2014, the Mas began looking for a home for Kyirisan, and after passing on the location where The Dabney now resides, signed on for a space in the yet-to-be-built Shay apartment complex. February 2015 saw the duo leave Maple Ave (as did Myint, who joined Water & Wall), while the Chef kicked off the Gather + Feast supper club on Kickstarter a month later. In November that year, Ma teamed up with Michael Amouri of Caffe Amouri and launched Chase the Submarine (a sandwich shop named after his son) in Vienna. As for Kyirisan (its original name Freehand was nixed by the Sydell Group), it ended up debuting in March 2016 with Myint once again on board. Not long after, the place drew a 2.5 star review from The Washington Post's Tom Sietsema, while Michelin bestowed a Bib Gourmand in October 2016. Shortly after the Michelin nod, it was announced that Ma would be consulting on the menu for the upcoming Ten Tigers Parlor, a bar with Asian-y fare that ended up opening in December that year with Myint at the helm yet again.

Some bad news came in February 2017 with the shutter of Water & Wall, though that same month saw Kyirisan on Washingtonian's "100 Very Best Restaurants" list. In June 2017, Ma and company decamped from Ten Tigers, replaced by none other than Erik Bruner-Yang. Meanwhile, in November it was announced that Ma and Derek Brown (who's no longer involved, sadly) would be opening concepts inside the upcoming Eaton, a hotel project from Katherine Lo (daughter of Langham Hospitality Group chairman Ka Shui Lo). Chase the Submarine ended up closing the same month, while Michelin once again deemed Kyirisan Bib Gourmand worthy in October.

Kyirisan is located on the ground floor of The Shay apartment building and was penned by Grizform Design Architects, a local firm that was also responsible for Doi Moi, Estadio, and Fiola, among other projects. The space is supposed to have a homey sort of feel, with blue being the dominant hue it seems. Note also the "Cook Nook" in the photo above, a communal table that can accommodate up to a dozen diners.

Kyirisan's fusion-y menu is refreshingly brief, which I'm appreciating more and more these days. In addition to dinner, the restaurant also serves brunch on weekends, and has happy hour at the bar every day except Saturday. Drink-wise, you get a small array of cocktails along with a handful of beers/ciders, not to mention a compact wine list featuring smaller producers from France and the West Coast US. Corkage, meanwhile, is $25 a pop, with no limit on the number of bottles, which is nice. Click for larger versions.

Way Off Base [$15.00] | Mezcal, Scotch, Falernum, Lime, Bitters The evening's first cocktail was a winner. I definitely got a smokiness on the nose, joined by plenty of contrasting citrus. Taste-wise, things were fruity from the falernum at first, but then the spicy, boozy nature of the mezcal-whisky combo made itself known on the finish.

Chinese Smashed Cucumbers [$7.00] | Crispy Garlic, Benne Seed, Fresno Chilies Cucumbers were delightfully crunchy, their tart, refreshing flavors well matched by a smidgen of heat and the nuttiness of those sesame seeds. A fun, promising start.

Fried Okra [$12.00] | Cauliflower, Feuilletine, Cilantro Fish Sauce Okra and cauliflower were doused with a heavy helping of fish sauce, which gave the dish a decidedly salty, savory funk. It was pretty intense, so I could've used some additional herbs or something to balance things out more. I also would've liked less cook and more crunch on the veggies.

Whiskey & Weird [$13.00] | Rye, Becherovka Herbal Liqueur, Sage Shrub The next cocktail showed off a somewhat "eggy" aroma, with notes of sweet citrus and sage as well. Its taste was definitely on the sweet side, and not boozy at all, with some herbaceous notes providing a modicum of balance to the drink.

Tuna Carpaccio [$19.00] | Kabosu Shoyu, Thai Chilies, Ground Cherries, Avocado Slightly gristly cuts of tuna certainly took on some umami notes from the shoyu, while the cherries added a surprisingly floral touch. I did get the citrusy character of the kabosu on the finish, but did feel that the dish needed some more acidity, more brightness to really make it pop.

Golden Tilefish [$22.00] | Bacon & Chive Dashi, Savoy Cabbage, Green Tomato Tilefish was cooked just right, coming out properly flaky and flavorful, with a wonderfully crisp skin to boot. The dashi worked swimmingly as a complement, but the tomato, I will say, did seem a bit out of place.

Manhattan [$11.00] The classic Manhattan cocktail made a worthwhile showing tonight. I got lots of bitters on the nose, along with moderating elements of dark fruit. In terms of taste, think spirit-forward, and quite spicy from the rye, the vermouth peeking through just a bit.

Hanger Steak [$23.00] | Green Tomato Salsa Verde, Kohlrabi, Turnip, Mint Hanger steak was quite tasty, and made sense with the zippiness of its paired salsa verde. However, I wasn't as keen on the kohlrabi-turnip combination, as the root veggies just seemed bland here.

Duck Confit [$22.00] | Brussels Sprouts, Black Truffle Aioli, Apple Cider Gastrique A duck confit was as rich as you'd expect, with lots of salty, savory flavors amped up even further by the char of Brussels and a restrained muskiness from the truffle. The cider gastrique did provided a touch of tartness to the mix, but overall the dish felt heavy and could've really used something to brighten it up.

"Unnamed Cocktail #1" | Rum, Tawny Port, Amaretto, Kalamansi At this point, I asked my server (who was also a bartender) to whip up something on the fly, and this is what he came up with (which ended up being comped). It was a combination of Smith & Cross rum, ¼oz amaretto, and ½oz tawny port, along with kalamansi purée. Its aromas were citric and bitter, the richness of the port showing through. Taste-wise, I got the deep, caramel-y notes of the rum at first, joined by a bevy of sweet, nutty flavors that worked out surprisingly well.

I made sure to save room for the desserts, which basically follow the same theme as the savory menu. Click for a larger version.

Kabosu Lime Pie [$11.00] | Pistachio, Thai Basil, Gooseberry This citrusy pie delivered. The tartness of kabosu was front and center, linking up beautifully with the pistachios while the crumbly crust served as a moderating element.

Cherry Sundae [$9.00] | Black Cherry Ice Cream, Puffed Buckwheat, Chocolate The reimagined sundae was even better, and actually one of the stronger desserts I've had in DC. The ice cream was pretty marvelous by itself, but was even better when paired with the Nestlé Crunch-esque shards of chocolate. Excellent use of the buckwheat too as a nutty, crunchy component.

"Unnamed Cocktail #2" | Fernet, Arrack, Sweet Vermouth, Hopped Grapefruit Bitters We ended with another complimentary cocktail from my server, and for this one I requested something that would work as a digestif. It was a combination of 1½oz Fernet Francisco, ½oz Batavia arrack,

I had a lot of mixed feelings about my meal here. I feel like there were some good ideas, some intriguing ideas, but many of the dishes just fell short. Perhaps the kitchen simply wasn't in top form given the impending opening of Ma's restaurant inside the Eaton, which should be dropping in the coming weeks. The spot, called American Son, will be an all-day affair featuring the Chef's take on "comfort food," but informed by his immigrant background. It sounds pretty promising, and I may have to give the place a go on a future trip despite any misgivings I have about Kyirisan.

Source: http://www.kevineats.com/2018/07/kyirisan-washington-dc.html

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theexploringegg · 7 years ago

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Day 42: Kayak and Kecak.

When I had asked the night before about what time we should get up, I wasn’t expecting to hear 7am. But we had a beach to explore and a full day ahead of us!

Thinking we were super early, being downstairs at 7.30am, we found the dining area heaving with Chinese tourists, devouring breakfast, chatting loudly. As we couldn’t find a seat, we waited until they started to leave. Taking a look at what was available to eat, we soon discovered there was nothing at all… It had all been eaten!! Not a morsel left. The staff said it would take another hour to cook everything. Feeling disappointed as we had got up early, they offered to cook us something from their a la cart menu instead. I had a wonderful ayam nasi goreng- complete with fried egg and some salad. Every cloud has a silver lining after all!

Now filled up and ready to go, we hopped in our massive car and made our way to the Southern coast of Bali to a private beach called Pandawa. The day was cloudy but warm (perfect for me!). On the way, we stopped off briefly at Tanamera Coffee- an Indonesian local roastery. I had a pourover and the lead barista really took her time with me, explaining how she makes the perfect brew. Afrer arriving, we paid a small bill and secured a few sun beds under the shade and I headed straight to the water- only to find it was freezing! One of the locals began chatting to me (I forget his name, but he was a sweet old man with dark wrinkled skin from days in the sun) and asked if I wanted to hire a kayak instead. Since I wanted to be out in the water but it was too cold for swim, I took him up on the offer and paddled in the calm sea. Ezra joined me in the small boat along with his Chinese imitation Go Pro (it was decent!). The two of us were comparing living in Nottingham and Indonesia (him and Tika had studied there for a year), dating custom in Indo (apparently the guy does not propose…it just happens?!), his dream of buying a place in Bali (I can help if he makes a guesthouse- hah) and the reality of money and work to live comfortably here.

We chilled on the beach for a while, and late lunch-time we used our friend Google to find a decent warung (restaurant) nearby. I was able to try some Balinese food- ikan goreng bumbu Bali (fried fish in Balinese spice). With lashings of hot sambal, some nasi and a sips of a young coconut, I was more than satisfied! Across the road, my keen eye spotted a kopi shop and the sign for “avocado coffee”. I was intrigued, so headed over and ordered one. The base was a smoothie of blended avocado, topped with a shot of hot espresso and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. I stirred it and took a thick sip. It was creamy and quite sweet- I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not.

In the car we travelled to Uluwatu Temple on the West coast, meandering the winding roads. Even though distance doesn’t seem significant here, getting around does take time due to the traffic and narrow roads- making it difficult to overtake. We got there in late afternoon, and dodged the monkeys (I overheard “Excuse me sir, the monkey has taken my cellphone.”) The views along the coast were stunning- the blue sea smashing against the rocks below. Pink flowers contrasted beautifully with the clear sky. Uluwatu temple itself was small- it was the are around that made it so peaceful and scenic.

At 5.30pm, I joined the queue to collect a ticket to the Kecak dance and Fire show which started as the sun was setting in the sky at 6.30pm- such a gorgeous backdrop to the outdoor theatre area. The sounds of the story were provided from the voice boxes of around 30 bare-chested men, making “chak-a, chak-a, chak-a” sounds, hoots, weird groans… their bodies rising and falling to the rhythm. I felt almost hypnotised and entranced by the chant. The main characters of the story were two beautiful princes, a demon king, mischievous monkey and a long-haired damsel in distress. The show lasted about an hour, an I was able to follow quite well- along with the help of the general script I had received on entry.

After it was over, I eventually found the other two in the dark and crowded car park. We decided on a dinner spot which was only about 20 miles away, but somehow came up as taking more than 2 hours on our sat nav…what?! It soon became apparent why. All the traffic from the theatre had congested the roads, and we were completely jammed- overtaking was impossible. Or so I thought.

Ezra, being a typical Jakarta driver, decided to drive on the OTHER side of the road, overtaking about 5 or 6 cars at a time until faced with oncoming traffic. At this point he pulled abruptly in front of another car who was obviously not willing to give way- the horn blasting and me crouched down in the back afraid to get a bullet in my back! They were laughing at me as I protested that we would get arrested and shouted “I’m not from here!”. I thought I had seen it all, when all of a sudden, an ambulance was trying to break through the traffic behind us, sirens wailing and lights flashing. What did Ezra do but pull out behind it and sail down the empty opposite side of the road in it’s tailwind! In total shock, fear of getting stopped by the police and crouching down in the back they both said to me, “Louise, welcome to Indonesia.”

Despite Ezra’s best efforts, the traffic was not letting up and our restaurant was closing at 9pm. We knew we could not make it. Instead, we stopped in Kuta at at beautiful Restaurant Made. Poor Ezra could not even get parked so me and Tika dined together. I had a mix of nasi campur and gado gado. There were so many veggies and flavours going on, it was delicious! I watched as people were dancing salsa and having a good time- we didn’t want to stay too long however as Ezra was cruising the streets outside.

On our way home, Ezra had a craving for martabak (an Indonesian folded pancake), so again we asked Google and found a popular place were we made an order for one with chocolate, peanut and sesame. I was completely shocked and appalled at the amount of butter the man spread over the top (I’m not joking when I say it was probably a whole block- 200g). The “chocolate” turned out to be sprinkles (whaaaat). When it was folded, cut and placed in the box it weighed a tonne- all that butter! As much as I was curious to try, I simply couldn’t bring myself to eat it… It just didn’t appeal to me at all.

We were home quite late, and had spent most of our night stuck in traffic so I was pleased to shower it off and roll under the sheets.

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charllieeldridge · 5 years ago

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Food in Mexico: A Culinary Guide to Meals, History and Tours

While there are countless reasons to travel there, the food in Mexico alone makes it worth the trip. From tacos al pastor on a busy street corner to a fancy dinner in a world-famous restaurant, the culinary options are endless.

To say that food is a big deal in Mexican culture is a vast understatement. The country’s cuisine is a vital part of its culture and is a point of pride for the Mexican people. Eating is one of the best things to do in Mexico!

There are so many incredible places to visit in the country, and the cuisine changes depending on the region. Of course, you can always find staple dishes like tacos, but the fillings and toppings vary. Then there are the various local specialties — mole in Oaxaca, carnitas in Michoacan, and fresh ceviche on the coast in places like Cozumel, Tulum, Cancun and Isla Mujeres.

Mexico has been my home away from home for the better part of the last three years, and one reason I keep coming back is the food. During these years, I’ve done some solid research (i.e. I’ve eaten all the things) from coast to coast. It wasn’t easy, but someone had to do it!

In this post, you’ll learn about the history of Mexican food, the top 10 dishes you should try, the best foodie tours, and I’ll even list some of the best drinks.

Here it goes. My guide to the best food in Mexico.

Information About Mexican Food

Mexican food is famous the world over, and for good reason. It’s full of flavor, color, and history.

First of all, let’s draw the important distinction between food in Mexico and what you’ll find north of the border. Those hard-shell tacos with ground beef and gigantic burritos are tasty, but they’re Tex-Mex and not real Mexican cuisine.

The traditional food in Mexico is so well-known and respected that it made the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Along with traditional festivals like Day of the Dead and music such as mariachi, the cuisine is a defining element of Mexican culture.

As I mentioned, the cuisine of Mexico has a long and complex history. Let’s dive into that a bit and learn more about the food in Mexico.

History of Mexican Food

The history of Mexican cuisine dates back thousands of years to indigenous groups like the Maya. Their domestication of maize (corn) might be the single most important event in the history of this famous cuisine.

They began using the process of nixtamalization, which is when you cook corn in limewater then grind and dry it to create masa flour. This is where we get the all-important staple in the Mexican diet — the almighty tortilla.

Corn tortillas are a staple food in Mexico

At the time, people were hunter-gatherers. It wasn’t always easy getting meat for protein, so beans were very common, and they remain a staple in the local diet in Mexico to this day.

With the Spanish conquest came the introduction of many new foods to Mexico — rice, garlic, and spices such as cinnamon. They also introduced the idea of dairy products and meat from domesticated animals.

The Spanish brought slaves with them, which introduced elements of some Asian and African cuisines to Mexico. More recently, the influence of its neighbor to the north (the USA), with whom it shares a 2,000-mile border, can be seen.

Main Ingredients of Mexican Food

As you might expect, corn is the main ingredient in Mexico. While both rice and wheat were brought to Mexico from abroad, the country has continued to favor corn one century after the next.

Whether it’s a stick of elote (Mexican street corn), a plate of yummy chilaquiles, or just a hot basket of tortillas served with dinner, there’s always corn on the table. It even comes in drink form, such as pozol or atole.

Other vital ingredients in Mexican cuisine include beans and chili peppers. There are chilis of all shapes, colors, sizes, and heat levels here.

Although Mexican food has a reputation for being spicy, it’s not always muy picante. People use chilis to add flavor and not just for the spice factor.

Avocados, tomatoes, squash, and cocoa are other important well-known native ingredients. Some you might not be familiar with include huitlacoche (a type of corn fungus) and nopal (a type of cactus).

In addition to tortillas, sauces are a vital part of a meal in Mexico. From enchiladas smothered in green salsa to chicken drenched in mole negro, there are tons of different sauces in Mexican cuisine.

There’s also the ubiquitous chili powder and hot sauce, which Mexicans seem to love putting on just about everything. Walk along the beach and you might be offered a mango covered in both. It seems a bit odd, but trust me when I say it’s delicious!

Traditional Mexican food items

Influences of Food in Mexico

You can see a wide range of influences from all corners of the globe in Mexican cuisine. There’s the obvious Spanish influence of course — a result of the conquest of the country in the 1500s.

Originally, the Spanish conquistadores tried to recreate their diet from back home in the New World. They started growing rice, which is still a big part of the food in Mexico.

More importantly, the introduction of the domestication of animals led to a big increase protein consumption through meat and cheese. It’s hard to imagine Mexican cuisine today without things like chorizo and Oaxaca cheese!

Fast forward to the 19th century, and Mexico saw many different waves of immigrants arriving. The Lebanese brought shawarma, which led to the creation of tacos al pastor. French food became popular with the upper class at this time, and Mexico soon adopted a taste for bread and sweets.

Of course, there’s also the obvious influence of the USA on food in Mexico. American chains are all over the place and are quite popular. Mexican street food has been Americanized as well, with plenty of vendors selling perros calientes (hot dogs) and hamurguesas. Of course, these come with jalapeños and hot sauce. This is still Mexico, after all!

Food in Mexico: 10 Dishes You Shouldn’t Miss

When traveling here, you can chow down on delicious Mexican street food or sit down in a restaurant. These range from simple, budget-friendly local joints up to world-renowned places where the waitlist is weeks long.

You could honestly plan your entire trip around eating and there would be absolutely nothing wrong with that — Mexico is (hands down) one of the best countries to travel for food. While there are numerous dishes you should try when you travel to Mexico, these are my top 10.

Tacos

Let’s start with the undisputed king of Mexican cuisine — the taco. There really is a taco truck on every corner here, and I don’t see a problem with that!

A taco can be many different things in Mexico, but I’ll tell you what it’s not. It’s never a hard shell full of ground beef, lettuce, sour cream, and cheese (if you want that, you’ll have to head to a fast-food joint in the USA). In Mexico, if it has cheese on it then it’s a quesadilla, not a taco.

Typically, a real Mexican taco starts with two small, soft corn tortillas. Then comes the main filling, which can vary from carne asada (grilled meat) and frijoles (beans) to fried shrimp and spicy chorizo. The most common garnishes are diced white onion and cilantro, in addition to the various salsas and hot sauces that are typically on the table.

Tacos al pastor…my favourite!

When it comes to tacos, it’s hard to beat al pastor. This mouth-watering spit-grilled pork is the Mexican version of shawarma and it’s fantastic. You can find them all over the country, but nobody does it like Mexico City.

If you like eating tacos, then you’re going to love traveling in Mexico. You can usually get 4-5 tacos for $2 or less from street food vendors and local restaurants. Even gourmet tacos in nice restaurants won’t break the bank — affordable food is one of the many reasons why Mexico is one of the cheapest places to travel.

Mole

This next one is actually just a sauce. There are many different varieties of mole sauce, but the most famous is definitely mole poblano. This is known as the Mexican national dish, as it’s eaten on special occasions all over the country.

This dark sauce is composed of over 20 ingredients, with the most important being the chili pepper and chocolate. It sounds strange at first, but it’s actually a perfect mix that’s neither too sweet nor too spicy.

Mole sauce is commonly served over turkey, which is native to Mexico. These days mole dishes with chicken are quite popular as well. You usually get a side of rice to accompany it, with a plate usually setting you back $3-4 in a local restaurant.

In case you were wondering, it’s pronounced “mol-eh,” not like the funny little mammal!

Mole is a must try in Mexico

Chiles en Nogada

This is definitely one of the coolest Mexican dishes out there. It’s a poblano chili stuffed with shredded meat cooked with fruits and spices. Then they pour a creamy walnut sauce on top along with some pomegranate seeds.

The result is a dish that’s bursting with flavor. People love eating this around Independence Day, as it has all three colors of the Mexican flag — green chili, white sauce, and red pomegranate.

Chiles en nogada is only found on menus when pomegranates are in season. This is usually from late August until early January depending on the region. If this sounds like a dish you want to try, those 5 months might just be the best time to visit Mexico.

Chiles en nogada, a unique Mexican food

Pozole

This traditional soup is definitely one of the best dishes in Mexico. It’s made from hominy, which is a food made from dried corn kernels.

You can order a bowl of pozole with different types of meat, with pork and chicken being the most popular. You can also just order it as it is if you’re looking for a vegetarian-friendly dish.

This is one of those dishes that’s very common all across Mexico. It’s definitely comfort food for Mexicans, who will likely tell you the best bowl can be found at their abuela‘s house.

If you don’t have a Mexican grandma, don’t worry — you can find pozole just about everywhere. A bowl of it usually only costs $2-3 and will keep you full for a while.

A bowl of pozole is more than just a dish, it’s an entire experience. As such, I’ll have more on it coming up later in this guide to the food in Mexico.

Pozole is a tasty food in Mexico

Huevos Rancheros

This famous Mexican dish means “Ranch-Style Eggs” and it can be found on menus all over the country. It consists of fried eggs served on tortillas covered with fresh salsa. It’s simple, filling, and delicious!

When you order a plate of Huevos Rancheros, you typically get some refried beans and/or Mexican rice on the side as well. If you’re lucky, you might even get a few slices of avocado.

The salsa is typically red, but you can also order an interesting spin-off dish called Huevos Divorciados (Divorced Eggs). One egg has red salsa while the other has green, hence the name as they’re split up.

Huevos rancheros – breakfast of champions

Cochinita Pibil

This next item on our list is definitely one of the best dishes in Mexico. Cochinta pibil is a mouth-watering, slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatan. Think pulled pork, only better.

The key to getting this tender, juicy pork is marinating it in a very acidic citrus juice that is seasoned with annatto seeds. These come from the achiote tree that is native to Mexico and gives the dish its signature orange-ish color.

The name cochinta refers to a baby pig, so the traditional way to make this dish is with a suckling pig. Sometimes it’s just a pork loin, though. Meanwhile, pibil is a style of cooking where the meat is wrapped in banana leaf and cooked in a pit for several hours.

It’s a lot of work, but the results are well worth it.

Cochinita pibil, a tasty meal in Mexico

As with most Mexican meals, cochinita pibil is typically served with a plate of fresh tortillas along with some rice and beans. It has a little kick but isn’t too spicy, and you can add your own heat with salsas and extra peppers.

You’ll find cochinita pibil from both street food vendors and fancy restaurants. Of course, the price can differ greatly depending on where you enjoy it! A few tacos will set you back a few bucks while a nice meal in a place with tablecloths could cost closer to $10.

Aguachile

There’s no doubt that Mexico is a country that loves its meat, but there are some amazing seafood dishes here as well. One of the best and most uniquely Mexican dishes is aguachile, which means “chile water.”

As you may guess from the name, this is a spicy one. Basically, aguachile is raw shrimp that’s “cooked” in a mixture of lime juice, chili peppers, and salt. It’s kind of like ceviche, only quite a bit spicier and only made with shrimp.

There are several different styles of aguachile that range in their level of heat. Usually, verde (green) is the mildest option, and if you see diablo (devil) on the menu, well you can probably guess how hot that one is!

Aguachile is typically served with some slices of onion and cucumber. Pile it up onto tortilla chips or crackers and dig in. A good way to counteract the heat is to order a side of avocado.

Since it’s a plate full of shrimps, this isn’t the cheapest dish. Even at a simple local joint, it costs $9-10 for a plate of aguachile. Sometimes you can just buy individual tostadas (toasted/fried tortilla) with the shrimp on top for $1-2.

If you can handle the heat, aguachile is a must try

Chilaquiles

When it comes to breakfast in Mexico, it’s hard to top chilaquiles. This classic Mexican dish is made with little fried triangles of tortillas, which are topped with green or red salsa. The truth is, it’s basically breakfast nachos!

To be clear, they don’t just dump a bag of chips on the plate. Usually, people take leftover tortillas from the day before and cut them up before lightly frying them. It’s the perfect way to use up those tortillas and make a tasty breakfast.

When you order chilaquiles, you can typically add toppings like eggs or chicken for an extra cost. On their own, they usually come with some crema, a bit of crumbled cheese, and the usual sides of pickled veggies and salsas.

You can find chilaquiles on menus all over the country in establishments big and small. It’s a very typical dish in all areas of Mexico. This one will fill you up without emptying your wallet. A plate usually costs $3-5 depending on your toppings.

Chilaquiles, hangover breakfast!

Birria

This next one definitely needs to be on your “must eat” list for food in Mexico. Birria is a stew made from mutton or goat and it is incredibly delicious.

You can eat birria as a soup (they call it consome in Mexico), adding diced white onion, cilantro, salt, and salsas to your liking. It wouldn’t be a Mexican meal without tortillas, so you always have the option of assembling some tacos or just dipping the tortillas in the soup.

This classic Mexican dish hails from the state of Jalisco, so that’s where you’ll find the best stuff. In places like Guadalajara and the food trucks and restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, there are countless choices for getting your birria fix.

If you’ve had a big night out partying, it’s worth it to get up in time to catch the birria tacos before they close. They take two tortillas, stuff them with birria, and fry them up so they’re nice and crispy. Get a few of these and dip them in the side of soup for an epic hangover cure.

Best of all, a couple of tacos with the soup will only set you back $2-3. You can also find a proper bowl of birria stew in nicer restaurants for $8-10.

Birria can be had as a soup or in a taco

Tamales

Last but certainly not least are tamales. This traditional Mexican dish is made from masa (corn flour). It’s stuffed with meat, cheese, vegetables, or fruit and then steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf.

The result is a warm, soft, fluffy bed of deliciousness. The best kinds of tamales are the ones that are also served with fresh salsa. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about one!

Tamales are definitely one of the quintessential Mexican dishes and are found all over the country. People push carts around hawking their tamales early in the morning, as they’re usually eaten for breakfast. The sounds of the woman calling out “Tamales, tamales! Muy rico tamales!” is one of the few things that will get me out of bed early.

These aren’t just street food, though. You can buy tamales at the supermarket and also find them in restaurants. If you ask me, there’s never a bad time or place to eat a tamale!

Tamales are a traditional and tasty food in Mexico

Traditional Food in Mexico

Many people travel to Mexico in hopes of eating traditional food. The good news is that this is very easy to do! Outside of tourist traps and gringo-friendly places like Señor Frogs, it’s not hard to find the real deal.

For some traditional Mexican cuisine, look no further than the street corner or the local market. This is where you’ll find crowds of locals huddled over countertops, sitting on plastic stools and stuffing their faces with cheap, authentic food.

As my dad advised me when I first traveled abroad on my own — “Find the places that are full of locals and eat there.”

If you walk by a place that prominently features things like nachos and burritos on their menu, well then that’s not exactly traditional Mexican food. You’ll find these places in touristy areas like 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen or the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta.

Tuck down a random side street to find the real stuff where locals eat.

Top 3 Traditional Meals to Try in Mexico

We covered just ten of the best dishes in Mexico. I could go on and on about all the amazing things to eat there. That being said, there are a few that stand out above all the rest that you absolutely cannot miss.

Tacos al Pastor

Whenever I have friends or family visit, the first thing we do is go to eat tacos al pastor. It’s one of those traditional Mexican dishes that you just have to try.

No matter where I travel in Mexico, tacos al pastor are always there. As they say on the Netflix show “Taco Chronicles” – “Yo soy tu taco de siempre!” (I am your forever taco!).

The best way to experience tacos al pastor is to find a local street food vendor or restaurant that specializes in making them. Order up all the tacos you want and watch the master at work as he carves the meat and adds a little pineapple wedge. It really is a thing of beauty!

Despite all the meat-heavy dishes in this post so far, vegetarians should be stoked on visiting Mexico as well. These days it’s not hard to find tacos al pastor that are made with soy instead of pork. I’m not a vegetarian myself but I do enjoy eating these from time to time and will say that they’re quite good!

Pozole

As I mentioned in the previous description, eating pozole really is an experience. It’s not just a bowl of soup that you sit down and eat. First, you have to craft your perfect bowl of pozole with all the various sides and condiments presented to you.

Alongside your bowl of pozole, you typically get some shredded cabbage, radishes, lime wedges, onions, and tostadas or tortilla chips. Fix it up the way you like, add your favorite salsa or hot sauce, and then smash up the tostadas into the soup.

Another reason this is a can’t-miss meal is that it’s just such an important, traditional food in Mexico. Seriously, people eat pozole all the time here. It’s one of those things that Mexicans miss about home when they travel. That’s why it’s a must when you travel to their country!

Menu del Dia

In restaurants all over Mexico, they offer a menu del dia (menu of the day). This changes every day of the week, but typically consists of a soup, a main course, an agua fresca (fresh drink), and a dessert.

Around lunchtime, restaurants are packed with people filling up on the menu of the day. It’s always very filling and economical, costing only $3-4.

Most places will offer several choices for their menu del dia, so you have lots of options. Usually, there will be a few meat options as well as at least one that’s seafood and another that’s vegetarian.

Trying the menu of the day is also a great way to get introduced to Mexican dishes you may never have heard of. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and try something totally new. It usually pays off in Mexico!

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Street Food in Mexico

Street food is huge in Mexico, from big cities to small towns. You’re never too far away from a street-side taco vendor when traveling here.

In addition to tacos, typical street food includes things like tortas (sandwiches) and tostadas. These are things you can easily eat standing up in just a few bites.

While some tourists are afraid to eat street food, I advise you to just go for it. In three years of traveling all over this country and eating street food everywhere I go, I’ve never once been sick from it. I’ve actually had some of the best food on street corners in Mexico.

Just look for places that are busy, and the turnover of food is fast (that way it’ll be fresh).

Best Cities for Mexican Street Food

While you can find street food all over the place, some do it better than others. Here are some of the best places to try street food in Mexico:

Mexico City

Not surprisingly, the capital is probably the best place to sample Mexican street food. With around 20 million people living in the metropolitan area, that’s a lot of mouths to feed! People here are also super busy, making street food very appealing.

Don’t miss the street food in Mexico City

You can honestly find street food everywhere in CDMX. Streets lined with high-rise office buildings are usually packed with street food vendors serving the working people on their lunch break.

If you want to try some street food without the chaos of the street, head into a market like Mercado de Coyoacan. This place has some seriously tasty street food at very cheap prices. Another option is to join a food tour and explore the best foodie places in the capital!

Puerto Vallarta

I’m a bit biased to Puerto Vallarta as it’s where I spend most of my time in Mexico, but the street food here really is fantastic. This is especially true if you’re like me and prefer seafood to meat.

This popular beach town has fish tacos, fresh ceviche, spicy aguachile, amazing molcajetes full of shrimp and octopus, and so much more. My personal favorite are marlin tacos. Marlin, the bacon of the sea! Try them at La Tia Mariscos and your life will never be the same.

Of course, you can still just as easily find tacos with carne asada (grilled meat) or chorizo (sausage) here. In a town that likes to party, it should come as no surprise that there’s plenty of late-night street food here as well, including greasy street hamburgers.

☞ SEE ALSO: 10 Best Beaches in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Oaxaca

Another city known for its amazing street food is Oaxaca. Actually, this is just a great place to come for food in general. After all, it is the birthplace of mole.

Speaking of mole, you can try several different varieties of it and also buy the supplies to make your own in the local market here. Be sure to try enmoladas while you’re here. They’re basically enchiladas covered in mole sauce and they’re unreal!

I’ve eaten many a taco in the streets of Mexico, but I think the best I’ve ever had came in Oaxaca at a little street food stall called Lechoncito. These pork tacos are the stuff dreams, and the perfect way to soak up some of that mezcal.

☞ SEE ALSO: Ultimate Guide to Travelling Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Best Food Tours in Mexico

It can be a little intimidating going into a local market or restaurant when traveling. This is especially true if you don’t really speak the language. That’s why food tours are a great option.

Here are three of the best food tours you can take in Mexico:

Mexico City Half-Day Original Markets and Street Food

This highly-rated tour visits three different markets in the capital. One of them is so secret that most locals don’t even know about it!

Along the way, you’ll have the chance to sample several different types of Mexican street food. Click here to book your spot on this awesome tour. It costs $54 per person and lasts for five hours.

Become Local for a Day in Oaxaca

This excellent Airbnb experience is the perfect introduction to all the delicious food of Oaxaca. By visiting 3 local markets, you’ll see all the common ingredients used in the local cuisine.

Be sure to come hungry for this one, as you’ll try upwards of 20 different dishes and drinks! At just $55 per person for a half-day tour, it’s a solid deal! Click here to make a reservation on Airbnb.

Vallarta Food Tours

If you’re traveling to Puerto Vallarta, be sure to check out one of the many tours with Vallarta Food Tours. They have several options to choose from, but I recommend starting with their original downtown tour — it’s one of the best things to do in Puerto Vallarta.

This is one of the top-rated food tours in the world on TripAdvisor and for good reason! In addition to trying several dishes and drinks, you’ll learn a lot about the culture and history of Mexican food.

If you’d rather join more of a booze tour with a side of food, check out their “Mex-Ology” tour. Along with the original tour, it’s one of the best tours in Puerto Vallarta.

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Must-Try Drinks in Mexico

You’ll need something to wash down all that delicious food in Mexico. Thankfully there are plenty of tasty drinks there as well, from a refreshing agua fresca (non-alcoholic beverages) to a smooth pour of tequila.

Here are some of the best drinks in Mexico you should try:

Juice

Start your day off with a fresh glass of juice. There are endless varieties thanks to all the fresh fruit available here. Just look for signs that say “jugos” (juices) and pick your perfect combination. You can usually get a huge glass for $2.

Cafe de Olla

Coffee drinkers will definitely want to try cafe de olla. This traditional Mexican coffee is made in an earthen clay pot with cinnamon and cane sugar. It’s a bit sweet for my taste but I like it once in a while. At just $1 a cup or less, it’s certainly worth trying.

Atole

Another popular drink for the morning is atole. This thick drink is made from hot corn masa and tastes a bit like a bowl of oatmeal. I’m not the biggest fan to be honest but locals sure love it!

Agua Fresca

Sit down for lunch in any restaurant in Mexico, and the menu of the day is likely to include aguas frescas. Meaning “fresh water,” these are drinks made from fruits, cereals, or flowers blended with water and sugar.

Some of the most common include jamaica (hibiscus flower), pepino limon (cucumber lime) and horchata. The last one is hard to explain, but it’s made from nuts and rice, and is creamy, sweet, and delicious.

Cervezas

Ready for a cold one? There are lots of good cervezas (beer) on tap in Mexico! From the mass-produced famous brands to small craft breweries, there are plenty of choices when it comes to beer in Mexico.

Mexico’s most famous beer is definitely Corona, as it’s the one you’ll find most often in other countries. Other popular local brands include Victoria, Modelo, Tecate, and my personal favorite, Pacifico.

While the light lagers are all the rage in Mexico, craft beer is on the rise here. This is especially true in Tijuana, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, where you have lots of choices for local craft brews.

Micheladas

I’m a traditionalist and prefer to just drink my beer, but Mexicans sure love a michelada. This is basically a beer cocktail and there are a few versions. The simplest one is just lime juice and salt and is called a chelada.

Other variations add things like Worcestershire sauce or Clamato, an odd juice that’s a mix of tomato and clam. The result is basically a Bloody Mary but with beer instead of vodka.

Try a michelada!

Tequila and Mezcal

Ok, now it’s time for the strong stuff! I’m sure you’ve heard of tequila — one of Mexico’s most famous exports. But do you know about mezcal? Because the two go hand in hand…

You see, tequila is actually a type of mezcal. Sort of like how champagne is a kind of sparkling wine. Mezcal can be made from any agave plant, while tequila can only be made from blue agave.

Even after three years and many a glass of each, I’m not that good at explaining the difference. Go read this excellent article instead.

What I will tell you is that you’re not meant to down shots of tequila with salt and lime. That is, unless you’re an 18-year old Spring Breaker at Señor Frogs. Good tequila is meant to be sipped and enjoyed.

Typically, a shot of mezcal is served with a bit of chili salt and orange wedges. It’s the perfect complement to this uniquely Mexican booze.

☞ SEE ALSO: Where to Stay in Puerto Vallarta – A Neighbourhood and Accommodation Guide

Best Mexico Desserts

Mexicans definitely have a sweet tooth, as they enjoy drinks like cafe de olla and agua fresca. There are plenty of desserts in Mexico as well.

As I mentioned, it’s common to have a dessert included with the menu of the day for lunch. There are also many bakeries, candy stores, and ice cream shops in Mexico.

Here are some of the best Mexican desserts you should try:

Churros

Another example of the lasting Spanish influence on food in Mexico is the churro. This pastry made of fried dough is covered with cinnamon and sugar and is sometimes stuffed with dulce de leche or chocolate.

Churros are very popular in Mexico and can often be found in parks and on street corners in the evening. It only costs $2 or so for an order so go ahead and share with friends!

Try some churros for dessert

Flan

I know it doesn’t sound very Mexican, but flan is a very common dessert here. Even the fish taco joint down my street has flan. The Spanish also brought this jiggly morsel full of sugar to Mexico. Some of their foods may not have stuck, but dessert sure did!

Marquesitas

This next one is a very Mexican dessert. Marquesitas are grilled crepes that are then stuffed with toppings of your choice. The most common are cream cheese, chocolate, jam, and Nutella.

These hail from the Yucatan Peninsula and can be found on street corners all over from Merida down to Bacalar. They’re only $2-3 and are absolutely delicious. Perhaps too delicious!

When Do Mexicans Eat?

Mealtimes in Mexico are pretty standard. During the week, most people eat a quick breakfast early in the morning before heading off to work or school. There are always plenty of vendors out in the mornings selling things like juice, coffee, tamales, or tacos de canasta (basket tacos).

Lunch comes in the middle of the day and is usually the biggest meal during the week. Remember when I mentioned the menu del dia? That’s what most people eat for lunch — a soup, main, dessert, and drink.

After a busy day, dinner is typically a smaller meal. I definitely enjoy the Mexican way of eating where you have a bigger meal for lunch and a lighter one for dinner.

Of course, this all goes out the window on the weekend or holidays. People will enjoy a large brunch on these days or have a barbecue with friends and family. Whenever there’s a fiesta, there’s a lot of food on the table!

☞ SEE ALSO: Where to Stay in Playa del Carmen – A Neighbourhood and Accommodation Guide

Best Restaurants in Mexico

This list could be massive, but here are 3 standout restaurants in Mexico you won’t want to miss.

Pujol

Address: Tennyson 133, Polanco, Mexico City

Phone Number: +52 55 5545 4111

Web: Visit Website

Renowned Mexican Chef Enrique Olvera runs this restaurant in the capital’s swanky Polanco neighborhood. He takes traditional street food and puts a unique and gourmet spin on things. They offer 7-course tasting menus and an innovative taco bar here.

Pujol has been on the Top 50 list for several years running now. Be sure to call or reserve online in advance so as not to be disappointed.

Quintonil

Address: Av. Isaac Newton 55, Polanco, Mexico City

Phone Number: +52 55 5280 1660

Web: Visit Site

Just down the street is the only other Mexican restaurant to crack the Top 50 list in 2019, Quintonil. As a matter of fact, Chef Jorge Vallejo even worked at Pujol before starting this place.

The menu here focuses on fresh, seasonal ingredients. They even grow many of the ingredients on site on their urban garden. Be sure to bring a group so you can try one of their epic seasonal menus.

Pangea

Address: Av. del Roble 660, Valle del Campestre, Monterrey

Phone Number: +52 81 8114 6601

Web: Visit Site

Mexico City isn’t the only place that gets to have amazing fine dining experiences! Actually, Pangea in Monterrey topped the list of 120 best restaurants in Mexico in 2019.

This excellent restaurant is run by Chef Guillermo González Beristaín. Combining modern French cooking styles with fresh local ingredients, he and his team put together some incredible 7-course tasting menus here.

Ready for All The Food in Mexico?!

If you made it all the way to the end of the guide, congratulations! You are now basically an expert on food in Mexico. As you can see, there’s a lot more to Mexican cuisine than just tacos.

I hope this guide has inspired you to sample as much local food as possible when you visit Mexico, whether it’s on the street corner, in the local market, or at a fancy restaurant.

Have you traveled to Mexico and have some great recommendations on specific dishes or restaurants? Leave a comment below and let us hear them!

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New cookbooks from Ina Garten, Vivian Howard, Yotam Ottolenghi, and more will restore some much-needed joy to cooking For many of us, cooking has taken on a different role in our lives over the past six months. As restaurants closed, cooking — and cooking well — became essential even for those who previously spent little time in the kitchen. It also became a chore. At this point, six months into the pandemic, I’m impressed by anyone who still considers cooking a creative, joyful pastime, not just a means to food. But here to change that is a stellar lineup of fall cookbooks, bringing with them new inspiration and new comforts, and, at last, a reason to enter the kitchen with excitement. There are anticipated titles from beloved culinary figures, whose time-saving guidance and easy meal upgrades feel especially welcome now. There are books from some of the restaurants we miss the most, offering recreations of their dishes and insights that make us nostalgic for the time before shutdowns. There are primers on international cuisines; books for the adept home cook that take a studied, even scientific approach to flavor; and books that reflect the trends of the moment, including baking books for the person who has spent hours perfecting their bread game as well as the one who feels the occasional urge to bake a cake to be eaten immediately. I’m confident that even the most reluctant cook is sure to find at least one new cookbook among these 17 to dip a fork into. And for those for whom cooking never lost its luster, it’s a feast. — Monica Burton One Tin Bakes: Sweet and simple traybakes, pies, bars and buns Edd Kimber Kyle Books, out now The philosophy of Edd Kimber’s One Tin Bakes is pleasingly minimalist: Invest in one good 9-by-13-inch aluminum pan — or “tin,” in British parlance — and bake everything in it. Kimber has published three other books since winning the inaugural season of The Great British Bake Off in 2010, but this is the first that’s themed around a specific piece of equipment, and by focusing on the versatility of a single pan, One Tin Bakes prioritizes simplicity for both novice bakers and those who already know their way around a stand mixer. For the most part, these are not show-stopper, highly technical bakes — though some, like the “Giant Portuguese Custard Tart,” are impressive by nature. The recipes are unfussy, undemanding, and a pleasure to cook. They’re all sweet, with chapters spanning cakes, pies, breads, bars, cookies, and some no-bake desserts too. And while 9-by-13-inch sheets and slabs of baked goods are the stars of the book, Kimber’s collection also includes non-rectangular treats: rolled cakes, ice cream sandwiches, and babka buns, among others. Six months ago I might have described this book as a party baking companion — most of the recipes feed eight to 12 people — but parties are in short supply for the foreseeable future. That said, even without feeding my coworkers or friends, there is something so joyful (surface area, perhaps?) about pulling a magnificent rectangular pan of streusel-topped coffee cake or gigantic British scone from the oven. — Adam Moussa Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen Durkhanai Ayubi with recipes by Farida Ayubi Interlink, out now The story of Parwana, the popular Afghan restaurant in South Adelaide, Australia, has always been intertwined with history. Owners Zelmai and Farida Ayubi fled Afghanistan for Australia in 1987, during the Cold War, itself the result of hundreds of years of conflict. So it’s no surprise that the restaurant’s cookbook, written by Zelmai and Farida’s daughter Durkhanai Ayubi, would double as a history lesson. Interspersed between recipes are stories of the Silk Road, the Mughal empire, and the Great Game, which illustrate how because of trade, plunder, and cultural exchange, Afghan cuisine is both beloved and recognizable. The book walks through classics like kabuli palaw, shaami kebab, and falooda (all of which, unlike so many restaurant dishes adapted to cookbooks, are incredibly achievable for the home cook) and demonstrate how Afghan cuisine both influenced and was influenced by nearly all of Asia. No matter what cuisine you’re most used to cooking, you’ll find a recipe, or even just a flavor, that feels familiar here. — Jaya Saxena The Sourdough School: Sweet Baking: Nourishing the Gut & the Mind Vanessa Kimbell Kyle Books, out now The first thing to know about the sweets-focused follow-up to 2018’s The Sourdough School cookbook, the groundbreaking gut-health baking book by food writer and BBC radio host Vanessa Kimbell, is this: “It is not a book about baking,” she writes. “This is a book about understanding.” She’s right, sort of. It is not just a book about baking. It is, like its predecessor, a manifesto on the gut-brain connection — a guide to caring for the magical ecosystem within our own bodies, a fragile environment that, she says, our modern way of eating has ravaged, grimly affecting both our physical and mental health. It’s a book about science and bacteria and flour milling and fermenting and strategies for adjusting our lives in such a way to allow for four-day cupcake-making. But then... it is also very much a book about baking. There are loads of delicious (if unabashedly healthy-looking) recipes with ingredients that prioritize your gut’s microbiome, everything from chocolate chip “biscuits” and Bangladeshi jalebis to swirly miso-prune danishes and a pudgy lemon-poppyseed cake with a hit of saffron. Nothing about these multi-day recipes is what anyone might call simple (I’ve never been so tempted to whip up my own couture flour blends), but Kimbell is as lovely a hand-holder as she is a writer, giving out lifelines like detailed schedules for each recipe, including the crucial pre-bake starter feedings so many other sourdough books leave out. She also is not above compromise, allowing for store-bought flours and dolling out assurances like, “if you are not into the scientific details, feel free to skip this entire section. I totally get just wanting to get on and bake.” A thorough reader, though, will be rewarded with a whole new way of thinking about the human body, along with a whole bunch of yummy new ways to indulge it. — Lesley Suter The Mexican Home Kitchen: Traditional Home-Style Recipes That Capture the Flavors and Memories of Mexico Mely Martinez Rock Point, September 15 Mely Martínez comes to publishing by way of the old-school world of recipe blogging on her website, Mexico in My Kitchen. Martínez was born in Mexico and traveled throughout different regions as a teacher and again later in her life, learning from local women along the way, before eventually settling in the United States. After bouncing around recipe forums, she established the site in 2008 as a way to record family recipes for her teenage son. Through the internet, she reached a far wider audience of Mexican immigrants craving their abuela’s recipes. Now, her debut cookbook, The Mexican Home Kitchen, reflects that well-traveled savvy, but it’s forgiving, too, providing helpful tips on variations of recipes and alternative methods of food preparation or ingredients. Martínez’s book is about the basics of Mexican home cooking; recipes include comfort foods like caldo de pollo dressed up with slices of avocado and diced jalapeño and special occasion meals like mole poblano. The recipes are simple enough for people just getting into Mexican cooking, but also have a nostalgic quality that will appeal to those who grew up with homemade arroz con leche or chicharrón en salsa verde. Flipping through The Mexican Home Kitchen, I remembered my own childhood visits with my stepmother’s family, where I would sit around the table with the many other grandkids swirling Ritz crackers in steaming bowls of atole. I turned to Martínez’s atole blanco recipe on page 178, and headed to the store for some masa harina, newly inspired. — Brenna Houck Pie for Everyone: Recipes and Stories from Petee’s Pie, New York’s Best Pie Shop Petra “Petee” Paredez Abrams, September 22 If you’re not a pie person, then clearly you’ve never had a slice of Petra Paredez’s black-bottom almond chess pie. Growing up in a baking and farming family (her parents started northern Virginia treasure Mom’s Apple Pie Company in 1981), Paredez has considerable pie-making expertise. In 2014, she and her husband, Robert Paredez, opened their Lower East Side shop Petee’s Pie Company on a shoestring budget, and today, the sweet, sunny cafe on Delancey Street is considered one of the best pie shops in New York City. At the heart of Petee’s Pie, the goal is simple: a flavorful, flaky, tender crust and perfectly balanced ﬁlling. Pie for Everyone teaches readers how to achieve this at home. The book begins with foundational information (how to source ingredients, the tools to buy to make pie-making easier and more efficient) followed by chapters on crusts and crumbs and pie fillings. And while there are hundreds of ways to make pie, Paredez believes in the merits of a super-buttery crust. “If you only use one of my pastry dough recipes,” she writes, “I hope it’s my butter pastry dough.” With recipes that are both sweet and savory (including quiches), Pie for Everyone covers the shop’s year-round signature pies, like maple whiskey walnut and chocolate cream, as well as seasonal favorites, like strawberry rhubarb and nesselrode, a New York specialty consisting of chestnut custard with black rum-soaked cherries. But whether you’re a fan of Petee’s Pie or you’ve never been, bakers and pie lovers will appreciate learning from Paredez, a baker for whom pie-making is a ribbon-worthy feat every single time. — Esra Erol Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook Ina Garten Random House, October 6 There are many cookbooks that you want to read more than cook from, but Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook is not one of them. In her 12th cookbook, Ina Garten, the queen of timeless, expertly tested dishes, shares 85 recipes for the kinds of comfort foods we’re craving more than ever. Dedicated home cooks may already know most of these unfussy foods by heart, but with Garten’s thoughtful techniques and guidance on how to find the best ingredients, dishes like chicken pot pie soup, baked rigatoni with lamb ragu, and skillet-roasted chicken with potatoes feel new and exciting. The skillet-roasted chicken and potatoes, for example, calls for a buttermilk marinade to make the bird juicy and moist, while potatoes are cooked with the chicken jus under the chicken, on the bottom of a hot skillet, to absorb extra chicken flavor, turning two humble ingredients into a fabulous dinner. This being a Barefoot Contessa cookbook, it also comes with all the stories and aspirational photos (including many heart-melting pictures of Garten and husband Jeffrey) that have long inspired fans to want to live, cook, and eat like Ina. But, compared to Garten’s other books, Modern Comfort Food depicts the culinary star more as a loving neighbor who will bring you chocolate chip cookies on Sundays than the imposing queen of East Hampton. In the intro to this book, Garten admits that these days, she’s a little grumpier than usual (just like the rest of us), says it’s okay if we reach for a cold martini and a tub of ice cream for dinner, and reminds us once again how she managed to capture so many hearts over more than two decades as the Barefoot Contessa. — James Park Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason Julia Bainbridge Ten Speed Press, October 6 A lot of people feel weird about drinking nowadays. Our spending habits show it, through products like low-ABV hard seltzers, chic nonalcoholic aperitifs, or just the ongoing popularity of sober months like Dry January. Author Julia Bainbridge understands the fluid nature of this type of sobriety, which is why she subtitled her book of spirit-free drinks as “for When You’re Not Drinking for Whatever Reason.” After all, you don’t need to eschew alcohol forever in order to enjoy a thoughtfully blended drink that isn’t trying to get you sloshed. The drinks in Good Drinks are structured by the time of day you might enjoy them (brunch accompaniment, happy hour treat, aperitif), and are as complex and innovative (and labor-intensive) as anything at a fancy cocktail bar. They call for ingredients like black cardamom-cinnamon syrup, buckwheat tea, and tomato-watermelon juice, each of which get their own recipes. There’s even a whole recipe for a dupe of nonalcoholic Pimm’s (involving citus, rooibos tea, raspberry vinegar, and gentian root). The results are festive, celebratory drinks for any occasion, so the nondrinkers need not be stuck with cranberry juice and seltzer anymore. — JS Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage Ten Speed Press, October 13 It’s probably a good thing Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook isn’t called Plenty 3 or More Plenty More, veering the chef’s cookbook oeuvre into Fast & Furious territory. But by the London chef’s own admission, that’s a good way to understand Flavor, his newest book, which like its Plenty predecessors focuses on vegetables and all the creative ways to prepare and combine them. Co-written with Ixta Belfrage, a recipe developer in the Ottolenghi test kitchen, Flavor presents recipes from three perspectives. The “process” chapter explores specific techniques to transform vegetables, such as charring and fermenting. “Pairing” takes an angle that will sound familiar to Samin Nosrat fans, with recipes rooted in the perfect balance of fat, acid, “chile heat,” and sweetness. And “produce” focuses on the ingredients with such complex tastes, usages, and sub-categories that they deserve examination on their own: mushrooms, onions (and their allium cousins), nuts and seeds, and sugar in fruit and booze form. The result, in typical Ottolenghi fashion, is multi-step, multi-ingredient, and multi-hued recipes whose promised flavors leap from the page — from cabbage “tacos” with celery root and date barbecue sauce to saffron tagliatelle with ricotta and crispy chipotle shallots. Chipotles and other chiles are actually in abundance here (as well as “a lime or two in places where lemons would appear in previous Ottolenghi books,” as the intro notes) thanks to Belfrage’s roots in Mexico City. Those flavors, as well as those from Brazilian, Italian, and multiple Asian cuisines (spy the shiitake congee and noodles with peanut laab), unite with the usual Ottolenghi suspects — za’atar, star anise, harissa, labneh — to make Flavor worth the look, even for the home chef who already has Plenty and Plenty More on the shelf. — Ellie Krupnick Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop Jason Wang with Jessica K. Chou Abrams, October 13 The debut cookbook from the New York City restaurant chain Xi’an Famous Foods is worth picking up whether or not you have slurped the restaurant’s hand-pulled noodles. This is a book on how to operate a food business — CEO Jason Wang outlines five lessons to know before diving into the business and strips away the glamor of running a restaurant empire. It’s also a food history of the flavors of Xi’an, China. With so many layers to appreciate, Xi’an Famous Foods is a prime example of what a restaurant cookbook can be. Much of the book reads like a TV series. It’s broken into episodes covering Wang’s challenges, failures, and successes, from his life-changing move from Xi’an to a rural town in Michigan, to his nights out in New York City’s Koreatown, to taking over his father’s business, Xi’an Famous Foods. Interspersed with these anecdotes, there are recipes for the restaurant’s fiery, mouth-tingling dishes, including Xi’an Famous Foods’ famous noodle sauce (accented with salty and spicy flavors from black vinegar, oyster sauce, fennel seeds, and Sichuan peppercorns), along with techniques for making hand-pulled noodles paired with helpful illustrations and visual references. For avid home cooks who want a challenge, Xi’an Famous Foods also provides tips on putting together the best hot pot at home, and for those who are confused at Asian groceries, there’s a list of basic pantry items with flavor notes and how they are used in cooking. And whether it’s Wang’s personal connection to a dish or its wider history that draws you in, each recipe will broaden your knowledge and appreciation of Xi’an cooking. — JP Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen Lara Lee Bloomsbury, October 13 In the introduction of her debut cookbook, Lara Lee writes that an overflowing generosity is central to Indonesian culture; meals are shared freely between neighbors and friends. This generosity fills the pages of Coconut & Sambal, each recipe heightening the sense that as a reader, you’ve been let in on something special. Lee, who was born in Australia, didn’t spend time in Indonesia until later in life, so early memories of Indonesian cooking come from the trips her grandmother Margaret Thali — whom Lee lovingly refers to as Popo throughout the book — would take to Australia. Each of the cookbook’s chapter introductions is deeply researched: Some recount stories of Lee’s grandmother, and others focus on the Indonesia that Lee fell in love with as she traveled across the archipelago collecting stories and recipes for this book. The recipes that fill Coconut & Sambal demonstrate that Indonesian cuisine cannot be painted with one brush. The food of the nation — made up of more than 15,000 islands — incorporates the sharp heat of chiles, the mellow hit of fermented shrimp, the sweetness of coconut in nearly every form, and always enough rice to go around. You’ll find curries fragrant with makrut lime leaf, ginger, and turmeric, and bright ceviches adorned with thinly sliced chiles, banana shallot, and palm sugar; I was particularly drawn to a fried chicken dish (page 142), its crisp shell smashed and laced with fiery sambal. Lee explains that recipes are typically passed down orally in Indonesian culture, which makes me even more grateful for these written ones. What Lee has given readers is a gorgeous document that sets in stone food traditions passed down through generations, as well as some she’s created herself. You’ll want to dedicate an evening to turning the pages of this book, planning out feasts of green chile braised duck, Balinese roasted pork belly, and perhaps some sticky ginger toffee pudding to top it all off. — Elazar Sontag In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen Ten Speed Press, October 13 Recipes are almost always the main attraction in a cookbook. But In Bibi’s Kitchen, written by first-time author Hawa Hassan in collaboration with veteran cookbook writer Julia Turshen, there’s so much to enjoy before you even get to the first recipe. The book focuses on dishes from eight African countries, linked by their shared proximity to the Indian Ocean and involvement in the region’s spice trade. Each chapter, divided by country, starts with a brief history of the region and question-and-answer-style interviews with one of the bibis, or grandmothers, who call these places home. The answers to these questions find the grandmothers speaking about the meaning of home, the gender roles in their communities, and the importance of passing on food traditions. Each interview is as beautiful and varied as the recipes that follow: kadaka akondro (green plantains and braised beef) from the home of Ma Baomaka in Ambohidratrimo, Madagascar; digaag qumbe, a Somalian chicken stew rich with yogurt and coconut milk, served with sweet banana; kaimati, crisp coconut dumplings in an ambrosial cardamom syrup, this batch cooked in Ma Shara’s kitchen in Zanzibar, but popular all along the Swahili coast. A practical advantage of collecting recipes from home cooks is that these recipes are all approachable, most calling for fewer than 10 ingredients. In many ways, In Bibi’s Kitchen breaks ground. It pays tribute to a part of the world that has been criminally overlooked by American publishers, sharing the stories of these African countries from the perspectives of home cooks who actually live there. The book is full of intimate portraits of the grandmothers in their kitchens, captured by Kenyan photographer Khadija M. Farah, who joined these women in their homes. The result of this collaborative and ambitious effort is a collection of heartwarming photos, tidbits of history, and, of course, plenty of mouthwatering meals. — ES This Will Make it Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking Vivian Howard Voracious, October 20 Reading through Vivian Howard’s This Will Make It Taste Good is like reading a cookbook by your real or imagined North Carolinian best friend. The design itself is cheerful, full of 1970s serif fonts and colorful badges that are reminiscent of a children’s workbook. Dishes are photographed from above, in the same style as Alison Roman’s Dining In and Nothing Fancy, often showing Howard’s hands as they work away chopping herbs or spooning chowder. The A Chef’s Life host’s goal is simple: to teach home cooks that easy meals can be exciting rather than bland. Howard’s intended audience is the time-crunched kitchen novice, though a more experienced cook will surely find some useful tips, as well. Each section is based around a recipe that can be prepped in advance and then used throughout the week in a multitude of dishes: Among the most promising are the “Little Green Dress,” a dressing with flexible ingredients that can gussy up anything from mussels to crackers to soft-boiled eggs; the “R-Rated Onions,” which you can keep in an ice cube tray in the freezer to use at your convenience; and the “Citrus Shrine,” i.e., preserved citrus that promises to elevate dishes like shrimp cocktail and rice pilaf — you can even use it in margaritas! In any time, This Will Make It Taste Good would be a great help to those of us who prefer recipes that look and taste more complex than they are to prepare. That it happens to arrive at a moment when we’re likely all sick of the contents of our fridges and our own culinary limitations is just a bonus. — Madeleine Davies The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food Marcus Samuelsson with Osayi Endolyn Voracious, October 27 “Black food is not just one thing,” chef Marcus Samuelsson writes in the introduction to The Rise. “It’s not a rigidly defined geography or a static set of tastes. It is an energy. A force. An engine.” The cookbook that follows is an invigorating, joyous, and deeply nuanced illustration of the complexity of Black foodways, one that weaves together conversations about history, artistry, authorship, race, class, and culture with 150 recipes that incorporate ingredients and techniques from around the globe. Each of the book’s recipes was created in honor of “someone who is illuminating the space we share,” as Samuelsson writes: chefs, artists, activists, authors, and historians, all of whom are profiled by the book’s coauthor, Eater contributor Osayi Endolyn. The recipes are organized to demonstrate how culinary rituals and traditions evolve according to time, place, and cook. In the first chapter, “Next,” for example, you’ll find food that speaks of forward-thinking innovation, such as baked sweet potatoes with garlic-fermented shrimp butter, created in honor of David Zilber, the former director of fermentation at Noma. (That butter, pureed with avocado, sweet soy sauce, and fresh thyme, is not only easy to make, but so good that you can be forgiven for eating it straight from the food processor.) “Migration,” the third chapter, speaks of the American South, with recipes like spiced lemon chess pie, broken rice peanut seafood stew, and Papa Ed’s shrimp and grits, named for Ed Brumfield, the executive chef at Samuelsson’s Harlem restaurant the Red Rooster. The Rise doesn’t claim to be an encyclopedic compendium of Black cooking; instead, it’s a celebration, one that honors the past while looking ahead, challenging assumptions even as it feeds you well. — Rebecca Flint Marx The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes Nik Sharma Chronicle Books, October 27 Nik Sharma begins his second cookbook by explaining that we rely on a variety of senses and feelings when we eat: sight, sound, mouthfeel or texture, aroma, taste, and even our emotions and memories. These components make up what he refers to as the “Flavor Equation,” and this concept and the role it plays in everyday cooking is the guiding principle of his book of the same name. Following a thorough and captivating science lesson on the equation, Sharma lays out seven chapters dedicated to basic tastes and flavor boosters — brightness, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, savoriness, fieriness, and richness — each with its own set of recipes: pomegranate and poppy seed wings exemplify brightness, roasted figs with coffee miso tahini or hazelnut flan highlight bitterness, “pizza” toast for saltiness, masala cheddar cornbread in the sweetness section, and more. Through these achievable recipes, many of which rely mostly on pantry essentials, Sharma helps readers better understand how flavor works and how to use that to their advantage to become more confident home cooks. Whatever your skill level in the kitchen, with its more than 100 recipes, illustrated diagrams, and Sharma’s own evocative photography, The Flavor Equation is an engrossing guide to elevating simple dishes into holistic experiences. — EE Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives Nadiya Hussain Clarkson Potter, November 10 (originally published June 27, 2019) Nadiya Hussain is just like you and me. That’s the guiding principle behind her public persona, her BBC Two cooking show Time to Eat (now on Netflix), and her cookbook Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives. “I know what it’s like to have just one head and one pair of hands,” the Great British Bake Off winner writes in the introduction of Time to Eat, a new stateside version of her U.K. cookbook of the same title. Her book, she promises, will help you become a smarter home cook in between chores and kids, thanks to heavy use of the freezer and other time savers. On the page, that looks like tips for prepping and freezing, recipes that leave you with enough leftovers to make a second dish, and ideas for remixes and variations. There are more than 100 recipes, divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and basics. Many of these dishes may be unfamiliar to American audiences — hello, kedgeree and fish pie burgers! — but the instructions are as approachable as Hussain’s on-camera demonstrations. With enough variety to keep it interesting, balanced with dishes easy enough to work into your weekly rotation of meals, e.g., eggs rolled onto tortillas, Time to Eat offers something for any home cook looking for new ideas and time-tested, time-saving methods. — Jenny G. Zhang Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End Magnus Nilsson Phaidon, November 11 Last December, after more than a decade of acclaim, accolades, and meals rooted in seasonality and locally produced ingredients, Magnus Nilsson closed his restaurant Fäviken in Jämtland, Sweden. In the lead-up to the closing, he told the LA Times that he wanted to focus on the restaurant, not elegies or explanations. Now, the explanation has arrived in the form of Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End, Nilsson’s latest monograph with publisher Phaidon. Although the book covers the lifespan of Fäviken, including lookbacks at the first title Nilsson published about the restaurant, it is not an elegy. There are no laments here, but rather a thorough catalogue of all the dishes that Fäviken served, ruminations about craft and haute cuisine and sustainability, and a long-awaited account of “Why Fäviken had to close, really.” The book contains recipes for many of the restaurant’s dishes — ranging from the simple berry ice to the more demanding “Scallop I skalet ur elden cooked over burning juniper branches,” with extensive headnotes — but its purpose is not as a cookbook. It is a tome (beautifully put together, as is typical for Phaidon) that is made for fans of Fäviken’s, of Nilsson��s, and more importantly, of the way of life he espouses, one that is passionate but measured. That is best expressed in one of the book’s final essays, one dated May 12, 2020, in which Nilsson articulates gratitude that he was able to close his restaurant on his own terms, for Fäviken would not have survived the pandemic. “If one day some years from now I wake up in the morning and feel the same burning desire to run a restaurant that I felt for many years at Fäviken, I won’t think twice about it,” Nilsson writes. “But if that doesn’t happen, that’s okay too. There are many other things to do in life.” — JGZ A Good Bake: The Art and Science of Making Perfect Pastries, Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and Breads at Home Melissa Weller with Carolynn Carreño Knopf, November 17 There are people who treat baking like a hobby and there are people who treat baking as a raison d’etre, a life’s purpose. Melissa Weller’s A Good Bake is for the latter, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering Weller’s resume, which includes creating pastry for some of New York City’s most revered restaurants, such as Per Se, Roberta’s, and her acclaimed SoHo bagel shop, Sadelle’s. Before she became an expert baker, Weller was a chemical engineer, and as such, she tackles recipes with a scientific approach, getting the fermentation, proofing, and pH balance of her dough down to, well, a science. If you’re a quarantine baker who’s mastered sourdough and is ready for the next challenge, consider Weller’s takes on NYC classics like chocolate babka, spelt scones with raspberry jam, and even traditional hot dog buns. A Good Bake will thrill bakers who rejoice in doing things the difficult way (but note that there are beautiful and detailed photos of her process to help guide ambitious bakers through the recipe). Of course, this means that failing will hurt all the more, considering the hours (or days, even!) of work that you’ve put into your bake, but success? It will taste all the sweeter... or more savory. It depends on your tastes, and Weller expertly caters to both. — MD from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32cznPz

http://easyfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-best-cookbooks-of-fall-2020.html

#EasyFoodNetwork #ComfortFoodRecipes #EasyRecipes #GoodFood #BestComfortFoodRecipes #TastyFoodv

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igrublocal · 4 years ago

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15 best Mexican food restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley for takeout, delivery – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

For this carefully curated list, let us begin with a taste of the past:

Carne asada and chorizo tacos make up a colorful Mexican food entree. (File photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A chile relleno stuffed with white fish is a must-try Mexican food option. (File photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

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Burrito Guadalajara with slow-cooked carnitas and a side of rice and beans is a delicious, filling meal for lunch or dinner. (File photo by Cindy Yamanaka/Orange County Register/SCNG)

Combination plates are a staple of Mexican food dining. This one features a pork chile verde burrito and two beef and potato taquitos. (File photo by Nick Agro)

Paseo Colorado, 260 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; 626-795-5800, www.elcholopasadena.com

For nearly a century, El Cholo has been a Southern California legend. And after all those decades, Ron Salisbury (son of founders George and Aurelia Salisbury) and his children have turned El Cholo into a bit of clockwork machinery that works with remarkable efficiency.

This is a restaurant at which employees work for their entire lives. Chef Joe Reina cooked at El Cholo for 54 years. Most marriages don’t last that long. But being married to El Cholo goes beyond love. There’s a devotion to service here that’s little short of astounding.

The best way to begin a meal here is probably with the Fiesta Platter, prepared for two or four, of crispy-crunchy taquitos (crab and beef), quesadillas oozing cheese, nachos dripping cheese, crunchy chimichangas, guacamole and sour cream. This is not a diet dish; if it was, I’d probably hate it.

It’s notable that the guacamole at El Cholo always tastes freshly made, filled with enough thick avocado chunks to give it the sort of texture missing from the more standard-issue green muck served out there in the real world. There is guacamole as the good lord intended guacamole to be, a dish so good every last green drip has to be consumed.

After the Fiesta Platter, there’s a combination platter called A Taste of History, a deceptively simple assortment of great dishes that date back to the roots of El Cholo — the cheese enchilada, the beef taco, the chile relleno, the tamale, served with beans and rice. These are dishes most of us have eaten an untold number of times over the years. We may even view them with some disdain. At El Cholo, they’re returned to their former glory — the enchilada has substance and girth, the chile relleno stands up well to the vicissitudes of gravity, the taco is firm and crunchy, and the tamale is a reminder of why this simple pile of corn meal is so honored in Mexican cuisine.

The roast pork tamale served on the Taste of History plate is available all year long. And it’s a fine tamale. But it’s not the tamale that El Cholo is most famous for. That’s the fabled green corn tamales, served only from May till October. The green corn tamale is so popular, the original restaurant has long thrown a gala fiesta to mark the beginning of the season. It’s sweet in a pleasant way, instantly satisfying, absurdly addictive, a corn husk packed with corn masa, freshly shucked corn, cheddar cheese, sour cream, butter and an Ortega chile.

MFK Fisher once wrote that she could never have her fill of caviar. I could never have my fill of green corn tamales.

11300 E. Washington Blvd., Whittier; 562-692-6118

Goat is one of those dishes that separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, the professional eaters from the amateurs. It is not an ingredient you sort of like, maybe just a little. It’s not something that you can take, or leave alone. Even the aroma can be a deal breaker. You either love goat, or you give the very mention of it a big ol’ teenage girl “Ew!”

Luckily, I like it — which means more for me. It’s the food to seek out when strong flavors are called for, and when a beer to wash it all down is pretty much essential.

At Chalio, the meal begins with a jumbo bowl of ultra-crispy chips, and a green salsa that’s poetic in its spice — the mouth wants more, bite after bite. The birria comes seven ways, “a su gusto,” ranging from masisa (boneless) to pistola (with large bones), with several levels of boniness in between.

The seven ways also include a mix and match assortment of cuts. The goat is served with plates of chopped raw onion, chopped cilantro, limes and tortillas — the ingredients for do-it-yourself goat tacos. There are goat burritos on the menu as well. But no goat’s head soup — the dish made famous by the Rolling Stones.

The goat served at Chalio is in the style of a small town in Zacatecas called Nochistlan, which is also known as “La Tierra de Los Musicos” (“The Land of the Musicians”). Based on the dishes served at Chalio, those musicians are well fed — and well inspired by what they eat.

The goat is an unapologetic ingredient — it sits on the plate, a pile of chunks with more or less bones. It demands a certain amount of culinary involvement; this is not something you taste on the first bite, and then ignore. Every bite of goat tastes like…goat. This is definitely not chicken.

That said, there’s plenty of chicken on the menu as well — the caldo de pollo is a chicken soup-stew worthy of a Jewish deli. If you’re a fan of the pork and hominy stew called pozole, it’s here too. So is menudo, the beef tripe soup said to be one of the world’s best hangover cures. There are lots of shrimp dishes, and oversized molcajetes of shrimp, steak, chicken and chorizo in one case; and chicken, beef and chorizo in the other.

There are several preps of beef cheek — super tender, a fine alternative to goat for those in need of an alternative. And if you show up for breakfast — well, goat isn’t the protein of choice. They do some terrific things with eggs — try the Huevos Durango, with shredded machaca and snappy pico de gallo. This is food that sticks to your ribs. And no doubt to other parts as well.

Bizarra Capital

12706 Philadelphia St., Whittier; 562-945-2426, www.coloniagroupinc.com

There are six smallish tacos on the menu at Bizarra — lovely things, elegantly curved, carefully constructed, filled variously with a mildly spicy pork chorizo made in-house; with five types of chile sautéed till they’re sweet as persimmons (spicy persimmons, but sweet nonetheless), topped with cheese and a chipotle cream sauce; with sautéed shrimp and grilled onion; with blackened skirt steak and avocado salsa, with grilled fish, spiced crema and salsa roja; with grilled chicken and pico de gallo. Are you getting the picture?

This is the food we all know, only better. This isn’t the same old same old. But it’s not so new as to shock. Though shock it can — one bite of the dish described as “Sinaloa Super Spicy Fish” and you’ll be diving for the guacamole, which is both chunky and soothing.

Consider, for instance, the quesadillas. If you live and dine in Los Angeles, you know your quesadillas. But you don’t know them made with freshly pressed tortillas, filled with the crumbly cheese of Oaxaca, and flavored with (variously) a crazy mix of mushrooms (how many different mushrooms? hard to tell), more of that good house-made chorizo and, best of all, the Mexican corn truffle called huitlacoche — a fungus that grows on ears of corn, and until recent years couldn’t be found anywhere north of the border. It’s dark and herbaceous and a bit dangerous tasting.

In terms of regionality, Bizarra is, truly, all over the map. There’s a sublime cochinita pibil from the Yucatan — long- and slow-cooked pork flavored with yellowy-orange achiote, onions that seem to be half vinegar, and a cruel salsa made with habaneros. (Be sure to get lots of Diaz’s take on guacamole, which is more a middle dish than a side dish. It has substance, and flavor. It’s nothing like the green sludge that passes for guac at too many local joints.)

Shifting to Oaxaca, there’s a mole poblano that tastes as if its been simmering since the Clinton administration — dark and thick and redolent of dozens of herbs and spices, baked into chicken, served with onions, cheese and what the menu calls “seed salsa.”

You want to hit the Pacific Coast, go for the various ceviches — shrimp, tilapia, crab, octopus and even caracol (sea snails), the Mexican equivalent (sort of) of escargot. (You can get all the ceviches together on one plate if you order the mixta. Of course you should.)

And, of course, you should also order the calabacita — for a laddie needs his veggies — Mexican squash with corn, onions, tomatoes and peppers, topped with melted cheese. The chiles toreados are pretty much required — the chiles are sautéed and roasted, seasoned with garlic oil and lime. They’ll leave you gasping with pleasure…and heat. And it’s good to see an old friend — shrimp, packed with ham and cheese, wrapped in bacon, and grilled till they’re crispy and sweet.

Speaking of crispy, there’s a crunchy fried fish — a fish-shaped chip (chicharron de pescado). It’s worth getting with the pickled onions and garlic mojo that comes with it. And don’t miss the french fries topped with mole poblano and cheese. Just because.

1944 S. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park; 323-278-3536, www.cookstortas.com

If you’re not familiar with tortas, you should be. They’re a standard throughout Mexico and Mexican communities — a tasty alternative to tacos and burritos and anything made with a tortilla. They’re served on small crunchy rolls that are made for grab-n-go — a perfect snack as you stroll through a marketplace.

There are always torta stands in the bus stations that take most of the population from one end of the country to the other. Years ago, I spent three months traveling through Mexican by bus. I lived on tortas. Tortas and beer.

Here in Southern California, you’ll find tortas sold from food trucks, in markets and at street corner stands. But mostly, you’ll find them at Cook’s, which is an homage to the torta — a restaurant that raises the torta from humble sandwich to edible work of art. Or, at least, to a humble sandwich you want to eat more of. Which is not problem at Cook’s, for the options are many. And new ones seem to pop up all the time, posted on the blackboard menu.

The drill is simple — after staring at the blackboard for a long time, you head for the counter to place your order. You can trick up, or slim down, your torta any way you want; this is the land of “We Do It Your Way,” no matter what that way may happen to be. You don’t want mayo — no issue there. Pass on the cheese — but of course. Not too much sauce — no arguments.

For a place that cranks out seemingly a zillion tortas a day, they’re very accommodating. So, what are the choices? Well, we’re told that, “Our menu changes from day to day.” But in my experience, many of the favorites stick around — there’s plenty of diner loyalty here.

It’s the rare day that you won’t find the Mojito Torta on the menu — a roll packed with tender, sweet roasted pork, long cooked onions and a “garlic mojo” that’s more garlic than mojo. You can catch the aroma before it leaves the kitchen.

I think the Milanesa Torta is a standard as well — it’s made with the breaded steak that’s crazy popular south of the border, with jalapeños and mayo layered on top for good measure. If you don’t want the breading, go with the Bombero Torta, which is unbreaded beef with roasted bell peppers, avocado and the apparently ubiquitous mayonnaise. There’s a Molcajete Torta as well, made with a grilled steak, grilled cheese and a black bean spread — sort of a Philly Cheesesteak done Mexican-style.

A definite favorite, if they’ve got it, is Cochinita Torta, with its long, long cooked Yucatan pork, black beans and onion escabeche. Less loved was the California Torta, of dryish grilled chicken, lettuce and some slices of overly ripe avocado — it came as a surprise amidst all the other tortas.

And though I’ve mentioned several tortas made with meat, there are plenty of vegetarian options as well — a Queso Fresco Torta with cheese, sour cream, avocado and chipotle sauce; a Grilled Veggie Torta of zucchini, red peppers, caramelized onions and, yes, more garlic mojo.

There’s a choice of tasty side dishes — I like the red potato salad, and the macaroni with ham and cheese. It’s a surprise to find sides like tabouli and a caprese salad, but Cook’s is filled with surprises; it’s a little different every time you walk through the door. Even the agua frescas change regularly — though they never fail to refresh, which is their job.

Plaza West Covina, 1125 W. Covina Pkwy., West Covina; 626-337-1927, www.elpescadorwestcovina.com

El Pescador is so libation-intensive that even on the regular menu, you’ve got to go through five pages of drinks until you get to the food. And as with the drinks, the food does go on. This is not Nouvelle Mexican. But it is Mexican cooking with a distinct seafood edge — of course it is with a name like El Pescador.

And so, after dispensing with guacamole made to order, and the jumbo Fiesta Platter, we get down to the seafood. Of which there’s plenty. There’s a properly spicy shrimp aguachile — there’s also an aguachile trio of shrimp spiced three ways that’s a marvel; along with a seafood soup called consommé Presidencial, also with lots of shrimp.

I’m especially fond of the camarones tatemados — grilled shrimp with a spicy sauce that could easily pass for a Cajun dish. The seafood cocktails are so large you can’t help but wonder how you’ll work your way through them — and somehow always do. And that includes the Coctel Michelada, which is a heavily peppered shrimp cocktail and beer combination.

Yes, there also are whole fish, done many ways, and even an assortment of lobster preparations. But El Pescador doesn’t pass on its traditional roots — you’ll find enchiladas and fajitas and burritos as well. Still, it’s the seafood that drives the place. Shopping mall restaurants are rarely this good.

110 E Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-787-1512, www.maestropasadena.com

The menu at Maestro isn’t long. In fact, it’s not much bigger than the appetizer section at some local restaurants. But every dish is polished, carefully curated and arranged so that when the food reaches your table there’s a moment of amazement — followed by a sense of…well, maybe it’s just too pretty to eat.

Consider, for instance, the free-range chicken in a mole laid over a layer of avocado puree — which is almost guacamole, but with the texture of a sauce. Look at it carefully before you tear into the tender chunks of chicken — and the realization should dawn on you that its arranged in the shape of…a map of Mexico. No kidding; it really is. There’s the Yucatan on one side, and Baja on the other.

Consider the curious arrangement of the picadas — a rearranged, reconsidered open-face taco with layers of queso fresco, a sort of yogurt cheese called jocoque, salsa roja, and sliced red radishes on the top, and lots of them. It’s like an aerial view of a very large flower, seen from not that far up — a low-flying plane, I guess, or maybe a drone.

Or how about the roasted beets, arranged into a madcap checkerboard of beet cubes, goat cheese cubes, and pineapple cubes, with small leaves — and a somewhat puzzling menu descriptive that says, “hearth on fire.” Not quite what it looks like. But still.

And then, there’s the carne asada, which isn’t so much arranged, as it is an exercise in colorful contrasts — the red of the skirt steak against the green of the poblano puree, and the beige of the fingerling potatoes. The meat comes out rare — it would be grey were it not. And really, who wants grey on such an artistic plate.

140 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena; 626-345-5778, www.cocinasycalaveras.com

This is a restaurant where cauliflower is roasted with chile morita marinade and pineapple, where cucumber salad is flavored with spicy queso anejo and spicy pepitas, where the pork is sourced from Salmon Creek Farm in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The pleasure of Mercado Pasadena — and the Cocinas y Calaveras restaurants in general — is that they don’t feel like the same old same old. Though many of the classic elements are found on the menu, this is not a restaurant you go to for leaden combination platters of enchiladas and tamales, with rice and beans, hot tortillas served in a plastic container on the side.

If it’s enchiladas you want, what you’ll get is a remarkable version of this old Mexican restaurant workhorse — packed with pulled Mary’s free-range chicken, flavored with a rich, dark Oaxacan mole, tarted up with queso fresco, crema fresca, red onion and sesame seeds.

There’s Lela’s Mexican rice on the side, rice that’s actually worth eating. For a change. If you want a sense of how good the chicken is, get the pollo en salsa de cuatro chiles with, of all things, mashed potatoes on the side. Very good mashed potatoes that were actually made from real potatoes, and not some potato-like substance.

There’s carne asada with cebollita onions, just like they serve at the fondas that surround the Plaza de Garibaldi in Mexico City. Only better. But without the competing mariachis.

The menu is configured so that meals of just appetizers can be perfectly satisfying — a dip combination of guacamole and choriqueso, shrimp tacos wrapped in jicama, skirt steak tacos, grilled fish tacos, ceviche tacos, pork al pastor tacos.

And yes, there’s a Mexican kale salad, because you’ve got to have a kale salad, until you no longer do — watch this space for the announcement. It comes with arugula, candied, pepitas, pears, dried strawberries and cotija cheese pesto bread crumbs. It’s a salad that’s unique to Mercado, a Mexican restaurant like Pasadena has never seen before, with food that even makes the face of death smile.

200 E. Foothill Blvd., Arcadia; 626-357-7270, www.pacosmexicanrestaurant.com

There are few menus that offer a compendium of options as amazing as the one found at Paco’s. Despite the many pages of menu though, I’ve noted more than a few fellow diners, clearly regulars, who order without looking. They know what they like, and it’s what they want, every time.

I’m glad for the appetizer combo, a gut-buster dish of flautas, quesadillas, taquitos, guacamole, potato skins and a choice of nachos or chicken wings. There’s also a Mexican pizza, a tortilla topped with ground beef, beans, cheese, avocado, black olives and tomatoes. This is, if nothing else, a cuisine of abundance with portions large enough to leave any dietary notions in the dust.

And of course, there are choices within the choices. Consider the fajitas. You have a choice of chicken, steak, ribeye, shrimp, shrimp and scallops, shrimp and carnitas, or shrimp, chicken and steak. All served sizzling, hot enough to smelt iron, along with bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo. Served with warm tortillas, of course.

In a world where the choice is often no more than a couple of options, this staggers the mind. The kitchen has to prepare for a lot of possibilities.

The chilaquiles are a thing of joy — they almost always are — served with salsas mild or hot, red or green. There’s a vegan section to the regular menu — which is so modern, and so easy. As they’ve proven at the excellent Gracias Madre in West Hollywood, vegan Mexican food is a natural.

602 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia; 626-303-3393, www.rudysmexicanfood.net

It comes as a surprise to discover that Rudy’s Mexican Food — a longtime staple on Myrtle Avenue in the heart of Old Town Monrovia — has only been there since 1994. I would have guessed it had at least half a century of guacamole and nachos behind it. But the place still feels venerable — and it serves a menu of venerable classics, the sort of Mexican food we’ve been eating happily for decades, with nary a hint of Nueva Cucina to be found on the menu.

This is also where you go for your Appetizer Variety Plate, and your multitude of combinations — dishes that are so familiar they’ve crept over to being Mexican-American. It’s an ethnic cuisine that we recognize as California Cuisine from back before there was California Cuisine.

This is nostalgic Mexican cuisine — and I have no complaints about that. Like the old Domenico’s on Washington Boulevard in Pasadena, Rudy’s is where you go for the food we’ve eaten for so long. Honestly, it’s not easy to decide, for the menu is long and filled with temptations. The combination plates do help a bit — you can mix and match tacos, enchiladas, tamales and chiles rellenos, along with rice and beans, and the ubiquitous holder of hot tortillas. But other dishes do cry out for consideration.

I do enjoy a nice hot steaming caldo bowl — perhaps a cocido of beef and veggies, a pork pozole, or tripe menudo. And there’s much pleasure to be found in the tasty albondigas. Burritos abound, including a beef, chicken and pork one called El Gigante, and a shrimp and carne asada monster called Sr. Benjamin.

And speaking of big dishes, consider The Monrovia — shrimp, crab, chicken and avocado, topped with cheese and sour cream. Or Rudy’s Old Town — pork, chicken and steak, each topped with garlic shrimp. Certainly, you can eat lighter. They do a very handsome slab of salmon, cooked on a griddle, and red snapper (huachinango) in several different versions.

There’s lots of shrimp on the menu — and both chicken mole and chicken pipian. And in the old school style, you can always get a burger with fries, just in case someone in your party wants a burger with fries. My mother used to get grilled cheese sandwiches at restaurants known for its Chinese food. You do what you have to do — and at Rudy’s, they do it for you.

3638 Baldwin Park Blvd., Baldwin Park; 626-257-3336

La Chilanguita — a name that seems to have been borrowed from a chain of popular restaurants in Mexico City — is a neighborhood Mexican restaurant right out of central casting. It sits in a free-standing bunker-like building, painted yellowish and red, with stenciled dishes on the windows: “Carne a Su Gusto — Asada, Al Pastor, Chorizo, Carnitas, Tripa, Buche, Cabeza, Lengua,” “Tortas, Burritos, Tacos, Pambazos, Huaraches, Tostadas, Combos,” “Cocteles de Frutas,” “Jugos Naturales” and, of course, “Menudo,” always menudo.

And it’s menudo — glorious, old school, hangover healing, soul soothing menudo that virtually everyone going to La Chilanguita takes home on a Sunday morning.

There’s much more of a menu — the posole is wonderful, the caldos a joy, there’s a fine mole. But only menudo has the magical properties needed on the morning after the night before. Have you never had the pleasure of menudo? I refer not, of course, to the Puerto Rican boy band of the same name, whose members were famously given the boot when they ceased to be boyish. (Ricky Martin is their most famous former member.)

I refer, of course, to the soup of beef tripe, cooked long and slow in a broth of red chile peppers, often (but not always) with hominy, lime, chopped onions, chopped cilantro, oregano and more. Tortillas or bread are served on the side. In Mexico, I’ve seen small children lined up outside of menudo specialists, with metal pots in hand, waiting to get a bucket home for dear old dad, who’s had a night that may, or may not, be remembered.

The belief in menudo approached the religious, or at least totemic. If Mexican saints cooked, it would be menudo they served. And at La Chilanguita, at least on Sundays, it’s the dish of choice. But then, as I said, there’s so much more. The menu is not complicated, but there’s plenty on it.

The caldos — steaming bowls of vegetables and meat — are packed with gedempte (that’s “long-cooked”) beef, chicken and, well, more chicken in the somewhat busier soup called caldo tlalpeno. There’s a choice of tacos, flautas, quesadillas, burritos, tortas, sopes, huaraches, enchiladas and more, washed own with fruit juices, and fruit-flavored waters.

Since this is a breakfast and lunch only restaurant, there are many egg dishes, and some of the best chilaquiles anywhere. It would not break my heart if they were open for dinner — huevos con chorizo for dinner sounds fine to me. But then, this is a family restaurant, and I guess the family likes to go home for a meal of their own. And maybe some leftover menudo — it famously tastes even better the next day.

Also recommended

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arcisfoodblog · 5 years ago

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The last part of our road trip through beautiful Vancouver Island: from Salt Spring Island, via a very scenic route, to Victoria.

We could have chosen to leave Salt Spring Island on the east side via Fulford Harbour, but we would then have arrived in Victoria way too early for the check-in into our hotel (only at 4 pm). Furthermore, it would have been the same stretch of road as we would have to take on our way back to mainland BC.

We woke up early to prevent waiting in long lines for the ferry back to Vancouver Island. Therefore, we took the 9.35 am ferry in Vesuvius instead of the 10.50 am one and had plenty of time for an impromptu scenic route. But first, brunch at Tim Hortons. Timmy’s is an institution in Canada, which we had been sort of avoiding in the previous weeks, but we gave in to the kids. To us, it was a mash-up of a McDonalds, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ Donuts (which may explain the kid’s enthusiasm and overall popularity), and it wasn’t all that bad. Furthermore, they have to be commended for already serving Beyond Meat “Burgers” and “Sausage Patties” as part of their regular menu.

Our 220km/135 mile scenic route took us through the southeastern interior of Vancouver Island, via Lake Cowichan to Port Renfrew. Then we headed east on the Juan de Fuca highway along the coast, and after a lunch stop in Sooke, we arrived in Victoria.

There were three signs at the exit for Port Renfrew at Mesachie Lake:

Next gas station 82km

No cell reception for next 53km

Watch out for Wildlife for next 60km

The road was indeed precisely between these two places; no other villages on this road, just a few turns to remote farms. You don’t want your car to break down there, but there was much more traffic than we had expected, so a helping hand would soon be available if you did. It was a beautiful route through unspoiled nature that we cruised through at around 60 km per hour.

Lake Fairy (Pacific Marine Rd, just north of Port Renfrew), is worth a quick stop as a bonsai tree grows on a rock in the middle of the lake.

The sign of the cell reception was incorrect; it was only about 10 kilometers before Sooke (thus a total of 110km) that the bars on our phones filled up again. Unfortunately, we had connected to a telecom provider from the US, which is 20 kilometers away on the other side of the Salish Sea… Also, only in the suburbs of Sooke, the “promised” wildlife showed itself, although I was responsible for one roadkill.

“Lunch” was in Sooke at one of the local breweries, Sooke Brewing Company (2057 Otter Point Rd). Great beer and view of the brewing room, but no real food options here. The bag of Crystal Meth, err… Malt, made me understand why that Canadian beer is so damn addictive!

We also visited nearby Sheringham Distillery (252 – 6731 W Coast Rd). Their Vodka, Aquavit, and White Spirits are excellent, but we were mainly there to check out their Seaside Gin, which took the 2019 World’s Best Contemporary Gin Award. This category means that the gin is not predominantly favored with the classic botanicals like juniper. Other flavors such as citrus, spice, and floral notes are more prominent here than in a Classic Gin. This Seaside gin is indeed relatively citrussy, but due to the added local winged kelp, it also has a slight saline flavor. Amazing stuff! Their Kazuki Gin is infused with cherry blossoms petals, yuzu peel, and green tea Flowers from Westholme Tea Farm in Cowichan Valley was delicious too and therefore also found its way into our suitcases back home.

When we arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Victoria’s Chinatown, we took a short exploratory walk in the neighborhood.

Because we were quite hungry and the kids were in the mood for pasta, we attempted to get into one of Victoria’s busiest and highest rated restaurants, II Terrazzo (555 Johnson St). It opened at 5 pm, and even 15 minutes prior, we were already waiting in line outside. Fortunately, they still had a table free for those without reservations, but when we finished eating, the large restaurant was entirely packed.

We had the Fungi Arrosto (Portabella mushroom in a focaccia crumb and herb crust, baked with garlic butter, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and Parmigiano. Sliced and tossed with baby spinach, crispy capers, and balsamic vinaigrette) and Aglio Arrosto e Cambozola (Fire roasted garlic bulb served with freshly baked rosemary flatbread and a wedge of cambozola cheese). The kids had Zuppa di Pomodoro (Vine-ripened tomato soup with basil pesto and Bocconcini cheese) as starters. We were also happy to find the Blue Mountain Sauvignon Blanc in their wine “book” which had more than 1000 entries.

We had 3 different mains. The Melanzane al Forno (Fresh pasta folded over breaded eggplant, roasted mushrooms, garlic confit, asiago, and gruyere cheeses, baked in a tomato basil cream sauce, topped with spinach). A Fusilli con Sugo di Manzo (Fusilli pasta in a slow-cooked Bolognese meat sauce, baked with mozzarella, spinach, and fresh basil) as well a the Canneloni di Maiale (Fresh pasta filled with pulled pork and mozzarella, baked with savoy cabbage and smoked bacon cream, topped with a balsamic granny smith apple compote). We obviously had leftovers (approximately half of all the main courses), but for dessert, the kids still managed to gobble up a Crème Brûlée and a Panna Cotta… Delicious food, rustic plating, and as you can see, the use of garlic was not shunned. The leftovers were wafting every time we opened the fridge in our hotel room…

Our amiable waiter pointed out that in the evening, the 30th Symphony Splash would take place. The Victoria Symphony Orchestra gave an open-air concert on a pontoon in the harbor between the Empress Hotel and the British Columbia Parliament Building. Very well attended, and the final 1812 Overture of Tchaikovsky was accompanied by a festive firework display (instead of with real artillery guns).

It is clear that the end of the holiday is approaching as the call of the kids for more sleep and fewer activities is getting louder by the day ;-). Yesterday, we partly met their demands and let them sleep in. Consequently, they did have to stand in line for brunch at Jam Café (542 Herald St), which already had phenomenal lines in Vancouver earlier this holiday due to their no reservation policy.

It was a public holiday, British Columbia Day, so that didn’t help, but when we entered the line, people told us that the waiting time was about 30 minutes for a 2-person table: “not bad at all for Jam Café…”. Fifty-five minutes later, we were seated in the restaurant and had worked up quite the appetite.

The kids went for The Waffle Board (1 Belgian waffle topped with cinnamon caramelized apples and fruit salad) and Maggie’s S’Mores Pancakes, which was a massive triple stack with the expected layers of chocolate, graham crackers, and roasted marshmallows. Chantal had The Veggie Bowl (Crumbled biscuit, hash browns, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, corn salsa, spinach, mushroom gravy, cheddar and two sunnyside up eggs). I had the Jam Blackstone Benny’s (two poached eggs on an English muffin with hollandaise, hashbrowns, house sugar-cured bacon, roasted Roma tomatoes topped with Parmesan cheese) together with a side of Avocado Toast. Their reputation is understandable; the quality of the food is top-notch, and the portions are large enough to eat all day (which we did – together with the doggy bag from Il Terrazzo the day before). The Pimm’s Cup (Pimm’s #1, Ginger Beer, Lemon Juice, Chai, and Cucumber) is also a lovely summer cocktail!

Then, we strolled to the Royal BC Museum (675 Belleville St), where there was an exhibition about the Mayans that the kids wanted to see. Incredible to see how advanced they were in the times of our Middle Ages and how their culture was destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors in no time (their glyph language was again deciphered only 30 years ago!).

All in all, a must-visit museum as their regular natural history collection is outstanding as well. Outside the museum, you will find the Dutch Carillon. We saw it mentioned on the map, and it evoked unintended associations with a Dutch barrel organ (oh, the horror!). It turned out to be a beautifully designed bell tower that The Netherlands gifted to the citizens of British Columbia because of Canada’s Confederation Centennial in 1967.

That night we went whale watching. The choice of the boat was leading for Chantal as open zodiacs speedboats and having to wear full-body protective gear are not her thing. Therefore, we booked with Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours as they also have a sturdy catamaran specifically designed from whale watching. We had selected the sunset tour, and departure was from the Fisherman’s wharf at Erie St. The houseboats there are nice and colorful!

As there was thick fog south of Victoria earlier that day, none of the whale watching operators had spotted orcas. The weather had cleared up, but without previous sighting data, it would make no sense to go sailing around a stretch of sea of 100 km2 sea on the off-chance of spotting some orcas. Consequently, the plan was to head north to see if there were any humpback whales around. If people still had to go to Vancouver, they could be dropped off immediately, the crew joked …

Then full speed ahead and sailing at 30 kilometers per hour and choppy waves, the first stretch from the Victoria harbor to Oak Bay was a bumpy ride. Otherwise – also in combination with the Dramamine taken as a precaution – the remainder of the trip via the Haro Strait could even be called very comfortable.

Because of the whaling, the humpbacks were decimated almost entirely in the waters around Vancouver and Seattle 20 years ago. The first whale that came back then to feed there was Big Momma, and the population has since returned to around 400 specimens. Instead of a “facebook”, they have a “tailbook” to be able to identify all the whales. Big Momma showed herself, along with her regular travel buddy Heather, after returning to this area after month and a half of absence. Lucky us! With the sun dropping in the Salish sea, amidst Ferries and various Southern Gulf and San Juan Islands, it was again an unforgettable experience.

Our last morning in Victoria consisted of sleeping in again, and we had early lunch at one of the five outlets of The Village Restaurant. Brunch restaurants and breweries are the two things to bring you riches here in British Columbia! Their Chinatown outlet (1609 Store St) was, of course, the most convenient location as it was just around the corner from our hotel. And we didn’t have to stand in a line for a table. 🙌

Chantal had the Bagel & Lox (smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion and capers on multigrain toasted mount royal bagel. I had the Drop 3 (Montreal smoked meat, back bacon, turkey sausages, roasted tomatoes, three poached eggs, roasted potatoes, toast & preserves. The kids had Hood Cakes (mixed berry Pancakes), and a Healthy Start (fresh fruit & toast with strip bacon and preserves).

We did some shopping and sightseeing. As our oldest needed a new backpack for school, we went to the MEC, the outdoor store of Canada. From the shop window, you can already see that Canadians are very outdoorsy types, but the range of gear they have in their store is astonishing! I also picked up a funny shirt with “Eh is for Adventure” on it. We had luck with the weather, so the kids wanted ice cream at Perverted Ice Cream (604 Humboldt St). The concept is rather gimmicky with “risque” slogans and names of their cones ice creams and black cones that seemingly were created for Instagram alone. Consequently, long lines and many ice creams already melting before the perfect shot was taken… The product itself nothing special and, therefore, overpriced. Needless to say, we have left the “Perverted in Victoria” t-shirt on the racks…

In the afternoon, we took the car to drive to Beacon Hill Park, in the south of Victoria for the Mile Zero Monument (18 Douglas St), marking the start of Highway 1, the 7821 km long Trans-Canada highway. I suspect they smuggled a little bit by marking the ferry line between Nanaimo and Vancouver as a highway so they could add the extra kilometers of Vancouver Island…

The park also has the World’s Tallest Free-Standing Totem Pole in the world; 60m high and therefore good for a stiff neck from looking up…

If you are in Victoria, the 30-minute drive to The Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay (800 Benvenuto Ave) is a must-see attraction. I will let the pictures do the talking.

We were back from The Butchart Gardens around 4.30 pm, and the kids were more excited about gaming than visiting a brewery for a small snack and drink. Therefore, we dumped them in the hotel, so Chantal and I could have a “romantic” pub crawl… Victoria’s brewery density is absurd. Within a 500m radius of our hotel/brewery/brewpub Swans, there are eight other breweries: Spinnakers Brewpub, Vancouver Island Brewing, Phillips Brewing & Malting, Hoyne Brewing Company, Driftwood Brewery, Moon Under Water Brewery & Pub, Île Sauvage Brewing Co. and Whistle Buoy Brewing Company. The selection was the most practical one: the two nearest breweries. The tasting at Whistle Buoy was nice, and they have a beautiful venue on Market Square’s lower courtyard, but some of their beers lacked a bit of a punch and were flat. We understood that they had opened just a couple of weeks prior, so we’d chalked that one up to start-up issues.

We had been done our best at trying to get our hands on as many different local beers as possible, but with a total of 42 craft beers on tap. Our bartender of Swans managed to surprise us. Their “arrivals board” is brilliant!

First of all, he was a fellow-Dutchman (“I am from Noordwijk, so in that case, we can continue in Dutch.”). Secondly, he had been in Victoria for just eight months but unknowingly had already managed to build up a strong Canadian accent when speaking Dutch 🤪. Lastly, we each ordered a flight of 4 tasters with mainly those of Swans (very nice!) but along the way got to sample several other local beers that we hadn’t come across yet. We also got a taster of their own Negroni, which they pre-mix and then age on oak barrels that previously had Porter beer in it. A delightfully rich and smoky combination!

It was a good practice of that evening because we had already reserved for a late dinner at Cafe Mexico (1425 Store St). Hello, more cocktails !!! 😂 Chantal had the ineffable Rosa Barbujeante (Altos Plata Tequila, Montenegro Amaro, Watermelon Mint Syrup, Lime Juice, and Prosecco) and I had a Rodilla de las Abejas (Bergamot Infused Papalote Blanco Tequila, Honey Syrup, Lemon Juice, Lavender Foam). The latter looks a bit creepy in the photo but was very tasty and invoked memories of The Buchart Gardens. The kids had some Agua Fresca mocktails.

Foodwise, we had Queso Fundido (A creamy cheese dip with chorizo, refried beans, poblano peppers, and caramelized onions) and Street Corn (Charred corn off the cob with mixed peppers, cotija cheese, caramelized onions and garlic serrano, topped with Cricket salt) as a side dish. The kids ordered Quesadillas; one Carne Asada (Skirt steak, onions, poblano, and red pepper, served with guacamole and salsa morita), and one Chicken Asada (Chargrilled chicken, roasted corn, black bean, red pepper, and onion, served with chipotle crema and guacamole).

We had chosen Chimichangas as our mains, a vegetarian one for Chantal (A crispy flour tortilla filled with nopales, oyster mushrooms, poblano peppers, roasted corn and red onion, pico de gallo and Mexican rice, topped with salsa Morita, guacamole, and Jack cheese.) I had a Barbacoa one, which had braised beef short ribs as the basis. It became clear immediately that we’d be having leftovers for breakfast. Great hangover food though…

Around the World – British Columbia Roadtrip (2019) – Victoria The last part of our road trip through beautiful Vancouver Island: from Salt Spring Island, via a very scenic route, to Victoria.

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micebrandy29-blog · 6 years ago

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30 favorite vegan Trader Joe’s products

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This updated list of my favorite vegan Trader Joe’s products highlights some of the store’s must haves. Items include pantry staples, refrigerated sauces and spreads, enticing frozen items, as well as tasty snacks and treats.

(Want to take this list with you to the store for easy shopping? Scroll to the bottom for a printable list!)

Going to Trader Joe’s is like a treasure hunt. You never know what you may fall in love with at your next visit. New and exciting products appear on store shelves in regular rotation.

But being a TJ’s fan is also a lesson in detachment. As soon as you’ve found a product you love, it may be discontinued.

Products are taken off the shelves because they’re seasonal, not selling well, or for quality control reasons. So when you like something, you’ve got to buy it and enjoy it while you can. Some products stick around for years, others for just weeks.

Today I’m sharing an updated list of 30 favorite vegan Trader Joe’s products. I had to remove some items because they’re no longer sold at Trader Joe’s. And I had to add some of my new favorites since the last posting.

Green jackfruit

Obviously, you can buy young green jackfruit other places. It’s available at Asian grocery stores, in addition to natural food stores. But it’s very handy to buy at Trader Joe’s when I’m doing my regular shopping run.

And for people who are confused about which jackfruit to buy for savory dishes, it’s an easy place to point them.

This green jackfruit packed in brine works well for things like vegan BBQ pulled pork. And there are lots of vegan barbecue sauce options at Trader Joe’s that you can use for it.

Here are my favorite ways to use Trader Joe’s jackfruit:

Alvarado Bakery flax seed bread

For years Alvarado Bakery flax seed bread was our regular sandwich bread. We always had it on hand. So I was delighted when it popped up at my local Trader Joe’s recently.

This grainy bread is made with sprouted organic whole wheat berries, filtered water, wheat gluten, sprouted organic whole flax seeds, oat fiber, cultured wheat starch, organic dates, yeast, organic raisins, sea salt, and sunflower lecithin.

Two slices are 100 calories.

Plus, when there’s an orange cat on the label, you know it’s going to be quality.

Use flax seed bread for:

Amba mango sauce

The surprising thing about this mango sauce is that it isn’t sweet. It’s a silky, savory sauce made with fermented green & ripe mangoes, garlic, salt, turmeric, paprika, and spices.

I’ve been using it as a dipping sauce with vegetable pakora, or on top of toasted pita with falafel.

When I’m making a quick stir-fry or curry, I also like to add a squeeze for some underlying warmth.

Dukkah

Dukkah disappeared from Trader Joe’s shelves for a while, but now it’s back.

To use dukkah, fill one small dish with good olive oil. In the next, pour some of the dukkah.

Then dunk warm, crusty bread first into the oil, and then into the dukkah. The dukkah clings to the oil.

When you bite into it, you get the nutty flavors of almonds & sesame seeds. There are undertones of sausage & licorice because of the fennel, anise, and coriander. Finally, there’s kosher salt, which makes it all the more snackable.

Use it as a topping for hummus or toss it with roasted potatoes.

I used to always make my own dukkah. And if you have Vegan Eats World, I highly recommend her dukkah recipe. It’s incredible and definitely better than the TJ’s version.

But for only $2.99 to have it made and ready to go, it will probably be a while until I make my own again.

Everything but the Bagel seasoning

If you’ve ever had an everything bagel, you know what to expect with this seasoning mix. It’s a combination of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sea salt flakes, dried garlic, and dried onion.

I use it several mornings a week on my vegan avocado toast, along with a generous sprinkling of nutritional yeast flakes (also on this list.)

You can also add it to non-dairy cream cheese or as a topping on hummus. A lot of people like to add it to their popcorn or an air fryer baked potato.

Garlic chipotle salsa

I usually prefer fresh salsa, but this jarred garlic chipotle salsa has become my newest obsession. It’s the closest thing I’ve found to the salsa doled out at Chevy’s Mexican Restaurants, which is one of my favorites.

This smoky salsa is rich with the flavors of roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, and chipotle peppers. I would classify this as a fairly mild salsa.

One downside is that it’s a little on the watery side.

Nutritional yeast flakes

Buying a big canister of nutritional yeast flakes can get pricey. However, a bag of nutritional yeast at Trader Joe’s is only $2.99.

And unless you’re making massive amounts of vegan mac & cheese, it will probably last you a while. (And if you are making massive amounts of vegan mac & cheese, invite me over, okay?)

What is nutritional yeast? <— Find out here

Use Trader Joe’s nutritional yeast flakes in:

Organic shredded red & green cabbage with orange carrots

Sure, you could easily shred a head of cabbage yourself. But this shredded cabbage mix is a terrific shortcut.

And since cabbage and carrots are relatively dry vegetables, this mix keeps well in the refrigerator for a while without going bad.

Ways to use shredded cabbage mix:

Steamed lentils

Lentils aren’t hard to make from scratch. And they only take about 30 minutes to cook.

But you know what’s even easier & faster? Opening a package of fully cooked brown lentils that are ready to go.

A lot of lentils are packed into a pouch. It contains five ½ cup servings.

These steamed lentils are a refrigerator staple for me.

Use steamed lentils in:

Zhoug sauce

The first ingredient in Zhoug sauce is cilantro. So if you’re one of those people who think cilantro tastes like soap, stay far away from this one.

Zhoug is a Middle Eastern sauce that reminds me of what would happen if chimichurri and cilantro chutney got together.

Some call it a “Middle Eastern pesto.” However, it’s a lot spicier than your typical basil pesto fare.

In addition to cilantro, this spicy sauce includes canola oil, jalapeño peppers, chile flakes, garlic, cardamom, sea salt, and cumin seeds.

It is great with vegetable samosas as a dipping sauce. I also like to add dollops of it to stir-fries at the end, instead of chopping a bunch of cilantro. It also has a spicy kick that brings some heat.

And when I’m making my favorite easy hummus recipe, adding a dollop or two of Zhoug sauce adds a spicy zing. It is also tasty alongside falafel.

Thai vegetable gyoza

These veggie-packed envelopes of deliciousness have won over everyone I’ve served them to – from grandparents to grandkids.

There’s rarely a time when I don’t have a bag in the freezer ready to go for a quick snack, or to use as a side dish to a stir fry. Of course, they also have a starring role in vegan potsticker soup.

Filled with cabbage, carrots, chives, white radishes, onions, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce, they have a great taste that isn’t too overpowering.

These days I usually fry them in the air fryer (400 degrees for 10 minutes with a spritz of oil, stopping once to shake.) However, they’re also great fried or steamed in a skillet.

I like to serve them with tamari or Chinese hot mustard for dipping.

Vegetable spring rolls

Unlike uninspiring, cabbage-heavy spring rolls, these are stuffed with kale, edamame, tofu, and mushrooms. The wrapper gets delightfully light & flaky in the air fryer.

A simple noodle stir fry or easy fried rice is instantly more exciting once there’s a vegetable spring roll on the side.

I serve them with Chinese hot mustard for dipping.

(By the way, I also buy the bagged baby spinach & tri-color peppers shown above almost every visit!)

Grilled artichoke halves

I may be a little bit obsessed with these grilled artichoke halves.

I’ve been an artichoke lover for decades, but these grilled ones add a certain something that makes them totally craveable. The artichokes take on a smokiness from the grill and have those beautiful, dark grill marks that I adore.

Put them on a vegan cheeseboard, throw them into pesto, use them as a topping on pizza hummus or artichoke crostini, or slice them into an Israeli couscous salad.

Prefer water-packed artichoke hearts? (I usually have both kinds on hand.) Trader Joe’s has those as well, and they are delicious as an appetizer of fried artichoke hearts.

Organic kosher sandwich pickles

It may seem strange to put sliced pickles on the list, but when Trader Joe’s wasn’t in my area, I’d stock up with 5 or 6 jars when I happened to be near one.

They have a good dill flavor, crunch, and work perfectly for those of us who want our sandwich to include a taste of pickle with every bite.

Plus, they’re organic and only $2.99. That’s a really good deal when organic pickles can sometimes cost $5 or more. (It’s just cucumbers, people!)

Put them in a vegan banh mi sandwich, add them to vegan potato salad along with a splash of pickle juice, and use them as a topping on chili dog pizza.

Trader Joe’s hashbrowns

While I often make hashbrowns from scratch on the weekends, sometimes I want the delicious crispy crunch of hashbrowns without having to clean the food processor afterwards.

These hashbrown patties remind me of a certain non-vegan fast food establishment I used to visit as a kid. They are great with a tofu scramble. Don’t forget the seitan bacon & avocado!

Balela

Balela is a really fresh & simple chickpea salad made with chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes, and parsley.

It’s one of those things that would be easy to make at home. (I’d make mine with cilantro instead of parsley!) But on the other hand, sometimes it’s nice when you’re in a rush not to have to make something from scratch.

It’s tasty on its own as a snack or in a bowl with brown rice, avocado, and romaine.

It also goes well on a vegan cheeseboard along with dolmas, pickles, non-dairy cheese, Castelvetrano olives, and grilled artichoke halves.

Marcona almonds

Trader Joe’s is my go-to stop for nuts. I always have a wide variety in my lazy susan – peanuts, raw & roasted cashews, shelled pistachios, salt & pepper pistachios, gochujang almonds…

Two of my favorites are these Marcona almonds in truffle & rosemary. Marcona almonds are the best, because they aren’t as dry as your typical almond. I love their thin crunch.

These are seasoned and go beautifully on a vegan cheeseboard, with salad, or as a snack.

Plus, since they have a very specific flavor, it’s easy to be satisfied with a few. (That sounds like a back-handed compliment, but it’s true!)

Dolmas

Canned dolmas are another thing I would buy in groups of five whenever I went to a Trader Joe’s location out of town. Obviously they keep well in the cupboard. So there’s no worry about them going bad before I can use them.

I know that canned food often doesn’t inspire confidence, but these stuffed grape leaves are really good! They are tightly packed and firm, not mushy like some underwhelming dolmas you buy in cans.

I serve them on a vegan cheeseboard, with kalamata olive hummus, warmed Castelvetrano olives, or as a snack on their own.

Extra firm tofu & baked tofu

Trader Joe’s is my go-to stop for alllllll of the tofu.

First, my main, all-purpose tofu is extra firm in vacuum packaging. I like that it doesn’t require pressing before using.

It is a little drier than the water-packed kind. However, now I’ve been using vacuum-packed tofu for so long, I really don’t even notice.

Use super firm tofu for:

Trader Joe’s teriyaki flavor baked tofu is a good snack on its own straight out of the fridge. I also like to put it on avocado toast.

It is an easy to transport lunch with a salad or bowl. It also works well in a cooler if you’re heading on a road trip or taking food on a plane.

When I need a quick stir-fry in a flash, I like to cut the baked tofu into cubes and pop it into the air fryer until crisp around the edges.

For another baked tofu option, they also have a sriracha flavor, which I like a lot too.

Organic brown rice

Frozen brown rice is so darned convenient. No more waiting for rice to cook.

And you can use it straight from frozen when making a stir-fry. Just get your vegetables softened. Then add the rice straight from the bag into the skillet.

Ways to use organic brown rice:

Pico de gallo

I could go through a tub of this salsa in a day or two without a problem. It is nice and chunky with fresh tomatoes, onions, and garlic.

I don’t have to tell you what to do with salsa, but I will…

Ways to use pico de gallo:

Organic tomato basil marinara

Funnily enough, I always have spaghetti sauce on hand, but I rarely make pasta with marinara. More often I use it as a spread on bagel pizzas or a dipping sauce with fried ravioli.

It can be hard to find spaghetti sauce that doesn’t include sugar in the ingredients. I’m not a hardcore sugar avoider by any stretch, but it just seems unnecessary in pasta sauce.

So I like that the Trader Joe’s version doesn’t have any of that. The ingredient list is really wholesome.

Plus, it has a V for “vegan” right on the label. That’s super handy when you’re scanning the list of options at the store.

Monteli Organic Pizza Crusts

These frozen, organic pizza crusts have become a staple. They come two to a package, have a neutral flavor, and great texture.

They are all ready to go straight into the oven. No rolling required – just ladle on your favorite pizza sauce and toppings.

Lately, we’ve been making a lot of supreme-style pizzas with Beyond Meat sausage, Herbivorous Butcher pepperoni, bell pepper, and onions. It’s also an awesome base for a vegan taco pizza.

The cooking time on the package suggests 6 to 7 minutes at 420 degrees. I like to cook it for 12 minutes to get a crispier crust.

The ingredients are wheat flour, water, sunflower oil, extra virgin olive oil, salt, malted wheat flour, dextrose, semolina, dried wheat sourdough, and yeast.

Under the allergens it says that it “may contain” milk and soy. Because I’m not allergic to dairy, I don’t worry about possible cross contamination.

Ridge cut potato chips

These potato chips are my obsession. (They’re #1 on my list of best vegan junk food.)

I hardly ever buy them, because once the bag is open, I can’t stop thinking about them. I love the balance of salt and pepper, and the crunch from the ridges.

Put them into a vegan packed lunch or alongside your favorite veggie burger for vegan grilling season.

For another crispy snack, their organic corn chip dippers have a wonderfully fresh snap that’s perfect right out of the bag or in vegan walking tacos. If you like Fritos, you’ll love these.

Mini Vegetable Samosas

When I’m making curry lentil soup or Indian fried rice, it’s fun to have a crispy, filled appetizer to serve alongside it. Enter mini vegetable samosas.

These flaky samosas are made with a phyllo-type dough and loaded with peas, carrots, potatoes, lentils, onions, and spices.

I cook them in the air fryer. They get beautifully crisp on the outside. Cook them in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes. Stop once to flip half way through.

I like to serve them with homemade apple chutney, Trader Joe’s mango chutney, or Zhoug sauce.

Frozen fully cooked falafel

Sometimes you just need a hummus bowl with falafel, dolmas, kale salad with lemon tahini dressing, sauerkraut, and brown rice.

I like to make my own homemade hummus. Then I throw some frozen brown rice in the microwave, whip up a kale salad, and make frozen falafel in the air fryer.

The Trader Joe’s falafel is on the dense side, but it gets the job done. They are very filling, and usually two are plenty with a bowl. That means that I can really stretch one bag out for a while.

To see more vegan items available at Trader Joe’s, visit the Trader Joe’s website. They have a rundown of some of their vegan offerings.

Want to take this with you to the store? Click here for a printable list.

Originally posted March 2018. Content, photographs, and printable list updated March 2019.

Source: https://cadryskitchen.com/vegan-trader-joes-products/

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