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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | August 2005 
Taco Tweakers Push Limits of Classic Dish
 Courtney Taylor - Gannett News
| Fresh Spin: Avocado and Corn Salsa Tacos use the freshest ingredients of the summer season. The classic taco can be updated with ingredients beyond the standard hamburger, cheese and lettuce.
Custom Tacos:
Keep the following ingredients on hand to custom-design tacos or to create a build-it-yourself taco buffet:
Corn tortillas.
Flour tortillas.
Fried corn tortillas.
Fresh cilantro, mint, basil, parsley.
Chili powder, ground cumin.
Canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
Assorted fresh peppers.
Garlic.
Onions.
Kernel corn or roasted corn on the cob, cut.
Avocados.
Tomatoes.
Limes.
Tomatillos.
Black beans.
Sour cream, crema, goat cheese, pepper jack, Monterey Jack, cheddar.
Shredded iceberg lettuce, slaw mix.
Beef Alternatives:
Fresh fish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, crabmeat.
Grilled skirt steak, smoked beef brisket, spicy barbecued pulled pork.
Smoked or grilled chicken, smoked or baked turkey.
Ground turkey, ground pork, ground beef.
Grilled vegetables. |
If you've been eating tacos filled with spiced hamburger meat, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, then you've never really had a taco, says caterer Jose Villaverda.
As a child in Juchipila, Mexico, Villaverda watched as his grandparents ground corn for tortillas.
"My grandfather rubbed the chilies, and we raised our own cows for the meat," Villaverda says. "And we had avocado trees, so we ate them with two big avocado slices."
"When I make tacos here, people are amazed at the variety of ingredients and at how carefully we prepare each one," he says.
Talk to almost any Mexican-American, and the story is the same. The tacos they prefer aren't far removed from the ones they ate as kids.
Family recipes may be tweaked for ingredients on hand or for different tastes, but the basic foundations remain.
Pilar and Filex Munoz buy taco shells, but little else has changed, from the beans and salsa piled into the tacos to the way the cheese is melted into the bottom of the tortilla, beneath the meat.
Pilar Munoz likes to fry the taco shells just long enough to make them flaky on the outside, but still pliable and soft on the inside.
Munoz learned to make tacos from her mother in Mexico, but she substitutes cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese for the homemade cheese her mother used.
"It had a better flavor the way she did it, but we do the best we can with our time and ingredients," Munoz says.
"We make tacos in the same spirit, though. In Mexico, we make tacos with whatever is handy."
That means fish tacos along the coast in places such as Veracruz and pork tacos cooked with orange juice inland near Oaxaca.
In the world of generic and fast everything, the idea of a diverse, made-to-order, healthy meal belies our sensibilities, but give a good cook a chance to get creative, and watch out.
"You can do wonders with a tortilla and a little imagination," Munoz says.
Tasty tacos use fresh ingredients
Crispy Snapper Tacos With Avocado and Tropical Fruit Salsa
6 cups plus 6 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
12 taco shells
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper
4 skinless, boneless red snapper fillets (2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
6 scallions, chopped
2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, finely chopped
3 cups arugula or watercress, torn into bite-size pieces
3 cups Tropical Fruit Salsa (recipe follows)
Heat 6 cups oil in a deep, large saucepan over moderately high heat until a deep-fat thermometer registers 375 degrees, then fry taco shells, two at a time, turning occasionally, until a shade darker, about one minute. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt.
Whisk together lime juice, 3 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste for dressing.
Season fish with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute scallions, stirring, 1 minute. Add fish and saute, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and gently toss fish with chipotles.
Toss arugula with dressing and salt and pepper to taste.
Fill taco shells with arugula, fish mixture and salsa.
Makes 12 tacos, serving four to six.
For Tropical Fruit Salsa:
2 cups finely diced tropical fruit such as kiwi, pineapple, mango and papaya
2 California avocados, pitted, peeled, and cut into Ό-inch dice
Ό cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Ό cup red onion, finely chopped
1 fresh serrano or jalapeno chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
Gently toss together all ingredients with salt and pepper to taste.
Makes about 3 cups of filling
Source: Gourmet, February 2000
Avocado and Corn Salsa Tacos
1 ripe avocado, cut into Ό-inch dice
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 ripe red tomato, seeded and cut into Ό-inch dice
1 ear sweet corn, shucked
1 scallion, both white and green parts, trimmed and finely chopped, or 3 tablespoons diced sweet onion
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers or serrano peppers, seeded and minced (for a hotter salsa, leave the seeds in)
Ό cup chopped fresh cilantro
Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper
Place the avocado in the bottom of a nonreactive mixing bowl and gently toss it with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice. Spoon the tomato on top of the avocado.
Cut the kernels off the corn. The easiest way to do this is to lay the cob flat on a cutting board and remove the kernels using lengthwise strokes of a chefs knife. Add the corn kernels to the mixing bowl. The salsa can be prepared to this stage up to two hours ahead. Refrigerate it, covered.
Just before serving, add the jalapeno and cilantro to the mixing bowl and gently toss to mix. Taste for seasoning, adding more lime juice as necessary and season with salt and pepper to taste; the salsa should be highly seasoned.
Makes 2 to 3 cups.
Source: Indoor Grilling by Steven Raichlen (Workman, $18.95) |
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