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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | January 2006 
Informal, Filling and Finger-Licking Good
 Thomasina Miers - Times On Line
| | A Mexican feast of tacos and delicious fillings is a joy to share. |
Eating tacos is the most fun way to eat. A basket perches on the table with a cloth inside, hiding slightly charred, hot corn tortillas, the instrument of choice for delving into the food.
Tacos in Mexico are small, soft, pliable discs that you either roll into a cigar to use in place of a fork or spoon, or which you stuff with myriad combinations of fillings and spicy salsas. Taco stands are at every street corner in Mexico City with scores of different fillings and are the archetypal fast food.
At home, you can take it more slowly and get as inventive as you like with the fillings. Try chargrilled prawns, pan-fried fish or chicken or thicker, more substantial, spicy stews, always ensuring that you have at least two salsas to spice up the dishes or cool them down, and a plate of ripe, sliced avocado.
A good taco feast is delicious served with small glasses of any good-quality, aged tequila and matching small glasses of sangrita. Sangrita is like our classic Virgin Mary mix with a dash of orange juice and grenadine, plus plenty of extra Tabasco. It is highly spiced and slightly sweet, which complements the tequila beautifully. The aim is to sip the tequila and sangrita as you while away time feasting, enjoying the flavours of the food and the lively conversation.
Corn tortillas are available from the Cool Chile Co or most large supermarkets. Do use flour if you cant find corn.
Steak Tacos
Marinating time: 30 min
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15-20 min
Skirt steak is a thin cut of meat with a pronounced, beefy flavour. It is exceptionally good value and is tender and delicious when sliced into thin slithers and flash fried. Order from the butcher or use the more expensive fillet in its place. It is best to cook this dish at the last minute as the strips are best eaten hot!
500g skirt steak
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Juice of 2 limes
1tsp cumin seeds, gently heated and ground
2 medium onions, sliced into 1cm slices
6 mini bell peppers
Method: Slice the skirt in half along the grain. Then slice into very thin slices, about a quarter of a centimetre wide, and season well with salt and pepper. In a food processor mince the shallot and garlic together with the lime juice and cumin seeds. Toss this mixture into the steak strips and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Any longer and the acid from the lime will begin to cook the steak, which you dont want.
Chargrill the onion slices and peppers until the onion has turned translucent and both are slightly charred. Keep warm. When you are ready to eat, heat a chargrill or heavy frying pan until smoking hot. Wipe off the marinade from the steak strips and flash fry for 20-30 seconds a side, in batches, so as not to lower the heat of the pan. Turn out onto a warm plate with the onion and peppers and add to the feast on the table.
Chorizo-Potato Taco Filling
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 20-25 min
This is a classic taco filling and can be found on every street corner in Mexico City. It is a delicious combination of spicy chorizo and creamy potato and is delicious drenched in the roast tomato salsa.
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes (Desiree are good)
300g chorizo, casing removed and chopped
4 bay leaves, fresh if possible, finely chopped
A squeeze of lime
Salt and pepper
Method: Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Heat a heavy frying pan on medium heat, add the chorizo and onion and stir. Cook over the medium heat, breaking up the chorizo with a wooden spoon to get small crumbs. Cook until the chorizo is caramelising and the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the potatoes to the chorizo and cook until the potato is starting to go crispy and brown. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lime juice. The mixture will turn into a sort of potato hash, which is what you want. Reserve, refrigerated, until you need it. It can be re-heated in the microwave or in a saucepan with a splash of water.
Avocado Salsa
Prep: 10 min
This is a creamy, fresh tasting salsa that goes particularly well with the steak tacos. I also love it in a baked potato with plenty of crispy bacon.
1 tomato
1 cucumber, peeled and de-seeded
1 garlic clove, peeled
Juice of 1 lime
1 green chilli, stemmed
1 large, ripe avocado
A handful of coriander
Method: Deseed the chillies, depending on how hot you like your food; the seeds are the hottest part. The salsa is delicious with a bit of bite to it, but it is good to have a mild salsa and a hot one to choose between; the roasted tomato salsa can be your hot one and the avocado one slightly more cooling, with a hint of chilli to pep it up. If the chillies are too mild, you will want some of the seeds to spice it up.
Put the tomato, cucumber, garlic, coriander and chillies in a food processor and pulse to get a smooth paste. Peel the avocado, take out the stone and add it to the food processor together with the lime juice.
Blend to get a smooth salsa, about the consistency of double cream. Season with salt and pepper and put in a pretty bowl.
Roast Tomato Salsa
Prep: 5 min
Cook: 15 min
This salsa uses a classic Mexican cooking technique of dry-roasting vegetables in a frying pan. The vegetables become charred in patches, which gives them a rich, smoky flavour. Most chillies are cooked like this for table sauces and other dishes.
3 large tomatoes
2 medium green chillies
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 medium red onions cut into 3 or 4 chunks
A large handful of coriander, chopped
Half tsp of red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Method: Put the tomatoes, chillies, garlic and onions in a large, dry frying pan. Cook over a fairly high heat for 10-15 minutes, turning the vegetables over occasionally. You want to have them charred and blackened in places. When they have cooked, stem the chillies and slip the garlic cloves out of their skins. The garlic should be soft from the cooking. Cook it for a little longer, if it still feels hard and raw. Put all the ingredients in the food processor and whiz for 5 minutes. Put in a bowl and add to the table.
Thomasina Miers was the winner of Masterchef 2005 and is the joint editor of Soup Kitchen (Collins, £17.99) |
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