Something to taco 'bout
I promise this post is not (solely) an excuse for more carb-based wordplay … But tortillas have become something of an obsession for me in America. I can count on one hand the number of times I bought tortillas in the UK but there’s something about the ubiquity of Mexican food here that makes me want to use them for every meal. I remember in our first week here (over six months ago! Where has the time gone?) we went to a Mexican restaurant and – before the starters/appetisers even came out – we were given some tortilla chips and salsa. But these were a world away from any I’d had before: the chips were home-baked, thick and still warm, tasting strongly of corn and flecked with chunks of salt. The salsa was piquant, fresh and citrussy, and the perfect balance with the chips. That was the first “wow” meal we had here, and the sign of very good things to come…
Maize to modernity
Of course, it makes sense that Mexican food would be great here. As if we could forget in the current political climate, the US shares a border with Mexico, and – in fact – lots of current US states used to be part of Mexico (including Nevada, Utah, California and parts of various other states) and over ten percent of the American population are Mexican-American. And in fact, corn has been used across the continent in various forms for thousands of years (thought to be as long ago as 10,000 years back, when maize was first domesticated). When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the Aztec Empire (in modern-day central Mexico) in the 1500s they found them being eaten in lots of different ways – that incidentally still sound delicious - such as dipped into chilli sauce or stuffed with fillings like beans or squash. The original name for them was tlaxcalli but this was changed to tortillas (literally “little cakes”) by the Spanish. Spaniards were also the ones who brought over wheat to the “New World”, heralding the birth of wheat tortillas.
A lot of foods I would think of as typically Mexican today are actually much more recent and could more accurately be summarised as “Tex Mex”, which is a fusion of Mexican and southwestern US food, including from Hispanic communities in areas like Texas and the surrounding states. Delicious things like fajitas and nachos come under this category (if it comes with a tonne of shredded cheese, that’s a safe bet it’s Tex Mex). In fact, triangle tortilla chips didn’t come into existence until the twentieth century, being popularised in California in the 1940s as a way to use up misshapen tortillas from the automated machines that were making tortillas in general more commercially viable.
Perhaps the most famous commercial example of Tex Mex is the chain Taco Bell, which is based in California but has chains everywhere and is something I’d heard referenced in countless American TV shows (and was therefore excited to try). It turns out – perhaps unsurprisingly – that that excitement was misplaced. I must have been the first person in history whose sole plan for that day was to walk for 45 minutes to eat at a Taco Bell (try not to judge me). I tried the classic tacos: crunchy shells filled with over-processed, bland meat, limp lettuce and flavourless shredded cheese. Maybe there are better things to get on the menu but I just didn’t get the appeal, especially when other amazing Mexican (or Tex Mex) restaurants in the city are actually comparable prices. As an aside… if you want to read about bad Mexican food, this story about the taco bowls in Trump Tower is pretty amusing: link here.
Luckily, I’ve also had some great examples that definitely were worth the trip: from humble and traditional charred cactus with pico de gallo (a fresh mix of raw tomato, onion, cilantro/coriander and lime juice) and queso fresco (fresh, creamy white cheese) in the East Village; to decadent fusion seared sashimi tuna with pickled jalapeno and pickled cabbage on Governors Island in New York Harbor, with stunning views across to the skyscrapers of Manhattan. It’s hard to think of many things that wouldn’t be good stuffed in a tortilla, which might explain why they’re now the second-most sold bread product in the US (behind sliced bread, but ahead of things like bagels and muffins, which are also everywhere).
Huevos rancheros
At the risk of waxing lyrical about all the different amazing Mexican dishes I’ve tried here, I’m going to focus in on one of my absolute favourites, and one that I make nearly every week. Literally “rancher’s eggs” in Spanish, huevos rancheros is a rustic comfort food typically made with eggs, beans, potatoes and tortillas. Often accompanied with avocado and various salsas, it’s the sort of dish that there are lots of different versions of depending on what’s available in specific regions. In the US I’ve most often seen it in traditional US diners (rather than Mexican restaurants), as a classic breakfast/brunch option. In our first few weeks here I had a few completely different versions: one had the tortilla sat in a black bean sauce, topped with a fried egg and crispy bacon. Another included seasoned rice with a (gigantic) side of fried potatoes. I thought it would be a simple one to try and recreate at home, so here is my (authentically inauthentic and variable) homemade version, which makes one serving: fry an onion with some minced garlic and chilli flakes for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Add half a tin of drained black beans, season and allow to bubble for a few minutes. Pile on top of a soft tortilla. Top with fresh chopped tomatoes, crumbled feta, some jarred salsa verde (this is available everywhere here but any kind of mild salsa would work), a softly fried egg, and a sprinkle of cilantro/coriander. Best served with a squeeze of lime and a heavy dousing of sriracha hot sauce. It’s one of those dishes that is so much more than the sum of its parts: the egg yolk cuts through all that delicious freshness, and each bite is varyingly spicy and rich. It helps that it’s super cheap and pretty healthy too. It’s easy to adapt depending on what you have to hand; I sometimes add pickled onions or chopped red onion, which are both great additions.
And that’s a wrap (sorry).
