Taco Week!!

Hello from here, over a year into this weird pandemic life. I should specify that “here” means—once again!—a different apartment than the last time we checked in! In addition to all the public health weirdness of 2020, some serious voodoo went down in our old building, and our residence there culminated in a fire in the unit next door to ours, which sent us packing our bags and boxes in record time. The upshot is that we now live in an apartment that is WAY too nice for us (y’all, it has TWO bathrooms!!), which happens to be a five-minute walk from Minnehaha Falls, aka my favorite spot in all of Minneapolis. In keeping with my usual habit of changing ALL the things ALL at once, I’m also in a new job! Life is weird, but we are happy.

Speaking of weird and happy things, I come to you today with a recap of one of our favorite recent projects: TACO WEEK. Over the last year, when we’ve been making three meals a day at home, Alex and I have come to rely heavily on tacos. For a while there, we were throwing scrambled eggs and salsa verde in tortillas for breakfast nearly every morning. On days when we have no leftovers for lunch, we’ll most likely crack into a can of black beans and throw them into tortillas with whatever toppings the fridge can provide. When Alex and his Cantus colleagues spent two weeks in Iowa (after a strict quarantine period) recording digital concerts, I sent him off with a pork shoulder and two giant packs of tortillas. You just can’t beat tacos for their simplicity and versatility.

So it was that we were sitting together at lunchtime, eating something or other out of a tortilla, chatting about how we could never possibly get tired of tacos. And we decided to put that theory to the test by embarking on a full week of tacos: a different recipe every night, with no repeats. Friends, it was a revelation. Let’s unpack it.

THE SOURCE MATERIALS

Let me say this right off the bat: I understand that no one needs or wants to hear a lecture on Mexican food delivered by a white lady. Rest assured, this white lady is taking exactly zero credit for any of the recipes we used. I relied on the following books:

La Cocina Mexicana: Many Cultures, One Cuisine by Marilyn Tausend, with Ricardo Muñoz (if you’ve watched The Taco Chronicles on Netflix, you’ve seen Ricardo Muñoz. Seeing his name on this book is what inspired me to pick it up, and it did not disappoint.)

New Latin Flavors by Richard Sandoval

The Peached Tortilla by Eric Silverstein

My Mexico City Kitchen by Gabriela Cámara

And finally, I used Diana Kennedy’s carnitas recipe, which I have memorized. Yes, Diana Kennedy is a white lady, but she is, I think, the Julia Child of Mexican food. By which I mean: she didn’t invent any of it, but she brought it to many American tables before it was really on our cultural radar. There’s a tribute to Diana Kennedy in My Mexico City Kitchen, which is a ringing endorsement if I’ve ever seen one.

THE RECIPES

In the order in which I cooked them:

Chorizo and mushroom tacos
Probably the simplest of them all: sautéed ground chorizo and mushrooms, in a corn tortilla, topped with sour cream and salsa verde. These weren’t from any recipe, really, and are undoubtedly the least “authentic.” In the winter, I make roasted sweet potatoes stuffed with the chorizo/mushroom mixture, and when we had leftover filling once, it just made sense to turn them into tacos. Hot tip: adding scrambled eggs makes these the perfect breakfast tacos.

Beer-battered fish tacos, from La Cocina Mexicana
White fish (I used flounder) gets dunked in a batter made with Modelo and fried to a golden crisp. Then you smear a little chipotle mayo on a corn tortilla, top that with the fish, and finish it off with a mixture of shredded cabbage and pico de gallo (the acidic juices in the pico soften the cabbage a little). Probably one of the best fish tacos I’ve had, even if it did require me to deep fry.

Poblano and corn tacos, from La Cocina Mexicana
I thought it might be nice to have a vegetarian day amid all the braised meats and deep fried fish, and these hit the spot. Once again, a pretty straightforward preparation, but what makes it special is the little bit of crema you stir into the pan once the peppers and corn are cooked; it thickens up slightly and reminds me a bit of cheese dip. Topped with salsa verde and sliced avocado—mmmmm.

Banh mi tacos, from The Peached Tortilla
Definitely the most outside-the-box offering of the week. However, I knew these would be a hit the moment I read the recipe. Fatty, fatty pork belly braises in a soy sauce/brown sugar/rice vinegar broth, and while it cooks, shredded carrot and daikon radish pickle in a simple brine. The pork and pickles are topped off with cilantro, sliced jalapeños, and Sriracha mayo. Flour tortillas are a must for these, both because they mimic the traditional sandwich bread, and because a corn tortilla wouldn’t stand a chance against the juices that come off the pork.  Although these require three to four hours to make, the actual hands-on time is minimal, and the payoff is just unbelievably good.

Tacos al pastor, from My Mexico City Kitchen
This is the recipe that introduced me to the salsa verde I’ll be making for the rest of my life, so I love it for that reason alone. It probably requires the most advance prep, since you have to make both the salsa and the adobo in which you marinate the pork. However, both are very easy, and the adobo recipe makes enough for three rounds of tacos al pastor, and it freezes well, so no complaints from me. I definitely gave the pineapple in this recipe some side-eye, but I’m happy to report that it totally works.

Carnitas tacos, from Diana Kennedy
These carnitas are magic—magic, I tell you. How can a recipe that consists of pork shoulder, water, salt, and *nothing else* be so delicious? It defies everything I thought I knew about cooking. Another fairly simple taco, I like to top this one with the ubiquitous salsa verde (don’t even ask me how many tomatillos I purchased during Taco Week), homemade guacamole, sour cream, pickled jalapeños, and cilantro leaves.

Brisket tacos, from New Latin Flavors
….we’ll get to these in a minute.

THE INGREDIENTS

Most of these recipes would have been impossible to make if I had stuck to the neighborhood supermarket. I am fortunate to have easy access in Minneapolis to some top-notch international grocery stores; special shout-outs go to iTaco in Richfield, and United Noodles a couple miles from our apartment. There are few things that give me more joy than poking around in these shops, and I highly recommend paying a visit to any that may be in your area.

The main items that required special shopping excursions were dried chilies—five different types—plus Mexican oregano and annatto powder. Items that I *could* have bought in my usual grocery but chose to buy at iTaco include corn tortillas, Mexican crema, and housemade pico de gallo (because, come on- how was I supposed to pass that up?!).

The Asian grocery also provided a spectacular piece of pork belly, daikon radish, and Kewpie mayo for the banh mi tacos.

THE RANKING

Alex and I are split on this one. I have never seen him react to anything I’ve cooked with the same level of enthusiasm he had for the banh mi tacos. And honestly, it’s hard to blame him! Braised pork belly is a thing of beauty, and the translation from Vietnamese sandwich to taco really works. We’ve added these into the regular dinner rotation—well, at least as regularly as we feel like we can get away with eating pork belly. But as delicious as the banh mi taco is, I would give a slight edge to the tacos al pastor. I’m as surprised as anyone that I’m giving top marks to a taco that incudes pineapple—one of my least favorite foods, or so I thought—but the combination of spice, heat, and tangy sweetness this taco provides just hits perfectly for me. I would also include the fish tacos in the top tier from a flavor standpoint, but the fact that they require deep frying means we’re only going to see these in my kitchen once in a blue moon.

In the “also in the regular rotation” category, in no particular order, are the chorizo and mushroom tacos, carnitas tacos, and poblano and corn tacos. We’ve made each of these at least once since Taco Week concluded.

In the “swing and a miss” category, for reasons that are entirely my fault and not the recipe author’s, we have the brisket tacos. Did you know that the brisket you can buy in the neighborhood grocery in early March might not be regular old brisket at all, but pre-seasoned corned beef? I learned that the hard way, and we ended up with the world’s weirdest Irish-Mexican mashup for dinner. I absolutely couldn’t let that failure stand, especially since it was the last night of Taco Week– the final throwdown, if you will– so I sought out a non-seasoned brisket the very next day and tried again. It was a serious improvement, and I’m sure if I hadn’t tainted the experience with corned beef the first time around, I would have liked it just fine, but I’m afraid I’ve scarred myself for life, and I never want to touch this recipe again, frankly. My apologies to Richard Sandoval.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So there you have it! I’m happy to confirm that tacos do not get old in the span of one week. In fact, after we officially wrapped up day seven of Taco Week– or Tee Dubs, as we started calling it– we just went ahead and had tacos for two more subsequent nights. We briefly considered adopting TACO LIFE, but as yet we have stopped short of making that commitment.

I’ll leave you today with two recipes: one for carnitas, and one for the salsa verde that I can practically make in my sleep at this point. Here’s hoping there’s a taco week in your future- or at least one or two taco nights.

Carnitas
from Diana Kennedy, via Food52

3 pounds pork shoulder, skin and bone removed
Cold water to barely cover
2 teaspoons salt

Cut the meat, with the fat, into strips about 2 x 3/4 inches. Barely cover the meat with water in a flameproof dish, add the salt, and bring it to a boil, uncovered.

Lower the flame enough to bring down to a simmer. Let the meat continue simmering until all the liquid has evaporated — about 1 hour and a half, depending on the shape of your pot. By this time the meat should be cooked through but not falling apart.

Lower the flame a little more and continue cooking the meat until all the fat has rendered out of it. Keep turning the meat until it is lightly browned all over — about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Notes: The meat will get more evenly cooked if the dish is rather large and shallow. Do not add too much water at the beginning or the meat will fall apart at the frying stage. If the meat is still fairly hard when the water has evaporated, then add a little more water and continue cooking. Choose pork that has a fair amount of fat or you will have to add some lard for it to brown properly.

Salsa Verde
adapted just slightly from My Mexico City Kitchen

10 medium tomatillos, husks removed and skins rinsed, cut in half
4-6 serrano chilies, stemmed and sliced in half lengthwise
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 white onion, cut in half: one half finely chopped and one half left intact
1.5 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

In a medium saucepan, combine the tomatillos, serranos, garlic, intact onion half, and salt. Add cold water just barely to cover, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Let the mixture simmer until the tomatillos and serranos turn a khaki-green color.

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Using either an immersion blender or a stand blender, pulse until mostly smooth (I like to leave mine a little bit chunky). Return to the saucepan and cook until the salsa has reduced by about a quarter and is somewhat thickened. Stir in the chopped onion and cilantro. Let cool before serving.