Marinated, grilled, sliced beef, cooked so there is some charring to impact flavor. The cuts used can be skirt, flank, or flap steak and the marinade varies. Carne Asada can be served as a main dish or can be sliced up and used as a filling for burritos, tacos, and tortillas.
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Originating from the Mexican state of Jalisco; it’s a spicy stew, traditionally made from goat or mutton meat marinated in spices, but beef or chicken is also used. It is usually served with corn tortillas, onion, and lime
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There are numerous different ways in which rice is prepared. Seafood rice, for example, is Arroz a la Tumboda, yellow rice is Arroz Amarillo, and rice with eggs is Arroz con Huevo.
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Corn
Tortillas made from nixtamalized maize meal—masa de maíz— are the oldest variety of tortilla. They originated in Mexico and Central America, and remain popular throughout the Americas. Peoples of the Oaxaca region in Mexico first made tortillas at the end of the Villa Stage (1500 to 500 BC). Towards the end of the 19th century, the first mechanical utensils for making tortillas, called tortilla presses, tortilleras, or tortilladoras, were invented and manufactured in Mexico.
Wheat
Europeans introduced wheat and its cultivation to the American continent, and it remains the source for wheat flour tortillas. Wheat flour tortillas were originated in the northern region of Mexico.
Wheat tortillas usually contain fats such as oil or lard, salt, often leavening agents such as baking powder, and other ingredients. Otherwise, the preparation and cooking of flour tortillas on a comal is identical to that of corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are commonly used in dishes like burritos, tacos, and fajitas. It is part of the daily food repertoire throughout Mexico, whose gastronomy and culture has influenced those of many Central American countries and some states in the U.S.
Nopaltilla
A nopaltilla is a cactus-corn tortilla. The word is a portmanteau of nopal, Spanish for the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus, and tortilla.
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A tortilla (/tɔːrˈtiːə/, Spanish: [toɾˈtiʎa]) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread from Mexico and Central America originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour.
The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas tlaxcalli. First made by the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica before colonization, tortillas are a cornerstone of Mesoamerican cuisine. Corn tortillas in Mesoamerica are known from as early as 500 BCE.
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Nachos are a Mexican culinary dish consisting of fried tortilla chips or totopos covered with melted cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats (such as ground beef or grilled chicken), vegetables (such as chili peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and olives), and condiments such as salsa, guacamole, or sour cream. At its most basic form, nachos may consist of merely chips covered with cheese, and served as an appetizer or snack, while other versions are substantial enough as a main course. The dish was created by, and named after, Ignacio Anaya, who created them in 1941 for customers at the Victory Club restaurant in Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
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Pico de gallo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpiko ðe ˈɣaʝo], lit. 'rooster's beak'), also called salsa fresca ('fresh sauce'), salsa bandera ('flag sauce'), and salsa cruda ('raw sauce'), is a type of salsa commonly used in Mexican cuisine. It is traditionally made from chopped tomato, onion, and serrano peppers (jalapeños or habaneros may be used as alternatives), with salt, lime juice, and cilantro.
Pico de gallo can be used in much the same way as other Mexican liquid salsas. Because it contains less liquid, it also can be used as a main ingredient in dishes such as tacos and fajitas.
The tomato-based variety is widely known as salsa picada ('minced/chopped sauce'). In Mexico it is normally called salsa mexicana ('Mexican sauce'). Because the colours of the red tomato, white onion, and green chili and cilantro are reminiscent of the colours of the Mexican flag, it is also called salsa bandera ('flag sauce').
In many regions of Mexico the term pico de gallo describes any of a variety of salads (including fruit salads), salsa, or fillings made with tomato, tomatillo, avocado, orange, jícama, cucumber, papaya, or mild chilis. The ingredients are tossed in lime juice and optionally with either hot sauce or chamoy, then sprinkled with a salty chili powder.
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Salsa verde (lit. 'green sauce') is a type of spicy, green sauce in Mexican cuisine based on tomatillo and green chili peppers.
The tomatillo-based Mexican salsa verde dates to the Aztec Empire, as documented by the Spanish physician Francisco Hernández, and is distinct from the various medieval European parsley-based green sauces.
In the cuisines of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, it is often served with Mexican or Tex-Mex style dishes like enchiladas and chicharrón (pork rinds). The version typical of New Mexico consists mostly of green chile rather than tomatillos.
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Salsa roja (lit. 'red sauce') is a type of spicy red sauce in Mexican cuisine. It is made of jitomate (red tomato), ground with onion, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to taste.
This red sauce comes in subtypes: salsa cocida ("cooked sauce"), in which the ingredients are cooked (e.g. by stewing) and then ground; salsa asada ("roasted sauce"), in which the elements are roasted on a comal and then ground; salsa cruda ("raw sauce"), in which ingredients are ground raw, ready to eat; and a combination in which some elements are roasted and other cooked. A molcajete or a blender can be used for the grinding process. After the sauce is prepared, it can be cooked again in a pan with little oil.
It is used to prepare traditional Mexican foods, in a mild spicy level for enchiladas and huevos rancheros, or spicier for antojitos such as tacos and quesadillas.
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In addition to food, there are several kinds of drinks popular on the streets. Aguas frescas are a classic street drink. They are often made with fruits such as watermelon, mango, orange, lime, etc., water and sugar, but others are made with rice (called horchata), coconut and tamarind as well as a hibiscus flower tea called Agua de Jamaica. In the south of the country, fermented corn drinks like tejuino are popular and come in various forms. In Tabasco, Chiapas and parts of the Yucatán Peninsula, it is known as pozol, often flavored with chocolate and served cold. Many of the most popular street drinks can also be found in juice bars.
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Not all Mexican street foods are based on breads. Street stalls and markets serve soups and broths such as menudo, pozole and pancita. Caldo de pollo is chicken soup. Priced by the piece of chicken included, it usually also contains rice and chickpeas, with condiments such as oregano, onions, salt, lime juice and chili peppers available.
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Tamales are one of the most popular street foods in the world. They feature a filling and are wrapped in corn-based masa dough and steamed in corn husks. Tamales come in sweet and savory versions, some spicy and some bland. Versions with pork or chicken with a salsa or mole sauce are the most popular, along with a version called "rajas" that are filled with strips of poblano chili pepper and cheese. It is one of the safer street foods for novices to try as it is cooked and kept in a steam vat while being sold. Corundas are a variety of tamale in Michoacán in a triangle shape wrapped in corn stalk leaves. They can be eaten alone, with salsa or as an accompaniment to a meal. The Chiapas version of the tamale has a distinct flavor, often containing ingredients such as pibil, mole sauce, carrot, corn grains, egg, raisins, almonds (known locally as nacatamales, a regional version of Nicaraguan well-known version), a version with the regional herb chipilín with chicken or queso blanco and versions wrapped in banana leaves. They are often sold by vendors on specially made tricycles for street vendors. Uchepos are tamales made with fresh corn, generally made in Michoacán in July and August.
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The taco is the best known and the most popular of Mexican street foods, and the first to be embraced north of the border into the United States. A taco simply is a folded tortilla with some kind of filling. Mexican street taco fillings vary from one region to another. Most tacos are made with corn tortillas, except in the very north of the country where wheat flour tortillas dominate. The tortillas used in Mexican tacos are soft, although the entire taco can be fried, which is called "dorado" (lit. golden). The taco has its origins in the pre-Hispanic period, when other foods were eaten with tortillas, used as a scoop. The modern taco developed in Mexico's rural areas when wives would bring their husbands' meals to the fields wrapped in tortillas. Tacos arrived to the city when stands began to sell foods known to the many rural people who migrated to them in the 20th century. This is especially true for Mexico City, which offers taco specialties from just about every region of the country. The taco bridges social and economic barriers in that everyone in the country eats them, leading it to be called "the most democratic of Mexican foods."
The fillings for tacos vary widely and most taco vendors have a specialty, the most known are al pastor and bistek. There are also tacos for more adventurous people that are filled with beef eyes, brains or tongue. Taco vendors are usually distinguished from other street food vendors by having a large block of wood called a tronco, on which meat and other fillings are minced with a cleaver. Garnishes vary but usually include chopped onion, cilantro, various salsas, grilled green onions, and lime wedges. Many taco varieties are generally available only in the morning or afternoon. Tacos most often found in the morning hours include tacos de canasta and those with barbacoa or cabeza de res (lit. beef head). Tacos de canasta (basket tacos) are the only kind which are not prepared on the spot. They are tortillas with fillings such as potatoes, chorizo sausage, pork rind, beans and picadillo (a spiced ground meat), then steamed and wrapped to keep warm and carried in a basket. Barbacoa is pit-roasted meat. It is most commonly found in the center of the country, where the preferred meat is mutton. In the north of the country, there is a version made with beef. Cabeza de res are made from meat and other parts of a steer, most commonly found in Sonora, the Bajío region and Mexico City. Vendors of these kinds of tacos usually sell out and close by midday. In the afternoon, outside of Mexico City, tacos are generally not available until later in the day. In the late afternoon until well into the night (especially on weekends) other taco stalls open with a different selection. These are principally grilled, fried or steamed meat. One famous night taco in the Mexico City area is tacos al pastor (shepherd style tacos). They are an adaptation of Middle Eastern spit-cooked meat, introduced by Lebanese immigrants. However, the meat is pork and the seasoning is a mild chili pepper, onions and pineapple. Other taco varieties include tacos de guisado, or tacos de cazuela, which are filled with meat or vegetables in a sauce. Fritangas are tacos with fried meat such as sausage. Carnitas is pork cooked in lard flavored with orange rind. It was originally a specialty of Michoacán and Jalisco, but now can be found in most of the center of the country and in other parts of the country as well. The best-known grilled taco is carne asada (grilled meat) which originated in Sonora. It is beef grilled over charcoal, originally mesquite. These are served with grilled green onions and, depending on the region, served with flour or corn tortillas. Fish tacos are a speciality of Baja California and the Pacific coast. They have also become very popular in parts of the United States. Codzitos are small tacos popular in the Yucatán Peninsula, which are fastened with toothpicks and then fried . Flautas, also called taquitos or tacos dorados, are similar to tacos in that they are filled, but they are then rolled and fried. They are served topped with cream, salsa, and vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes and onions.
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Mexican street food, called antojitos (literally "little cravings"), is prepared by street vendors and at small traditional markets in Mexico. Street foods include tacos, tamales, gorditas, quesadillas, empalmes, tostadas, chalupa, elote, tlayudas, cemita, pambazo, empanada, nachos, chilaquiles, fajita and tortas, as well as fresh fruit, vegetables, beverages and soups such as menudo, pozole and pancita. Most are available in the morning and the evening, as mid-afternoon is the time for the main formal meal of the day.
Mexico has one of the most extensive street food cultures in Latin America, and Forbes named Mexico City as one of the foremost cities on the world in which to eat on the street.
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A taco salad is a Tex-Mex dish that combines ingredients used in Tex-Mex tacos. The dish originated in Texas during the 1960s.
Ingredients
The salad is served with a fried flour tortilla shell stuffed with shredded iceberg lettuce and topped with diced tomatoes, shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. The salad is topped with taco meat (ground beef), seasoned shredded chicken or beans and/or Spanish rice for vegetarians.
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Just like stale bread can be made palatable as toast, a stale tortilla can be repurposed as a tostada by frying it in boiling oil until it becomes golden, rigid, and crunchy. Commercial tostadas are similar in taste and consistency to tortilla chips.
Tostadas are a standalone dish in Mexico and the American Southwest, and are also served as a companion to various Mexican foods, mostly seafood and stews, such as menudo, birria and pozole. Tostadas can be found across Mexico.
Toppings for tostadas are mostly the same as those used for tacos: a base layer of beans, cheese, sour cream, chopped lettuce, sliced onions, and salsa, which is then topped with diced and fried meat, usually chicken or pork, and also beef. They are also popular with seafood such as tuna, shrimp, crab, chopped octopus, and ceviche. Vegetarian tostadas, while not as common, can also be found. Due to the fragile nature of a tostada, the main topping (usually beans or cream) must be pasty enough to stay on; this keeps the other toppings or garnishes from falling off while being eaten. The Oaxaca region is known for its large tlayuda tostada, which is the size of a pizza and sometimes topped with fried chapulines (a variety of grasshopper).
Tostadas can be an appetizer ("botana"), cut into small triangles to make tortilla chips to dip into salsa, guacamole, beans, cream, cream cheese or served with chile con queso. This version of the tostada has its origins both in the totopos de maiz and the New Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. Commercial tortilla chips, sometimes known as nachos, are also commonly sold in stores and supermarkets.
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Mexican rice (sometimes referred to as Spanish rice or red rice in Tex-Mex cuisine), also known as arroz a la mexicana, arroz mexicano, or arroz rojo in Spanish, is a Mexican side dish made from white rice, tomato, garlic, onion, and perhaps other ingredients. Mexican rice is almost always eaten as a complement to other dishes such as mole, refried beans, rotisserie chicken, carne asada, picadillo, tacos, fried fish, fried chicken, chiles rellenos, or vegetable soup.
Mexican-style rice is especially popular in central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is eaten year-round and is one of the most common preparations in Mexican cuisine.
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A taquito (Spanish pronunciation: [taˈkito], Spanish for "small taco"), tacos dorados, rolled taco, or flauta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈflawta], Spanish for "flute") is a Mexican food dish that typically consists of a small rolled-up tortilla that contains filling, including beef, cheese or chicken. The filled tortilla is then crisp-fried or deep-fried. The dish is often topped with condiments such as sour cream and guacamole. Corn tortillas are generally used to make taquitos. The dish is more commonly known as flautas when they are larger than their taquito counterparts, and can be made with either flour or corn tortillas.
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3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
FAIRFIELD
3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
A burrito (English: /bəˈriːtoʊ/, Spanish: [buˈrito] (listen)) is a dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or steamed to soften it, make it more pliable, and allow it to adhere to itself. Burritos are often eaten by hand, as their tight wrapping keeps the ingredients together. Burritos can also be served "wet", i.e., covered in a savory and spicy sauce, when they would be eaten with a fork and knife.
Burritos are filled with savory ingredients, most often a meat such as beef, chicken, or pork, and often include other ingredients, such as rice, cooked beans (either whole or refried), vegetables, such as lettuce and tomatoes, cheese, and condiments such as salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, or crema.
Burritos are often contrasted with similar dishes, such as tacos, in which a small hand-sized tortilla is folded in half around the ingredients rather than wrapped and sealed, or with enchiladas, which use corn masa tortillas, and are covered in a savory sauce, to be eaten with a fork and knife.
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3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
Refried beans (from Spanish: frijoles refritos, lit. 'well-fried beans') is a dish of cooked and mashed beans that is a traditional staple of Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine, although each cuisine has a different approach when making the dish. Refried beans are also popular in many other Latin American countries.
In this dish, after being boiled and then mashed into a paste, the beans are fried or baked, though as they are fried only once, the term "refried" is misleading. As described by Rick Bayless, "they're refritos—not fried again, as you might assume, but 'well fried' or 'intensely fried.
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FAIRFIELD
3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
FAIRFIELD
3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
In the central and southern regions of Mexico, a quesadilla is a flat circle of cooked corn masa, called a tortilla, warmed to soften it enough to be folded in half, and then filled. They are typically filled with Oaxaca cheese (queso Oaxaca), a stringy Mexican cheese made by the pasta filata (stretched-curd) method. The quesadilla is then cooked on a comal until the cheese has completely melted. They are usually cooked without the addition of any oil. Often the quesadillas are served with green or red salsa, and guacamole. While Oaxaca (or string) cheese is the most common filling, other ingredients are also used in addition to, or even substituting for, the cheese. These can include cooked vegetables, such as potatoes with chorizo, squash blossoms, huitlacoche, and different types of cooked meat, such as chicharron, tinga made of chicken or beef, or cooked pork. In some places, quesadillas are also topped with other ingredients, in addition to the fillings they already have. Avocado or guacamole, chopped onion, tomato, serrano chiles, and cilantro are the most common. Salsas may also be added as a topping.
Mexican quesadillas are traditionally cooked on a comal, which is also used to prepare tortillas. As a variation, the quesadillas can be fried in oil to make quesadillas fritas. The main difference is that, while the traditional ones are prepared by filling the partially cooked tortillas, then cooked until the cheese melts, the fried ones are prepared like a pastry, preparing the uncooked masa in small circles, then topping with the filling and finally folding the quesadilla to form the pastry. It is then immersed into hot oil until the exterior looks golden and crispy.
Other variations include the use of wheat flour tortillas instead, especially in Northern Mexico. Wheat dough is most commonly used in place of corn masa. In this case, the flour tortilla is prepared, folded and filled with cheese (mainly Chihuahua cheese or queso menonita, a local cheese made by the Mennonites). The way of preparation is exactly the same as the corn variety.
While quesadillas in most of Mexico come with cheese, the quesadilla culture is different in Mexico City, where they do not automatically come with cheese unless you ask for it. This cultural trend can't be traced back to a single origin.
Sometimes, cheese and ham are sandwiched between two flour tortillas, then cut into wedges to serve what is commonly known as a sincronizada (Spanish for "synchronized") in Mexico. Despite appearing almost the same as a quesadilla, it is considered a completely different dish. Tourists frequently confuse the sincronizada with the quesadilla because it is typically called a quesadilla in most Mexican restaurants outside of Mexico.
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3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
A quesadilla (/ˌkeɪsəˈdiːjə/; Spanish: [kesaˈðiʝa] (listen); Mexican diminutive of quesada) is a Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla that is filled primarily with cheese, and sometimes meats, spices, and other fillings, and then cooked on a griddle or stove. Traditionally, a corn tortilla is used, but it can also be made with a flour tortilla.
A full quesadilla is made with two tortillas that hold a layer of cheese between them. A half is a single tortilla that has been filled with cheese and folded into a half-moon shape.
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FAIRFIELD
3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
FAIRFIELD
3334 N. Texas Street, Suite B
Fairfield, CA 94533
707-428-1496/ph
In their original form as Mexican street food, enchiladas were simply corn tortillas dipped in chili sauce and eaten without fillings. There are now many varieties, which are distinguished primarily by their sauces, fillings and, in one instance, by their form. Various adjectives may be used to describe the recipe content or origin, e.g. enchilada tapatia would be a recipe from Jalisco.
Varieties include:
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Enchiladas originated in Mexico, where the practice of rolling tortillas around other food dates back at least to Aztec times. The people living in the lake region of the Valley of Mexico traditionally ate corn tortillas folded or rolled around small fish. Writing at the time of the Spanish conquistadors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo documented a feast enjoyed by Europeans hosted by Hernán Cortés in Coyoacán, which included foods served in corn tortillas. (Note that the native Nahuatl name for the flat corn bread used was tlaxcalli; the Spanish gave it the name tortilla.) The Nahuatl word for enchilada is chīllapītzalli [t͡ʃiːlːapiːˈt͡salːi], which is formed of the Nahuatl word for "chili", chīlli [ˈt͡ʃiːlːi] and the Nahuatl word for "flute", tlapītzalli. In the 19th century, as Mexican cuisine was being memorialized, enchiladas were mentioned in the first Mexican cookbook, El cocinero mexicano ("The Mexican Chef"), published in 1831, and in Mariano Galvan Rivera's Diccionario de Cocina, published in 1845.
Mexican cooking authority Diana Kennedy cites an early reference from an American traveler from 1883 who remarked, "Enchiladas, a greasy tortilla sandwich containing chiles and a number of other uninviting looking compounds and other nasty messes, are sold everywhere, filling the air with a pungent, nauseous smell." Kennedy goes on to heartily disagree with that characterization, likely brought on by culture shock. Another early English-language mention is found in the California Mexican-Spanish Cookbook (1914) by Bertha Haffner Ginger.
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