Americans are having a love affair with the taco. What began as an affection for the fast-food version, that hard yellow shell filled with ground beef and mysterious yellow cheese, has blossomed into an all-out obsession for the real thing, with upscale taquerías and food trucks popping up from coast to coast.
Yet even today, few people are familiar with the incredible variety available on the streets of Mexico, from fish tacos of Baja to slow-cooked pork tacos of the Yucatán to cream-spiked strips of poblano peppers tucked into tortillas from the markets of Mexico City. In Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales, chef Roberto Santibañez shows you how to recreate these thrilling flavors in your home kitchen.
And real tacos aren’t the only revelation in store. Santibañez also explores the equally exciting Mexican sandwiches called tortas and hearty tamales, which are so much easier to make than you might think. There are plenty of salsas and condiments to enliven every bite. He also shares recipes for fresh juices called aguas, alcoholic treats like margaritas, and a handful of everyday desserts.
While the flavors are exciting and complex, the cooking itself is anything but complicated. All you’ll need are fresh ingredients and a few basic rules of thumb.
Whether you decide to make each component from scratch or cut a few corners, this is the only cookbook you need to prepare fantastically simple and amazingly tasty Mexican food at home. With Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales in your kitchen, your dinners will never be dull again.
From the Back Cover
“I’ve been lucky enough to witness many taco revelations, the moments when visitors to Mexico bite into one that changes their lives. Perhaps it’s the warm soft tortilla that does it. Maybe it’s the little mounds of tender steak or the streak of vibrant salsa. If I’ve picked the place, you can bet it’s all three. What was once just a pleasant snack becomes a treat that you plan entire days around, one that you pine for as you lie in bed at night.”
—from Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales
Praise for Roberto Santibañez’s Truly Mexican, a New York Times Notable Cookbook of 2011:
“With the goal ‘to convert as many readers as I could from people who would love to cook Mexican food to people who cook Mexican food they love,’ the author lays a solid foundation with a chapter on ingredients, technique, and equipment. . . . The author’s expertise is conveyed in a straightforward and inspiring tone that will instill confidence in cooks eager to prepare Mexican meals at home, regardless of previous experience or skill level.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The book underscores the breadth of Mexican cuisine while diving into its most accessible aspect. . . . The recipes work; the flavors are eye-opening; Santibañez’s modern twists are appealing; and he writes with verve, precision, and authority.”
—Cooking Light magazine
About the Author
ROBERTO SANTIBANEZ is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and the chef/owner of Fonda restaurant in Brooklyn and Manhattan, New York. A native of Mexico City, he is the President of Truly Mexican Consulting and a member of The Culinary Institute of America’s Latin Cuisines Advisory Council. He is also the author of Rosa’s New Mexican Table and Truly Mexican. His website is www.robertosantibanez.com.
JJ GOODE has written about food and travel for the New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food &Wine, and Every Day with Rachael Ray. He is the coauthor of six cookbooks, including A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield and Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto.
TODD COLEMAN is the executive food editor of Saveur magazine and a photographer who props, styles, and shoots the majority of the magazine”s covers and many stories, both in the studio and on location. A graduate of the CIA, he has worked in restaurants, been a private chef, produced shows for the Food Network, and photographed cookbooks like The Japanese Grill by Tadashi Ono and The Mom 100 Cookbook by Katie Workman. He lives in Brooklyn and is a fiend for Mexican food.
