1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (165 page)

The method and ingredients used to make this round, thin, unleavened bread have changed little since they were first documented by the Spanish conquistadores who arrived in Mexico in the late fifteenth century, and who bestowed upon them the name
tortilla
, meaning “little cake.” In those times, tortillas (which the Aztecs called
tlaxcalli
) were created from native maize that was first parched in the hot sun, then rehydrated and softened in a combination of lime (calcium oxide), ash, and water. The kernels were then ground into dough called masa, shaped into cakes, and cooked on a stone griddle. Today, a premade maize-based flour called masa harina is sold commercially, and is simply mixed with water to make the traditional dough. Handmade tortillas are shaped, flattened (usually stamped down with a special tortilla press),
and toasted on a hot griddle until speckled and golden but still soft and pliable, following a time-honored system.

Although the basic method and ingredients have remained the same for centuries, there have always been regional differences in tortilla styles. Oaxaca’s are known for their delicacy and thinness, while people of the mountainous towns of central Mexico prefer theirs made with blue corn. In northern Mexico, meanwhile, an entirely different kind of tortilla evolved, one made of wheat flour mixed with lard to form a rich, short dough that is rolled out into circles before being griddled. In whatever guise, tortillas offer comfort and sustenance. They are the very heart of any Mexican meal, and an ancient food grown ever more popular throughout the world.

Where:
In Culver City, CA
, Tito’s Tacos, tel 310-391-5780,
titostacos.com
;
in CA and Las Vegas
, Border Grill at multiple locations,
bordergrill.com
;
in New York
, Taquitoria, tel 212-780-0121,
taquitoria.com
; Empellón Taqueria, tel 212-367-0999,
empellon.com/taqueria
.
Mail order:
For tortilla presses,
mexgrocer.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Authentic Mexican
by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless (2007);
My Mexico
by Diana Kennedy (1998);
New American Table
by Marcus Samuelsson (2009);
saveur.com
(search homemade tortillas).
See also:
Frontera Grill and Topolobampo
;
Enchiladas
;
Huevos Rancheros
;
Migas
;
Sopa de Tortilla
.

A rainbow, pickled and jarred.

Similar to the cool and lovely French appetizer of vegetables cooked
à la grecque
, Mexico’s
verduras en escabeche
, often on the table as a premeal palate-tingler, adds a pungent bolt of chiles and a heady dose of garlic to the proceedings. The bowl may contain only one vegetable—green beans, say, or carrots—or it may hold a rainbow array, including tiny white onions, mushrooms, and whole jalapeño peppers, all of which have been simmered with lemon and herbs just until crisp-tender, and served cold. Garlic is a constant, whether in cloves or in whole heads, cooked to an inner softness so that the sting is gone but the buttery, aromatic flesh is ready to be spread on slivers of toasted tortillas or simply munched on its own.

Makes 1 pint

1 pound of a single vegetable or a mix: carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into ¼-to⅓-inch-thick slices; green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths; small, peeled pearl onions; and/or small whole mushroom caps

1 head garlic, broken into unpeeled cloves (see
Notes
)

3 large jalapeño peppers, split lengthwise, or 6 small whole (see
Notes
)

1 cup vegetable oil, preferably corn oil, but olive oil will do

½ cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste

2 or 3 sprigs fresh cilantro, or 1 tablespoon coriander seed

1 small bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

6 to 8 crushed black peppercorns

Pinch of ground cumin

1.
Place all of the vegetables in a deep, heavy saucepan. Add all the remaining ingredients and enough water to cover. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer, partially covered, until all of the vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

2.
Uncover the pan, let the liquid come to a rapid boil over high heat, and boil until all of the vegetables are tender but bright and still a bit firm, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set it aside.

3.
Boil the cooking liquid, uncovered, until it is reduced to a near syrupy state, about 10 minutes. Strain this sauce over the vegetables and stir to mix thoroughly.

4.
Refrigerate the vegetables, covered, for at least one hour before serving, so they will be slightly cool. The pickled vegetables covered with their juices can be refrigerated for at least 1 week.

Notes:
If you want to pickle just garlic, you will need 6 unpeeled heads in place of the vegetables here. The heads of garlic will need to cook a little longer than the vegetable mixture. Pierce each head of garlic with a needle in several places to shorten the cooking time.

You can also pickle just jalapeño peppers; you will need 24 jalapeños in place of the vegetables here.

Further information and additional recipes:
Zarela’s Veracruz
by Zarela Martinez with Anne Mendelson (2004);
Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen
by Rick Bayless (1996);
bonappetit.com
(search escabeche de verduras).

Arepas con queso.

The rustic, pleasantly puffy, savory griddled corncakes enjoyed throughout Latin America have justifiably enjoyed a surge of popularity as a cheap and delicious street food in many parts of the U.S.—nowhere more so than in Queens, N.Y., where Maria Piedad Cano, known as the “Sainted Arepa Lady,” plies her savory trade. A humble but addictive treat, they can be considered cuddly stand-ins for English muffins—though
they are a considerably heartier affair, the golden disks, craggy and rough-hewn, with a crisp, browned crust and warm, tender interior, are the perfect receptacles for melting pats of sweet butter and small amounts of more substantial fillings.

Considered among the basic breads of Latin America, in particular Colombia and Venezuela, arepas are believed to have originated in Colombia, where a variety of high-quality sweet corn flourishes in the mountainous terrain. Today, they are made from a special flour of precooked and finely ground corn, combined with hot water, salt, butter, and sometimes a mild cheese. The light cakes are a delicious foil for spicy stews and barbecued meats, and street vendors commonly offer them split and filled with beans and cheese (
arepa de dominó
) or shredded beef and cheese (
arepa de pelúa
). In Venezuela especially, you’ll find arepas served for all three meals, paired at breakfast with strong coffee and hot dipping chocolate.

Where:
In Caracas
, Arepa Factory, tel 58/212-285-1125;
in Humble, TX
, Arepas y Empanadas Doña Maria, tel 281-540-4449,
aedonamaria.com
;
in Las Vegas
, Viva Las Arepas, tel 702-366-9696,
vivalasarepas.com
;
in New York
, Caracas Arepa Bar at two locations,
caracasarepabar.com
;
in Queens
, The Arepa Lady, tel 347-730-6124,
twitter.com/arepalady
.
Mail order:
For Harina P.A.N., a brand of precooked cornmeal,
amigofoods.com
.
Further information and recipes:
The South American Table
by Maria Baez Kijac (2003);
Bobby Flay’s Throwdown!
by Bobby Flay, Stephanie Banyas, and Miriam Garron (2010); epicurious (search reina pepiada arepas);
saveur.com
(search arepas de huevo).

Cheeringly sunny and bright, bananas are eaten just about everywhere on earth. Given their appetite-quelling density, nutritional benefits, low cost, and gentle, honeyed sweetness, their popularity is no surprise. They are equally enjoyable eaten out of hand, sliced into bowls of rich sweet cream or yogurt (with or without cereal), or as a flavoring for ice creams, pies, and custards. Fried or baked to a crisp and sparked with salt, they become snackable, chiplike nibblers. And they are often the first solid food given to infants, so nourishing and comforting are these beloved fruits.

It may be hard to believe that something so ubiquitous could be in danger of extinction, but in fact scientists do worry about the fate of the Cavendish, the variety of banana we overwhelmingly consume (to the tune of more than 7 billion pounds a year in the U.S. alone). They worry with good reason, as there’s historical precedent for the kind of species-eradicating blight that could put one of our favorite fruits at
risk. The Cavendish has already succumbed in Asia and Australia. Could the plantations of Latin America, where the majority of America’s bananas are grown, be next?

A case in point is the story of the Gros Michel banana, today an exotic and extremely difficult-to-find variety, but once the banana our grandparents sliced into their breakfast cereal. The first banana imported into the U.S., the Gros Michel is much more flavorful than the bananas we eat today. Rather large and almost evenly thick, less tapered than most types, the Gros Michel is sweeter and fruitier, with just a hint of verdant, leafy bitterness. During the 1950s, it was decimated by a fungus, and by the early ’60s, the fruit industry had switched to the Cavendish.

Leave it to the celebrated chef Thomas Keller to attempt a small-scale resurrection. At the French Laundry, his restaurant in Napa Valley (see
listing
), one of the occasional, seasonal menu items is an ice-cream dish garnished with a puree of Gros Michel. When he first added the dessert to the menu, the cognoscenti were abuzz. Where, they wondered, did he locate a supply of this legendary banana? Speculation had it that in Ecuador, there were survivors of the Gros Michel blight, and that Big Mikes, as they are affectionately known, were being secretly grown under the name Seda. But, supposedly, none were being exported. The theories multiplied. Were Gros Michels secretly being grown in California for this most prestigious chef? The likely truth: Gros Michels are reportedly being raised in very small quantities in the Congo, St. Lucia, and Jamaica, and they intermittently appear in the hands of certain dealers in the San Francisco and Los Angeles wholesale produce markets—which is how Keller most probably came by them.

The history of the coveted Gros Michel offers an important reminder for today’s banana lovers: By mass-farming single varieties, we are providing vast tracts on which fungi can thrive. So do your part to encourage healthy banana diversity by seeking out rare breeds like the Gros Michel—and if you find some, please spread the word.