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I like my tacos pure and simple
When I order an iced latte no flavor each morning at the local hotel café, I usually get a question confirming my selection. “No flavor?” It’s one of those questions asked in a way to ensure that I made the right choice.
In actuality, I think coffee with milk and ice has a lot of flavor. Mostly coffee flavor. That’s the way I like it. Adding a dash of syrup, or a spray of whip cream feels like something is getting in the way. I like coffee to taste like coffee.
When it comes to food, the purity of the taste, or of the way it looks, always appeals to me, and in our country, our American way of life, purity is not something we want in food. We like sour cream to cover our entire taco or enchilada. We want a thick layer of cheese on top of almost anything. We use terms like smothered and it makes us feel like when something is smothered that it is blanketed with endless extra flavor.
I want to know what’s underneath. Often, it’s the tortilla that an older lady spent hours making. Adding salt, lard, water. Mixing, stretching, tossing. She doesn’t change her ways and she doesn’t measure anymore because she knows exactly what it takes to have that tortilla taste just right. She makes them every morning before the other cooks arrive.
Other times it’s the chicken filling that has been stewing in a pot. Only a few…
