Crispy Border Tacos
Crunchy, juicy, cheesy, spicy tacos hit all the right notes.
I grew up in East Los Angeles where much of the population is now Hispanic. Nowadays, it’s a virtual foodie’s shopper haven for finding fresh and authentic Mexican ingredients and spices to make Mexican delicacies like tamales, pan dulce, salsas, chiles rellenos, chiles enogados, and so many other Mexican staples. But, 85+ years ago in 1934, when my grandparents moved there, it was not like that. Both of my grandparents were born in Mexico then moved to El Paso, TX at an early age. Before 1924, the El Paso (which means “the pass”)/Juarez border was open allowing family and workers to go back and forth. Many ideas, recipes and relationships were formed during the crossing of that border, and no doubt in one of those exchanges, my grandparents met, then married and lived in El Paso before they decided to move to Los Angeles where they started a family and a new life. When they left El Paso, they left behind friends and family, but also their access to many authentic and traditional food items Grandma used to cook with. Grandma was an excellent cook, so it was a mission of hers to find the best ingredients in her new “city of angels”. This meant she often had to walk to several markets to find ingredients for her Mexican dishes, many times with no success. Therefore, like so many cooks who migrated to this country from all around the globe, she had to substitute authentic items with similar items, but not exactly the same. Initially, I’m sure she was not happy with the substitutes, but as time went by, she adjusted, just as we all do to changes, and by the time my sister and I were kids, she had her repertoire of favorite meals made her way. Her meals were all great, but my favorite meal was her crispy beef tacos paired with Mexican rice.
Tacos (probably followed by margaritas) are the most well known of the Mexican culinary imports. It’s hard to find someone who has never had one, and harder still to find someone who had one and didn’t enjoy it. Since my Grandparents were from the North of Mexico, flour tortillas were the norm in our home. Grandma made them with such ease and frequency and they were so darn good. Many meals that she made, like a quisado (a spicy meat stew) were perfect partners for the flour tortillas they would eventually be paired with, hence what we know as soft tacos. But the tacos I yearned for were the crispy ones made with fried corn tortillas (yes, you can call them Gringo tacos). They were not spicy or fancy and not as fine as some of her other dishes, but they were the standard in our home, and the measure by which I judged all other tacos. They are filled with a mild ground beef picadillo, potatoes, iceberg lettuce and jack or cheddar cheese. I call these border tacos, because in Mexico proper, they don’t make tacos like grandma did. These tacos are my reference to the crossing of the border that brought my grandparents here, and each bite makes me think of them. The authentic taco scene in Mexico is amazing and every region has their specialty; al pastor, carne asada, canasta, arabes, carnitas (and more). You can get a great feel for these specialties in the Taco Chronicles on Netflix and this great article which lists the most common tacos throughout Mexico. As far as I have seen, it is only at the border, mostly on the US side of the border, that you find these crispy, simple beef tacos. I have come to love and appreciate truly authentic Mexican tacos and ingredients, but I have a strong attachment to these crispy, dorado (golden), gringo tacos. Like my grandmother, I have also adapted to ingredients that I find easily in #mynewoldtown Alexandria, VA, and while they are not exactly like hers, my adapted version is a family favorite with my kids.
When making these, you need to know that there is labor involved in the preparation because each shell has to be fried, then filled and garnished. Some cooks fill the warmed tortilla, seal them with a toothpick and fry them in a big batch. I like to fry the shells individually so I can pry them open, giving them space for the filling and garnishes. Making these is a labor of love and it brings me back to my grandmother, my youth and my roots to this country. If you make these tacos, the way I do, frying every tortilla, not buying store bought baked shells, your loved ones will love them too.
This is my assembly line, on the bottom side of a muffin tin, where I fill the shells with meat and cheese.
Follow the link for this fresh Ranchera salsa that tops the tacos perfectly.
