Que Pasa Contigo?
When I was six, I decided, for some reason, that tacos were my favourite-est food ever. That was 1982. Interesting sidebar: this was only a couple of years after Taco Bell went international with its first restaurant in Guam. Clearly, I was part of that bleeding edge North American trend of loving the Mexican food. Oddly, it has been several years since I made tacos and last week marked the end of that drought. Drag out the taco seasoning: it is time.
This meal was decidedly un-gourmet of me. Ground beef with store-bought seasoning, pre-made El Paso taco shells, salsa, lettuce, avocado, cheddar and sour cream. Marc rescued us from completely abandoning our gastronomic hauteur by suggesting the fish taco. We had some leftover tuna (it was fresh on the day that we made the sushi) and so decided to sear it and force it to become the protein portion of the taco. A drop-dead gorgeous taco this did not make but it was an interesting little deviation. Myself, I still prefer the troglodyte Americanized version, heavy on the cheese. It’s barely even Mexican food but was reminiscent of my 1982.
Speaking of Americans and their penchant for foods both fast and fatty, here’s a recipe for Taco Town’s Ultimate Taco, courtesy of Saturday Night Live (Oct. 8, 2005, the one with Ashlee Simpson not getting caught lip-syncing):
Start with a crunchy all-beef taco smothered in nacho cheese, lettuce, tomato and our special southwestern sauce.
Wrap it in a soft flour tortilla with a layer of refried beans in between.
Wrap that in a savory corn tortilla with a midlle layer of monterey jack cheese.
Take a deep-fried gordita shell, smear on a layer of our special guacamolito sauce, and wrap that around the outside.
Wrap that in an authentic Parisian crepe, filled with egg, gruyere, merguez sausage and portabello mushrooms.
Wrap the whole thing in a Chicago-style deep dish meat-lover’s pizza.
Roll it up in a blueberry panacke, dip it in batter, and deep fry until it’s golden brown.
Serve it in commemorative tote bag filled with spicy vegetarian chili.