mexican

The Food Trucks of Brunswick

by Malcolm Bedell August 19, 2011

Outside of Portland, Maine, food trucks have exploded into a national trend. Like fixed-gear bicycles and the inexplicable spike in sales of Pabst Blue Ribbon, we probably have the hipsters to thank, who transitioned the lowly mobile catering truck from “roach coach” status, suitable only for selling food outside of factories or at carnivals, into [...]

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How to Make Mexican Chorizo

by Malcolm Bedell August 17, 2011

Unlike the Spanish style of chorizo, which is cured and sliced like a traditional sausage, Mexican chorizo is a raw ground pork sausage, often uncased, that must be cooked before you eat it. Bright red, fatty, spiked with vinegar and hot chile peppers, and intensely flavorful, I’ve come to think of it as Mexican bacon. [...]

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Atlantic Baja-Style Fish Tacos

by Jillian Bedell July 19, 2011

We recently received a request from a landlocked friend somewhere in the mysterious Midwest, desperate for a good fish taco recipe. While we have certainly eaten fish tacos and made fish tacos (next time we’re on the subject, we’ll tell you more about the super-pink tuna and wasabi mayo version we crafted once), where we [...]

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America! Presents: Taco Bell® Home Originals® Cheesy DOUBLE DECKER® Taco Dinner Kit

by Malcolm Bedell July 18, 2011

Jillian and I have radically different memories of “Taco Tuesday,” the one-day-a-month night where our respective mothers felt like having a bit of a break from cooking with a kid-friendly, crowd-pleasing tabletop spread of taco shells, ground beef, and toppings. My mom grew up in Southern California, and thus had a pretty well-developed sense of [...]

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Zapoteca

by Malcolm Bedell July 14, 2011

When I hear about a new restaurant that hopes to specialize in an “elevated” form of traditional Mexican cooking, I am often filled with a fair amount of apprehension. I certainly understand the intent of such well-meaning establishments; that is, to take traditional Mexican ingredients and methods, apply some modern cooking technique and interpretation, and [...]

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Hamburgers al Pastor

by Malcolm Bedell June 30, 2011

As our regular readers know, I have a bit of a soft spot for tacos al pastor, the classic, bright red Mexican street food featuring thin slices of annatto-and-pineapple marinated pork, thinly carved off a vertical spit (or trompo) into corn tortillas and topped with plenty of chopped white onions and a few chunks of [...]

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Enfrijoladas de Pollo

by Malcolm Bedell June 21, 2011

At their most simple, enfrijoladas are bean-dipped corn tortillas filled with cheese, topped with more cheese, and baked. They’re a light, vegetarian staple of Mexican cooking, particularly in the Oaxaca region. Our enfrijoladas, however, are a copy of a breakfast dish served at Carboncitos in Playa del Carmen. Their version starts the same way, with [...]

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Crispy Chicken Skin Tacos with Habanero Salsa (Chicharron de Pollo)

by Malcolm Bedell June 6, 2011

You’re either going to love this idea, or it’s going to make you just a teensy bit queasy. My dad, for one, would have loved it; he was convinced that if he could just buy several pounds of chicken skins and deep-fry them, he could become the international king of the “bar snack” industry (he [...]

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A Comparative Analysis of 13 Sketchy Frozen Burritos

by Malcolm Bedell May 31, 2011

When I was a fat little 12-year-old, my parents moved to Orange County. Along with the many challenges present in transitioning into a large high school in California in the early 1990s (thank you, Mom, for not letting me buy L.A. Raiders sneakers and overalls worn with one shoulder-strap unhooked), one of the biggest changes [...]

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Opening: Taco Trio

by Malcolm Bedell May 16, 2011

I‘ve been wondering recently whether a truly “authentic” Mexican restaurant or taqueria would be able to gain any traction in the Portland food scene. For as many “On the Borders” and “Margaritas” as there are (conveniently located on the outskirts of the Maine Mall parking lot, and in the open sore of St. John street, [...]

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