Some foods earn their place in your memory because they were served at holidays, birthdays, and big family gatherings. Sopita de conchas earns it for almost the opposite reason. It was just there. A bowl might show up beside dinner on an ordinary Tuesday. It could be lunch when nobody wanted to make anything complicated. … Read more
Some Mexican comfort foods need hours on the stove. Rajas con crema needs a handful of ingredients, a hot flame, and enough tortillas to make sure none of that creamy poblano sauce gets left behind. That’s part of what makes this dish so good. Poblanos are roasted until their skins blister and blacken, peeled, sliced … Read more
There are Mexican dishes that announce themselves the second they hit the table. Mole gets attention. Chiles rellenos get attention. A platter of tacos definitely gets attention. Arroz rojo usually doesn’t. It sits beside everything else, quietly doing its job. A scoop next to enchiladas. A pile beside carne asada. Rice soaking up the sauce … Read more
Some Mexican dishes are defined by a specific recipe. Albóndigas soup isn’t really one of them. Ask different Mexican families what belongs in a pot of albóndigas and you’ll probably hear different answers. Potatoes or no potatoes. Zucchini, chayote, carrots, or whatever vegetables happen to be around. Cilantro in the meatballs for one family, mint … Read more
Some Mexican dishes don’t need a long ingredient list or hours on the stove to taste like home. Calabacitas con Elote is one of them. Tender squash, sweet corn, tomato, onion, garlic, and chile come together in one skillet for the kind of everyday Mexican cooking that is simple enough for a weeknight but good … Read more
Some dinners don’t need an introduction. They’re the meals that appear on the table after a long day, filling the kitchen with the smell of onions, garlic, and tomatoes simmering together while a stack of warm tortillas waits nearby. Everyone knows what’s for dinner before you even call them to the table. That’s the magic … Read more
Some of Mexico’s most memorable meals don’t begin with expensive cuts of meat or hours of slow cooking. They begin with a few humble potatoes, a stack of warm corn tortillas, and a skillet filled with hot oil. That’s all it takes to create tacos de papa—one of Mexico’s most comforting and satisfying everyday meals. … Read more
Most tacos begin on a grill. These begin in a pot. Walk through Mexico City around breakfast or lunchtime and you’ll see something different from the smoky taquerías most visitors expect. Instead of rows of meat cooking over open flames, you’ll find large cazuelas filled with homemade stews, each one bubbling away with recipes that … Read more
Most people think tacos are one of Mexico’s oldest traditions. Tacos are. This taco isn’t. Tacos Árabes tell the story of immigration, adaptation, and one of the greatest culinary collaborations Mexico has ever seen. When Lebanese immigrants settled in Puebla during the late 1800s and early 1900s, they brought more than family recipes with them. … Read more
Most people hear the word chicharrón and picture the crunchy pork rinds sitting in the snack aisle. That’s because they’ve never had it the way Mexico does. In kitchens across central Mexico, crispy pork cracklings are transformed into something completely different. They’re simmered in bright homemade salsa verde until they become tender, rich, and packed … Read more
The Half Jalapeño participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
