Seriously, I donāt know when I acquired this halo of omniscience, but itās silly. My position is the same as yours. AFAIK you need masa harina for making corn tortillas. The texture etc. will probably not be right otherwise, but Iāve never experimented.
Iām not sure what that refers to, but perhaps theyāre like sopes? Living in Mexico, I never saw or heard of a masa āboatā (not that my experience was somehow all-encompassing). Is this fancy new cuisine?
Tamal, actually. I made the same error growing up, and still recall being corrected by my father, who is from Celaya, Gto.
My assumption has always been that you need proper maiz nixtamalizado to make them, but it couldnāt hurt to do the experiment. Youād need experience to judge the result, obviously! I doubt it would work.
Ah, well thatās a whole other linguistic debate. At what point does the incorrect English back-formation become standard? (Thanks, though. I didnāt know that.)
If I were to make tamales (?), theyād be in an ever-larger category of dishes Iāve only cooked at home, and never tried in a restaurant, authentic or otherwise, so Iād have no way to say if it āworksā in an authentic sense. For example, I love the assorted polenta dishes Iāve added to my repertoire. One of these days I really should try polenta at a genuinely Italian-ish restaurant to see if Iām anywhere close to āstandardā, not that it really matters for whether or not I enjoy the dish.
I recently noticed that Diana Kennedyās Essential Cuisines of Mexico now has a Kindle edition, although from what Iāve seen of her stuff Iām far more likely to read that than I am to cook with it. Perhaps more practical for me are the upcoming Rick Baylessās [i]More Mexican Everyday[/i] (LOVE the first one), and Cooks Illustratedās as always modestly named Best Mexican Recipes.
If we are going into detail, the stuff you use for tortillas is different technically speaking from the one you use for arepas, pupusas, and yes, cornbread and polenta. Basic corn āmealā turned into many different things. Not as flexible flavor-wise as wheat but then a gordita is not a taco. Which is why anyways tacos in Central America are not the same as tacos in Mexico.
As to using dried masa to make tamales, also technically speaking, is close to heresy as per my relatives and the results, IMHO, can never be as good as with fresh masa. But then they think the same of tortillas made from the dried stuff. Yes, I know that as Latinos abroad we make do with dried because meipanfa, butā¦ Hence, the mill idea.
Thatās a common problem for me too, although, fortunately, I grew up eating tamales occasionally, and have been able to try tamales and sopes in Mexico, traditional mole, and so on.
Searching online turns up that it is calcium oxide (CaO, ę°§åé£), aka quicklime or burnt lime (made by putting limestone in a very hot kiln), which when you add it to water becomes calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) aka pickling lime, aka lime paste, which has nothing to do with citrus limes (but I can imagine some poor schleb has misunderstood and has written the latter into instructions online somewhere). I imagine youāll find the calcium oxide itself marketed under āpickling limeā.
According to this site, it forms a cloudy slurry in water, as it is minimally soluble in water. You can search for pickling lime online and see if anyone ships internationally. However, acc. to Wiki, it is widely used in the food industry, and so food-grade slaked lime is likely available here somewhere, especially since itās used to make ācentury eggsā (ē®č pĆdĆ n) acc. to Wiki. It might be used in some Thai food to, as this pic implies. Itās used to prepare betel nuts here; should be easy to get.
+1 for juanitas. tried it the other day, it definitely hit the spot.
although i donāt like the counter style restaurants with hardly any seats the food was awesome. i didnāt have much choice as all the actual restaurant style mexican restaurants had very shitty reviews. i will try eddies cantina next time.
I had a pretty good chicken burrito the other day at Pre Game in Xin Yi. Just to set expectations, that place is American-style bar food so not sure if their burrito ranks high as far as authenticity goesā¦but it was tasty.
There is a Taco Festival this weekend? How can there be this many places that serve tacos that I have never heard of?!
Taipei Times
Fri, Apr 08, 2016 - Page 12
The anywhere, anytime kind of food
Taiwan gears up for its first-ever Festival del Taco en Taipei tomorrow and Sunday at Taipei Artist Village
By Marcus Aurelius / Contributing reporter
Uncle Taco Touch will be selling a variety of tacos at the Festival del Taco in Taipei tomorrow.
Taiwan is well known for itās many cheap culinary delights. Stinky tofu, oyster omelets, pigās blood cake and three cups chicken (äøęÆé) are all tasty dishes found easily in every city and are a must try for tourists.
In Latin countries, tacos are usually the best cheap foods. Taiwan doesnāt really do tacos, unless guabao (å²å ), soy sauce braised pork topped with peanut powder and served in a steamed bun, is included. This weekend, the first-ever Festival del Taco en Taipei at the Taiwan Artist Village (å°ååéčč”ę) will be introducing Taiwan to a variety of tacos Nine stalls will be selling tacos, including Emās Taco, Mecato, Uncle Kunkel, Nalaās Mexican Food and Las Adelitas.
TACO MADNESS
Todde Williams is a culinary crackerjack who considers himself an expert on tacos. He plans his birthdays in Taco Bells and is always on the lookout for Mexican food when he travels around the world as a writer. Williams will also be at the festival selling his Uncle Taco Touch tacos.
Having relocated to Taipei from South Korea two years ago, Williams says that Taiwanese pay closer attention to replicating the original than Koreanās do.
āTaipei has actually taken the time to look up recipes, and people in town travel a lot more than Koreans do, and get more out of other cultures in general. Iād say that here itās genuinely about flavor, even if thereās a slight miss,ā he said.
āSometimes everything will be spot on, and then someone throws cabbage on the taco and makes it a mess. Iāve had a perfect taco, served cold, and a nice, hot, juicy taco served with mayonnaise instead of sour cream.ā
While Williamsā favorite taco joint in Taiwan is Anitaās Cantina in Taitung Countyās Dulan Village (é½č), he said he is proud of his pork adobada, which he stews for 12 hours.
Festival Notes
What: Festival del Taco en Taipei (å°åå¢Øč„æå„å¤¾é¤ ēÆ
When: Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 6pm
Where: Taipei Artist Village (å°ååéčč”ę), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (å°ååøåå¹³ę±č·Æ7č)
Admission: Free
On the Net: On Facebook, search for Festival del Taco en Taipei
What is āwet masaā? Do tellā¦
And what city super has that Bobās Red Mill Masa Harina? I had to hand carry a bag last time and I am halfway through it already.