THE BEST
Mexican
RECIPES
KITCHEN-TESTED RECIPES PUT THE
Real Flavors of Mexico WITHIN REACH
BY THE EDITORS AT
Americas Test Kitchen
Copyright 2015 by the Editors at Americas Test Kitchen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
AMERICAS TEST KITCHEN 17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The best Mexican recipes: kitchen-tested recipes put the real flavors of Mexico within reach / by the editors at Americas Test Kitchen.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-936493-97-5 (alk. paper)
Kindle 978-1-940352-24-4
1. Cooking, Mexican. I. Americas Test Kitchen (Firm)
TX716.M4.B4265 2015
641.5972-dc23
2014046398
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback: $26.95 US
Distributed by Americas Test Kitchen
17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02445
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Jack Bishop
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, BOOKS: Elizabeth Carduff
EXECUTIVE FOOD EDITOR: Julia Collin Davison
SENIOR EDITOR: Dan Zuccarello
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Danielle DeSiato
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Melissa Herrick
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Kate Ander and Samantha Ronan
TEST COOKS: Lawman Johnson, Sebastian Nava, and Russell Selander
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Amy Klee
ART DIRECTOR: Greg Galvan
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Taylor Argenzio
DESIGNER: Jen Kanavos Hoffman
PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR: Julie Cote
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR, PHOTOGRAPHY: Steve Klise
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Daniel J. van Ackere
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Keller + Keller and Carl Tremblay
FOOD STYLING: Catrine Kelty and Marie Piraino
PHOTOSHOOT KITCHEN TEAM:
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Chris OConnor
TEST COOK: Daniel Cellucci
ASSISTANT TEST COOK: Matthew Fairman
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Guy Rochford
SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessica Quirk
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST: Christine Walsh
PRODUCTION AND IMAGING SPECIALISTS: Heather Dube, Dennis Noble, Lauren Robbins, and Jessica Voas
PROJECT MANAGER: Britt Dresser
COPY EDITOR: Cheryl Redmond
PROOFREADER: Elizabeth Emery
INDEXER: Elizabeth Parson
PICTURED ON COVER:
Navigating this E-Book
This eBook includes a that allows you to jump to any chapter. And each chapter has its own table of contents with links to every recipe in the chapter.
We have also created a that lists all the recipes in the book, divided by chapter, in one place. You can access the Recipe Index from the Table of Contents. (It also appears at the end of the book.) Each title in the Recipe Index is a link that will take you directly to that recipe.
This cookbook is filled with sidebars; throughout the book there are links to this material where appropriate.
Most eBook reading devices also offer a search function that allows you to type in exactly what you are looking for. Please read the documentation for your particular eBook reader for more information on its search function and any other navigational features it may offer.
Welcome to Americas Test Kitchen
This book has been tested, written, and edited by the folks at Americas Test Kitchen, a very real 2,500-square-foot kitchen located just outside of Boston. It is the home of Cooks Illustrated magazine and Cooks Country magazine and is the Monday-through-Friday destination for more than four dozen test cooks, editors, food scientists, tasters, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
We start the process of testing a recipe with a complete lack of conviction, which means that we accept no claim, no theory, no technique, and no recipe at face value. We simply assemble as many variations as possible, test a half-dozen of the most promising, and taste the results blind. We then construct our own hybrid recipe and continue to test it, varying ingredients, techniques, and cooking times until we reach a consensus. The result, we hope, is the best version of a particular recipe, but we realize that only you can be the final judge of our success (or failure). As we like to say in the test kitchen, We make the mistakes, so you dont have to.
All of this would not be possible without a belief that good cooking, much like good music, is indeed based on a foundation of objective technique. Some people like spicy foods and others dont, but there is a right way to saut, there is a best way to cook a pot roast, and there are measurable scientific principles involved in producing perfectly beaten, stable egg whites. This is our ultimate goal: to investigate the fundamental principles of cooking so that you become a better cook. It is as simple as that.
If youre curious to see what goes on behind the scenes at Americas Test Kitchen, check out our daily blog, AmericasTestKitchenFeed.com, which features kitchen snapshots, exclusive recipes, video tips, and much more. You can watch us work (in our actual test kitchen) by tuning in to Americas Test Kitchen (AmericasTestKitchen.com) or Cooks Country from Americas Test Kitchen (CooksCountryTV.com) on public television. Tune in to Americas Test Kitchen Radio (AmericasTestKitchen.com) on public radio to listen to insights, tips, and techniques that illuminate the truth about real home cooking. And find information about subscribing to Cooks Illustrated magazine at CooksIllustrated.com or Cooks Country magazine at CooksCountry.com. Both magazines are published every other month. However you choose to visit us, we welcome you into our kitchen, where you can stand by our side as we test our way to the best recipes in America.
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Preface
In 1963, we took a family vacation to Mexico and I still remember lunch at an outdoor restaurant, one with strutting peacocks and an excess of waiters. Most of the guests were tourists, I suppose, but what I remember most is the taste of cilantro. It was a clear sign that I was somewhere foreign, a new place, and, more than an afternoon bullfight or the choked streets of Mexico City, cilantro was my gateway to this new world.
Since then, I have cooked out of Diana Kennedys marvelous books, I have eaten at Rick Baylesss magnificent Chicago restaurants including Frontera Grill and Xoco, the best lunch spot in the world, and Ive traveled to the Yucatn (Mrida, Cancn, Cozumel) as well as the Pacific Coast of Mexico. I have also had mediocre Mexican American food at countless restaurants, from suburban eateries to a few decent spots in Texas.
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