Pruess Joanna - Dos Caminos Mexican street food: 120 authentic recipes to make at home

To all of the wonderful Mexican cooks and chefs, from street stalls to chic restaurants, who have shared with me their passion and knowledge of the most intriguing cuisine on earth.

Most kids dream of adventures, but I was quite lucky: My family took some pretty offbeat vacations to places like Puerta Vallarta and Oaxaca, Mexico, before they became popular tourist destinations. We lived our exciting activities, and meals were amusing or enlightening escapades as well. Many of these experiences colored my approach to eating and cooking in general, and ultimately they led me to Dos Caminos.

For example, I ate my first jalapeo on a Mexicana Airlines flight when I was about five. At seven, my parents ordered frogs legs for my sister and me. We werent happy about it, but there was no choice: They really encouraged us to try new things, and this has become a lifelong pursuit. (I actually thought they tasted good, but nonetheless I was grossed out.)

There was an insane Mexican-themed restaurant called Casa Bonita, in Lakewood, Colorado, thirty minutes from where we lived in Boulder, that had a giant waterfall with cliff divers, strolling mariachi groups, a pirate cave, and lots of other wacky elements. Even if the food was marginal, the entertainment value was great and we insisted on going there for all birthdays. As we explored and ate unfamiliar dishes, my curiosity about food and culture grew.

Later adventures often took me back to Mexico, especially the backstreets and little alleyways of places like Puebla, an important culinary center, and more out-of-the-way places, like Teottlan.

After graduating from college, I attended the Institute of Culinary Education, in New York, and was fortunate to find a career I adore. Combining my classic culinary training and European-style restaurant experiences with my Mexican adventures, I have followed two paths in my career. So, perhaps Dos Caminosa name that means two roadswas my destiny.

As the executive chef of a group of restaurants called Dos Caminos, I speak directly with our guests through my food. But I also convey my (and the restaurants) passion on television and in appearances at charity events. In one way or another, each allows me to show that the Mexican street food at Dos Caminos reflects how we want to eat today: food that is tasty, unpretentious, and meant for sharing.

That said, I think its important to distinguish between street food and fast food. While shortcuts can be taken in Mexican cooking, there is great pride and history in the foods found on the street. A lot of these dishes in fact are really slow foods that are braised and stewed over time to allow their complex flavors to develop. They have been celebrated for centuries. If I have modified some of them for todays dining style, they remain true to the spirit of the vibrant, colorful cuisine of Mexican streets that so many Dos Caminos customers love.

If it was my mom who showed me how cooking could magically transform ordinary ingredients into special foods, it was my dads work in hotelsincluding going to restaurant shows with their spectacular ice carvings and elaborate displaysthat first tempted me to look in the back of the house to see how it all worked.

Mom designed kitchens professionally, but it seemed to me that she didnt particularly enjoy cooking. At home, my family ate dishes like spaghetti and meatballs or steak and potatoes. I love them, but they are not what youd call exotic.

Still, I clearly remember one Saturday afternoon when I was about five: we were in our big, old-fashioned kitchen mixing warm potatoes with homemade mayonnaise and then tasting the results. It was one of those lightbulb moments that remain as clear as if it were yesterday. Even today I get a shiver of excitement when I recall that potato salad. Its the same feeling I have now when I see perfect asparagus in the market or a new dish that I am particularly proud of as it goes out of the kitchen for the first time.

Many subsequent Saturday afternoons were spent destroying our kitchen with my first and still-beloved Pooh Cookbook. My favorite recipe was Popovers for Piglet. Somehow, I was always amazed when the egg batter became an airy, hollow roll that unfailingly popped out of the muffin tin.

I even made my mother fib about my age to get me into a cooking class for nine-year-olds at the YMCA. (I was months shy of that age.) From Pooh I graduated to The Betty Crocker Cookbook and its amazing cake recipes. Im still a big fan of baking cakes and often do it to relax on the weekend.

The Joy of Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking came next. My high school friends were my test subjects, and I owe them a debt of gratitude for their willingness to try things like escargots and les flottantes (floating islands) to perfect my techniques.

Thats probably the question Im most often asked, usually phrased as something like, Whats a blonde American girl doing cooking Mexican food? The answer is simple: I fell in love.

After high school in Boulder, I moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. There I met Jorge. Because Mexicans are all about their families, not long after Jorge came into my life, I was introduced to his charming mamacita, Alegra, and her cooking.

I certainly wasnt a stranger to Mexican food, having grown up in Colorado with its large Mexican American population and proximity to Mexico, and with parents who were fearless eaters and travelers. But her food was nothing like what Id tasted at Casa Bonita, in Denver, and I knew I had to learn it! Strangely, that notion had never occurred to me before.

I planted myself at Alegras side every single free moment I had, and she generously shared all of her wonderful recipes with me. How fortunate I was since many cooks are very protective of their recipes and culinary secrets.

Soon I began spending more time with Alegra than I did with Jorge!

Once I graduated from UCLA with my history degree in hand, my sister Holly and I booked a lightning tour of Europe on a Eurail Pass. We ate very well indeed. Our inaugural pizza in Rome had me smitten with the gorgonzola and it sealed my future career. It still has its way with me decades later in my dreams of Italy.