Garcia - Lorena Garcias New Taco Classics

Our stories may be different, our intonations unique, our rhythms purely regional, but one way or another our most beloved dishes come cradled in corn. These dishes offer bites within bites, sublime pops of flavor contained within earthy corn wrappings. As simple as a taco, an arepa or a tamal may seem, they enfold more than a set of ingredients. They carry the great intangibles that distinguish our stories, the flavor notes of a particular city, the cooking methods of a region, not to mention the shared memories of a family. Like tiny declarations of identity, each bite spells out the nuances between Mexico and Venezuela, Ecuador and Puerto Rico, Peru and Cuba. Dishes tell stories.

Sometimes those stories echo the beats of a particular place or culture, and sometimes they echo a mix of beats. And when we explore the culinary beats we share in Latin America and the Caribbean, we must pay homage to the taco. Allow me to use this term loosely here. Im not referring to the literal taco shell and taco filling that may come to mind, but rather a concept thats shared across our Latin cultures: the concept of food in a vessel. Food embraced. So what if we take that vessel as a way to showcase the broader Latin cuisine? What if we were to expand the concept of the humble taco and build a new taco template? We build this template by first deconstructing the concept: There is the vessel thats most often made of corn masa, the filling, the toppings and the techniques that bring those elements together.

That vessel can take the form of a taco, an arepa, a sope, an empanada, even a tamal. It can carry any number of fillings and toppings, and be paired with any number of sides. Master the elements and your mix-and-match possibilities are endless. I see this book as a wonderful interactive meal in which you can bring your own pairing options to the table. I present you with scores of recipes, but you can combine them any way youd like. And even though its a taco book, you can skip the tortilla (or whatever vessel is specified in the recipe) entirely.

Thats the beauty of these recipes: Theyre made for pairing and sharing, depending on your craving or occasion. You may notice, however, that these New Taco Classics recipes have a recurring theme in how they are constructed. For the most part, they are built in layers: vessel, filling, crunch and sauce.

• Your vessel can be crispy like a hard-shell taco or soft like a tamal.
• Your fillingsmeats, seafood and/or veggiesgive you the flavor centerpiece of your dish.
• Then theres the crunchy aspect: the slaws and salads that add textural contrast to the dish.
• Add a creamy or saucy element to help connect the flavors and youve got a deliciously complex bite.