Jonas Cramby - Tex-Mex from Scratch

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www.pavilionbooks.com Tex-MexSCRATCH
BY: Jonas Cramby PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Roland Persson CONTENTS TEX-MEX SCRATCH My name is Jonas Cramby and Im addicted to tacos. I love Tex-Mex food so much that I named my eldest daughter Dixie as her first name and Margarita as her middle name, and my youngest daughter Lone Star (after the nickname for the state of Texas). And if I ever have a third, shell be named Carnita after my favourite taco filling (). And just to make things clear here, were not talking about that kind of horrible ready-made Mex that national league football players like, neither are we talking about bordering-on-racist Tex-Mex parties with Tequila Slammers, fake moustaches and funny sombreros, or Friday nights in with hard taco shells that break up and fall all over your knee after the first bite. But about really tasty, homemade Tex-Mex grub made from scratch. Because even though the word Tex-Mex has carried a negative connotation for a long time, its about as intelligent to reject a whole cuisine on these grounds as to say they have bad food in Italy because you can also get spaghetti bolognese in a jar.

Real Tex-Mex is actually, like so many other good things, the result of a culture clash. German immigrants brought their smoky sausages and creamy potato salads to Texas, and these food traditions were soon merged with the cowboys simple prairie grub and the Mexicans beautiful food culture which in turn was a fusion between the Spanish and American Indian cuisines. The result became simple food that is easy to like and that makes you happy. This more and more people seem to begin to understand. The word taco is nowadays the most frequent search term on recipe sites, and in the US the Mex-grub is currently experiencing a revival. Many of the countrys hip young restaurateurs have left their restaurants to start mobile food places in so-called taco trucks.

The Mex-inspiration is also noticeable in American fine dining with the chef Rick Bayless in the forefront, and in Texas the long-despised Tex-Mex cuisine, eagerly egged on by the food journalist Robb Walsh, has become re-evaluated and is now seen as a proud part of the states cultural heritage. And its from the states bordering Mexico in general, and from Texas in particular, that I have gathered inspiration for this cookbook. It all began about 12 years ago when I went for my first road trip through the US. When I reached the states on the border to Mexico, I soon started to take notice of all the small, ramshackle street-food joints and rusty taco trucks, which had colourful signs boldly stating that here I would find tacos ricos (delicious tacos), tacos los mejores del mundo (the best tacos in the world) or tacos super-fantasticos (as it sounds). That such good food could be cooked in hovels felt a bit like bragging to me. But the thing was, it was true, almost all these places actually served the worlds best Tex-Mex grub.

For only a few pounds I could get a pile of mesquite-grilled meat, served in a soft, warm home-baked wheat tortilla with grilled salad, onion and a couple of big crispy radishes on top then a twist of lime and a big spoonful of smoky hot homemade salsa to finish it off. Or why not carnitas? Slow cooked, sweet-spicy pork with a small bowl on the side filled with the frying juices for dipping. Or a plateful of barbecued pork or beef: smoky, tender and sticky, served on a piece of paper with only a couple of crackers and a Mexican beer, so cold that your front teeth could almost crack. Tex-Mex is simple food that is easy to like and that makes you happy. When I came back home, I missed these places, like you miss an old friend. So I soon made sure that more and more work trips and holidays took me to the states bordering Mexico, and after a while I also started to put my head into the kitchens and ask for the recipes.

When I returned home, I started to experiment, refine and adjust the cooking processes to my home conditions and realised that you actually could, with a minimal amount of effort, cook the worlds best everyday food at home. In this book, I will teach you just that. I will go through the basics as well as the more advanced. I will gather inspiration from both sides of the border, and it will include parts from each section of the Tex-Mex cuisines food circle crispy, hot, sweet, sour and sticky. But above all, it will be super-fantastico. Jonas Cramby BASICS The first thing you need to know about cooking Tex-Mex food is that its fun and colourful with a huge amount of flavour.

So be generous with the lime and the chilli. The second thing is: no cans, jars or plastic packages can be used. Here we do everything from scratch. TORTILLAS AND
BURGER BUNS If you want to start making your own tortilla bread, you need to know that there are two different kinds: wheat and corn. The Mexican corn tortilla tastes delicious and, well, corny but only in its literal sense while the wheat tortilla is a bit smoother, breadier and softer. Homemade wheat tortillas If you absolutely have to, I can consent to using ready-made tortillas that you heat up in the oven. Homemade wheat tortillas If you absolutely have to, I can consent to using ready-made tortillas that you heat up in the oven.

They are okay. But if you really want to impress, you should of course make your own. Its a lot easier than you think. About 16 large (20cm/8in)or 30 small (10cm/4in) 1.4kg/3lb/10 cups plain (all-purpose) flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 50g/2oz/4 tbsp butter 600ml/1 pint/2/ cups warm water Mix the dry ingredients together. Dice the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mix. Slowly pour over the warm water.

Mix together to a sticky dough. Knead on a floured worktop for about 2 minutes, put it back into the bowl and cover with damp kitchen paper. Leave to rest for 20 minutes. Once the dough has rested, divide into 16 or 30 portions and roll into small balls. Roll out the balls to round tortilla breads. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.