Rick Bayless - Frontera: Margaritas, Guacamoles, and Snacks

Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless

FRONTERA

Margaritas, Guacamoles and Snacks

Photographs by Paul Elledge

To the artisan tequila and mezcal producers

for the thrill concentrated in every sip,

To the craftsman avocado growers

for the luxury of texture and flavor,

And to Margarita, whoever she was.

{ contents }

Fiesta at Ricks

(with Deann Groen Bayless)

Mexican Everyday

(with Deann Groen Bayless)

Rick and Lanies Excellent Kitchen Adventures

(with Lanie Bayless and Deann Groen Bayless)

MexicoOne Plate at a Time

(with JeanMarie Brownson and Deann Groen Bayless)

Salsas That Cook

(with JeanMarie Brownson and Deann Groen Bayless)

Rick Baylesss Mexican Kitchen

(with Deann Groen Bayless and JeanMarie Brownson)

Authentic Mexican

(with Deann Groen Bayless)

F or nearly three decades, my career as a cookbook author has been intertwined withand benefited fromthe vision, impeccable attention to detail and unwavering standards of Maria Guarnaschelli, editor extraordinaire. She is unparalleled as reader-cook advocate, working through each recipe from scratch, pointing out the imprecise and cryptic, always striving to ensure delicious success for all who carry my recipes into the kitchen. Thank you, Maria.

And to you too, Doe Coover, who offer the constant wisdom, needed encouragement and welcome support necessary to keep me on track, draw the book to completion and get it into the hands of those whove been looking for just this title.

Jordan Johnston, our mixologist at Frontera, worked tirelessly with Deann and me developing a great many of the tequila and mezcal cocktails included here. Were indebted to his creativity, perseverance and ongoing passion for creating perfect cocktails.

Carlos Alferez, Fronteras general manager and partner, jump-started our tequila and mezcal program years ago. Shaw Lash, one of our development chefs at Frontera, took the ideas spun by so many of us chefs and created carefully tested recipes from them.

Jen Fite, our partner who brings together so many aspects of the Frontera world, skillfully shepherded this project to its beautiful conclusion. And Jeff Maimon, our personal assistant, juggled more schedules and tastings and ingredients and photos than anyone could have imagined. To all our staff who have so generously supported us as we bring Mexicos spirited inspirations alive in Chicago, we owe a huge debt of gratitude.

As my words were transformed into finished pages, magic happened. Paul Elledges photographs brilliantly infused the book with mouthwatering beauty and the true flavor of Frontera culture; in fact, Paul and his wife (and partner), Leasha Overturf, have become so beloved here that we consider them special members of the Frontera family. And Level Inc. in Calistoga, CA, created a design to embrace all those words and images thats as perfectly good-spirited as I feel when having a margarita and some guacamole.

Brynne Rinderknecht stepped up to the plate to deliver some amazing props and styling suggestions, scouring Chicago for the perfect glass, plate, or pitcher. We thank her for the many miles she logged in her searches, and throw out a special nod to some of the companies that loaned us props for the shoot: Crosell & Co., Tabula Tua, Joseph the Butler, and P.O.S.H Chicago.

All books are a huge team effort. At Norton we are also grateful to a host of regulars who have time and time again helped us achieve our goals, from managing editor Nancy Palmquist and project editors Susan Sanfrey and Don Rifkin, to production and art department personnel including Anna Oler and Ingsu Liu, to Marias unflappable and ever cheerful assistant Melanie Tortoroli, to our champion of sales and all-around morale booster Bill Rusin. Our thanks to all of them... and everyone else on the Norton team.

Lastly, I have three special thank yous. The first is to Ron Cooper, who has for decades now championed artisan mezcal from Oaxaca, teaching us all of that libations possibilities, if we just open our eyes to whats right in front of us.

For a quarter century or more, many folks have been doing that for tequila, since tequila began to shed its spring-break reputation and be recognized for its utterly enchanting character. But its our current crop of mixologistsbartenders with deep knowledge, passion and creativitythat have brought new life to cocktails. We all owe them a hearty Salud!

Ive always been in love with guacamoleanything with avocado, reallybut it wasnt until I started working with Alejandrina avocados from Uruapan, Michoacan, that I realized the full potential of a perfectly raised, coddled, carefully ripened one. When I visited their avocado groves, I recognized what an important role soil and climate play in creating incomparable flavor and texture. To the folks at Alejandrina and all the other craftsmen who labor with dedication and skill in the avocado fields: Thank you for bringing such pleasure to our lives.

W hen my wife , Deann, and I opened Frontera Grill in 1987, after having spent a number of years living in Mexico, we had a single goal: to bring the then little-known regional flavors of Mexico to an audience we guessed wouldnt have tasted them, an audience we were convinced would fall in love with them as we had. Downtown Chicago became our location of choice for several reasons: Chicago has the second-largest concentration of Mexican immigrants in the United States, which, happily for us, meant an easy availability of ingredients. Plus, we had the support of Deanns family there and a burgeoning group of diners who were very enthusiastic about new restaurants offering something beyond the steak-and-potatoes fare Chicago was known for.

In many ways, except for a very few exceptions, the 1980s were the antithesis of todays locavore, farm-to-table restaurant culture. In fact, when we opened our restaurants doors, all notable Chicago chefs prided themselves in sourcing their key ingredients from exotic locales.

While living in Mexico, Id become steeped in a different way of thinking. There Id learned that the most varied, most delicious regional cuisines flourished from a special synergy between the cooks and the local growers and producers, resulting, after many generations, in sound and very pleasurable traditions for nourishing the community.

Nevertheless, I knew that if I wanted my restaurant to be taken seriously in Chicago in 1987, I needed to create an authentic dining experience for my guests, and that most of them would understand that to include a menu of imported ingredients turned into faithful, museum-quality reproductions of dishes Id tasted in Mexico. My heart sank. That kind of restaurantone that serves classic dishes that most diners have never tasted before, made from ingredients far from their sourceseemed artificial, cut off from its lifeline. Cuisine, to stay alive and vigorous, must be an ongoing dialog between cooks and diners, reflecting culture and place.

I quickly realized that striving for out-of-context authenticity was like chasing a shadow, a distant memory. Without all the freshest ingredients from the locale that had given life to a dishwithout the locals to cook and eat the dishes, without the unique scent of the placethere was no way to match my Mexican experience. Think about a simple plate of chilaquiles made from those crispy Oaxacan heirloom corn tortillas simmered in a sauce of local Zapotec pleated tomatoes. Its seasoned with smoky dried Oaxacan pasilla chiles and epazote; Ive developed a Chicago source for the chiles, but the epazote grown in Oaxacan soil tastes considerably different from what I grow in my backyard. And the plates garnish of thick cream and cheese from local grassfed herds has flavors Ive tasted only there. Trying to create a pitch-perfect version of that everyday Oaxacan dish in Chicago would be pointless, impossible.