I’m a Taco Addict

I’ve got a confession to make: I’m a taco addict. Yet there shouldn’t be any compromise on quality – my tacos need to be made with high-quality tortillas, with some truly delicious fillings, amazing salsas and express vibrancy & joy of life.

So, moving forward, I’d like to write more about:

• Tortillas – how to make them from scratch, both corn and wheat ones (see my detailed instructions, recipes, hints and tricks here). 
• Fillings – easy ones, traditional and fusion ones (as a taco addict, I believe there aren’t many rules about how you assemble your tacos).
• Sauces and salsas – simple red or green, vegan cashew crema, chipotle and habanero hot sauces and more elaborate moles (see my recipes for these delicious sauces and salsas here).
• Fresh toppings – a sheer joy of fresh and local herbs and veggies.

I am flexitarian by choice. It means 90% of my food is plant-based. Yet occasionally I enjoy a delicious seafood taco, as if I’m next to the beach (see my palapa style eating article here). I love beaches and the sea. Yet I am not very strict with this – as I own a Mexican venue, I sometimes test and taste different dishes, so call it an occupational hazard if you may. 

I believe that plant-based is the food of the future. These dishes are good for your health and better for the environment and I’m sure even the most convinced meat-eaters find them delicious and non-restrictive. 

One more thing. I’m not Mexican. Not even close to being. I’m originally from Ukraine, but lived in quite a few countries in Europe and sampled a lot of cuisines. I’m a food addict. Having been to Mexico, I fell in love with that country, its warm people and its incredible cuisine. Mexican food is diverse – from easy to complex recipes, with plenty of regional differences and so many interesting flavours. So, being Ukrainian I am not going to try and emulate dishes which are traditionally cooked in Mexico using so many local ingredients and by cooks who kept the recipes from their generations of great cooks. Instead, I’d like to showcase how a foreigner could master both the basics (in example, tortilla making, nixtamalisation, salsas and moles) and then begin a journey of learning more Mexican cooking techniques, improving on a skill and eventually coming up with my own creations. 

Expect some sort of fusion of Mexican cuisine with some local and European influences. I’m developing a concept of so-called Mexi-terranean fusion where bold Mexican flavours meet a healthy Mediterranean diet.

I’d like to add that I find a lot of similarities between Mexican and Georgian cuisines, mostly of the abundance of corn, beans, and coriander in the recipes. There is a lot of focus on meat in both of the cuisines, which are regarded as meat-heavy. Yet it doesn’t need to be that way – many sauces and marinades can serve as vehicles for veggie dishes. Having access to many vegan ‘meats’ recipes, it’s easier than ever to offer Mexican food made plant-based. 

And I’d like to showcase everything that I do. Including my mistakes, they are simply a learning, so we both improve and make things more delicious. It’s quite natural – some things work, some – do not; similarly with plant-based adaptions – something that I thought may work simply hadn’t, and it’s OK. We learn and move on. 

Who else is a taco addict here? Let me know what you think and let’s talk!