Tacos: Recipes and Provocations: A Cookbook

What a great month it's been for lovers of the taco - first the fun, hip, irreverent love letter to Mexican taco culture that was Tacopedia, and now this intense, punk-rock manifesto of the taco as high cuisine. Tacos: Recipes and Provocations delivers on both halves of its subtitle, in spades. His recipes range from the traditional to the avant-garde, with a strong core of fundamental respect for the cuisine, its techniques, and its multicultural and evolving spirit. His provocations will rattle the cage of many a pretentious foodie who'd prefer to see Mexican cuisine frozen in time and served for under $5. The first half or so of the book centers on fundamentals: tortillas and salsas. Stupak is uncompromising here: fresh tortillas, or nothing. I tend to agree. He walks the reader through nixtamalizing corn, grinding it for masa, and pressing tortillas, including instructions on storage and on starting with masa preparada. Of note here is the range of flavored and amended tortillas, enriched by obvious (spinach, spices) and nonobvious (chorizo?!) additions, which have a long history in Mexico. He also has a pretty good flour tortilla recipe. The salsas are phenomenal. I made two of the salsas last night, and found them to be mindblowing - well balanced, intense, and unusual. I especially recommend the salsa macha, which reminded me of a cross between a pipian and buffalo wing sauce. My wife, who was born and raised in the DF, is ecstatic. Recipes range from old favorites (carnitas, al pastor, barbacoa) to high-concept rethinks (pineapple tacos with lardo, pastrami with mustard seed salsa, sea urchin and guacamole.) With the exception of the pastrami one, which is a little precious, I think they all manage to embody a Mexican sensibility, flavor profile, ingredients, and general approach - even if the end result is cheffed-up and unconventional. Having eaten tacos filled with octopus slathered with Thai basil pesto in the DF and a memorable one of raw marlin tartare in Tijuana, I'm perfectly fine with some wild tacos in the mix. Tacos al pastor have their roots in 1950s Puebla and its Lebanese immigrants hawking shawarmah, and fried fish tacos use Japanese tempura batter. There's cosmopolitan, modern, gourmet restaurants all over Mexico serving food that's influenced by that of the Mediterranean, Asia, and even India. If incorporating other cultures' ideas was off-limits in Mexican cuisine, Mexican cuisine would not exist at all. I can't wait to tackle some of the off-the-wall recipes here. Which brings me to my own provocation. As we've already seen in some of the reviews, many people - often Caucasians, often casual visitors to Mexico - seem to hold strong opinions on Mexican cuisine. They loudly and snarkily deride as "not traditional!" or "completely inauthentic" any food not served on their last vacation to Mexico or served in the grungy taqueria they pride themselves on having "discovered." These folks know just what authentic really is, and they're the arbiters of it. Obviously, I regard this attitude as deeply patronizing - and ironically unaware of the diversity and evolving nature of Mexican food.

This is an excellent book. The author, Alex Stupak, runs an outstanding Mexican restaurant that treats the ingredients in such a way as to produce top quality mexican food. Alex compares and contrasts traditional mexican cooking with what his recipes are doing. In several cases he has a New England twist to his recipes, but before giving any recipe, he talks about its inspiration and its origins in Mexican cuisine. If you don't like how he has changed the recipes, then he gives enough information to reverse engineer a more "Mexican" version of the recipe. Many claim that his recipes are not authentic, but he argues that Mexican cuisine is a continually evolving animal and not a fixed set of dishes. The techniques Alex has laid out in the book make it worth the humble price of $20 (as of 2017). Alex teaches you how to make corn tortillas at home, discusses the best ways of keeping them hot (they should not drop below 120 F), and then also discusses flour tortillas (which are not as sensitive as corn tortillas) and how to use masa harina. After the section on tortillas, Alex then moves on to describe the best ways to make Salsas (the pesto/curry of Mexican cuisine). He takes a very good educational perspective in that he builds from very simple salsa verdes up to making mole (one of the most complicated and time consuming sauces in all of cooking). Finally, the last section is all about Tacos! Page after page is full of stories and recipes about tacos and their development. I drool all over my book when I read it, and you probably will too. I've made several of the recipes in here. They are outstanding and fun projects. Just be prepared to spend a day (or several) to get to a good result. This is Tacos as haute cuisine. It's going to take some work and failures before you get to something you like.

From the foundations of tortillas to salsas and then full taco recipes, this book has been amazing! It got me out of my usual recipes and exposed me to new styles, strategies and ingredients. The shoshito pepper tacos are INSANE!

This taco cookbook is a unapologetic and bold collection of inspirational recipes for making unique taco dishes. There are some really interesting recipes in this book. This book is also not for the "casual" or traditional taco maker as the recipes are likely not what you are expecting. The tone of the recipes is set in the first half of the book which gives a brief background on Alex Stupak and his culinary journey, some fundamentals on spices and chilies, and then a pretty lengthy explanation on the type of corn that best lends itself to tortillas, tortilla recipes, and salsa recipes. Thoughtfully, the tortilla recipes give you the ingredient option of easier to find masa harina (as well as the harder to find fresh masa). In addition to corn and flour tortillas recipes, there are some creative fusion recipes such as pistachio, saffron, and rye tortillas. The subsequent dedication to salsa recipes emphasizes the wide variety of ways a salsa can create a completely different taste and look to a taco. The second half of the book is dedicated to taco recipes. While the opening notes suggest that some of the recipes are classics, I tend to disagree. That being said, the recipes are pretty cool. Some examples of recipes include Chicken Tacos with Kale and Salsa Verde, Skirt Steak Tacos, Fried Oyster Tacos, Pineapple Tacos, and Wild Spinach Tacos.There are also a few taco recipes that would lend themselves to breakfast as well as a couple of dessert taco recipes. The closing section has recipes for components (such as Adobo paste) that are used in some of the recipes. The writing tone of this book is very down to earth and lightly humorous. There are really nice photos throughout the book mostly showing plating of the final dishes but some showing steps along the way. Pretty much all of the recipes require advance planning and preparation. They do not lend themselves to throwing together on the spur of the moment. I recommend this cookbook to fans of Alex Stupak and foodies who enjoy innovative spins on traditional recipes.

Part diary, part technique manual, part recipe book all delivered up with a whole lot of love and open honestly. A genuine delight to read, brimming with creative concepts and cooking ideas that will take me far far past any place I’ve previously been. This is the most precious book I’ve discovered in a very long time and I’ll be devouring its pages of lovingly shared knowledge, humor and reverence for the art and Culture if the taco (and beyond) for a very long time. Savored, like a delicios meal, one inexplicably delicious bite at a time. This beautifully illustrated tome is a collection of “how to” and why’s that are exactly the kind of information that I was looking for. Beyond a “cook book”. More than pages of recipes. It’s a gorgeous meaty collection of story, shared experience and invaluable how to delivered in a lively style that belies the authors reverence for the culture that gave birth to this food. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s an incredible “top shelf” book that belongs in the library of every gringo searching for authentic understanding. Thank you Alex. What a gift.

Such a great cookbook I gave out copies to my friends who love it too!

Absolutely love this hardcover book!! I use it a lot and it’s also great for decor in the kitchen!

Really excellent book that is inspiring to read. The recipes vary from pretty simple to much more complex and exotic. So take your pick, but if you take nothing other than how awesome homemade tortillas are (pay attention to the instructions to tell if the dough is ready and not just the default measures...humidity does make a big difference and practice practice practice.) along with a recipe or two for simple fillings then this book is more than worth the price of admission. A favorite filling is the chicken with salsa verde and kale. The homemade chorizo is easy to make and a great tool to have in the freezer. Salsa de arbol is a nice accent to add to all kinds of stuff and i keep a bottle in the fridge. Above all though, make homemade corn tortillas!

Absolutely fantastic read.

Love this taco cookbook! Tons of great recipes and we use often.

Very good

A friend recommended this book for its instruction on making tortillas, and I finally made some 100% corn ones successfully! The writing is thoughtful and hilarious, and the entire book has me thinking differently about the way our culture values and de-values food from different countries. I’ve already made the adobo sauce and al pastor tacos (that I would have never attempted before this book), and everything turned out beautifully. I highly recommend this book, and I can’t wait to cook more from it!

Alex Stupak sait transmettre son amour de la cuisine en général et de la mexicaine en particulier. Nouvelles expériences en perspective!