The Gourmet Gringo

(or what to cook for an ex-pat Californian who thinks that Taco Bell should be the name of the Mexican phone company and not associated with the nation’s fine food)

The plan for the evening was concocted by the men folk.  My beloved and I would head over to our friends’ place on a Friday and the men would discuss cameras and photography whilst the women made dinner.  They thought they were very clever and on to a rather good thing. We got calendar invites in our email!  Nonetheless we thought it a great idea,and perfect opportunity to chat for hours.   Keen to assuage her husband’s yearning for real Mexican food,my clever,talented and busy friend enquired as to whether I had any recipes that would suit,and when I replied in the negative,deftly handed the task of finding some over to me. More than happy to take on the challenge,I set about finding dishes that were genuine,had ingredients that would be available in Australia and wouldn’t be too taxing to attempt after work on a Friday at the end of a long week at work.

Gourmet Traveller,as it so often does,delivered exactly what I was after and I soon had a list of dishes that put together I hoped would make a lovely fiesta.  Loaded with food, cerveza and tequila my beloved and I appeared on the doorstep of our friends’ abode ready for action.

Tasked with keeping the chef well lubricated,my beloved honed his margarita making skills whilst I tackled the first recipe,Prawn Tacos with Jicama Slaw.

Prawn taco with jicama slaw

The prawns after being marinated in cumin,allspice and chilli powder are then grilled and tossed through a sauce of tomato,onion,garlic,lime juice and more chilli powder.  We served them with warm flour tortillas,avocado slices,sour cream,lime wedges and the jicama slaw.

The slaw.  After discovering that jicama (hee-kah-mah) is also called Mexican Turnip or Mexican Potato and is most likely to be called Yam Bean and found at one of the Asian grocers on Victoria St,I set off on my shopping mission,shouldn’t be too hard,there are lots of shops there and one is bound to have it as my research suggested it is quite common in Asian cooking too.  Alas no,mission unaccomplished L.  I was turned from every store with a sneer – not in season,didn’t I know that?! 

Dejected,I wandered Prahran Market gathering the rest of my ingredients pondering how to deal with my missing ingredient.  I was thinking it a little difficult to make a Jicama Slaw with no jicama.  As a last ditch effort I went to see Mr. Lee who runs the great little Asian shop at the market.  No jicama he said,but don’t worry,just use water chestnuts,they are similar in taste and texture.  Still don’t know if they actually are that similar (goodness only knows when jicama actually are in season and available!) but if the response of The Gourmet Gringo is anything to go by,I was on the money.

The rest of the ingredients of the slaw were a breeze,shredded baby cos lettuce,thinly sliced Serrano chilli,coriander,and a dressing of lime juice,chilli powder and oil.

I daresay that following a taco dish with another taco dish is not how they do it in Mexico,but the menu for our fiesta was aimed at being casual and relaxed so I went for a Shredded Beef taco anyway.  Cheap cut of beef just covered with water and slow cooked with onion and garlic for 3 hours.  Use 2 forks and shred the meat then mix it in with chopped vine ripened tomatoes,green chillies,thinly sliced spring onions and chilli powder.

Shredded beef taco

It was accompanied by an Oaxacan Vegetable Salad of kipfler potatoes,cauliflower,carrots and beans with a fantastic dressing made from jalapenos,cider vinegar,allspice and dried thyme.  It’s a traditional fiesta dish because it keeps well without refrigeration.  I think it tastes even better the next day. 

Oaxacan vegetable salad

Not that we had many leftovers…

Jo x