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For those of you in the northwest corner of Connecticut, I am pleased to report a very tasty little joint opened recently. The place only seats about 10 people in an old breakfast/diner type atmosphere. It's not the average Mexican fare found around this part of the country. Rather then tortilla soup and nachos, you will find pozole and tamales. The entrees are dishes like pork adobo, chicken in green sauce, that kind of thing. Very nice, very tasty. I imagine I'll be putting on a few extra pounds this holiday season The proprietors name is Simon. Las Delicias Latina 433 Main Street (across the parking lot from Dairy Queen) 860-482-8833

I’ve just come back from lunch at Wahaca a place serving “Mexican market food” just south of the Covent Garden Piazza and I have a problem. The food was great, the bill was a very reasonable £14 but the entire experience took 16 minutes. Here’s my difficulty. I’m English and, last time I looked, male. This means that I am genetically programmed to act a certain way in the presence of highly spiced food with a rice or bean base. I don’t know why. I keep trying but no matter how many stars a Chinese, Thai, Indian or Mexican restaurant effects, no matter how much they are aiming to ‘change the way people look at XXXX cuisine’ the minute the first bite passes over my gums I go into a feeding frenzy. If I was one of those mad-eyed NLP guru’s I’d believe that the highly characteristic spiciness was a trigger for the memory of an entire life’s worth of lager-lubricated Ruby blowouts. If I applied a bit of food science I could postulate that the combination of appetising spicing with designed-to-fill peasant ingredients was a sure specific for overeating. Whatever the cause, I simply can’t push my chair back until food spray covers my shirt and the tablecloth and the final mouthful is pressing upwards against my glottis with worrying urgency. OK, I have no self control. The second part of my problem comes with the design of the restaurant ‘concept’. I now live in terror of the waiter who asks “Have you eaten at XXXX before?” because I know I will say no, and I know that there will follow a detailed description of why the food will not arrive to my convenience but to that of the kitchen, the floor staff and the business model. They often dignify this with the get-out clause “… you know…. like tapas!” to which I always want to reply “…you know…like battery hens!” Keep these facts in mind. I walked down into Wahaca and was genuinely impressed by the interior. An enormous amount of money and design effort has been spent on a fantastic, purpose-built, mass catering room. There’s an expensive open kitchen, and, most costly of all, a battalion of helpful, attentive English speaking staff. As it’s now imperative for a restaurant to have some kind of caring ‘mission statement’ it was declared all over the walls that the food was prepared from fresh English ingredients wherever possible. The overwhelming impression was of a job terrifically well done. (Which oddly, and as an aside, raised my third problem. The much touted head of this operation is Thomasina Myers, who won Masterchef in 2005 and apparently became interested in ‘market food’ while travelling in Mexico. If only out of bitter jealousy, I’d love to know who stumped up the millions this must have cost on the basis of the gap year observations of an amateur chef . The story is terrific PR but, please God, there has to be more to it than that.) I ordered pibil pork tacos, a black bean quesadilla and a Sonora salad. The pork was a pulled chipotle-y barbecue like mound of juicy shreds on a puddle of beans and a thick, firm corn taco. Admittedly I’d missed breakfast and sat through a two hour meeting with an editor but this probably one of the nicest things I’ve eaten in months. I have some history in Mexican restaurants. My first job in London was as a KP at a place we called Break For The Bathroom. I remember unloading giant sacks of precooked ‘Meximeat ’ into vats and grating lumps of EC cheese-mountain plastic cheddar into buckets to make ‘Monterey Jack’. I know how many ways a quesadilla can be bad and believe me, this wasn’t. It was light, neither overcheesed nor beaned, creatively seasoned and at a temperature that avoided both congealment and palate immolation. The salad, though delightful, was served in a bloated monstrosity that looked and tasted like a deep-fried coffee filter. It was the only disappointment… the sort of cheap Tex Mex gimmick that should have died with leg warmers. The meal was brilliant: I sat, all the way through it thinking… “This tastes fantastic, I want to bring all my friends here to taste it too. I want to tell everybody to taste this fantastic food”. And then I realised that 16 minutes had passed, my stomach was groaning, the bill was on the way and that nothing would ever change. If food this good was ever served in a market in Oahaca, it should probably stay there. Though this place produces stuff that tastes so good it could potentially change the way we think about Mexican food, it reinforces every stereotype by making it fast. Serving it ‘tapas-style’ and ‘canteen-style’ just forces us to experience it as fast, throwaway food. How could I take anyone to Wahaca unless it was for some awful, intra-meeting refuelling stop - So we could snork down a plateful of Meximeat while lying about the sales figure for the North East region before hurtling back to the office for an afternoon of dispeptic lying and bilious recrimination. The only way I could take friends out to Wahaca would be to make an evening of it… to go out mob-handed, spend six hours in a vertical drinking hutch throwing cheap beer down our necks then barrel in, reeking and howling, and spend the last half hour before closing demanding tacos and tequila. The food at Wahaca is great, I just can’t work out how to eat it.

Having passed Limon on an earlier outing to another local restaurant, I could not help noticing that this unassuming restaurant was rather packed for a week day night... Curious, I ventured out Saturday night sans reservation, and snagged a couple spots at the bar, which turned out to be probably one of the best seats in the place for many reasons. Upon entering Limon, your first impression is the comfortable decor and relaxed environment. However, I got a sinking feeling when the hostess (manager) arrives to greet us wearing the black body hugging turtleneck which screams 'trendy' a la 'Soto' etc.... Seriously, not having any interest in Trendy I almost turned on my heels and left. ... Thank god, I stayed. Expecting the usual bar mix Margarita, we were blown away by the fresh and surprisingly not heavily sweetened version that the bar puts out. The bar man explains that he starts his day by squeezing a full box of limes...add to this syrup made from panela (mexican / latin american lump brown sugar) and they have their margarita base... damn, these are better than my own.... The menu is not overly complicated, and is devoid of gringo tex-mex staples found in most of the places calling themselves Mexican. [side note: why doesn't C&P and these others just brand themselves TexMex, so that the differentiation is clear? It is confusing to most who do not know the difference. If one were to eat the slop dished out at 3 Amigo's and get the impression this crap is Mexican, I could understand why no one would never eat Mexican again.] From the starters to the mains, this menu has all bases covered. Wanting to eat everything, I chose to go with a few starters, my wife took a main. We shared the Sopes, we each had the Tortilla Soup, I had the Cerviche and the Nopales Salad, the main course was the Enchilladas de polllo con salsa verde . The sopes were tasty and surprisingly were served with shredded chicken. The masa had not been prepared to order but were made earlier in the evening and had been heated to order. Hence the reason they were at the table so soon, and why despite their being almost perfect, they had a tough base. They were tasty none the less, and were a close runner up to the Sopes at Amante on Monkland or those served at Coin Mexique on Jean Talon and Iberville. If the base had not been so tough, they would have been the best. The Tortilla soup arrived as we were finishing the last bites of the Sopes. Served in an interesting leaf shaped bowl, the tortilla soup was made with an honest rich home made chicken stock with the perfect balance of Tomato. Lightly seasoned, and redolent with shredded chicken, this soup was excellent, although the addition of more tortilla strips would have been appreciated. Significantly different from the Tortilla soup at le Coin Mexique (which had added up to 2 years ago a piece of Chicharon in the soup.mmmm...) or from what you would get in most good Mexican restaurants in the US, this lighter version really hit the spot. The Enchiladas de pollo con salsa verde were as close to perfect as they can get. Thin fresh tortillas wrapped around moist shredded chicken with a spot on Green Salsa with just the perfect balance of tomatillo and coriander. The accompanying frijoles were served in their own ramekin and were not slopped on the plate as they are in so many places. The Cerviche is not the big winner of the evening. Before ordering I had asked what type of fish was used, I was told Dore... i should have avoided it just on this alone.. The portion was small, and was on a large chiffonade of iceberg lettuce, and topped with far too many diced tomatoes. The couple tablespoons of cerviche were lost in the garnish. When the search party finally found the cerviche, the flavor was close, but the fish was mushy from being too light to stand up to the lime juice, and had lost its texture. Also missing from the party was any spice what so ever, This poor cerviche had never met a jalapeno. Surrounding the Cerviche was a mass of thin crispy tortilla wedges. Unlike anything commercially available, I do not recognize tortilla as any of those made locally. I enquire and am told that they are home made... Golden brown, these tortillas are crispy and a bit greasy with a slight bitter after taste. Had the oil been a bit hotter, and fresher, these would have been perfect. Tortillas have a mild flavor, and easily pick up flavors from the oil when fried. Tired oil will make a tortilla far less appealing than when fried in very hot fresh oil. The nopales salad I was told were made from fresh nopales. Intrigued, as I have a hard time finding a regular supply of Fresh nopales, I ordered the salad expecting to get the usual soulless canned nopales. To my surprise, the nopales salad was made from fresh, charred nopales, mixed with red peppers, and topped with crumbled queso. This nopales salad was the best I have ever had, and I would keep coming back for just this and the margaritas alone. Having no room for dessert, my wife opts to pass, I could not, and was told that the key lime pie was legendary... yet sadly, they started the night with only 2 slices and none were left... The barman was wrong, the waiter in fact found the 2 slices and brought one for me and the other for another patron at the bar. Yes, key lime pie has been around since dirt was a rock, and perhaps many are as tired of it, as I am, but the bar man could not praise it higher, and I had to try it. The pie was simple, graham cracker crust, with key lime on top. The pie was good, but, the crust was a bit too thick, and a bit too buttery. Yes, this is possible. The topping was good, but would have been better the day it was made, as the lime had lost its bite. Made from fresh ingredients, the filling was home made and a good contender for the best key lime pie served in a restaurant in the city. What really was the most impressive part of the experience at Limon was not as much the food and ambiance, but the fact that the bar man also used to work in the kitchen, and was very interested in our thought about the food. Unlike the typical waiter who takes orders and brings food, this guy really cared... not only that, the manager was also receptive to the comments he passed back to her. Sadly, I am informed by the barman that this is his last night, as he could no longer balance studies and work. One thing that really stands out here is that the food is NOT spicy, and surprisingly, it is so well prepared and tasty, that you honestly do not miss it.. in most cases. Balanced for the Quebec palate, anyone missing the bite, are offered home made salsas to add heat... but don't expect anything incendiary, this is just not the place to find it. likewise, you will not find crispy gringo tacos, the 'Mexican flag' or fried ice cream on the menu.... Leave these to the folks serving gringo style Tex-Mex. Certainly a lot pricier than Le Coin du Mexique or Amante, Limon scores big points for decor, food styling, ambiance and tastiness. Clearly, Ricky D and Pillar have successfully established an upscale Mexican restaurant in Montreal, and deserve the prices being asked. We will be going back. Footnote: if you do go to the Limon web site, please don't let the video dissuade you from going. I found the host of this piece to be annoying and uninformed. Clearly an attempt at being more promotional than editorial, and failing on both.

My aluminum tortilla press has oxidized a bit, and I want to replace it. Is any one kind better than another? I've been looking around, and the metal ones all seem to be aluminum or tinned (?) cast iron. Is stainless steel available?

When I was working in Mexico City one of our clients was Chocolates Turin. They produced spectacularly good chocolate in many variations, not just plain. Has anyone seen them for sale in the US of A?

I love restaurants that 'hide in plain sight'. Places that you may pass but not really notice for one reason or another. Maybe the storefront is hidden, or the street is grubby, or the neighborhood's questionable, etc., etc. Mi Rinconcito is on Calle Ocho in Little Havana, and the entrance is so non-descript that even though I've eaten here dozens of times, I still drove right by last Sunday and had to go around the block again. It is authentic, the owner is from Hidalgo, and if you order even a simple, common item like chicken quesadillas, they will surprise you. Corn tortillas folded over freshly chopped and cooked chicken, and enough melted cheese but not so much you're drowning in it. The corn tortilla is crisp, and the beans on the side are light-there is enough pico de gallo and guacamole to condimentize, but I like to eat them on separate forkfuls, the better to enjoy their fresh zip. And cold Tecate in cans:Mi Rinconcito There is a great picture of their menudo, and if you go to the Sun Post homepage, there is another great picture of their pozole with what I think is a foot.

8 of us were quiet in the van as it slowly crept over heavily cobbled streets up the side of a small mountain on the way to our first cooking class with Diana Kennedy. None of us knew quite what to expect other than we'd be doing a lot of cooking and to kind of expect the unexpected. The van finally found it's target - Diana's driveway (if you could call it that), and we hopped out and began the trek up the path to her house. Diana went green long before it was trendy or poltically correct when she purchased several acres of wild, undeveloped and waterless land in Zitacuaro, Mexico. What she has created over the last 30 years is an self-sufficient, eco-friendly compound replete with umpteen varieites of plants, flowers and foliage accumulated from all over Mexico. Since the 8 of us covered the spectrum in terms of knowledge and skill with the cuisine of Mexico the first day was devoted to covering some basics, like seasoning a comal Rendering lard from assorted pieces of pork fat, which looked something like this as it began the process of melting down It was eventually transferred to a small cast iron skillet to speed up and finish the process It was strained into an earthen crock Diana wastes nothing. The remaining chicharrones were used to top sopes By the end of our 3 1/2 days of classes with Diana we had also used that entire crock of lard...and then some. But, lordy. did we cook... (To be continued since I'm at work and will have to post as I have time)

I remember that Holly wrote an article for CP several years ago talking about the excellent Hispanic restaurants on 5th street. Anybody visited there recently and can you give me some recommendations? Thanks!

I have three words for you: Foie gras tacos. And the address: Toloache 251 W. 50th St. (Broadway & Eighth Ave.) 212.581.1818 http://www.toloachenyc.com Okay I guess I should say a bit more. Toloache ("toh‐lo‐AH‐tchay," a flowering plant used as a love potion in Mexico, according to the PR materials) opened a couple of weeks ago (23 August I believe) on West 50th Street, across the street from Worldwide Plaza. The restaurant has been inviting media in for press dinners, and I accepted an invitation for tonight. This was not a press party but, rather, just my wife and I having dinner like regular people and ordering off the menu, with the added benefit of the meal being free. I almost overlooked the invitation -- I ignore far more such invitations than I have time to accept -- but tonight was to be rescheduled babysitting night and a few days ago Ellen was like, "What can we do Tuesday night?" and I remembered the invitation. Having not read the press kit in advance, I had little notion of what to expect. The sad reality is that the Mexican food scene in New York City is weak. At the low end, other than a couple of good midtown taquerias, there's just not much going on that can compare to dime-a-dozen places in the West and Southwest. At the upmarket level, however, there have for some time been a few chefs who have done a very good job. One of the best -- perhaps the best -- is Richard Sandoval of Maya. Richard Sandoval has nothing to do with Toloache. However, the chef of Toloache, Julian Medina, was basically Richard Sandoval's protege. Medina is, like Sandoval, from Mexico City. He worked at various upscale hotel restaurants (both Mexican and French) and was discovered by Sandoval in 1996. Medina became the opening chef de cuisine of Maya. While there, he took the unusual (for a working chef de cuisine) step of enrolling at the French Culinary Institute by day and cooking by night (he graduated in 1999). He then became executive chef of SushiSamba in New York and opened SushiSamba in Miami. He went back to work for Sandoval in 2003 as corporate chef for all the restaurants (Maya New York, Maya San Francisco, and Tamayo in Denver), and then opened Pampano. Most recently, he was executive chef at Zocalo. Toloache is small. It's an 80‐seat, two‐story restaurant. There's combination of table and bar seating (at a guacamole and ceviche bar), a wood‐burning oven dominates the open kitchen, and there are more than 100 tequilas on the list (I don't even want to think about what percentage of them I sampled). The overall feel is very upbeat. They were doing good business. I've crossed paths with Medina by dining at most of the restaurants where he has worked, when he worked there, but I was never aware of him until today. Based on this meal, however, I'm now a fan of Julian Medina. The guy is good. His diverse training has given him an interesting perspective on Mexican food, and the menu combines classical Mexican technique with Nuevo Latino and global stylistic influences. We started with the guacamole trio. There are three species of guacamole available on the menu, or you can get smaller portions of all three as a sampler: the "tradicional" has avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro and serrano and is mild; the "frutas" has avocado, sweet onion, mango, apple, peach, habanero and Thai basil and is medium spicy; and the "rojo" has avocado, tomato, red onion, chipotle and is sprinkled with queso fresco (cheese) -- it's the spiciest of the three. They're all great, but the real fun of the sampler is getting to shift among the three. It's also a good demonstration of the fact that there are great guacamole possibilities beyond the standard recipe. Then we sampled some ceviches. Again, you can get individual ceviches or a platter of three (or a bigger platter of five). We tried Acapulco-style vuelve a la vida, which had shrimp, octopus, hamachi, oysters, spicy tomato salsa and avocado and was not particularly enjoyable (it was the one dish of the night that I thought was sub-par); a really excellent ceviche with chunks of tuna, key lime, sweet onion, radish and watermelon; and a meat-based ceviche riff, with seared rare ribeye slices (from grass-fed beef), chipotle mustard and cactus salad -- this was my favorite. There are five quesadillas, baked in the brick oven, available on the menu, but we went with today's special: a hamachi quesadilla. I ordered it because I didn't think the hamachi could possibly stand up to cheese and peppers, but I was wrong. The rare slices of hamachi were robust enough to show through the rest of the ingredients. There's also a section of tacos on the menu. These are very small tacos and they come two to an order. The soft corn tortillas are handmade. We tried four types: veal cheek, beef brisket, foie gras (with roasted red onion-chipotle salsa) and crispy grasshopper. The grasshoppers were not bad but the legs kept sticking us in the roofs of our mouths. The other three were terrific, especially the foie. There's a section of small plates as well. One of the nice things about the restaurant is that there's a ton of flexibility in terms of how you order. You can come in and get a couple of small plates for $8-$10 each, or you can do ceviche and cocktails, or you can have a full-blown multi-course meal. The whole menu is available everywhere. Can you believe the menu fits on one page and doesn't seem crowded? There's a lot of stuff, but the language is used sparingly. From the small plates section we had what was probably the dish of the evening: "sopes de requeson." These are little corn cakes topped with ricotta, chorizo and a fried quail egg. They're as good as they sound. We had entrees too. We tried the "atun con chile," a nice piece of tuna rubbed with seven types of chile (though I could only taste six . . . just kidding) and served with sauteed big fat kernels of choclo corn, chorizo and tequila-chipotle glaze. And, the camarones Toloache: roasted garlic shrimp (big ones) served on a crispy tortilla with black beans, shredded chayote squash and cascabel salsa. We were pretty stuffed at this point, but were inspired to finish the tuna (if not the shrimp). The two desserts we tried -- flan and tres leches -- were good but not revolutionary. The cocktail program is ambitious. There are more than 100 kinds of tequila available, as well as a number of interesting specialty cocktails that utilize spice to balance sweetness. For example the margarita de la calle is made with Siembra Azul Blanco tequila, muddled cucumber, jicama, basil, chile piquin and lime. The Toloache margarita has muddled blueberry and hibiscus, and today's special margarita had watermelon and chilies. The normal margaritas are very well made. I had one made with Don Julio tequila, straight up with salt, and it was one of the better margaritas I've had. Our server was quite knowledgeable about the tequilas, and the maitre d', a guy named Giovanni (he's from Costa Rica) seems to be the beverage director and steered us towards some good wines by the glass to have with our entrees.

I live almost exactly half way between Tacoma and Olympia and notice most of the posts about WA ..well in general here in this section ...are all about Seattle and yes Seattle is a fantastic City I used to work at Harborview and have walked and eaten all over the place...I also worked at a clinic in Burien for years so I know the Burien.... White center well and still love to venture up as often as possible .. Granted you got us in the Seattle area nice high end joints...famous chef's cookbooks and whatnot but for daily eating and shopping in markets... we can authentically eat our way around the world in the South Puget Sound! ...we have fantastic Korean food...Southeast Asian all you can imagine Vietnamese, Thai Cambodian... ..we have decent Italian (but you have to dig for it and really know what to order) ...Ukrainian ..German....Philipino .. Pacific Island food ...meaning also we have the best Samoan sweet bread in the world is baked on South Tacoma Way buy a guy with a recipe who knows exactly what to do and how to do it!!!..when he is open and baking it you can smell it on the road!!! ..Salvadoran ...insane Mexican (one place in the South Tacoma area makes the best Posole I have ever eaten!!!)....Caribbean food markets and restaurants galore!!! we also have real bbq on the hilltop that is made when the owner makes it and you can buy it only when you smell it! ...we have home cooking all styles ....even an Evangelical minster who sets up a Q and preaches serving BBQ in an empty lot I absolutely love where I live!!! and feel lucky that I can prepare any meal any time....although we are sorely lacking in anything Middle Eastern I know for a fact even though I have crawled all over this area there are tons of places I have not found or visited... does anyone want to converse with me about the wonderful food scores in the South Puget Sound?

When I was growing up in Atlanta, my parents--both were born in raised in Mexico City--were definitely out of their element. All of their family was still in Mexico and their only consolation was visits from my Grandmothers, who would sneak all sorts of hard-to-find Mexican goodies like Churrumais, Mexican candies, and homemade quesadillas--think of an enclosed quesadillas made with masa and variety of fillings like cheese, huitlacoche, refried beans, etc. The quesadillas were always my favorite and I learned how to make them as a young girl. My sister and I still make them to this day--especially for large parties because they are always a hit and very simple to prepare. I get a lot of questions from people about these thinking they are empanadas, but I grew up calling them quesadillas and the stores I frequent in D.F. call them quesadillas as well. I asked a local chef when I was in Cabo and he told me that the nomenclature is a matter of which region they are in. It warrants more research. Does anyone else make these out there? What do you call them? But, back to making the quesadillas. I coaxed my lovely sister into 'modeling' for me as we prepared a plain cheese version for our guests on the 4th of July. I have to warn you in advance, we ate them so quickly there is no requisite gooey cheese oozing out of the crisp crust shot. But, hopefully you'll get the idea. How I do it: Before making the masa, I grate a round of Oaxaca cheese and set aside. Making the masa is very easy. I normally use fresh masa I get ground to order at a local store (Chicago on Buford Highway for all you Atlantans), but we just went with Maseca because we were short on time. Just follow the direction on the package. I like to add a bit of salt. Here is my sister kneading the dough. Make sure it does not get too dry. After kneading the dough, divide the dough into balls a little smaller than a golf ball. I then press the balls out into a thick tortilla using plastic wrap. You can also use a cut up plastic freezer bag or wax paper. After taking the tortillas in the press, fill with grated cheese and whatever else you'd like to add--the possibilities are endless. Fold in half and seal the edges very well so the fillings don't come out during frying. After ensuring the quesadillas are well-sealed, fry them in oil until they turn a very light brown, but not cooked all the way. Take them out of oil and drain on paper towels. I like to do this before company comes to save time. You can also freeze them at this point. To finish and enjoy, fry again and top with some killer salsa and crema Mexicana.

Hi All, Help me buy a 2nd Mexican cookbook? I was thinking about something from Diane Kennedy but she has so many I can't decide what is the "one" to get. We have Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen which we love and use a lot. Thanks, -Mike

My friend Charlie Deal (detlefchef) has finally gone public with his plans to open a new Mexican eatery in Durham. Named "Dos Perros" after his two dogs, the restaurant will feature a fairly broad range of items, including mole, seafood, slow-roasted meat and chicken, and, of course, great drinks. Here's the press release: If you've been to Jujube in Chapel Hill, you'll know that Charlie really works hard at his craft. He knows food, and he's been dying to open an "expanded taqueria" for years. That's going to be happening, soon, and it will be a great addition to the local scene.

Perhaps this belongs better in the Mexican forum, but it's embarrassingly basic.. I preface this by declaring myself Mexican-disabled; Mexican ingredients are pretty much non-existent in Australia and noone I know has any experience with this, soooo... I finally found a source of fresh white corn tortillas (in Sydney! gasp!). My question is; what's the best way to warm them, to eat as soft tacos? The packaging has no direction on this. Microwaving them for 60 secs works OK but still leaves them a bit stiff and powdery. Normally I'd be off experimenting but I'm rationing my supply so can't afford any tortilla mistakes! Google has not been helpful on this, presumably because it's so basic as to not require specification, but please take pity on a tortilla newbie!

I'm thinking about taking the cooking class tour with Diana Kennedy (run through Marilyn Tausend's Culinary Adventures) next year, if offered. Has anyone taken classes with Diana? I'm sure the classes are great, but I haven't been able to find any first-hand accounts. I'm also considering a long weekend course with Susana Trilling around the holidays, but since I'd probably only do one or the other in the near future, I'd like to get opinions.

So where does one go for great Italian in the Phoenix area? (any typeP And while we're on the subject. What about Mexican? (preferably Sonoran) any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

I love, love, love guacamole. I have tried everything to keep it from discoloring but nothing really seems to work WELL. I have tried the "keeping the pit in it" and have not had much luck. What works best for me is putting into a seal-able container and putting plastic wrap on it so it is touching and then put the top on. Seems to work ok but in about a day or two, I get a thin layer of discoloration. Any suggestions, ideas???

I have been blessed with several Mexican butcher shops in my area and have found the quality to be great and the service excellent. An added bonus is the butcher shop I go to makes and sells homemade tacos .50 cents apeice. Has anyone else tried their local etnic markets?

In a review titled "The Taco Truck that Delivers," Peter Meehan seems at first glance to be singing the praises of Super Taco, the nocturnal taco truck that parks at the southwest corner of 96th and Broadway. I had to switch from the 3 train to the 96th Street crosstown bus this evening, so I decided to grab a few tacos. I tried chorizo, al pastor, beefsteak and goat. They were all passable, better than mediocre, good even, but not great or in any way inspiring. So I went back to the review and read more carefully. Turns out, Meehan did reach the right conclusion: Good enough for a snack if you happen to be making a transfer at that intersection. Perhaps not good enough for 600 words in the Times. P.S. I'm sure Super Taco is one of fewer than ten places in history to be reviewed positively by the New York Times and not post the review.

after a cooking class last week, i was chatting with students, and one was asking about salt pigs---you know, the kinda periscope-shaped vessels that are supposed to keep salt from clumping. one of the women (i didn't know her, so can't track her down) mentioned that she grew up with little vessels that were shaped like a prone woman, with a depression in the belly for the salt. i'm fairly certain she said this was in mexico...she said they were hand-crafted, but were everywhere. boy, i'd love to get one...or twelve. anyone familiar? thanks in advance--they sound just marvelous!

I'm making a chili that calls for Mexican oregano. Does Mexican oregano look or taste any different? Or can I just use regular oregano? Of course I want to go authentic if there is a distinct taste to it, but I can't find this stuff anywhere.

i've been absent from the board for awhile, just quietly lurking when i have a chance. still the liveliest NW food forum i know about! which is why i am turning to you for some help. my 40th birthday is approaching and party plans are underway. it's a bit of a fiesta theme, with specialty margaritas, a mariachi band, and other good stuff. i would like to rent a taco truck to be on-site, serving a few choices for guests (thinking tacos, tamales, perhaps quesadillas). has anyone here ever done such a thing? i am having a miserable time finding any party planning info that can help facilitate. so, two questions: 1. any tips on best way to go about this? 2. recommendations? we seem to have a bit of a taco truck explosion lately in seattle (yay!) and i could use some advice on the best. really looking for fabulous carnitas and nice folks. thanks in advance for any help you are able to offer.

Hello Everyone Ive been looking for a good salsa recipe . A tomatilla or green one and a red one . Im looking to use them as a dipping chips into them type of salsa . I realize this is an American idea I have had sweeter styles of salsas made with tomatoes and was hoping someone would have a idea as to what the sweetness was . I dont think it was honey it was probably raw sugar its usually the simplest thing . Anyway thanx in advance for any help or guidance you might give .

After months of Paris Hilton specimens -- skinny, expensive and tasteless -- we've now got asparagus spears at the market that would do John Holmes proud. And it's cheap: $2 a pound. I did a quick braise with shallots last night, finishing with a little mustard and lemon juice. What are you going to do?

I plan to try my hand at making mole poblano in the near future. Aside from the little Mexican groceries in Bergenfield, are there any places that sell Mexican chiles and groceries in NJ? The closer to Lyndhurst the better. I'm specifically looking for ancho, pasilla negro, guajillo/mulato chiles, Mexican Canela soft-bark cinnamon, and Ibarra Mexican Chocolate. Raw pumpkin seeds are a plus as well.