Sincronizadas

 In a lot of delis at Queens, you can get freshly sliced meats and cheeses, sandwiches, and the Mexican snack of sincronizadas, of course. (It is Queens, after all.) A sincronizada is just like a warm Mexican ham and cheese sandwich, and I've been fortunate to enjoy them in Queens, and I continue to snack on them in Mexico, at home and on the street.

A sincronizada, at its most basic, is a flour tortilla with cheese, usually queso de hebra. (I think that most people in the US would consider this a quesadilla - not here though...To be continued.) Ham is usually added, and the whole thing is thrown on the comal to heat up the tortilla and melt the cheese. These are meant to be handheld snacks, so salsa and garnishes do not generally accompany them. Great, great, great for kids for lunch (and even easier to make than a ham sandwich).

Ingredients
flour tortillas
sliced ham
queso de hebra (or any cheese you like), shredded or grated

Directions

1 - Heat a comal (griddle or frying pan) over low heat.

2 - Place the tortilla on the comal for 10 seconds. Flip it over.

3 - Cover one half entirely with cheese, put some ham on top, and then sprinkle on some more cheese over the ham.

4 - Cook until both sides have the slightest bit of browning and the cheese is melted.

5 - Enjoy!

Fritas

In the United States, when bread goes stale, we have back-up plans to put that bread to use. If it's gone really stale, french toast is the best option, but when it's just starting to get hard, sure, maybe we don't want a fresh ham and cheese or egg salad sandwich, but a grilled cheese or some toast will work just fine.

The same theory applies to corn tortillas. When tortillas get really old and stale, we fry them up crisp in a lot of oil and make tostadas or cacalas for chilaquiles. However, when they're just starting to turn, and are just at that point when you don't want to eat them fresh anymore but are still pliable, there is a different set of options, and my favorite is the frita.

Fritas, short for tortillas fritas (fried tortillas), are just that.  Corn tortillas  folded frequently over a white cheese or mashed potato filling are fried in a tiny bit of oil. With just a simple salsa side, fritas are super easy to throw together and ideal for late night snacking.

Ingredients
slightly old corn tortillas
white melting cheese (queso asadero, queso de hebra, or Monterrey Jack), shredded or grated
oil for frying
salsa

Directions

1 - Heat a teaspoon of oil in a small saute pan over medium low heat.

2 - Put the tortilla in the saute pan and cook on one side for about 30 seconds.

3 - Flip the tortilla. Put a fair amount of cheese (or a scoop of mashed potatoes, if that's what you decide)  on one side. Fold the other side over the cheese.

4 - Continue to cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is just crisping. Repeat with as many tortillas as you want (which will be a lot - I have like 6...for a snack).

5 - Enjoy with just a simple salsa on the side for dipping.

Cebollin

Be it a barbecue at home or a stop at the taqueria, these cebollin (or cebollita), or small onions either way, are standard accompaniments for meat in Mexico. While these extra sweet onions are readily available throughout this country, I've been unsuccessful finding them in the U.S., outside of a few Mexican groceries in Queens. So, for everyone else, you may just have to search out the most bulbous scallions you can find to give that extra authentic flair to your Cinco de Mayo BBQ or your middle of the week taco night.


Ingredients
1 bunch of cebollin (or scallions)
1 Tbsp. oil
salt to taste

Directions

1 - Cut the tips of the green ends and any roots off of the cebollin.

2 - Rub oil over all of the bulbs. Sprinkle some salt on top, and rub the salt and oil evenly over all of the bulbs again (with your fingers...or with a brush, if you're fancy).

3 - On a grill, griddle, or saute pan over medium heat, cook the onions for about 3-4 minutes on each side. (I know the bulbs are round and have no sides, but the point is just brown it all around.)

4 - Serve alongside some corn tortilla tacos or steaks and pico de gallo at a barbecue. (But do not eat the green part, just a heads up.)

Tortas - Take 2

A while a back ago, I gave you a good look at traditional Mexican tortas - so full of a variety of meats, cheeses and vegetables that they often stand 4-6 inches high. Now, these are the other kind, smaller but cheaper, I refer to these as taqueria tortas.

As you may have guessed from the name, these sandwiches have everything that you would get on a tortilla if you were eating a taco, except it's now all on a bolillo (roll). There's the traditional taco toppings of cilantro and onion, with salsa and lime juice to taste, and the small pieces of meat, which at a taqueria is usually al pastor, but at home, longaniza (or chorizo) is best.

This type of torta may not be as pretty, giant, or complex as the other type, but if my 12-year-old nephew likes it (who only really likes to eat lettuce with lime juice and salt), then it's sure to please anyone.

Ingredients
4 bolillos (or kaiser rolls)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 lb (1/2 kilo) longaniza (or chorizo)
1/2 lb. (200g) white melting cheese
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup salsa verde
1 lime, cut into wedges


Directions

1 - Heat a small amount of oil (1 tsp.) in a saute pan over medium heat.

2 - Remove the longaniza from it's casing, and saute, breaking up the longaniza into small pieces with a wooden spoon (think ground beef). Cook for about 10 minutes.

3 - Butter and lightly toast all of the bolillos. Add the cheese to one side and let the heat of the bolillo slightly melt the cheese.

4 - Put mayonnaise on the other side. Add scoops of longaniza until it covers the bottom piece of bread. Top with the raw onion, cilantro, salsa and lime juice (to taste), and finish it off with the cheesy top piece.

5 - Enjoy hot, and for an authentic taqueria experience, serve up some sauteed or grilled cebollin on the side.

Cinco de Mayo

A common misconception, Cinco de Mayo is not just like Mexican Fourth of July. Mexican Independence Day is September 16th, so what is May 5th all about? On May 5th, 1862, the Mexican forces in Puebla won an unlikely victory against the invading French forces, turning them back...briefly, but it was a symbolic victory that the people of the state of Puebla still cherish and celebrate annually. However, even here in Mexico City, where there are massive numbers of people from all 31 states, especially from neighbor to the east, Puebla, nothing is done to celebrate (and this is the 150th anniversary - the sesquicentennial - so you would think something).

Is it ironic that a holiday that is so associated with Mexico in the United States is only celebrated in 1/31 of the country, or just weird? What is a great excuse to drink Mexican beer in the United States is also just a great reason to drink Mexican beer here, as well. Even the PubliMetro (the free newspaper in DF) said as much, writing that May is a month full of holidays, the month when mothers (Mother's Day), workers (Labor Day), and borrachos, or drunks, (Cinco de Mayo)  get to celebrate.

While I myself don't drink, I suppose that beer is probably a part of a culture and cuisine as much as any other drink, like horchata or tepache. Tecate, Sol, XX, Indio, Modelo and Corona are the big brands down here, and I hear that Mexican beer is the cheapest of all beers over there, so enjoy a Mexican beer today and celebrate the defeat of the French (in one battle) in Puebla. Viva!

Strawberry Licuados

Although banana licuados are the most common variety (a fact influenced by financial motives - like many things in Mexican cuisine), most people would considerate a licuado made of strawberries a special treat for a lucky day.  Ours was decided by a stop at the Cuatro Caminos subway station while running errands, where there is a regular strawberry vendor hawking his goods for 10 pesos/kilo (a steal for strawberries)!

The basic formula for making a licuado stays generally the same, no matter what the fruit. The quantity of milk and ice and the procedures will be constant, but the amount of fruit and sugar may vary. For a strawberry licuado, you will want 400 g of strawberries and 3 tablespoons of sugar for 500g whole milk and 4 ice cubes for a thick, creamy, cool treat (which is more apt as dessert than breakfast, in contrast to the banana one).