Menu: Let's talk about delicious, authentic tacos
Tacos, by Lily-Ramirez Foran is a perfect primer for creating summer-friendly Mexican fare
While he heralded their imminent arrival last year and promised that this new publishing house is set to revolutionise Irish food writing, it has taken far too long for The Menu to get around to making mention of the first of the new Blasta Books series of exquisitely liveried and deliciously concise cookbooks. They are all A5 size, gorgeously illustrated and designed to build up to a whole library of stylish culinary shelf fillers that will catch the eye as much as they will furnish fabulous ideas for the plate.
But, the first out of the stable is , by Lily Ramirez-Foran, so The Menu’s review is superbly timed as the summer season proper kicks off: its sublime and sharp selection of recipes is absolutely perfect for creating al fresco Hiberno-Mexican feasts — and as an opening salvo it is the perfect statement of intent.
Lily is probably Ireland’s most famous adopted Mexican, having married Irish husband, Alan, some 20 years ago and relocated to the rather damper climes of the Oul’ Sod where her first faltering efforts to replicate the cooking of her homeland have morphed into a thriving food business. Picado Mexican is a boutique Mexican grocery and cookery school, from which base Lily has served as the foremost ambassador for her country’s culinary creations and done much to introduce Ireland to proper Mexican cuisine — a million miles removed from those heinous supermarket kits.
The Blasta Books plan from the off was to offer a forum for diverse voices via concise little tomes with absolutely no unnecessary fluff or filler and Lily delivers in admirable style. Following a thoroughly entertaining introductory essay, she gets down to delivering a swift real corn taco masterclass covering origin and best practice when preparing, making and eating tacos, enabling a complete novice to progress to making the real deal in double-quick time.
As she rightly states, the potential combinations for a taco filling are near infinite so Lily delivers a short, sharp selection of just 14 of her own favourites, covering meat, vegetarian and even vegan. Many of these are recipes that she has built up using Irish ingredients to add a Hibernian inflection to all that sunshine and smokey fire on the palate. And while the combinations may be myriad, this precise little ‘fortnight’ of recipes does a nigh-on perfect job of offering a broad sweep of this complex and ancient food culture: a pithy little primer that is guaranteed to ignite a tempestuous love affair with authentic Mexican cuisine.
They are the class of recipes that, once mastered, will inspire you to start experimenting with your own combos and, best of luck to you, says The Menu, while highly recommending you employ Lily’s splendid little selection of recipes for excellent salsas and sides to be added as grace notes, to anoint your creations with truly authentic Mexican flavour and texture.
If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that our little island contains an endless offering of domestic treasures and pleasures for those choosing to holiday at home and The Menu doffs his cap to any who can claim to have discovered them all, other than tourism professionals. Carlingford Lough Cruises are a great way to discover one such treasure with a schedule of summer Tasting Cruises offering fine fare for both belly and eye, set against stunning views of the Cooley Peninsula and the Mourne Mountains with tours planned including Symphonia Gin & Woodlabs Distillery, Craft Brewery Cruise with Whitewater Brewery, Oysters & Guinness Cruise, Tastes of Cooley Cruise, Wine & Cheese Pairing Cruise, Tastes of the Lough Cruise, and a Whiskey & Gin Tasting Cruise featuring Boann Distillery. Cruises depart from either Greenore, County Louth, or Greencastle, County Down.
The Menu never needs an excuse to enjoy the charms of Ballymaloe House, both inside and out, and ‘outside’ is further enhanced with an open-air sculpture exhibition taking place this summer in conjunction with the Richard Scott Gallery. Free to attend, it is hosted on the grounds with 40 Irish works from 28 Irish artists, with guided tours available — a good pairing with the new Conservatory Lunches (Mon-Sat, 1-2.30pm).
Over the years, the Burren Balsamics crew has built up a commendable business sporting a fine range of very delicious products founded on premium balsamic vinegar from Modena, in Italy, They then infuse this with a whole panoply of flavours, making for a very versatile kitchen ‘enhancer’ — an ideal condiment for enhancing dishes with a last-minute drizzle as a grace note or employing from the off as a key ingredient in, say, a marinade for grilling. And while cheap, viscous ‘balsamic’ has been implicated in all manner of culinary crimes in recent years, not least as a random and thoroughly inappropriate ‘drizzle’ over all manner of dishes for visual effect, a good balsamic, used judiciously, can make for a pleasingly complex yet not overpowering salad dressing.
The latest from the BB stable is Armagh Bramley Apple, a delightfully light and spritely concoction with a pleasing sharp acidity and a sweet and salty umami finish and The Menu didn’t have to think very hard to conceive myriad uses in the kitchen, beginning with a salad of steamed carrots and broccoli, dressed while still hot in EVOO and a drizzle of BB Armagh Bramley Apple and then finished with a sprinkling of chopped roasted hazelnuts.
