Mesoamerica · Volume 03, The Port, the Delta and Vanilla's Own Country
Garnachas veracruzanas
Highland Veracruz (Orizaba, Córdoba, Coatepec and Xalapa), Mexico
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- Not statedNo source states a time and the atlas has too few comparable dishes to estimate one.
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Garnachas veracruzanas
Orizaba, Córdoba, Coatepec and Xalapa
Ingredients
An outline, not yet a recipe: the tradition's method with its ingredients named but not weighed. Quantities are being added from sources inside the tradition, lead dishes first.
- 5 to 7cm nixtamal-masa tortillas, small, thick, hand-formed
- for deep-frying lard or oil, for deep-frying
- 1kg beef falda
- onion
- garlic
- bay
- red guajillo-tomato salsa or green tomatillo-serrano salsa
- to serve onion, chopped, to serve
- for garnish queso añejo, grated
- for garnish potato, cooked, cubed
Method
- Boil the beef falda with onion, garlic and bay, then shred.
- Hand-form small, thick nixtamal-masa tortillas, five to seven centimetres, and deep-fry in lard or oil until golden.
- Top with the shredded beef, a red guajillo-tomato or green tomatillo-serrano salsa, chopped onion, grated queso añejo and a cube of cooked potato.
What a modern chef changes
Home-nixtamalized masa, sous vide falda
Method
- Nixtamalize the maize at home rather than reconstituting masa harina, a controlled fermentation and chemical transformation, not a simple soak.
- Confit the beef falda sous vide at a low, controlled temperature for several hours before shredding, for a far more evenly tender result than boiling gives, holding more of its own moisture through the shred.
- Fry the formed garnachas in small batches at a carefully held temperature rather than letting the oil drift, for an evenly crisp base rather than one that browns unevenly.