Tag: Salsa

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew MexicoRating: ExcellentTacos

Tako Ten – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:57 AM

Gustavo Arellano, author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, wasn’t kidding when he quipped “The Taco Bell taco is dead. Long live the taco.”  Boomers like me may not have grown up heading for the border, but we did grow up with the Taco Bell “taco template”–a crunchy hard-shell tortilla crammed with seasoned ground beef, chopped tomato, lettuce, a fistful of shredded yellow cheese and a large dollop of sour cream.  We’ve long since joined enlightened millennials and generation Z diners in railing against what Chef Rick Bayless calls Taco Bell’s “near-laughable caricature” of authentic Mexican tacos.   So just what are authentic Mexican tacos? Travel throughout the Land of Montezuma and whether you get your tacos from upscale restaurants, market stalls or street vendors, you’ll quickly discover their versatility, diversity and deliciousness.  Adventurous diners can, for example, enjoy palm-sized tortillas filled with virtually every part of the pig, cow, or chicken.  These proteins can be stewed (as in a guisado), barbecued (for barbacoa), roasted on a vertical spit (al pastor), cooked atop a griddle (a la plancha), or served campechano (a mélange of chopped meats). Tacos de mariscos (seafood), pescado (fish) and chapulines (grasshoppers) are also pretty popular…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: Good

Garduño’s of Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:32 PM

All too often faulty premises are based on a lack of information or experience. Take for example, British author Simon Majumdar, a recurring judge on the Food Network’s Next Iron Chef competition who once declared “given how abysmal Mexican food is in London, I always thought that it was a cuisine made up of remains from the back of the fridge.” It wasn’t until Majumdar experienced tacos de tripa at a restaurant in Guadalajara, Mexico that he achieved an epiphany and fell in love with Mexican food. He called it a meal that changed his life.   Similarly, many of my colleagues from Arizona perceived Mexican food as lacking personality–a misconception borne from their culinary experiences with Phoenix area Mexican food. When business travel brought them to Albuquerque, we exposed them to New Mexican and Mexican food the way it’s done in the Land of Enchantment. It was love at first taste. The addictive properties of capsaicin-blessed New Mexico chile ensnared their affections and haven’t let them go to this date. The very favorite restaurant of many of them became Garduño’s of Mexico. Over the years, Garduño’s has become the favorite of many of its guests—New Mexicans and visitors alike.…