In the Kitchen: Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo...

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

In honour of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I would share this post.... of course I am a day late, but I have had a few other things on my mind and just completely forgot!!

My neighbor is a red seal chef from Mexico, and he knows how to cook up a top notch meal; so when he asked me if I would be interested in a cooking lesson I was totally on board! Victor Hugo worked in Mexico as a chef and when he moved to Canada used his cooking skills as a chef for local YEG favourite Tres Carnales! Now adays he is cooking up a storm at Edmonton's newest food Truck Casa 12 Doce. When we met last week for our first lesson I didn't really know what to expect.... it turned into an afternoon of yummy food and some good laughs.

We started the day off with a visit to a Latin specialty store called Tienda Latina (Argyll Foods);  Carlos the owner took me for a tour and highlighted some of the unique products they carry. With the exception of a few items that are sourced locally, Tienda Latina specializes in importing food products from Central and South America and is sure to have everything you will need for a Mexican inspired meal! On this specific trip I was most intrigued with the assortment of fresh cheeses and spices...  I will definitely be heading back for their fresh tortillas and dried peppers (now that I know how to cook with them!).
When we got back to the house we got our ingredients together and started cooking; Victors wife Laura joined us to help snap pictures take part in the taste testing!! We started out with some home made guacamole and tortilla chips...
 ...and after that I learned how to make fresh sopes and salsas! If you aren't quite sure what a sope is, don't feel ashamed, I didn't either until Victor explained it to me. A sope is very similar to a tortilla but thicker and topped the same way you would top a regular taco.
We managed to make 3 different salsa verde recipes using my magic bullet and fried up some soy sausage as a topping for the sope's....
Finally biting into our delicious creations was the best part of the day, and Ryan was pretty thrilled about the authentic dinner we got to share together that night! Thanks Victor and Laura for spending the afternoon cooking with me, I can't wait to do it again!

...xo...CS

3 comments:

  1. Oh man!! That looks SO good, Carling!

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  2. Everything looks delicious! My favorite part about visiting Mexico is the food! That's awesome that you are learning how to make it! :)

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  3. Thanks Joy and Dianne! Seriously They tasted even better than they looked!!

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