Nachos and guacamole are my Mexican passion…
I first visited Mexico in 2003, the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen area, I won a stay at the “Copacabana” resort**** thanks to an evening with Eurotravel (another failed tour operator): beautiful structure, surrounded by greenery and on a long, white beach with crystal clear sea, but the trip was a disaster because halfway through the vacation everything was stolen from our room safe, and for years I didn’t want to return to Mexico.
Then I returned in 2011, Baja California, “Pueblo Bonito Rosè” hotel in Cabo san Lucas. Perfect trip.
The Riviera Maya and Baja California are very different; it’s almost like being in two different nations. The former is the Mexico you expect, also due to its proximity to the Mayan ruins of Tulum, while Baja California feels like being in the United States, with the large presence of Americans, American-style hotel structures, and mixed gastronomy.
If you’re looking for Mexico’s long white beaches and Mayan treasures, a tour in Yucatan with a beach stay in Playa del Carmen is recommended. If you want a different, perhaps richer Mexico, Baja California is ideal.
In November 2023, we returned to Mexico, visiting Mexico City first and then moving to Isla Mujeres, a small island in front of Cancun, in the Caribbean Sea.
Mexican gastronomy is more or less known to everyone, although there is often some confusion with Tex-Mex, which is a fusion of American and Mexican cuisine. Today, Tex-Mex cuisine is practiced in the southern states of the USA.
The Mexican cuisine was that of the indigenous people, the Aztecs and the Maya, and was based on ingredients like potatoes, corn, beans, cocoa, and tomatoes.
These are ingredients also found in Tex-Mex cuisine, but combined and cooked differently.
The real Mexican cuisine is made of spices and strong flavors, white cheeses that contrast with the classic yellow cheese that accompanies some of these dishes in a more American reinterpretation.
Traditional Mexican dishes include Tacos al pastor, sopes, pozole, mole, tamales and they are traditional dishes, rich with local ingredients and rarely found in Europe.
All washed down with Margaritas and accompanied by guacamole sauce.
This dish is almost identical in both cuisines, even though in Mexico it’s often eaten with tortillas and competes with many other types of sauces less common in the Tex-Mex version.
It’s precisely this avocado-based sauce that is the star of my recipe, not so much because I particularly love it, but because it pairs with one of my favorite snacks… nachos!
Nachos and guacamole are a perfect Tex-Mex fusion, as nachos were born in 1943 in Piedras Negras, on the Texas border.
But beware, they are not part of traditional Mexican cuisine; the real “nachos” in Mexico are Chilaquiles, and the recipe is somewhat different…
For chilaquiles, corn tortillas called totopos* are cut into quarters and lightly fried, then softened and flavored in a green or red sauce, with chicken, cheese, and refried beans, and sometimes even eggs.
Totopos become nachos when topped with: refried beans, cheese sauce, jalapeños, sour cream, tomatoes, onion.
Below is the original guacamole recipe, whose word (male) comes from the union of ahuacatl, avocado, and molli, sauce.
The ancient recipe only called for avocado and lime juice.
Over time, various ingredients have been added, resulting in many variations, although the most prevalent is with tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers.
And the basic recipe for totopos is also suitable for chilaquiles.
In the photo, the nachos tasted during the trip to Isla Mujeres.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Mexican
For the totopos, fried tortillas:
- 7.05 oz yellow corn flour
- 1 1/4 cups water (warm)
- to taste salt
- to taste olive oil
- 4 avocados (ripe)
- 2 limes
- to taste salt
- 8.8 oz black beans
- 1 white onion
- 1.76 oz pork fat
- 2 cloves garlic
- to taste salt
For the tortillas:
Add the warm water to the corn flour gradually and start kneading the dough; when it still appears sandy, add the oil and salt.
Continue to mix until you get a firm and pliable dough (if using fine flour, it will absorb less water; if using coarse flour, it will need more).
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
After resting, form balls about 1.57 inches in diameter and roll them out with a rolling pin; you can either sprinkle the work surface with a bit of flour or use two sheets of parchment paper, one above and one below the dough.
Heat a griddle or non-stick pan well and place a disc of dough on it at a time.
As you cook the tortillas, keep them wrapped in a cloth to stay soft.
To make the totopos:
Heat the oil in a pan (it should not be too abundant) and add the tortilla pieces cut into triangles and fry until golden and crispy, about 1 ½ minute each time. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.
For the guacamole sauce:
Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. Peel the fruit, scoop out the pulp, cut it into cubes, and mash it with a fork in a bowl to form a puree. Grate a small part of the lime zest, squeeze the fruit, and add everything to the avocado puree.
Mix well to combine and complete your guacamole sauce.
For the nachos, or seasoned totopos, first prepare the refried beans:
After cooking the beans in their soaking water and setting aside the cooking water, fry the fat separately and add onions and garlic.
Add the beans, adjust the salt, and create a sort of cream by adding some cooking water.
Nachos with refried beans, diced tomatoes, onion, cheese sauce, sour cream, jalapeños, and here in the photo, chicken is added, but you can also opt for beef or shrimp or keep them simple.
Photo from the trip to Cabo San Lucas in November 2011.
Totopos can also be baked: after brushing the corn flour wedges with a little oil, place them in a preheated oven at 356-392°F for 10 minutes until they are golden.
*Difference between totopos and nachos:
Totopos, or fried tortillas, can be one of the main ingredients for preparing tasty and flavorful nachos, but they are not exactly nachos.
To be more specific, nachos refer to a Mexican dish full of heated totopos or tortilla chips and melted cheese or savory toppings like salsa, lettuce, and sour cream.
Therefore, totopos are just a part of them.
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To make perfect tortillas, a press like this one is needed:
To make perfect tortillas, a press like this one is needed:
To make perfect tortillas, a press like this one is needed:
GUACAMOLE VIDEO RECIPE:
Calvino also talks about guacamole in the collection of stories “Under the Jaguar Sun”:
“a puree of avocado and onion to scoop up with the crunchy tortillas that break into many shards and dip like spoons into the dense cream: the fat softness of the aguacate – the Mexican national fruit spread worldwide under the distorted name of avocado – accompanied and highlighted by the angular dryness of the tortilla, which can in turn have many flavors while pretending to have none
