In Street Foods of Mexico, award-winning chef Hugo Ortega of Hugo’s Authentic Mexican Cuisine, journeys across Mexico enjoying the foods of his homeland. Mexican street food represents the best of traditional cooking. The scent of these familiar dishes draws hungry diners to experience the unique richness of flavors that emerges in traditional cooking techniques. From the tacos and masa-based treats of the central highlands to the cocteles and ceviches of the coast, each region has its specialties, and each dish conveys both deeply satisfying taste and a delicious feeling of place. In his warm way, Hugo shares the stories behind the dishes and provides recipes and instructions to make them accessible to cooks everywhere. The color and flavor of Mexican street life comes alive in this generous collection of recipes for tacos, tlayudas, cocteles, bebidas, dulces, and much more. Join Hugo on his culinary journey, and your kitchen will become a vibrant, savory haven as you serve up the legendary foods of Mexico.
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About the Author
Hugo Ortega was born in Mexico City. He graduated from Houston Community College’s Culinary Arts program in November 1992 and assumed the role of chef at Backstreet Cafe; he became executive chef in 1995. He has made two guest-chef appearances at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City. In 1999, he was named "Up-and-Coming Chef of the Year," by My Table magazine; and a top chef by Inside Houston magazine. He is a member of the national organization Chefs Collaborative 2000. Hugo’s was named Restaurant of the Year by both the Houston Press and My Table magazines. In 2011, Ortega was named Chef of the Year at the prestigious Houston Culinary Awards. Penny de los Santos is an award winning internationally published photographer. She began photographing as a way to understand her own diverse cultural background and identity. She is senior contributing photographer to Saveur magazine and a contributing photographer for National Geographic magazine. In addition to photographing cookbooks, she has been on assignment to Martha Stewart Living, Time magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Mother Jones, Texas Monthly, and many other periodicals.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Chilewheel
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Hugo Ortega's book is the type that makes one rethink doing everything on an electronic device. It needs to be held to be truly enjoyed. There is much to appreciate. The scope of the offerings is staggering, and all the more helpful because Ortega's love of his country's cuisine is evident on every page. He did his homework, seemingly traveling the length and breadth of Mexico to get at the soul of its street food offerings. Penny de Los Santos' photography is stunning, producing pictures that are worthy of being framed and hung. The overall effect is, to put it simply, sensuous. Everything I saw I wanted to make, and I have started working my way through it's recipes.
Not everything is new, especially for those who are familiar with the cusine and its preparation methods, but there are new treats and twists aplenty to keep Mexican food veterans interested; two immediately come to mind. First is "Guisado de cazuela de chicharron", literally pork skin stew. The chicharron, which I happened to have just purchased at a local tienda, is immersed in a beef and tomatillo broth, using the familiar onion, chile and garlic for aromatic punch. Spice additives included cumin, oregano and a bit of ground clove, which added an interesting note. The chicharron softens in the dish, and develops a texture I happen to love, akin to the tendon commonly found in Vietnamese Pho.
The second dish is "Tacos de transito de lujo." Just a taco, you say? Yep, but made with deboned pig's feet panfried in egg batter. Using deboned trotters is the "lujo" or luxury, in the dish's name. You can have them deboned by your butcher, or braise or boil them briefly with aromatics to soften them up, and then debone them yourself. (To make this even easier, have your meat purveyor cut the feet in half which will simplify the process) A little bit of extra prep, but well worth the effort. Both of these dishes exemplify the soul of street food, regardless of where it comes from- lots of flavor from simple ingredients.
For the not so meat centric, the book includes meatless offerings and all manner of street offerings including sandwiches, ceviches, sauces, drinks, and sweets.
"Street Food of Mexico" is one of the best books of it's kind to come out in a long time. Buy it for the information it imparts. Buy it for the beauty it contains. Just buy it, and buy it old school -the book- to hold and enjoy, even if you never make a single recipe.
Not everything is new, especially for those who are familiar with the cusine and its preparation methods, but there are new treats and twists aplenty to keep Mexican food veterans interested; two immediately come to mind. First is "Guisado de cazuela de chicharron", literally pork skin stew. The chicharron, which I happened to have just purchased at a local tienda, is immersed in a beef and tomatillo broth, using the familiar onion, chile and garlic for aromatic punch. Spice additives included cumin, oregano and a bit of ground clove, which added an interesting note. The chicharron softens in the dish, and develops a texture I happen to love, akin to the tendon commonly found in Vietnamese Pho.
The second dish is "Tacos de transito de lujo." Just a taco, you say? Yep, but made with deboned pig's feet panfried in egg batter. Using deboned trotters is the "lujo" or luxury, in the dish's name. You can have them deboned by your butcher, or braise or boil them briefly with aromatics to soften them up, and then debone them yourself. (To make this even easier, have your meat purveyor cut the feet in half which will simplify the process) A little bit of extra prep, but well worth the effort. Both of these dishes exemplify the soul of street food, regardless of where it comes from- lots of flavor from simple ingredients.
For the not so meat centric, the book includes meatless offerings and all manner of street offerings including sandwiches, ceviches, sauces, drinks, and sweets.
"Street Food of Mexico" is one of the best books of it's kind to come out in a long time. Buy it for the information it imparts. Buy it for the beauty it contains. Just buy it, and buy it old school -the book- to hold and enjoy, even if you never make a single recipe.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Rickey
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Love the book. You can see that there was some time put into making this a very comprehensive cookbook. There are detailed definitions of ingredients. As I went through it, I could see this was not like other Mexican cookbooks. There is a soul and presence of Mexico in every recipe and picture. You can tell that these recipes were not just made up to fill a page but have been passed down for many generations. I plan on cooking everything.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By J. Bailey
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Love his food at Hugo's so thought I would get this. Very authentic mexican food but just wish they could put some of the recipe list online here.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
What's That Smell??
I have not had a chance to use any of the recipes yet, so this review is purely on the aesthetics of the book. I notice a strong odor each time I open the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Marilyn G. Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT COOK BOOK!!
One of my favorite Mexican cook books. Great true street food recipes. Just bought this book a 2nd time for my father for Christmas.
Published 6 months ago by John Soto
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book captures the very essence of life in Mexico!
Bravo Hugo! Reading your book took me back thirty years, to the sights, sounds, smells and most of all outstanding flavors that abound in authentic Mexico street food. Read more
Published 6 months ago by CJL0826
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not only his food is good, the book is awesome!
I got this book because I have been in his Hugo's restaurant in Houston several times, and every time it's been a delight. Read more
Published 6 months ago by TheBugMX
3.0 out of 5 stars
Yes the smell is that bad!
What a pity. A really great book. This is Mexican food from the heart and soul. I can not look at it for longer than a few minutes as the smell of the inks or the paper is... Read more
Published 7 months ago by D H
3.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars for content minus 2 stars for stinky paper!
I love the looks of the recipes in this book, and the pictures are very appealing, (I haven't had time to make any of them yet! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lourie
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