By this point in history, just about every country on earth has some decent restaurants - at the very least, some French or Northern Italian dining room in the main business hotel. Yet in his native Mexico, chef Hugo Ortega believes, some of the finest cuisine and most masterful culinarians are found at stands, kiosks and carts on the street. That’s what inspired his first-ever cookbook, Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico, which makes its official debut at his namesake Houston restaurant tomorrow night.
We were lucky enough to taste and photograph some of the book’s recipes at Hugo’s, chatting with Ortega himself and his business partner-wife, Tracy Vaught. We also got to talk about the contribution of the chef’s brother, Ruben, who concentrated on recipes for beverages and sweets. And we also got to taste dishes like these delicate rabbit flautas, which (Ortega maintained) are nowhere near as special from his award-winning kitchen as from the guy who makes them on the street in Mexico.
A real (and profound) component of Street Food of Mexico is served up by photographer Penny de los Santos, as you see directly above. If, as I always say, food is all about people, then Mexican street food is even more so. Without large kitchen staffs, and in most cases without professional training, the street cooks are elementally revealed in what they’re cooking - the region they come from, the skills passed down from mother and grandmother. With a resume filled with National Geographic and my beloved Saveur, de los Santos was perfect for the mission. It’s not for nothing that most of her photos show not just food but the hands busy making it.
A decade ago, when Hugo’s opened in Houston on a stretch of Westheimer near Montrose, customers still asked if dishes like the above were “cooked.” Now, with a bit of extra education from the Japanese sushi revolution, most diners would see this plate and say “oh, ceviche.” In Mexico, along the coasts, such preparations might go by many different names. But happily, the delicate, sea-kissed flavors of fish, shrimp or crab drizzled with lime juice have become yet another response to the utterly false notion that Mexican cuisine is all gravy, lard and melted cheese.
In the Mexican street dishes we sampled at Hugo’s, a fair number were “little tastes” ending in the diminuitive “ito” or “ita.” That makes perfect sense, since street food is usually finger food, something we can purchase and carry on our way. What impresses about dishes like this marinated and shredded meat sprinkled with queso fresco above a fried savory cake is our presumption that such foods can’t possibly be distinguished. Wonderful taste and fascinating texture - it’s all right here.
I can’t say I’ve ever had tacos at Hugo’s before. But when I did, in celebration of Mexican street foods, they may well be the best tacos I’ve ever tasted. Ortega himself doesn’t like what tacos have done to Mexican food in this country - especially any taco huckstered by a small dog. Yet the fact that the delivery system can supply us with remarkable flavors is inherent in this lovely Hugo’s platter of build-your-own goodness.
With the possible exception of the candy called Chiclets, which Ortega says he sold on the street as a young boy in his village near Puebla, nothing puts the “street” in street food quite like churros. These crisp-fried sweet pastries sprinkled with powdered sugar are the beignets of Mexico. Here, at Hugo’s, they get a bit of a presentation upgrade, not to mention a lush chocolate sauce for dipping.
In region after region of Mexico, Hugo Ortega says he had fun researching this cookbook with his brother Ruben. It was a return to their homeland, to a memory in so many ways, yet a return as the best thing possible - a success. When Mama Ortega’s boys start signing copies at Hugo’s tomorrow night, and as all those little bites are passed through the crowd by the waiters they employ, it will be a dream come true. The American Dream, first and foremost.
Photo Note: From top, photos # 1, 3 and 8 are copyright Penny de los Santos. The rest are simply by me, before I ate everything except the book.
Great post and great food!~