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After I’d been at the grill for about 20 minutes, my friend yelled over to me, “What are you cooking? It smells like Rosarito Beach.”
She had come to see the profusion of wildflowers sprung from seeds we had sown last fall, but the smoky scent of roasting and charring drifting up the hillside was too much and she came roaring down the hill with our dog, Cocoa, close on her heels.
I was trying out recipes for Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo fiesta, but now it was a question of flowers competing with Mexican food.
Mexican won — just like the underdog Mexican army beating the fancy French army in 1862.
“It reminds me of the braziers and the cooking ladies along Rosarito Beach when I was a kid,” she said.
That confirmed the menu for Cinco de Mayo, which, for me, is not only a Mexican holiday fully adopted by the American psyche but also a rite of spring.
This year, for the 150th anniversary of Cinco de Mayo, I wanted everything to be easier — maybe have a glass of something good and watch someone else turn things on
the grill, preferably in warm air.
That’s what led me to test recipes for quick tacos, with all the ingredients cooked on the grill. First up were green chiles, which are later stuffed with cheese. After the chiles were done, the marinated skirt steak, which is messier, went onto the grill. I set a castiron grill pan (you can also use a heavy skillet) on the side to sear the achiote onions.
At this point you have a whole mariachi band of flavors for an instant taco party, with guests filling their tortillas with anything they want. They’ll want more achiote onions than you have. You can never make enough.
While you are at it, teach them the taco stance — holding the taco out to the side and not over their laps. And give them lots of napkins.