Vegan Mofo Day 28 Tacos VS Burritos. Where do you stand on this important issue?
Firstly I have to admit that I do not have much familiarity with Mexican food or at least Mexican vegan food. I did travel a bit in Mexico 12 years ago but I wasn't veggie then. Also, in the meantime I have developed a condition called Hyper Sensitive Cough Reflex Syndrome and chillis amongst many other things can be one of my triggers. Incidentally it seems like the condition likely stems from a horrendous virus that I caught during that trip that caused neurological damage and this condition! When I have a coughing attack it can be quite scary and I can be sick and nearly pass out. People with this condition have even been known to break ribs from a coughing attack! I've developed quite a bit of anxiety around food that can trigger attacks but I'm ok with mild chilli powder and things like chipotle though so all is not lost!
Also, where I live in England Mexican food is not really a thing. Just recently though this has started to change and there's a couple of burrito chains and some food stalls in Manchester and these seem to be doing well so hopefully Mexican cuisine will start to get more established as I remember loving the flavours of the food that I ate on that trip to Mexico. So up until now my vegan Mexican experiences have been limited to burritos from the aforementioned fast food places made with the mildest salsas and sauces. So, in the spirit of Mofo I challenged myself to make tacos yesterday in order to give today's question a fair weighting.
I picked the black bean and kalamata olive tacos from Appetite for Reduction. I skipped the jalapeno as the ones I'd bought in a jar were ridiculosly hot, I used a bit of chipotle tabasco instead which is lovely and which doesn't trigger my cough at all. Instead of the jar of green salsa I used a mild red one as I've never actually seen green salsa for sale anywhere. The white sauce on top is a lemon, garlic, yoghurt dressing. Oh wow, these were delicious! I did actually manage to get proper corn tortillas which I bought from Panchos Burrito's which is a lunch stall in the Arndale market. Matt and I wolfed these down in no time and decided we need to hunt down more taco recipes to try so please leave suggestions in the comments. So actually at this moment in time I think tacos are winning over burritos. I'm excited about trying more and grateful to Mofo that I've come out of my food comfort zone and tried something that I had a bit of a food fear about because of the chilli issue. Yay for tacos!
Oh man that is a scary thing to have! I'm with you on Tacos over burritos too! :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't made those tacos yet, I tend to avoid recipes with olives in. I don't know why though, I like olives haha
The olives are really not too big a feature so don't be put off by them. They give a great saltiness. Matt was surprised when I told him afterwards that they had kalamata olives as an ingredient and hadn't noticed them at at.
DeleteI love good salty olives, they add so much flavour to a dish! And I love Pancho's too. The coughing sounds scary, especially the potential rib-breaking. Yikes!
ReplyDeletePancho's have just opened a sit down place too. It's just off Oxford Road near where the BC used to be!
DeleteWow I've never heard of that syndrome, that must be really challenging. Is it all chili's that can trigger it? That must rule out a lot of other foods like Indian, Thai and Jamaican... almost all cultures have some sort of killer heat... except for us Northerners -haha we're so bland ;)
ReplyDeleteMild chillis are usually ok but to be honest just the act of eating anything can at times be a trigger, usually just the first mouthful then it will calm down. I don't eat out much as I get so embarrassed by it. Things like temperature are also a big trigger especially things like supermarket fridges! I'd love not to have it then I could have a job working with food but at least I can still do food blogging and reviewing. It's taken me 10 years to get diagnosed but luckily we have a research faculty for chronic cough at a hospital in Manchester and I got accepted as a patient there earlier this year. I'm actually off to a conference they've organised next week and will get to meet other people with it which will be amazing and could be noisy, haha.
DeleteI can understand the frustration of your disease, I am wondering if my husband has it, because when I sautee a hot pepper or red pepper flake my husband coughs violently. Sometimes it is worse than others, it usually isn't bad if the pepper is crowded in the pot with other veggies. And even though he is hacking and coughing after I THINK it is all clear, the food isn't all that spicy!
ReplyDeleteYikes, that is scary about the coughing. Especially the potential for rib breaking! Definitely best to stick to the milder side of life!
ReplyDeletetotally loving that sauce! I want some!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds super scary!Your tacos look amazing! Kalamata olive and black bean sounds like an interesting combo! I need to find that book at the library again!
ReplyDeleteYour tacos look awesome, fair play.
ReplyDeleteTwo great taco books: Vegan Tacos and Lazy Smurf is coming out with Taco Cleanse. More tacos than you'll know what to do with!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant thank you for those recommendations :)
Deleteyay for homemade tacos! I grew up in California, and Mexican food is pretty much the closest thing to native cuisine for me. I sometimes feel sad for people who live in countries where mexican food hasn't caught on. I love this taco recipe from Appetite for Reduction that you made - so simple and tasty (and non-cough inducing!!!)
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