Road Trip Pop Up: New Mexico

It’s road trip time! Wait wait - before you start requesting time off and packing your bags, I’m thinking a different kind of road trip. A road trip for your taste buds! Much easier, much tastier, and no having to sit for hours in the car. 😉

The next stop on Suite D’s Road Trip Pop Up Series is (drum roll, please!), New Mexico! On April 14th, we are serving up a delicious New Mexican inspired meal, including Huevos Rancheros Deviled Eggs, New Mexican Green Chili Stew, Enchiladas, Rice & Beans, and Churros for dessert!

Before we embark on this culinary journey, let’s talk a little bit about the history of some of these delicious dishes.

Enchiladas

First off, what is an enchilada? An enchilada is a corn tortilla rolled around meat and cheese, often topped with a sauce. Nowadays, there are many styles of enchiladas, which include vegetarian options as well. Being a versatile dish, enchiladas can be topped with many different items, from beans, to onions, to guacamole, and more.

Rolling tortillas has been happening in Mexico for a long time, dating back to the time of the Mayan civilization. The first enchiladas created were most likely corn tortillas rolled with fish inside of them. When Spanish conquistadors made their way to Mexico, many noted the abundance of enchiladas, and how locals everywhere were eating them. In 1831, enchiladas were first mentioned in a Mexican cookbook, El Cocinero Mexicano.

Churros

If you have yet to try a churro, you are in for a sweet treat. A churro is a dough pastry, rolled in a particular form, fried until crunchy, and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

The history of churros, like many things, is divided and debated.

One story starts with Portuguese sailors, who discovered a salty, fried flour stick snack in Northern China, called “YouTiao.” The sailors brought the snack technique back to Portugal, and instead of making the stick salty, they went for sweet, instead. From there, the neighboring Spanish heard of the tasty new treat, and recreated the stick, but added the step of passing the dough through a star shaped tip, thus creating a churro's signature ridges.

A second story claims that nomadic Spanish shepherds invented churros. The story goes that sweet toothed shepherds, too far from pastry shops, created their own tasty treat by frying dough over an open fire. They are said to have named the pastry after the horns of the “Navajo-Churro” breed of sheep, whose horns bear resemblance to a churro.

Either way, once the Spanish explorers brought churros to every port they visited in the new world, churros quickly became local favorites. Oh, and once Hernando Cortez brought the secret of Aztec chocolate back to Spain, the churro game was changed forever!