THE PERFECT TACO by LIR

Hello good friends:
Today, I devote the entire post to the building of the Perfect Taco. I do this because, though I do believe that everyone should cater their tacos to their own personal taste, there are some things that should be kept in mind for success.

SOFT SHELL OR HARD ("he said HARD".."Yeah, heh-heh.....")
Though this could be the title of an arguement over which kind of crab is best to eat. It's not. It's about taco shells. I have gone back and forth over the years. I like both and have eaten one or the other, exclusively, at different times. Right now, I'm into Hard shell tacos. Right now I'm groovin' on the crunch. It is, artistically, easier to build on a Soft shell, however, because you can just add things in a pile. So let's get to it.

BUILDING ON SOFT
First, you need to lay the shell flat. The initial ingredient should be the meat. Be it ground beef, chicken or steak (not to mention shrimp), you need to start with a good base. The meat gives you that base from which to blend your tastes and textures.

Next, I like to go with the salsa. Now, people will disagree and say they like to go with other things here, and that the salsa is a topping. I say that the salsa acts as a mortar, a glue, if you will, for holding important ingredients together. Nothing beats homemade salsa for freshness. But if I'm using store brand, I usually go with Pace Medium Chunky Salsa. I like it cause it's pretty fresh tasting (for jarred sauce), and the heat level is enjoyable and manageable. But of course, everyone has their own favorite.

We then move to the cheese section. We usually use some form of shredded cheese. Hot cheese sauce works okay too. It's not the KIND of cheese you use. Use Gorgonzola goat cheese for all I care. But the cheese directly ties in the flavor from the meat a couple of levels below and the veggies. Don't be afraid to use the cheese liberally. Cheese is good.

After cheese, it's Veggie time. This is not to be confused with Lima-Time, which is a terrible memory for 2006 Mets fans. But I digress. Again, the kind of veggies is unimportant. But you should use them for color and for health. A taco makes use of mutilple food groups. So if you use tomatoes, peppers, or mangos, get some produce in there. No, the salsa alone doesn't count. I like green or colored peppers, and I enjoy garden-fresh tomatoes in the summer, but never the crap you get in winter. Once in a while shredded lettuce is great, but I generally don't take the time to shred lettuce. It is nice, theough, because it's cold and gives a change of texture to the taco.

Finally, it's time for whatever topping you use. We like guacamole or sour cream. I am also a big fan of Habanero sauce. Something flavorful like Melindas XXX, or Tejas Tears, or even El Yucateca, which you can get for free by stealing a bottle off of the tables at Garcia's.

Important Note:
The taco, after completion should be folded, NOT rolled like a burrito. It is, after all, a taco.

DIRECTIONS FOR HARD TACOS
There is not much difference in the building process, other than you have to use less material. You don't want to crack the shell, so you have to be careful when spooning the ingredients into the shell. I like to let the meat sit in the shell for a few seconds before I hit it with the salsa because it lets the juices soak into the shell and soften it up so that when you bite into it, there's less chance of getting a violent shell crack and the whole thing falling apart.

BECOMING A MASTER TACO BUILDER
The MAIN skill for becoming a Master taco builder is what I call Low-Mess-Amount, or L.M.A. The less cracking or tearing of the shell, the less mess. The less mess, the easier it is to make your NEXT taco buildable WITHOUT getting it all wet from the plate WHILE you're building it. The Lower your L.M.A., the easier it will be for you to make Master rank Taco Builder.

There's nothing wrong with trying to be artistic while making food. The taco gives you the opportunity to experiment with creativity and build layers of tastes and textures. You'd be surprised on how many excellent taste combinations you can make with many different ingredients (you wouldn't believe how good cantaloupe and orange bell pepper tastes together). Of course, the Traditional taco (beef, salsa, cheese and some kind of Veg) always has a welcome place at any table.

The Lesson, for now, ends here. I know you'll try to give my way a try, because you know that
LEN IS RIGHT.

Be at peace my food-loving minions.
I am,
Len Tollerton