Mexican is one of my favorite cuisines. However, like a lot of cooks, I’m often intimidated by the complex preparation required for many authentic Mexican dishes. Ricardo James’ new cookbook Daily Tortilla with its many simple Mexican recipes can help readers overcome that hesitation and create real Mexican food.

James isn’t Hispanic and he didn’t grow up in Mexico. He did start cooking early and traveled to Mexico as a missionary where he was exposed to Mexican dishes, including simple and delicious street foods. The recipes in Daily Tortilla possess the four tenants James insists are part of real Mexican cuisine: freshness (South of the border cooks often have little refrigeration and have to go to the market daily); a delivery mechanism like a tortilla, tostada or tamale that enables it to be eaten out of hand; a limited number of ingredients cooked in different ways and used in several applications; and traditional methods used by everyday cooks in Mexico.

Daily Tortilla is a pretty book. Every recipe is beautifully illustrated with at least one and often more luscious photos. The author starts Daily Tortilla with what he calls The Basics: salsas, guacamoles, moles, and frijoles (beans). He does a good job of explaining that salsas (which seem to have endless variations in Mexican cooking) have three components: bulk, heat, and spice. The bulk may be red or green tomatoes (and sometimes beans or corn). Heat can comes from dried chili powder, fresh chopped chiles, roasted chopped , raw pureed pepper or cooked pureed chilies. Finally, the spice can be from salt, onions, garlic or other ingredients that offer sweetness, texture or crunch.

From Salsas to Desserts
He offers recipes for seven five different salsas like the fresh salsa pico de gallo and roasted ancho chile and tomato salsa (salsa de chile ancho y jitomate); guacamole (with a number of variations); two basic salsas (mole and enchilada) and several ways to make beans and rice and those pickled onions common in taco stands. All of these recipes, like those throughout the book, are laid out in an easy-to-use format that includes a brief introduction, ingredient list, yield, and numbered preparation steps.

In his Platform section James tells readers how to make corn and flour tortillas, sopes (corn/potato boats), gorditas (fat little cakes), totopos (chips), and dough for tamales. This section is especially instructive with small, step-by-step photos that accompany easy-to-understand prep instructions.

Once you have the salsas, sauces, flavorings and toppings and the platforms, James moves onto Main Dishes. As I read though the recipes in this section and gazed at the photos, my mouth literally watered. There are delicious and simple recipes for dishes like Melted cheese and sausage, chicken hash, drunken shrimp in mole, and even chilaquiles, that wonderful dish often served for breakfast that involves left-overs: tortillas, enchilada sauce, roast chicken, cheese, onions and sour cream. The Swiss Enchilada recipe (chicken enchiladas with green cream sauce) was so tempting I made it for dinner and it was both amazingly easy and delicious. Vegetarians will love the veggie taco recipe that includes zucchini, mushrooms, and onions wrapped in fresh homemade tortillas.

Strangely, Daily Tortilla lists the First Courses after the Main Dish Section. These First Courses (Soups, Pastas, Salads). There are three soup recipes—meat balls, noodle, chicken, and veggie. And who knew there was such thing as Mexican lasagna (it’s made with habanero chilies and Mexican Chihuahua cheese) or Mexican spaghetti? There’s also a couple of traditional corn and cactus salads that look both easy and tasty.

The last two sections of Daily Tortilla give readers recipes for drinks and desserts. If you’ve not enjoyed Mexican augas (waters) made with fresh fruit, you’re in for a refreshing treat and Daily Tortilla will tell you how to make them. There are recipes made with watermelon, cantaloupe, tamarind, mango, and even beets. This section also includes Mexican drink favs horchata (sweet rice drink) and Limonada (limeade).

The Postre (Dessert) section includes traditional Mexican flavors—cinnamon, caramel, chocolate, and almonds. I especially appreciated Daily Tortilla’s recipe for flan, Mexican custard with caramel, that is so easy and delectable I served it at a dinner party to rave reviews.

Real Bottom Line: I was prepared not to be impressed with Daily Tortilla, but I love this cookbook. The recipes are wonderfully authentic and approachable. With easy and accessible recipes and great photos, including a number of step-by-step ones, this cookbook can make real Mexican food part of your cooking repertoire. I know it’s going to expand the Mexican dishes I cook in my kitchen. – Bobbie Hasselbring, RFT Editor