With Cinco de Mayo coming up after the weekend, Chicago-area Mexican-Americans reminisce with traditional foods:

• Vegetable-stuffed peppers
  
• Ranchero sauce
• Mango and jicama salsa
• Mexican meatball soup
• Salsa Soup
• Tortillas at home
• Seafood 'cocktail' to start the meal
• Grilled cheese with beans
• Chorizo in an easy noodle dish
• Spicy stew with hominy

Also, for preparation in the kitchen:

• Equipping a kitchen with the right tools
• Mexican beer tasting: Forget the lime, go for flavor
• Achieving taco greatness starts in your kitchen
• Mexican cooking classes
• #2 By the numbers
• Mexican chef offers free cooking pointers
• By the numbers

There's also a Mexican Food Quiz, a list of some essential Mexican ingredients, and Mexican Cookbooks.

"I already ate dinner...Oh, BYOT? Did you say BYOT?!?! I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Such was my end of the mobile conversation with my sister last night when she called me over to her place for dinner. Not only had I already eaten a huge meal just before she called, but it was also Mexican food. That all went out the driver side window when she said "BYOT." When anyone in my family does BYOT, everyone and their mothers (literally) shows up.

BYOT in my Delicious family stands for "Build Your Own Taco," which isn't anything earth-shatteringly new or innovative. It just happens that BYOT is perfectly appropriate for a Super Bowl party because 1) the food is not difficult to prepare, and 2) as a "Southwestern-style" food, it matches the Super Bowl XLII's host city, Phoenix, Arizona. It doesn't hurt, either, that BYOT is highly customizable to your and your guests' tastes. It can be comprehensive, vegetarian, or even a little gourmet.

All you have to do is prep the components and set them up as a buffet. Your guests will do all the work of putting their tacos together.

• Tortillas - We typically go with hard taco shells made from yellow corn tortillas, but you can also offer soft flour and corn tortillas, flat tostada shells, or if people are picky about carbs, nothing. They can make "salads" in bowls or on plates, and you can make fun of them for being "healthy" at a Super Bowl party. Remember that while people can eat regular tacos with their hands, tostadas and "bowls" mean you have to offer silverware.
  
• Meat - Protein choices for tacos are plenty. My sister likes ground beef with the requisite taco seasoning, but we have done carne asada, carnitas, and grilled chicken. You can do grilled fish or shrimp, and if there are vegetarians on your guest list, you may want to provide black or refried beans.
• Cheese - Go with any cheese you like, and shred it. If your cheese squirts out of a can, we can't help you.
• Vegetables - The standards are shredded Iceberg lettuce, diced fresh tomatoes, chopped onions, and black olives. Don't get too fancy with vegetables. If you start grilling peppers and onions, you're crossing that fine line into fajita territory.
  
• Salsa - A simple red tomato salsa is perfect, though offering options like tomatillo, roasted tomato, and other salsas is nice.
• Guacamole - I very rarely see tacos with guacamole, but why? It's guacamole!
• Other Good Stuff - Sour cream and hot sauces (in addition to salsa) like Tapatio or Cholula.

One of my great food memories is getting together with my best friend and making tacos. We'd get all the fixings - beef, lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, etc - and really make an event of it. Tacos is one of those meals you probably don't have as much when you become an adult - unless you're rushing around and make a stop at Taco Bell - so today is a good day to start making them again.

Before you get turned off by this edition of Midnight Snack allow me to explain the headline. Years ago I used to eat these wonderful tacos at a Mexican deli in Hell's Kitchen. After working my way through all the humdrum varieties (carnitas, bifteck, al pastor, cecina, etc.), I spied pancita de chivo written on the blackboard.

I asked what kind of meat it was before trying a taco. When the lady told me they were goat belly, I gladly ordered one up, after all I'd never met chivo that was anything less than cravable. When I saw that the tortilla contained blood pudding and god knows whatever other bits of goat innards I wasn't entirely turned off. In fact, my interest was piqued since I enjoy a good black pudding every now and then. When I tasted it, everything changed, for this was no mere blood pudding. It was subltly spiced with cinnamon and hot peppers and utterly delicious.

Fast forward to yesterday when I saw pansa negro de chivo on the specials menu at one of my favorite Mexican spots. When I ordered it, I wasn't entirely sure whether it would be the same meat I'd had in tacos. As it turned out it was. About five tacos worth of goat gutty goodness were sided with some of the best Mexican rice I've ever had. Usually this lackluster rice has a technicolor orange hue and remains uneaten, but not this version. It had just enough achiote to color it and was studded through with bits of fresh carrots and peas, and kept company by some great stewed beans. The whole affair was topped with four or five pickled jalapeños that had been sliced lengthwise.

As you might have guessed from the topic of this post the whole platter proved to be too much for me. Of course when you get it packed up, dump in a bowl and then nuke it, the result looks nowhere near as good as it did in the restaurant. But I can assure you, it hits the spot at midnight with an ice cold Tecate. Let's just hope I don't have any nightmares about chupacabras.

This is the weekend, y'all.

If you're like me and, I am suspecting, tons of other people out there who have procrastinated for the last few weeks, you're on a mission-critical path to get your taxes done before the April 17 deadline. No time to waste, and no time to...cook!

Thankfully, you can run over to Mexican fast food chain Chipotle, grab a burrito on April 14th or 15th to get you through your 1040, and on April 16, take your receipt for that burrito back to Chipotle for a free burrito!

A free burrito is going to sound good, too, if you owe the IRS like me!

It's another late night here in the Slashfood virtual offices, and as we surf the web as we usually do in our last moments before collapsing into bed, we have come across what we think might be The Food Trend of the Year. At the beginning of this year, all the food fashion forecasters put in their guesses as to what they believe will be the "It" food for the upcoming year, whether it's exotic spices from South Asia being used more commonly in the home kitchen or specific products that will gain some traction. Maybe it will be: Korexican.

That's the fusion of Korean and Mexican, as we see in kalbi tacos from LA food blogger Eat, Drink n B Merry. Some say that "fusion" cuisine was over all the way back when leggings were in style the first time, but leggings have come back, and apparently, so has fusion. At least, it did at a semi-buzzed barbecue in southern California.

Chopped kimchee with kalbi is always delicious, but not sure how it tastes with guacamole!

When I watch too much TV, I crave Taco Bell. A primitive neuron deep within my brain stem fires. Within days, if not minutes, I find myself running to the border.

Normally when I'm in the mood for Mexican, I settle for nothing less than homey soft corn tortillas. Best case scenario: Standing at a taco truck downing a double layer of lard-griddled goodness topped with carnitas, cecina or al pastor, while cilantro-and-onion-infused reddish grease threaten to ruin my outfit.

To make their way into my kitchen supermarket tortillas must pass a strict test. The package needs to showcase the words "tortilleria" and "hermanos" and bear an address within a 45-minute drive from my humble abode. I never purchase "tortillas" that bear the dreaded word "wrap."

Hopefully the above rant explains my issue with a recent article on tortilla sales. I have no beef, cecina or otherwise, with citing 2002 Tortilla Industry Association stats that rank the delectable discus just behind white bread. I understand that those figures are no doubt the latest digits. Perhaps, I'm jonesing for pork and lard, but I was put off by what I found to be a puff piece for Tumaro's Gourmet Tortillas, which earned top honors from Men's Health's for wraps. But who am I to say, maybe Tumaro's pineapple flavored tortilla will hit Taco Bell just after I've maxed out on Seinfeld reruns.

That's mole as in "mo-lay," not mole as in "Whack-a-Mole" at Chuck E. Cheese. But be not mistaken, making the former is no less difficult than playing the latter.

Mole is a traditional Mexican sauce that has a reputation of being rather difficult to make, not because the technique is all that complicated, but because there are over 30 ingredients and according to Matt Armendariz of food blog MattBites who finally attempted to make the sauce himself, at least 43 steps in making it. Just a few of the ingredients, which seem strange, but are essential to the sauce are chiles (not surprising), nuts (still not quite surprising), ripe plaintains, raisins, bread and tortillas as thickeners, chocolate and cinnamon! Matt does a quick history of mole, talks about his grandmother's mole, and shares the recipe he used to make it at home, which comes from Bon Appetit magazine.

Pizza?!?! He's taking you out to grab a slice of pizza?!?! Forget it. What kind of cheapskate/Peter Pan/unimaginative guy is he!??! Drop him!

Don't pretend like you haven't done it before -- judged a guy (or girl) before you've even met, based on where they want to go on the first date. Fancy expensive reservations-30-days-in-advance-only and you're impressed, right? KFC drive-thru and...well, you get the picture.

Though they don't have an opinion about pizza, AOL has put together a short feature about what his restaurant/cuisine choice could say about him. If you don't have the time to read through it, here's the lowdown:

• Tapas - "don't expect a commitment from this professional dabbler anytime soon"
• Seafood - "it's nice to spend time with somebody who believes money is no object, but if he never lets you forget it..."
• Pancake house - "a guy who knows what he wants, and exactly where to go to get it"
• Sushi - "an eclectic lifestyle, so he wants to try everything"
• Mexican - "hot and spicy guy is the kind that will dance the night away"
• Chinese - "he needs a little motivation"
• Steakhouse - "since he won't stray too far from the norm, he could be a huge bore"
• Italian - "you've got a serious romantic on your hands"
• Burgers and fries - "likes it straight, so he can save himself for the BMX race he's in"

When is a tomato not a tomato? When it's an heirloom and goes by its own name, like "Brandywine" and Marvel "Stripe." Recipes are for: Cavatelli with Cranberry Beans, Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon & Potatoes, Bruschetta With Fresh Ricotta & Cherry Tomatoes, and Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes with Buttermilk Dressing.

The Grande Dame of Mexican cuisine, Diana Kennedy, shares recipes for Tamales Cernidos con Rajas y Queso (Tamales filled with Poblanos & Cheese) as well as an accompanying Salsa Verde.

Edna Lewis' classic The Taste of Country Cooking has been reissued, Scala's Bistro in Union Square has re-opened with a new look and a new menu, Etoile, Domaine Chandon's restaurant has reopened, and Bistro 1689 in a new French-California place in Noe Valley.

Summer is a good time for road trips and, to give a road trip a purpose, more people are looking for good eats while they're out. Alton Brown and Paula Deen's sons have shows about road tripping, last week we saw a Washington burger tour and we already love the pair behind Roadfood. This week, the New York Times shares a California taco hunt with us and with a car, a map and the motto "even a bad taco is better than no taco," the 380-mile trip began.

It started in Los Angeles, which yielded some deliciously authentic tacos (King Taco, El Taurino, El Parián) as well as tasty fish tacos (Tacos Baja Ensenada). Santa Barbara turned up Julia Child's favorite restaurant (La Super Rica Taqueria) and tacos made with cow eyes (Lilly's Taqueria). Further up the coast, stops are made in Morro Bay (Chapala), for oyster tacos at Cayucos Beach (Ruddell's Smokehouse), in Watsonville (Fiesta Tepa-Sahuayo), at a late-night hotspot in Santa Cruz (Taqueria Vallarta) and at a taqueria in a gas station in Pescadero (Taqueria y Mercado de Amigos) that turned out two perfect tacos. After taking in the fantastically beautiful California coast, the trip ended in San Francisco's Mission District, which is well-known for both tacos and burritos, where five restaurants managed to make it onto the tour (La Taqueria, Taqueria San José, El Taco Loco, an El Tonayense taco truck and La Palma Mexicatessen). .

And in the end? 5 days, 49 tacos and one excellent trip for a taco-lover.

Be sure to check out the full article for a detailed account of all the individual tacos.

I have been hunting for green tomatoes the last few days and have finally tracked some down to a Mexican restaurant in central London. I have to buy a 20 litre tin mind which seems a little excessive for just one recipe! The restaurant, Mestizo, is about the only authentic venue for Mexican cuisine in the UK. As recommend by The Passionate Cook who, in her colourful past, lived in Mexico. [Another recommendation here]

But it would seem that decent Mexican food is as hard to find in the UK as it is in New Orleans. Which surprises me seeing how close the city is to Mexico. But Blogging New Orleans reported the other day  that despite an influx of Mexican workers since Katrina there still isn't an 'authentic' Mexican restaurant in the city. Plenty of Mexican drinks and foods appearing in the shops but no restaurants.

A shame that other countries manage to export their culinary culture so well but Mexico (and other South American countries) do not.

I have no idea why I'm reading Men's Health. Regardless, the magazine has an article that encourages men to cook these seven dishes from around the world at home, to keep them lighter than the restaurant versions that are always loaded with too much pasta, rice and potatoes. Men's Health says that the "secret isn't tiny, Frenchman-like portions; it's a redistribution of nutrients." Hey, if it makes you look like Mr. Cooking Guy in the photo, I'm all for it! 

The recipes are for:

1. Curried Shrimp Kebabs with Basmati Rice (Indian)
2. Sausage and Pepper Pasta (Italian)
3. Steak and Bean Burrito (Mexican)
4. Pork Fried Rice (Chinese)
5. Teriyaki Salmon Bowl with Broccoli (Japanese)
6. Cajun Chicken Fingers with Sweet Potato Fries
7. Broiled Lamb Chop over Cucumber Tomato Salad (Greek)

The recipes are for one portion though. I'd double it, and make dinner for yourself and your date!

We're nosy, yes we are. So won't you tell us what you did last night for Cinco de Mayo? Maybe you ignored it completely and it was dinner as usual, maybe you threw your own party at home with a walking taco for everyone, or maybe you left work early, went to the closest cantina for cheap Cinco de Mayo happy hour (that would be "hora especial") specials, then made your way to who knows where before finally ending up at home this morning, in the same clothes, with a killer tequil-ler hangover. If that's the case, drink some water, turn off your computer and go back to bed!

Me? I tried to go somewhere, a couple of places, actually, but realized we'd be waiting in line for over an hour, so went to have Chinese food for dinner!

It's Cinco de Mayo (that's "5th of May" if you took French in high school), so don your sombreros, head out to the local cantina, and start the fiesta! LA is a veritable goldmine of Mexican joints, with everything from upscale Border Grill to the taco truck on the corner (though we're not sure the taco trucks have blended margaritas). Here are eight places around LA to celebrate the victory of the tiny Mexican militia at Puebla. Get there early, since places will fill up fast on a Friday afternoon.

1. Baja Cantina, 311 Washington Boulevard, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, (310) 821-2252, www.bajacantinavenice.com  - Get there early. Last year, I drove by it, and kept driving because the line was full of guys in Mardi Gras beads and straw hats waiting to get in.
2. Cabo Cantina, 8301 W Sunset Blvd (@ Sweetzer), Los Angeles, CA 90069, (323) 822-7820 - There is also a second location on Wilshire Blvd on the Westside. That's where Monkey was having his margarita!
3. El Carmen, 8138 W Third St (@ Crescent Heights), Los Angeles, CA 90048, (323) 852-1552 - It's dark and moody inside, with creepy masked Mexican boxers on the walls, but their selection of tequila is incredible.  
4. El Cholo, 1121 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90006, (323) 734-2773, www.elcholo.com - El Cholo also has a Westside location at Wilshire and 11th in Santa Monica. It is very popular. If I were you, I'd go there now. No, really, now.
5. El Coyote, 7312 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036, (323) 939-2255, www.elcoyotecafe.com - Margaritas are HUGE, food portions are HUGE, but the girls are tiny.
6. Lula Cocina Mexicana, 2722 Main St Santa Monica, CA 90405, (310) 392-571, www.lulacocinamexicana.com  -
7. Spanish Kitchen, 826 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90069, (310) 659-4794, www.thespanishkitchen.com - I've never been, but all my friends love the place. A bit expensive, and sort of hipster-ish, but fun nonetheless. 
8. Velvet Margarita, 1612 N Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028, (323) 469-2000 - Like Spanish Kitchen, it's a wee bit of a hipster place, so dress nicely. The giant margaritas in fresh pineapples are sort of touristy, so stick with a regular one on the rocks and you won't look like a plebe.