Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Taquiza

Food in Mexico is a celebration. A party is not a party without food and we make sure that there’s always a lot of it. The most recognizable Mexican food item is probably the taco. Everything that fits in a tortilla makes a taco. We love them so much that we have parties to celebrate them, these parties are called taquizas. They are  informal gatherings where people stand around the grill or the table with tortillas in hand ready to make their own tacos. There’s always different kinds of fillings and salsas, but probably the most common ones are carne asada and pico de gallo. For a long time I’d wanted to have one of these parties for my friends here in Ohio and I finally had my chance when Foodbuzz accepted my proposal for their monthly 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs event.

Back in October I hosted one dinner party for the same event. That time I made chiles en nogada, my parents’ favorite Mexican dish. This time, however, I wanted to have a bigger party so I asked my friends Chris and Andy if I could have it in their house. Originally we were going to have a dozen guests but somewhere along the line we lost count and ended up with around 30 guests, which made a great party, the more the merrier, right? But I was worried that 21 lbs of meat, 6 side dishes and snacks and 1 dessert wasn’t going to be enough. Luckily, there was more than enough food, drinks and sweets for two parties.

To get all the food ready I started cooking Friday morning. The beans needed to be soaked, the rice cooked, the prickle pear pads cleaned, the meat marinated and so much more that I spent all day in the kitchen. I am not complaining at all. I love doing that, especially when it is for my friends and people who appreciate food. However, I have to confess that I cheated a little. When we were at the Mexican market buying the ingredients for the party, I saw that they had meat prepared for two dishes I was going to make (chicken alambres and al pastor meat), so I decided to make my life a little easier and buy them already prepared. It was a good decision. They were really good and every seemed to enjoy them.

Although everyone enjoyed all the food, I think the favorite dish of the night was carne asada. The 6 pounds of it were almost gone very quickly and everybody wanted to know what the marinate was. This was actually the first time I made carne asada. When I was looking online for the recipe I saw that many people marinate it, even though I don’t remember people in Mexico ever doing that. I then decided to give the marinate a shot and it proved to be a very good decision. The 24-hour marinating process gave it an amazing taste and texture.

All this week I will be posting about the food I prepared for this authentic Mexican party (even though I was the only Mexican there. LOL), but for now I will leave you with the menu, the recipe for the carne asada marinate and some pictures (only the ones before the tequila was opened, 😉 ) I want to thank my friends and Foodbuzz for making this party possible. This is the first event where I catered for more than 15 people on my own and I think it went really well. Enjoy!

Side dishes and snacks:

• Avocado dip
• Mango guacamole
• Mexican rice
• Nopalitos salad
• Pineapple salsa
• Three bean salsa

Tacos:

• Cochinita pibil
• Al pastor
• Chicken alambres
• Carne asada

Dessert:

• Strawberry impossible cake

Carne asada marinate for 6 pounds of meat(adapted from Tayler Florence‘s recipe):

• 1 garlic head, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 3 jalapenos, minced
• 1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 limes, juiced
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil

¡Buen provecho!

Read more about the food at this party here.