Cooking in
British Columbia
Mexican
Efigenia's Chilaquiles — Michoacán
A Michoacán household dish recorded by Diana Kennedy from cook Efigenia. Dried corn tortilla squares are fried until pale gold, then braised in a blended serrano-tomato sauce with epazote until the tortillas drink up the salsa and soften into something tender but still cohesive. Finished with crumbled queso fresco and, optionally, a spoonful of cream. This is not the brunch-restaurant version — it is spare, regional, and direct.
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I
The Market List
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340 g (¾ lb / about 2 medium)
tomatoes, broiled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
chiles serranos (Capsicum annuum), broiled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
Your own market
Sea salt, to taste
Your own market
80 ml (1/3 cup)
safflower oil, approximately
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
6 large
corn tortillas, cut into 1.5-inch (4 cm) squares, dried overnight
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 ml (¼ cup)
white onion, finely chopped
Your own market
2
heaped tablespoons fresh epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides), roughly chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 ml (1/3 cup)
queso fresco, crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 ml (1/3 cup)
sour cream or crème fraîche (optional)
Your own market
II
The Method
1
The night before: cut tortillas into 1.5-inch squares and leave uncovered at room temperature to dry completely.
2
Blend the broiled tomatoes, broiled serranos, garlic, and sea salt into a sauce. Set aside.
3
Heat the safflower oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Fry the dried tortilla pieces until pale gold. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly.
From the canon — The corn tortilla is the foundational food of Mexican cuisine — a thin, round disc of nixtamalized masa cooked on an ungreased comal (flat griddle) until it … Tortilla — hand press, comal, and the puff →
4
Discard excess oil if needed, leaving only a thin film. Return tortilla pieces to the pan. Pour in the blended sauce and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes, coating the tortillas evenly.
5
Scatter the chopped onion and epazote over the top. Cover the pan and cook for 8 minutes, until the tortillas have softened and absorbed the sauce.
From the canon — Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) is one of Mexico's defining culinary herbs — a pungent, aromatic annual with a distinctive smell sometimes described as petr… Epazote — identification and usage →
6
Remove from heat. Finish with crumbled queso fresco and cream if using. Serve immediately.
From the canon — Queso fresco is a young, unaged white cheese made from whole or partially skimmed cow's milk, sometimes blended with a proportion of goat's milk where the lo… Queso Fresco →
III
Sensory Tests
◇Press a braised tortilla square gently with the back of a spoon: it should yield and compress without releasing pooled liquid — if liquid weeps freely, the salsa has not been fully absorbed and the heat needs another minute uncovered; if the square crumbles to paste, the braise ran too long or too hot.
◇Lift a square with a fork and hold it level for three seconds: it should hold its shape with only a slight sag at the edges, not collapse or tear — this is the structural test for whether the frying step built enough of a crust to survive the braise.
◇Smell the finished pan before serving: the dominant note should be corn and epazote with tomato beneath; if the epazote is absent or the smell is purely acidic tomato, the herb was added too late or the variety used was not Dysphania ambrosioides.
◇Taste the salsa before adding the tortillas — it should be noticeably sharper and saltier than you want the finished dish, because the dried tortilla squares will absorb and mellow it considerably during braising.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the moment the fried tortillas meet the salsa: the heat must be high enough that the sauce bubbles actively around each piece and begins absorbing within the first two minutes, then immediately reduced to a low simmer and covered so the squares steam-braise rather than fry further or stew in excess liquid — get this transition wrong in either direction and you have either oil-greasy chips floating in unabsorbed salsa or a uniform, flavourless mash.
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V
What to Pour
The pairing
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
Sparkling wine
Without alcohol
Tea
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The whole pairingPillar VI
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The working kitchen