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Guacamole

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Enrique and Alma Moreno at their restaurant, Tacos Colima on Factory Street in Nashua, Monday, February 1, 2010.

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Enrique Moreno prepares tacos at Tacos Colima on Factory Street in Nashua, Monday, February 1, 2010.

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Alma Moreno makes the taco shells from scratch at Tacos Colima on Factory Street in Nashua, Monday, February 1, 2010.

Guacamole


Tacos Colima brings fresh Mexican to the table


EDITOR’S NOTE: Chef’s Corner is an occasional feature in Feast in which readers can get to know the chefs who cook some of their favorite meals at restaurants in the Nashua region.

NAME:

Husband-and wife-team Enrique and Alma Moreno.

OCCUPATION AND LOCATION? HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED THERE?: Enrique is head chef and Alma is sous chef. They own Tacos Colima, 101 Factory St., Nashua, which opened in August 2008.

TRAINING: The Morenos have no formal training, but more than 20 years of on-the-job training.

In the Pacific Northwest, Enrique picked apples, cherries and onions as a young man. His father cooked in a Mexican restaurant in California, and at 19, Enrique transitioned from the fields to the kitchen. His family then moved to Texas, where Enrique cooked not only at this father’s side in Enrique’s uncle’s restaurant, but at various restaurants, including Olive Garden, Black-Eyed Pea and Chili’s.

Being a restaurateur runs in Enrique’s family. His uncle owns two Mexican food restaurants, Tino’s Cantina and Tino’s Too in Plano, Texas.

Alma learned the art of tortilla making from her mother as a young girl in Colima, Mexico. Using maize flour and water, Alma learned to mix the tortilla dough using only her hands. She then patted round little cakes and pressed them flat using a wooden tortilla maker. Alma remembers first doing this at age 8.

After Alma married Enrique and relocated to the U.S., Enrique taught her all of the family recipes for various salsas, guacamoles and Mexican drinks.

SIGNATURE DISH: Enrique’s dish is chile rellenos. Alma’s dish is salsa.

KITCHEN TOOL YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT AND WHY: Enrique has his knives, Alma likes her tortilla press.

Enrique sharpens all of his knives on an almost daily basis with a whetstone. From onions and lettuce to chicken, rib-eye steak, beef tongue or fish, it’s rare not to see Enrique cutting and chopping with a knife in his hands.

Alma knows no other way to make fresh tortillas than to use her low-tech wooden tortilla press. She actually bought a metal tortilla machine, but found that it produced less consistent tortillas and was more cumbersome to use, so it “went in the trash.”

SHARE AN EASY RECIPE WITH READERS:

GUACAMOLE

12 ripe (yields to gentle thumb pressure) avocados

1 onion, finely diced

5 limes, juiced

1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

salt, to taste

Halve avocados and remove the pits. In a large bowl, use a spoon to scoop out the meat of the avocado. Use the bottom of a plastic cup to mash the avocado to your preferred consistency. Add onion, lime juice, cilantro and salt. Stir with a spoon, just until well mixed.

Cover and refrigerate. Makes 24 servings.



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