in texas when i was growing up all the taquerias had salsa bars, as in an array of freely available salsas (and lime wedges and other condiments) to add to your food. i know these probs aren’t the best public health wise but i miss them. have only seen one once or twice outside of tx

@chrisamaphone it's the norm for taco trucks around here! usually everything is in a cooler

@chrisamaphone the last time I visited my sister in Austin we went to a place with one, still salivating over all the salsas 😩

@regehr oh nice

@regehr @chrisamaphone the good sit down taco places put them in a cooler too (house of corn)

@chrisamaphone @regehr most texmex style places here have this too! (though there's not that many texmex places here, more of other styles of mexican cooking)

@chrisamaphone My favorite place to get tacos in Atlanta is a carniceria 2 mi from my house and yeah the salsa bar hits

@atsuzaki @chrisamaphone I have to brag that I made a mole last night and it was really good! I grew up with only Tex-Mex but am really enjoying learning actual Mexican cooking

@regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone wow, synchronicity, I’m on my way to the store right now to pick out ingredients for a mole. Do you have a recipe that you love?

@regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone what basic approach did you take? Doesn’t this usually take all day

@regehr @chrisamaphone next up: that cursed nutella mole

@krismicinski @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone will send recipe later, it’s not that slow

@regehr @krismicinski @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone FWIW there's a local company that sells mole mixes that you basically just have to simmer for a while, super easy and very similar quality to making from scratch. You can find them at Rancho

@regehr @krismicinski @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone There are many different moles, some complex, some fairly simple. The easiest ones take about an hour of prep and some unattended time (soaking dried chiles) or lightly-attended (occasionally stirring something on simmer). Can be started in mid-afternoon, though the sauce tastes better the next day. Crucial to have a really good blender, though.

@ricci @krismicinski @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone yeah Mexican folks have told me that this is what most people there do

@regehr @krismicinski @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone I used to do it in NYC and Waterloo (with a Vitamix) but I opted to bring ground chiles to Portugal rather than whole dried ones, so I can only approximate it here, and I would have to make my own tortillas as well, so it is somewhat daunting. Someday I will work up the energy.

@palvaro @regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone Which store, out of curiosity (and jealousy)? I used to go to La Palma Mexicatessen at 24th and Florida.

@plragde @regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone I love la Palma, but I live in the Excelsior now and I can find everything I need at casa lucaz and/or el chico

@palvaro @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone this is the first time I used this recipe and it came out really good, but I went with my own quantities for stuff

@regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone did you actually grind up all the spices in a Molcajete? If so, did you actually end up eating six whole cloves wow

@palvaro @regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone Understandable to stay local. Do you get to Alemany much?

@plragde @regehr @atsuzaki @chrisamaphone alas no because although it’s much closer it’s still not that close and parking there is such a mess

@nsfmc _Oaxaca_ by Bricia Lopes. it's fairly new to me so I don't really have a sense for the recipes yet, but it's been super fun to read