Bring me back to the days of Taco Nazo

Before I went to college in California, I really didn't like Mexican food and mostly associated with the likes of Taco Bell and Jose Tejas, which I have eaten at only once. We passed by it every time we drove to my grandma's house near Princeton and there was a giant neon EAT sign hanging over it, that could be seen down the highway for a good five miles. One day, my mother's curiosity got the best of her and we pulled in for lunch. The meal consisted of standard East Coast Mexican food - subpar, and in large quantities. My most memorable moment from that meal is the waitress offering to bring my mother another 32oz. coke, even though she had barely finished her first and then we went running out, my mother shocked that people could consume that much cheese and sauce and crap in one sitting.

This all changed when I went to school in southern California, not so much the quantity of food but the quality of it. I was first introduced to it at Pomona's dining hall, where every Wednesday was Taco Day. I still maintain the best corn tortillas I've ever had, including those had in Mexico. It helped that a large majority of our dining hall staff was Mexican and were making the foodstuffs of their homeland, including those incredible corn tortillas which were handmade and grilled to perfection. This expanded to Mexican cuisine outside of our tiny Pomona bubble - we explored local Mexican joints, including a tiny taqueria called El Rey in Chino (fictional home of Ryan on the OC!) where I consumed tripe, carnitas, tortas, and tried eye-tearing after eye tearing salsas from the salsa bar, some so fiery red it almost hurt to look at.

The other great culinary discovery I made while I was at college was fish tacos, from Taco Nazo. Yes, they're a chain, but I had never been exposed to fish tacos before and the fast food in California (where everything is a drive through) is very good (see In n' Out). These fish tacos were incredible; flaky, white fish (What kind?Who knows? Probably tilapia) battered and fried so there was a crispy, hot shell on the outside, shredded cabbage, and a little tartar sauce probably thinned out with some yogurt or milk. I'd pile this with salsa and hot sauce and radishes and pickled onions from the salsa bar, squeeze a lime over my overfilled taco and eat to my heart's content. Especially on Wednesday nights when tacos went for a dollar. And this place had beer.

Needless to say, it's difficult to find this quality of Mexican food in Boston being as far from the border as we are. I've eaten at a few taco shops that people keep recommending and so far I haven't found anything that parallels the food I ate in California (but I'm still interested in more recommendations! I know that somewhere in Boston, there is a taco that rivals Pomona Taco Day tacos) so I've been doing my best to recreate what SoCal Mexican food at home.

Last night, Jason and I attempted fish tacos, so a lot of credit has to be given to him. He has a much better hand at getting Mexican flavors down than I do, the Mexican population being a little bit more prominent in Texas than New Jersey.

Below, the spread of goods:

Cornmeal battered tilapia, shredded red cabbage, tomato avocado salsa, Jason's sauce*, corn tortillas (but sadly, not handmade)

All this was was tilapia dredged in egg, then rolled in a mixture of salt, pepper, cornmeal and flour then deep fried in canola oil. Next time, I want to try this with my beer batter that I've made with my cheese stuffed zucchini blossoms.

Easy salsa with garlic, red onion, jalapeno, tomato, avocado, and cilantro all tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, lime juice, and a dash of urfa pepper.

The finished product! Not quite as good as Taco Nazo but even cheaper than on Dollar Taco Wednesdays.