There's No Taste Like Home
What does homesickness taste like? Everyone is going to have a different answer. For me it is pretty simple. Homesickness tastes like the crispy edged carnitas from The Tacqueria in Hemet. It tastes like the chicken and pinto beans, deeply spiced with cumin and flavored with lard bulging from the burrito at Crazy Coyote Tacos in Cabazon. Homesickness tastes like the red sauce--gently spicy, somewhat tomato-ey--that smothers two cheese enchiladas from El Gringo in Hermosa Beach, eaten with a plastic fork out of an aluminum takeout container.
I hate to say it New York, but no Mexican or Mexican-Californian food I’ve had here in the last year quite fills that void.
Isn’t it always the way? You might be a Southerner transplanted to Seattle or a Texan in Chicago. No matter what the separation between where you are from and where you are now, the food and the place are inextricably linked.
There are Mexicans in New York and a decent number of taco trucks and restaurants. You can find tortillas even in run-of-the-mill markets and multiple kinds of salsa on the shelves of the health food store. But trying to find a replacement for the Californian-Mexican food of my roots, it turns out no amount of Cholula hot sauce is going to make a Benny’s Burritos burrito eaten in the shadows of Manhattan skyscrapers taste like the Indian-Mexican burrito of Crazy Coyote Tacos devoured at a picnic table under the harsh midday desert sun.
Which is why I have, with increasing frequency, turned to my own kitchen skills to satisfy these cravings. All the ingredients are available: good tortillas, quality meats, every variety of chili, even queso fresco. If I can just harness the flavors of home in my own kitchen with a proper enchilada sauce or homemade carne asada, I can get that much closer to those tastes I miss so dearly.
Tacos I make with relative ease (tortilla, meat, salsa, serve), but I was up for a bit more of a challenge this week. Enchiladas with their meaty (or veg) and cheese filled centers doused in sauce and baked until oozing seemed just the sort of comfort food this fall weather was calling for.
After consulting with a few Mexican cookbooks on my shelves and a couple of websites, I had a plan. My red sauce would have a base of fresh tomatoes combined with tomato paste to give it the rich red and deep flavor I look for in an enchilada sauce. For spice, I would stick to dried pasilla chilies, relatively mild but they would add the right amount of kick and an added dose of dried chili burnt red. The rest, onions, garlic, cumin seeds, oregano, would be fairly straightforward Mexican seasoning.
Simmered, blended and poured over tight rolls of chicken and cheese, this was just the taste I was looking for. When the dish emerged a half hour later from the oven, molten, wafting aromas of chili, meat, and smoke, I was transported far away from the East Coast concrete jungle. If I cranked up the central heating and streamed a Mexican radio station, with my eyes closed, I could almost be back in the old neighborhood. Then I opened my eyes and the spell was broken. My enchilada sauce was very good, but when it comes to food, there’s no taste like home.
Made with tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, Kosher salt, water, chicken, corn tortillas, cheddar cheese, cilantro
Serves/Makes: 4
***Pasilla Chile Enchilada Sauce***
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 dried pasilla chiles
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 medium ripe tomatoes
- 1 can (6 ounce size) tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken stock (or water)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
***Chicken Enchiladas***
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
- 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- cilantro for garnish
Enchilada Sauce: Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Roughly chop onion and garlic. Add onion and garlic to the hot pan. Cook for about 4 minutes stirring frequently to prevent burning.
While the onion is cooking, remove stems and seeds from chiles. Tear or cut each chile into large pieces. Add chile pieces to the saute pan allowing the sides to toast and blister. Add cumin and oregano and toast for about 30 seconds, until aromatic. Cut tomatoes in quarters and add to the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Let the ingredients simmer for 5-10 minutes until tomatoes collapse.
Meanwhile whisk tomato paste with water and chicken stock. Add tomato mixture the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer 10 minutes to marry flavors.
Transfer contents of the pan to a blender. Blend until smooth. Return to the pan and stir in salt to taste. Keep sauce warm if making enchiladas immediately. Can also be made up to a week in advance and store in the refrigerator.
Enchiladas: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Ladle about enough enchilada sauce into a 9x13 baking dish to create a thin layer across the bottom.
Preheat a small dry skillet over medium heat. Working one tortilla at a time, brush a small amount of water onto both sides of one tortilla. Place the tortilla in the hot pan for 15-20 seconds per side. Remove from the pan. (Tip: start heating the second tortilla while you are filling the first.) Brush a tablespoon of enchilada sauce across the tortilla.
Fill the tortilla with a couple tablespoons of chicken and a bit of cheese. Roll into a tight cigarette. Place on end of the baking dish. Repeat the process until the chicken is used on the pan is filled with tightly packed enchiladas. Spoon enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas spreading evenly. Top with remaining shredded cheese.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil for the last 10 minutes.
Serve while hot.
related articles
Write a comment:
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1306-homestyle-mexican/