Lets Salsa!
I discovered the simple joy of tacos when I was living in California a few years ago. In San Francisco there was Don Pistos in North Beach, Tacolicious in The Mission and then Comal in Berkeley. I know tacos are a thing over here in Britain too, but the Californians execute them oh so well – likely due to their proximity to Mexico, and abundance of fresh creamy avocados.
The tacos I enjoyed in California were always made from 100% corn tortillas , so naturally gluten free (here they are often wheat based). They were also usually bite sized and shared tapas style (rather than a gargantuan burrito for 1) – maybe so you can justifiably eat more of them. The tacos were always piled high with meat, fish or beans and then topped with guacamole / salsa / coleslaw /pico de gallo /sour cream. Best enjoyed with a group of friends and a margarita to hand.
When House of Fraser asked me to develop a recipe to showcase one of their beautiful platter boards, I decided this would be a great opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and create a taco platter.
Rather than try and recreate one of the taco combinations I’d tried in California (alas a fading memory), I decided to start afresh and build my tacos from my resources here in the UK. First I tracked down Cool Chile Co . who make small 10cm (and 15cm) 100% corn tortillas here in London. I went swiftly off to my local stockist to buy them and then somehow in a spell of stupidity didn’t manage to put them into my shopping bag (yes seriously – I’m that stupid), many thanks to Cool Chile Co who came to the rescue via twitter and sent me some as a gift in the post.
Then what to fill them with? With a lack of patience for slow cooked pulled meat, and a desire to get more fish recipes on the blog I was drawn to the fish counter and a loin of MSC certified haddock. Not usually a fish I would go for, but choosing a lean white fish over staple salmon or mackerel made a welcome change. I opted to cook the fish very simply in a parcel with some cajun spices and lime juice, this allows the fish to steam in its own juices and remains very moist.
Here’s how!
Then for the toppings I decided to keep it relatively simple and practical for a week night dinner, adding a simple salsa, some tangy yoghurt and some quick pickled onions. Instead of going mango tropical I opted for just in season Spanish peaches to pair with my chopped tomatoes, avocado, chili and lime. Simply delicious!
Maybe not an authentic Californian-Mexican taco, but this is what I love about cooking. Taking inspiration from somewhere and turning it into something new!
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- 200g haddock loin, chopped into 2 servings
- 1 tsp cajun spice
- ½ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 lime
- 1 peach, finely diced
- 2 x tomato, small dice
- 1 avocado, small dice
- 1 small red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 2 lime, juiced (or approx. 2 Tbs)
- ½ tsp salt
- A pinch of ground black pepper
- ~8 corn tacos 10cm diameter (I used Cool Chile Co)
- Gem lettuce leaves (for a grain free option)
- 100g natural yoghurt
- Quick pickled red onions (see note)
- Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 180C, and prepare your papillote parcels (see video).
- Marinate your fish with the spice, oregano, salt and and a squeeze of lime juice, place in the papillote parcel with a few slices of lime and then seal the parcel. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.
- Meanwhile make up your salsa by combining all of the ingredients and setting it aside.
- The fish should turn opaque when done, and if you're not confident at just assuming it will be done after 12 minutes, do open the parcel to take a look. It should flake easily. If ready, remove from the oven open the parcel fully, then flake the fish with a fork.
- Warm your tortillas in a dry frying pan, then wrap in a tea towel to keep warm.
- Create your sharing platter by piling all the separate parts onto the platter and allowing your guests to make up their own tacos at the table; a bit of flaked fish, a dollop of salsa, cooling yoghurt and a sweet tang of onion to top is just perfect!
*Disclaimer: This post was commissioned by House of Fraser, who also sent me the wooden platter. I was sent the Cool Chile Co. tortillas as a gift. All opinions are my own
That’s a fabulous serving platter too BTW.
Beautiful wood isn’t it!
Love Mexican or Mexican inspired food and I’m now keen to try peaches in a salsa. Wonderful idea. So are those corn tortillas bit sized? Now it’s my turn to be stupid, cos I don’t quite understand how it works, as in they look topped rather than filled?
Thanks Choclette, yep they are bite-sized, just like the ones I had in California. You can still roll them a little but they almost fit in the mouth in one go – that way you can try more flavours!!
I can’t wait to try these! We love fish tacos, but have never tried them this way. Thank you!
Thanks Melanie! Hope you get the chance to enjoy them soon!
Nope, not stupid. I am the only one allowed to have attacks of the “stupids”. While the Great Diana Kennedy does not offer fish as a taco filling in Cuisines of Mexico, Ensenada (a Pacific Coast town in the far north of Mexico) seems to be the home of fried fish tacos.
I like yours much better!
I’m sure we all have our stupid spells!! Happy you like the tacos!!
What a beautiful serving board.
I’d have not thought to pair a that delicious sounding peach salsa with fish, but I can see it works amazingly well.
OH wow, I bet these had a bit of a kick! I’m ashamed to say I never thought of trying fish in tacos although I do love prawn tacos. Thanks for the suggestion for a perfect mid week meal.
Just a little, tried not to go overboard with the chilli! Loads of fish tacos in California were the inspiration, def give it a go! Thanks Helen.
I love peaches but have never heard of them being in salsa before.
Definitely trying this!
Why not eh? Everything is worth trying for something a little bit new. Love to hear what you think!