A strong smell of fresh bell pepper had just filled the kitchens of the restaurant Tarántula, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris 11. With reddened eyes, Emmanuel Peña struggled to hold back his tears. Leaning over a large pot, immersion blender in hand, the chef was busy reducing about 20 chili peppers into a puree. "I'm preparing a salsa taquera," he explained, his throat still tight from the capsaicin vapors, the active component of chili peppers. "It's a typical Mexican sauce, usually eaten with tacos. Here, we prepare it by mixing tomatillos that we can ourselves, garlic, oil, and roasted jalapeños."
Born in Monterrey, the capital of the Mexican state of Nuevo León, he is accustomed to serving the sauce alongside his cortadillo norteño, a traditional beef stew recipe from this northeastern region of Mexico. This red-brown mixture is also found at the bottom of his taco marrano, a dish consisting of a wheat tortilla pressed and cooked on-site and served warm, topped with red cabbage and small pieces of slow-cooked pork.
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