Guacamaya Food

In Downey, Guacamaya Oasis offers fresh and unique culinary creations, including torta sandwiches with soy chorizo, organic salads, and natural agua frescas. Its history dates back to 1948 in El Rosario, Sinaloa (Mexico) when Don Pablo Gandarilla and Dona Severa del Rincon Bernal launched a minor and domestic family business.

Tortas

There’s a good chance you’ve seen tortas on the menu of a Mexican restaurant, but you may not be familiar with them as a cuisine. It’s not just a sandwich or grilled cheese — it’s a particular meal with its history and traditions.

Tortas are usually served on bolillo or telera rolls. These are much like French bread and are more dense than a sub or sandwich rolls. They are great for the torta because “they have a crunchy texture that stands up to the rich fillings, but are soft enough to hold refried beans,” says Rapone.

Another thing that sets apart a torta from a sandwich is its amount of meat. Traditional tortas often include three different proteins: pierna (pork leg ringed with scarlet marinade), ham, turkey, queso Oaxaca or panela cheese, and chicharrón.

Veggies are also popular toppings for a torta. The most common are tomato and shredded lettuce, but you’ll also find diced avocado, sliced white onion, and slivers of serrano pepper. Adding these vegetables helps add moisture and freshness to the dish. In Guadalajara, a torta is called a torta ahogada, which literally means “a drowned torta.” This torta style gets dipped or smothered in a sauce, and it’s eaten with a knife and fork.

Chicharrones

Chicharrones are a popular snack in Mexico and South America, especially in regions with a strong Spanish presence. They are made from various meats and pork skin and can be eaten both cooked and raw. They are usually served with a drizzle of hot sauce and other seasonings such as lime juice, chili powder, Tajin, or chamoy. They can also be dipped in guacamole, salsa, or other dips.

They are often used to make soups like chicharrón con lima (pork rind soup with lime) or as a filling for empanadas. They are commonly sold on the streets by street vendors and in restaurants, but they can also be bought cooked from grocery stores.

When making them yourself, cooking the pork skin in enough water is essential to become soft and pliable. Then, it is easy to cut into bite-size pieces, which you can deep fry until crispy and airy. It is best to make them at a lower temperature than bacon so they don’t burn.

Healthline notes that people in the Southern portion of the United States, parts of Europe, and Mexico believe these fried pork cracklings. They are also known as tsitsaron or pork cracklings in the Philippines, where they are enjoyed as pulutan (a snack to be eaten while drinking alcoholic beverages) and as a topping for native vegetable and noodle dishes.

Guacamole

Guacamole is a versatile, healthy dish that can be dressed up or down. It is also easy to make, and the best recipes allow the avocado to shine by keeping other ingredients to a minimum.

Purists will argue that guac should only be made with avocados and salt, but adding other ingredients can elevate the dip. For the best flavor, use Hass or Fuerte avocados that are ripe. To test if an avocado is ripe, hold it in your hand and gently squeeze it—it should yield slightly. Avoid avocados that feel rock hard or have green spots—these are a sign of aging and may taste off.

Some people like to add tomatoes for a pop of tang, ground cumin for added depth of flavor, or serrano peppers for a hint of spice. A sprinkle of flakey salt is essential, and if you don’t like cilantro (aka coriander), substitute with chives or Italian parsley.

The best way to keep guac from turning brown is to store it in the fridge with the skin on so it is not exposed to air. If you do this, the guac will only brown on the surface, which can be easily scraped off and reincorporated into the remaining guacamole before serving. This will keep guac fresh and vibrant for up to three days.

Sauces

A sauce is generally any liquid mixture of food that adds contrast in flavor or compliments the main dish. Even the most straightforward sauce, such as a peanut butter and jelly mixture, serves these purposes. In addition, a dressing can also introduce textural and visual appeal to a plate of food.

The most popular cooking sauces are thickened with arrowroot, corn flour or starch, and fecule (potato starch). Other ingredients such as butter, salt, vinegar, lemon juice, citrus zest, chiles, spices, and sodium benzoate can also be added. For the best results, the recipe should be stirred constantly over low heat until it is thickened.

Another standard method for thickening sauces is whisking in a liaison or emulsion. This is made of equal quantities of butter and flour, which are kneaded together and whisked into boiling liquids to thicken them. A butter sauce should never be cooked long, as it may curdle and lose its emulsion.

Table and cooking sauce brands have an opportunity to blur lines between categories by omitting traditional definitions and positioning more of their products as multipurpose, driving additional uses across occasions. Almost half of dish-specific table sauce eaters say merchandising sauces with less traditionally paired foods would encourage them to use them more often.