Baja-Style Mexican Fish Tacos

Presumably tacos have been around for a long time; almost certainly, well before the Spanish set foot in Mexico; after all, wrapping food in cooked ground corn batter is not a terribly difficult concept to figure out. I, myself, figured it out last week. hahaha! While the history of tacos is sketchy, at best, the use of the word "taco" for this famous food is more than a little unclear. Quite some time ago I had a neighbor who was originally from Mexico. He told me the word taco, which actually means "plug, stopper," came to be used for the food by Mexican miners, who wrapped gunpowder in paper for use to extract minerals from the mines. I believe these explosive "tacos" were used more to extract silver, but I don't know that to be a fact. Anyway, the idea of wrapping fillings in tortillas led to the use of the word for the food, or at least that was my neighbor's story. On the other hand, tacos are a great snack, and could the word have been used because they act as a quick "stopper" for one's hunger between meals; thus, "a light meal?" Of course, there could be a simpler explanation proposed by some, that a word from one of the native languages for this already existent food was close to the Spanish word "taco," and so that is the word the Spanish speaking people took as the name for the food.

In Baja, the western part of Mexico, access to the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California eventually brought about fish wrapped in tortillas; thus, the fish taco, a "somewhat standardized" form of which spread to the U.S. side of the border and to San Diego and vicinity, although the tasty dish is much more widespread now. Notice I used "somewhat standardized" form for fish tacos, as with any popular dish, there will be inevitable variations, and so it is with fish tacos. Some people use red cabbage, some people use lettuce, some people use vinegar, some use chili peppers, some use white cheese, and I'm sure there are other changes. I like fish tacos with "Mexican rice,"* often called "Spanish rice" in the United States. 

Ingredients (8 servings):

1 bag shredded cabbage/carrot cole slaw mix 
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 pound cod in 4 fillets, then halve each fillet (8 pieces total)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup beer, more if needed to thin batter (light color, a Mexican brand if you desire more authenticity)
oil for cooking
corn tortillas 
chipotle sauce **
lime wedges 

In a bowl, add the slaw mix, the onion, the cilantro. In a cup or small bowl, mix together well the olive oil, lime juice, salt and honey. Pour the dressing over the slaw and mix in well. Best if refrigerated for a minimum of a couple of hours. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, the ancho chili powder, the salt, the baking powder and the beer to form a batter. Add enough oil to a skillet to give you about 1/2 inch of oil. Heat the oil over medium heat. Drop a cube of bread into the oil. If the bread sizzles and starts to brown, you're ready to go. Dip the fish pieces into the batter, then let the excess batter drain off. I fry 4 pieces of fish at a time. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so. Put a piece of fish into each tortilla, add some of the slaw mixture, then drizzle on some chipotle sauce. Add a lime wedge to each serving.  

* The recipe for Mexican Red Rice (Arroz Rojo) is at the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/02/mexican-red-rice-arroz-rojo.html


** To make the creamy chipotle sauce, this is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/02/creamy-chipotle-sauce.html

Baja Fish Taco with Mexican rice...

WORD HISTORY:
Canon-This word has a number of meanings, the most common of which are: "church law issued by religious authorities," which broadened into, "law, principle, rule, guideline, standard accepted as proper;" "a list of people deemed worthy of sainthood;" "the collected validated works of a writer;" "a clergyman living under the principles of certain religious orders and often serving in a cathedral." "Canon" is related to "cannon," the gun, a word borrowed by English. It "seems" to go back to transliterated Sumerian "ginah,"^ which meant "reed," which seems to have been taken by transliterated Akkadian as "qanuh," with the same meaning. This gave Hebrew "qaneh" (same meaning). This was borrowed by Ancient Greek from Hebrew as transliterated "kánna," and also meant "reed," which were used for measurement and keeping things in a straight row; thus, "ruler (the implement);" thus, "a standard." Latin took the word as "canna," with the same meanings, but which then developed into "Church issued decree" ("rule to be followed"), as "canon." "Canon" was borrowed into Old English from Latin, but certainly reinforced by French, which had had the term passed to it from Latin. Latin had developed the adjective "canonicus," meaning, "by the rules of the Church, according to the rules of the Church," and this came to be used as a noun for the "clergyman" meaning ("a man who lives by the rules of the Church"). This passed into Old French as "canonie," and it was either taken to England by the Normans or developed among the Norman nobles in England as "canun/canoun." It was borrowed by English, at first as "canoun," in the late 1100s.