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Querétaro's arriero tostadas are crisp corn tortillas spread with epazote-scented beans, chorizo browned with papa, and a guajillo-ancho salsa built for the road between the Bajío and the Sierra Gorda.
Querétaro, between the Bajío and the Sierra Gorda, is where these tostadas live. You find the logic of them on the old road, from Santiago de Querétaro toward Cadereyta and up toward Jalpan: corn tortilla made crisp, frijol flor de mayo or bayo, chorizo, papa, and a red salsa that tastes of toasted chile guajillo and ancho. This is road food that came home to the kitchen table.
Do not confuse arriero food with poor food. The arriero, the muleteer, ate what could survive the saddlebag and still feed a body after a day with animals and dust. The women at the stove perfected it: beans refried thick with epazote, papa cut small so it browns before it dries out, chorizo cooked until the chile-stained fat coats every cube. The tostada is not decoration. It is the plate you eat.
I learned my version from a señora outside Cadereyta, not from a restaurant menu. She had a small barro cazuela of beans, a black comal, and a molcajete with salsa roja still clinging to the stone. My mother's Jalisciense notebook had no page for this, so I wrote it down myself. Cada estado, su propia cocina. Querétaro's bite is lean, practical, and full of road sense.
The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro developed after the silver discoveries of Zacatecas in 1546 and Guanajuato in 1548, and Querétaro became one of the supply and livestock nodes on that route. Arrieros moved goods between Mexico City, the Bajío mining districts, and the northern settlements, so their food favored corn, beans, dried chiles, cured pork, and potatoes because those ingredients could survive travel and return to life on a comal. Potatoes entered central Mexican kitchens through the colonial movement of Andean crops into New Spain, and by the 19th century they were common enough in Bajío home cooking to stretch chorizo without pretending to be meat.
Quantity
8
5 to 6 inches wide
Quantity
1 1/4 cups
Quantity
3 tablespoons
divided
Quantity
5
stemmed and seeded
Quantity
1
stemmed and seeded
Quantity
3
roasted
Quantity
1/4 medium
roasted
Quantity
2
unpeeled and roasted
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
Quantity
12 ounces
peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Quantity
8 ounces
casing removed and crumbled
Quantity
1/4 medium
finely chopped
Quantity
2 cups
with 1/2 cup cooking liquid
Quantity
1/4 medium
finely chopped
Quantity
1
minced
Quantity
1 small sprig
Quantity
1/2 cup
crumbled
Quantity
1/4 cup
finely chopped
Quantity
1/2 cup
torn
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| day-old corn tortillas5 to 6 inches wide | 8 |
| manteca de cerdo for shallow-frying | 1 1/4 cups |
| manteca de cerdo for cookingdivided | 3 tablespoons |
| dried chile guajillostemmed and seeded | 5 |
| dried chile anchostemmed and seeded | 1 |
| Roma tomatoes (jitomate guaje)roasted | 3 |
| white onion for salsaroasted | 1/4 medium |
| garlic cloves for salsaunpeeled and roasted | 2 |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1/2 teaspoon |
| sal de grano | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| papa blanca or small waxy potatoespeeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes | 12 ounces |
| fresh Mexican pork chorizocasing removed and crumbled | 8 ounces |
| white onion for chorizo-papafinely chopped | 1/4 medium |
| cooked frijol flor de mayo or frijol bayowith 1/2 cup cooking liquid | 2 cups |
| white onion for beansfinely chopped | 1/4 medium |
| garlic cloveminced | 1 |
| fresh epazote | 1 small sprig |
| queso fresco or queso ranchero (optional)crumbled | 1/2 cup |
| raw white onion (optional)finely chopped | 1/4 cup |
| fresh cilantro leaves (optional)torn | 1/2 cup |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillo chiles for about 20 seconds per side and the ancho for about 30 seconds per side, just until the skins puff and the smell deepens. Do not blacken them. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic until they have dark spots and the tomato skins loosen.
Peel the roasted garlic. Drain the chiles and blend them with the roasted tomatoes, roasted onion, peeled garlic, Mexican oregano, sal de grano, and 1/2 cup of the chile soaking water. Blend until smooth. Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a small cazuela or skillet over medium heat. Pour in the salsa and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens to brick red and the lard leaves a thin orange edge around the sauce. La manteca es el sabor.
Put the potato cubes in a saucepan and cover with salted water. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are tender but the centers still hold their shape. Drain well and let them sit in the colander for five minutes. Wet potatoes splatter in lard and brown poorly. Dry potatoes know their job.
Heat 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a heavy skillet over medium. Add the chorizo and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, until no raw spots remain and the fat turns red from the chile. Add the chopped onion and the drained potato cubes. Cook 8 to 10 minutes more, turning gently, until the potatoes are golden at the edges and coated in chorizo fat. Taste before adding salt. Chorizo brings its own.
Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the cooked frijoles with their liquid and the epazote sprig. Mash with a bean masher or the back of a spoon until thick and spreadable. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until the beans can hold a trail when you drag the spoon through them. Remove the epazote.
Heat the 1 1/4 cups manteca de cerdo in a wide skillet over medium-high until the edge of a tortilla bubbles the moment it touches the fat, about 350F if you use a thermometer. Fry the tortillas one at a time, 45 to 60 seconds per side, pressing lightly with tongs so they cook flat. They should be crisp, golden, and firm enough to hold beans without bending. Drain on a wire rack and salt lightly while warm. Do not stack them while warm or they soften.
Spread each tostada with a thick layer of refried beans. The beans go first because they glue the topping to the tortilla. Spoon the chorizo-papa over the beans, then drizzle with the fried guajillo-ancho salsa. Finish with queso fresco, raw white onion, cilantro, and lime at the table. Serve immediately, before the salsa softens the tortilla. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
1 serving (about 400g)
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