Nicolás Medina Mora Photo
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While the corn tortillas cooled off by the frier, Facundo Xicohtencatl stirred the thick green salsa in the saucepan. He was keeping alive a revolutionary tradition from south of the border.
“We don’t make them mild anymore,” he said, in Spanish, of his salsas.
Nor did the dish he was cooking up come from mild beginnings.
It was lunch time, and Xicohtencatl (pictured above), owner and chef of La Cosinita Mexican Cafe, was making one of his signature dishes: “Swiss” Enchiladas. It consisted of grated Oaxaca cheese enveloped in crispy tortillas, forming a perfect canvas for the tangy tomatillos and fiery jalapeños of his salsa verde.
La Cosinita is located on Park Street right by the corner of Chapel. Xicohtencatl, who also owns a small grocery shop in the Hill, opened the restaurant four years ago. It’s unclear if the misspelling on the restaurant’s name — “Cocinita” with a “c” means “little kitchen” in Spanish — is intentional or not, but the food is without question the most authentic Mexican fare to be found in downtown New Haven.
Despite the name, “Swiss” enchiladas are a typical Mexico City dish. The enchiladas are so called not because of any European influence, but rather because they are filled with grated cheese — a feature that Mexican cooks identified with Switzerland and its fondues.
Legend has it that the dish was invented during the Mexican Revolution at a famous lunch counter called Sanborns. Revolutionaries Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata frequented the place. The freedom fighters were apparently fans of Sanborns’ enchiladas, which gave them the necessary energy to conduct such insurgent activities as executing federales and fighting amongst themselves for the Mexican presidency.
The key ingredient for this kind of enchiladas is a thick, flavorful green salsa. Xicohtencatl keeps the exact recipe a secret, but concedes that it involves a boiled reduction of green tomatillo, jalapeño peppers, onions, lime juice, and cilantro.
Xicohtencatl learned how to make that salsa while working in hotels and restaurants in his native San Francisco Papalote in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. He said he left his home 25 years ago and came to America looking for a better life. After four years of wandering — which included stints in Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York City — he finally settled in New Haven.
“I didn’t like New York,” said Xicohtencatl . “I wanted a smaller town, a quiet place to raise my family.”
New Haven didn’t turn out to be as quiet as he expected, but he did raise his family here. His children help out at the restaurant, waiting tables and prepping dishes.
After the salsa boiled, Xicohtencatl poured it over fried corn tortillas, which he had filled with grated Oaxaca cheese. Authentic Oaxaca comes from the southern Mexican region with the same name. It is a fresh, moist cheese with a slightly briny taste that easily separates into long, thin strips. Xicohtencatl gets his from New York. This Mexican reporter still has to find better Oaxaca this side of the border.
Xicohtencatl then added another key ingredient for any proper Swiss enchiladas: cotija cheese, which forms a substitute for plain salt. Cotija cheese is dry, salty, and easily crumbled over the finished product. Its bright white color contrasts with the deep green of the salsa, improving the presentation of the dish.
Cotija cheese, which is hard to find in America, provided yet another reminder of what Xicohtencatl left behind.
“Yes, I miss Mexico very much,” he said with a smile. “I try to take the family there at least once a year, but it’s hard.”
Butter-soft avocados and thick sour cream finished the dish, balancing the spice and adding just the right amount of richness.
Food nostalgia proves a two-way street. Cotija cheese may be hard to find. But, Xicohtencatl reflected, it certainly tastes of home.
“Food makes it easier to remember home,” said Xicohtencatl, looking around his restaurant. “That’s why we worked hard to open this little corner of Mexico.”
After finishing the dish, Xicohtencatl insited that this reporter eat it “before the salsa gets cold.”
“That’s when it tastes best!” he said.
To his disappointment, the reporter was unable to finish the huge portion.