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  • HandoutHandout 1: Supply & Shopping List — Mexican Street Food at Home

    Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List — Mexican Street Food at Home

    Here's everything you need before we light anything. I'm splitting this into budget and nice-to-have because you dont need to buy your way into a good taco spread. Get the budget column right and you're 90% there.

    Equipment

    Budget (you probably own most of this): - A heavy skillet or comal — cast iron is great, dont overthink it - Tongs - A sheet pan for the oven part of the al pastor - A blender or even just an immersion blender for salsas - A cutting board and a knife that's actually sharp

    Nice-to-have: - A second skillet, so you're not warming tortillas and searing meat in the same pan - A cast iron comal specifically for tortillas — solid upgrade but not required - An instant-read thermometer. I say pull pork around 145 but a $12 thermometer takes the guessing out of it

    You do not need a trompo. I know that's the image everybody has in their head. We're doing oven then a screaming hot pan, and honestly it comes out better than my first janky vertical setup ever did.

    Meat & Produce

    Budget tier: - Pork shoulder, 3-4 lbs — ask the butcher counter to cut it thin-ish, saves you time - White onion, several - Fresh cilantro (we'll portion it at the end so nobody's forced into it — my wife thinks it tastes like soap, that's a real genetic thing, not her being difficult) - Limes, more than you think, they go on at the very end - Corn, however many ears you want to feed people - Dried guajillo and ancho chiles — bagged, from the international aisle, cheap - Canned pineapple works fine if fresh isn't in season

    Nice-to-have: - Fresh pineapple if you want to char slices for garnish (dont blend a bunch into the marinade thinking more is better — I did that once, texture went straight to baby food) - Tomatillos, if we're doing the green salsa that weekend - A good cotija cheese for the elote instead of substituting parm

    Pantry Stuff

    • Corn tortillas, store-bought, the good brand not the thinnest cheapest one
    • Dried chiles (see above)
    • Achiote paste if your store carries it — not required, adds color and a little earthiness, skip it if you cant find it
    • Kosher salt, more than you think. A flat salsa is almost always under-salted, it's rarely a missing ingredient
    • Neutral oil for searing
    • Mayo and sour cream for the elote (or just mayo, your call)

    Local shopping notes

    Macey's has the dried chiles and achiote paste in the international aisle, at least at the one I go to. Costco pork shoulder is a good price if you're feeding a crowd, just know it comes in a bigger cut than the recipe calls for and you'll be freezing half.

    Dry air up here means chiles dry out fast once opened, so buy what you need for this class plus a little extra rather than stockpiling. I learned that the hard way trying to meal-prep marinade eight months ahead. Found it in the deep freeze, freezer burned, total loss.

    One more thing — if you're charring anything on a gas burner at home, crack a window first. I set off a smoke detector doing poblanos with zero warning and it was a whole thing.

    See you at class. Bring a container to take leftovers home, there usually are some. 👍

  • HandoutHandout 2: Cheat Sheet — Core Techniques & Settings

    Handout 2: Cheat Sheet — Core Techniques & Settings

    This is the one to stick on your fridge. Everything else in class is basically a variation on these six things. If you lose the recipe packet, this page still gets you a solid taco.

    Charring (chiles, onions, corn)

    Direct flame or a screaming hot dry pan. You're going for real black spots, not a light tan. If nothing looks a little burnt, you didn't push it hard enough — char is a technique, not a garnish.

    • Poblanos: straight on the gas burner, turn with tongs every 30-45 seconds till the skin blisters and blackens most of the way around. Into a bowl, cover with a plate or foil, let it sweat 10 min, then the skin peels off easy.
    • Onions/corn on a pan or grill: medium-high, dont crowd em, leave alone longer than feels comfortable before flipping.
    • Crack a window before the flame goes on. Air's dry up here and it doesn't take much smoke to set off a detector. Learned that one the hard way.

    Toasting dried chiles

    Dry pan, no oil, medium heat. 20-30 seconds a side, just till they smell awake — kind of a toasted-raisin smell. The second you smell anything sharp or bitter, pull em. They go from perfect to garbage fast, and burnt dried chile makes the whole salsa taste bitter, no fixing it after.

    Al pastor, no trompo needed

    Marinate, then oven at 300°F till it's tender and pulls easy, pork usually 2.5–3 hrs depending on cut and size. Then the actual flavor moment: screaming hot pan or grill, quick hard sear on the outside, few minutes a side. That sear is doing the work everybody thinks the spinning vertical rig does. You don't need the rig. It's a fun weekend project, not a flavor requirement.

    Warming tortillas (do this right, skip homemade your first time)

    Dry pan or comal, medium heat, no oil. 20-30 seconds a side till it's soft and a little puffy, maybe a couple light brown spots. Stack em in a towel as you go so they steam a little and stay pliable. This step is 80% of a good taco. Good store corn tortillas warmed right beat bad homemade ones every time — get this down before you fight fresh masa.

    Salting

    Salt the meat AND the salsa. People season the protein and forget the salsa needs its own salt. A flat salsa is almost always under-salted, not missing some secret ingredient. Salt, taste, salt again. Don't be shy.

    Lime and cilantro — add last

    • Lime goes on at the very end, squeezed over the plate or the finished dish, never into a hot pan. Acid dies with heat.
    • Cilantro: if you're feeding anyone who thinks it tastes like soap (real genetic thing, my wife's one of em), keep it as a garnish people add themselves instead of blending it into the salsa. Let people opt in.

    Elevation notes (we're at about 4,600 ft)

    Water boils cooler up here, so anything boiled — corn for elote especially — needs more time than a sea-level recipe says. Give it 3-4 extra minutes and taste a kernel before you trust the clock.

    The one rule that ties it together

    Prep everything — chop, toast, portion — before any flame goes on. I'm bad at this myself, which is exactly why I make everybody do it. Scrambling mid-cook is where salsas get skipped and meat sits cold on the counter. Get your stuff lined up first, then cook fast. 🔥

  • WorksheetMexican Street Food at Home — Your Build Sheet

    Mexican Street Food at Home — Your Build Sheet

    Print this out, bring it Saturday, fill it in as we go. This is a job site, not a lecture, so you'll be using your hands more than your pen. But write stuff down anyway — the numbers are the part people forget by Tuesday.

    ---

    Station 1: Al Pastor

    Oven temp I used: __________ Time in the oven: __________ Internal temp when I pulled it: __________ (I'm aiming for about 145, give or take) Sear pan or grill — how hot before the meat went on: __________ Dang moment (what surprised you): _______________________________________

    Reminder: no trompo needed. Oven does the cooking, hot pan does the flavor. Write down what "screaming hot" looked like to you so you can find it again at home.

    ---

    Station 2: Salsa Round (pick your favorites, rate honestly)

    SalsaSalt (under/right/over)Char level (1–5)My score /10Ximena would say...
    Salsa roja
    Tomatillo
    Guajillo

    Guajillo toast time before it smelled "awake": __________ seconds Did you go too far and hit bitter/black? Y / N (be honest, I did this once and had to do a DI run for the pan)

    Rule to remember: salt the salsa, not just the meat. Taste it before you decide it's done.

    ---

    Station 3: Charred Stuff (poblanos, onions, corn)

    Charred directly on the burner? Y / N Window cracked first? Y / N — should be yes, every time. Dry air up here plus a closed kitchen is how you meet your smoke detector.

    Rate your char: not enough / just right / dang that's a lot (Remember — if nothing's a little burnt, you didn't push it hard enough.)

    ---

    Station 4: Elote

    Corn cook time: __________ minutes Texture: crunchy / just right / soft Note for home: at our elevation water boils cooler, so it takes longer than most recipes say. Give it more time than you think.

    Lime squeezed on before or after the corn came off heat: __________ (Correct answer is after. Acid dies with heat — squeeze it over the plate, not into the pan, every time.)

    ---

    Station 5: Tortillas

    Store-bought, warmed in a dry pan: Y / N Seconds per side: __________ Did they stay soft and foldable, or crack: __________

    If you tried the fresh masa station with me — how'd it go? Be honest, I still can't get that one totally right either, so no shame here.

    ---

    Full Spread — Sequence Check

    Number these 1 through 6 in the order you actually did them today (not the order you meant to):

    • [ ] Marinade made
    • [ ] Meat cooking
    • [ ] Salsas started
    • [ ] Charred veg done
    • [ ] Corn on
    • [ ] Tortillas warmed, everything landed on the table at once

    Be honest with yourself here. This is the sequence I preach because left alone I'd have three salsas done and the meat still marinating. Circle whichever step you fell behind on — that's the one to prep first next time.

    ---

    One thing you're taking home to fix or repeat:

    _______________________________________________

    _______________________________________________

    Good work today. 🔥

  • HandoutHandout 4: Troubleshooting — What Goes Wrong and Why

    Handout 4: Troubleshooting — What Goes Wrong and Why

    Here's the thing, everybody hits the same eight or nine snags their first time through. None of it means you did it wrong, it just means nobody told you the fix yet. Bookmark this one.

    1. Tortillas crack when I fold them. They're not warm enough, or they dried out sitting around. Dry pan, medium heat, 30 seconds a side give or take, then straight into a towel-lined basket or bowl. Stack em as you go so they steam each other soft. Cold tortilla, cracked tortilla. Every time.

    2. My salsa tastes flat even though I followed the recipe. It's under-salted. Almost always. People salt the meat and forget the salsa needs its own seasoning. Taste it, add salt, taste again. If it's still flat after that, it might need lime, but salt first.

    3. The pork is dry. Pulled it too late, or your slices are too thick before searing. I pull mine at about 145 and let it rest. Quarter-inch slices sear fast and stay juicy — thick slabs just dry out before the outside gets any char on em.

    4. Charring the chiles/onions set off my smoke detector. Yeah. Dry air up here plus a gas burner with no ventilation plan is a bad combo. Crack a window before you start, not after. I learned this one the hard way and my whole kitchen smelled like a campfire for a day.

    5. My dried chiles taste bitter. Over-toasted. You want 30 seconds a side, just till they smell awake — kind of a toasted-bread smell. Past that they go from earthy to burnt real quick and there's no saving it. I've ruined a whole batch doing this. Had to do a DI run for a new pan I was so annoyed.

    6. Corn on the cob is still crunchy after the time the recipe says. Elevation. We're at about 4,600 feet here and water boils cooler than sea level, so everything takes longer. Give your corn extra time, don't just trust the clock. Took me three cobs one summer to believe this myself.

    7. Salsa verde is bitter or sour in a bad way. Probably the tomatillos weren't cooked enough, or you blended in too much of the husk residue. Boil or char em till they go from bright green to a duller green and soft. Rinse the papery husk residue off good first, that stuff's sticky.

    8. Everything's supposed to be ready at the same time and it's not. This is the one I still fight. Prep every component — chop, measure, portion — before any flame comes on. If you're scrambling mid-cook it's a prep problem, not a cooking problem. I preach this because I'm bad at it myself, I'll have three salsas done and the meat still marinating if I'm not careful.

    9. My cilantro-based salsa got vetoed by somebody at the table. Real thing, not everybody tastes cilantro the same — some people genuinely get soap notes off it, it's genetic. Portion your cilantro in at the end instead of blending it into the whole batch. That way people can opt in or out without you making two full salsas.

    10. My homemade tortillas from masa harina are cracking or gummy. Honestly, I can't fully fix this one either. Fresh masa is a skill I haven't nailed down. If you want good homemade tortillas, that's a deeper rabbit hole than this class — I'd rather you learn to warm store-bought right first and worry about masa later. 👍

    If something's going wrong that's not on this list, flag me down during class. I'd rather watch you do it once than have you guess at it alone. 🔥

  • podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 1

    Audio coming soon — show notes below.

    JESS: —okay but did she actually give it a four?

    COLE: A four. Out of ten. Written down on a sticky note like it was a court document.

    JESS: Ximena doesn't mess around.

    COLE: No she does not. This is my daughter, for anybody just tuning in, she's my official taster now and she is brutal about it. I loved this tomatillo salsa. Thought it was solid. She tasted it, made a face, wrote "4" on a post it and stuck it to the fridge.

    JESS: What'd you do.

    COLE: Reworked the whole thing. Turned out I was under salting it and also being lazy about charring the tomatillos enough. Now it's an eight, she says. So. Progress.

    JESS: This is Utah Community Learning, and I'm Jess, I produce the class podcasts around here. This is episode one for Cole's new class, Mexican Street Food at Home, which starts up in a couple weeks over at the community center kitchen. Cole, welcome, say hi.

    COLE: Hi. Glad to be doing this.

    JESS: So before we get into anything technical, I want people to understand who they're signing up to learn from. You didn't grow up cooking this stuff.

    COLE: Nope. Grew up eating, which is different. The al pastor thing actually started on my mission, in Ukraine, which nobody expects.

    JESS: Wait, really.

    COLE: Yeah, there was a family in my branch in Kyiv, dad was Mexican, and he'd rigged up this vertical pork setup in his apartment. Should not have been allowed in that building honestly, the smoke situation was questionable. But I watched him do it maybe four times before I finally asked if I could help.

    JESS: And that's just your personality, right, you want to know how the thing works.

    COLE: Exact dimensions of it, yeah. I'm a landscaper by trade so I already think in terms of prep, sequence, cleanup. A taco spread is just another job to plan out for me.

    JESS: Okay give people something useful right now. One thing they could do tonight, no class required.

    COLE: Sure. Warm your tortillas right. That's it, that's eighty percent of the battle and almost nobody does it. Dry pan, no oil, medium high heat, maybe 30 seconds a side till you see a couple little dark spots. Stack em in a towel while you go. Store bought corn tortillas warmed properly beat homemade ones you're still figuring out. I know that's a little contrarian but I stand by it.

    JESS: And the char thing, you're big on that too.

    COLE: Char's a technique not a garnish. People are scared of black spots on their onions or their chiles. That's where the whole thing lives though. If nothing's a little burnt you didn't push it hard enough.

    JESS: What's the class actually cover.

    COLE: Al pastor, three or four salsas, elote, the whole street cart lineup basically. We'll do it station style, like a job site. I lay out the whole plan up front, what we're making and in what order, because honestly the planning is the part I'm good at.

    JESS: And the part you're not?

    COLE: Finishing everything at the same time. I will have three salsas done and the meat still marinating if you leave me alone long enough. So I teach a strict sequence partly to save myself from myself.

    JESS: That's fair. Okay, so first session, what's on the table.

    COLE: We're doing al pastor and we're gonna talk about why you dont need one of those spinning vertical trompo setups everybody pictures. I actually built one once out of scrap wood and a metal skewer, real proud of it, and it leaned about fifteen degrees the whole cook. Meat slid off one side into the pan below.

    JESS: Fifteen degrees is a lot.

    COLE: It's a lot. I fixed the lean the next weekend and then never used the thing again because oven-then-sear just works better anyway. Fun project. Not the flavor.

    JESS: So people shouldn't feel like they need special equipment to show up.

    COLE: Nope. Oven, a hot pan or a grill, a knife. That's it.

    JESS: Alright, last thing, give people a preview of next session so they know what's coming.

    COLE: Next time we get into salsas, all of em, and elote, which up here at our elevation behaves different than most recipes assume. Water boils cooler at 4,600 feet so your corn needs more time than the recipe says or you end up with something crunchy. Learned that one the hard way, three cobs deep before I believed it.

    JESS: Cole Larsen, everybody. Mexican Street Food at Home, registration's open now through the community center. See you at the next one.

    COLE: See ya. 🔥

  • podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 2

    Audio coming soon — show notes below.

    JESS: —so I'm holding the pan and I have no idea what to do with it, and you're just yelling "tilt it, tilt it" from across the kitchen.

    COLE: You had it flat like a griddle. Corn tortilla needs to move a little, get some air under it. Dang, you were fighting that thing.

    JESS: I was fighting it! Okay, for anybody just joining us, this is episode two, we're deep into "Mexican Street Food at Home," and last week's class apparently ended with people arguing about salsa.

    COLE: There's always an argument about salsa. Somebody always thinks it needs more lime and it doesnt, it needs more salt. That's the actual fix like 80% of the time. People forget salsa's a dish on its own, it's not just runoff from the taco. It needs seasoning same as anything else.

    JESS: Salt the salsa, not just the meat.

    COLE: There it is. 👍

    JESS: You've got a tip for people who aren't even taking the class, right? Something they can just go do tonight.

    COLE: Yeah, if you do nothing else — warm your tortillas right. Dry pan, medium heat, about 30 seconds a side, and dont walk away from it. That's basically the whole trick. People go buy fine tortillas from the store and then microwave em and wonder why the taco's sad. Store tortillas are totally fine. Warming is like 80% of the job.

    JESS: You say 80% a lot.

    COLE: Cause most of cooking is like three big levers and everything else is detail.

    JESS: Okay so tell the guajillo story. The one from the middle of the night.

    COLE: Oh, with Boston. Yeah. So this was back when the twins were real little, and you know, at 3am you're up anyway, might as well have your hands doing something. Mckenzie's got one of em, I've got Boston, and I'm standing at the stove dry-toasting a batch of guajillos with a baby on my shoulder.

    JESS: At 3am.

    COLE: At 3am. Just toasting em low and slow, 30 seconds a side, till they smell awake — that's the actual sign, you smell it change, not a timer thing. And Mckenzie walks in half asleep and just looks at me. Doesn't even say anything. Just looks.

    JESS: What was the look.

    COLE: The look was "why is this happening right now." Fair look. But it's a good salsa. Genuinely one of the better ones I've made. Ximena rated it high and she does not hand those out easy.

    JESS: She's brutal.

    COLE: She's brutal. She once gave a tomatillo salsa I really liked a four out of ten and I had to go back and rework the whole thing. She was right though.

    JESS: That's rough. Okay, quick, before we run out of time — what's next session, give people the preview.

    COLE: Next time we're doing the al pastor itself, start to finish. And I'll say it up front cause people always ask — you dont need the spinning vertical trompo thing. I built one once out of scrap, it leaned like fifteen degrees the whole cook, meat slid right off one side. Fun project. Not necessary. Oven does the cooking, then you sear it hard in a screaming hot pan or on the grill. That's where the char comes from, and the char's not decoration, that's where the whole thing lives.

    JESS: So people should come hungry.

    COLE: Come hungry, and come a little early if you want to see the marinade go together, cause I'm gonna lay out the whole sequence on the board first. Landscaper brain. I like knowing the order before the flame comes on.

    JESS: Even though you admit you're bad at finishing all the pieces at the same time.

    COLE: I am bad at that. That's exactly why I plan it out loud in front of everybody, so I stay honest. Left alone I'd have three salsas done and the meat still sitting in the marinade.

    JESS: Noted, for anyone bringing snacks to share while they wait on Cole.

    COLE: Fair. 🔥

    JESS: Alright, that's episode two. Next week, al pastor, real fire, no leaning trompos.

    COLE: See everybody there.

  • podcast_scriptClass podcast — episode 3

    Audio coming soon — show notes below.

    JESS: —and that's the part nobody warns you about, that char is supposed to happen.

    COLE: Right, people see black spots on their poblano and they panic. That's not burnt, that's the flavor showing up. If nothings a little charred you didn't push it hard enough.

    JESS: Okay but you have set off a smoke detector doing this.

    COLE: Dang, yeah. First time I charred poblanos on the burner at home I had zero plan for the smoke. Just cranked the flame and stood there real proud of myself. Detector went off, both dogs lost it, Mckenzie came in from the other room like what did you do.

    JESS: And the lesson was?

    COLE: Crack a window before the flame even comes on. Every time now. Dry air up here, everything's touchy, and these houses dont vent smoke the way you'd think. Cheap fix. Costs you nothing and saves you a nine PM detector battery situation.

    JESS: That's the practical tip, right there, for anybody listening who's not even taking the class.

    COLE: Yeah honestly that ones free. Window cracked, fan on if you got one, then char away.

    JESS: Let's talk about last session for a sec because I heard something happened with the salsa verde.

    COLE: Oh, Ximena rated it.

    JESS: Your daughter.

    COLE: She's my official taster now. Has been for a while. She's brutal about it too, no mercy, gives me a number out of ten and doesn't explain herself unless I beg. I made this tomatillo salsa I genuinely thought was solid, I was proud of it, and she gave it a four.

    JESS: A four!

    COLE: A four. Straight faced. I asked why and she just said "it's boring." Not even mean about it, just factual. So I went back and reworked the whole thing, more char on the tomatillos, doubled the salt, and got it up to like an eight from her eventually. Kids will humble you fast if you let em judge your cooking.

    JESS: I love that she's not grading on a curve for you.

    COLE: No curve. None. And honestly it taught me something real, which is that a flat salsa is almost always under salted, not missing some ingredient. People want to add more lime or more chile when really it just needs salt. Salt the salsa, not just the meat. That's a rule I say probably every class.

    JESS: Did that lesson come from the four out of ten salsa?

    COLE: Pretty much. That salsa's whole problem was salt, not flavor. Once I fixed that it went from boring to actually really good.

    JESS: Okay, so next session—give people a preview, what are we building.

    COLE: We're doing the al pastor itself. Everybody thinks you need the vertical trompo setup, the spinning thing, and you dont. I'll tell that whole story if we've got time, I built one out of scrap once and it leaned fifteen degrees the whole cook, meat sliding off one side the whole time. Fixed the lean the next weekend and then just never used it again because oven to cook, then a screaming hot pan or grill to sear, works better anyway. Same result, way less drama.

    JESS: So less carpentry, more actual eating.

    COLE: Exactly. We'll marinate, talk through the pineapple — people either overdo that or underdo it, there's a middle — and get everybody a plate of something they made themselves by the time they walk out. That's the whole point for me. You leave with food, not just notes.

    JESS: Bring your appetite, I guess.

    COLE: And maybe crack a window before you get home too, just in case you want to try the char thing yourself this week. 🔥

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