Niño Envuelto

My uncle Diego would tell me that each person was born with their own unique flavor. If I were to describe what flavor he was, it would be a mix between a warm sunny day, deep belly laughs, dancing nuts, and a whole lot of seasoning. My uncle had immigrated from Mexico with my parents and I to the United States in the search of the American dream. He was a rising chef in Mexico known as El Gugu, which means treasure in Spanish dialect, with lots of prospect and talent but unfortunately did not have the monetary means to promote himself.

Once in the U.S., El Gugu quickly gained a name for himself and started cooking for restaurants such as Las Cascadas, Ninfa’s, even going as far as working for a famous Country Club in Houston. Many people remember his cooking and admire him for being so naturally talented/ His dream was to one day open up a restaurant and culinary school back in Mexico to teach and help young people with low resources. Sadly, El Gugu died on September 2008, at the young age of 32. Although his dream of owning a culinary school never came true, he did become a teacher of four incredibly young students. My cousins and I would love helping him in the kitchen; my uncle was always, of course, the head chef. My Cousin Maribel, his eldest daughter, was sous Chef, my cousin Dulce was the Sauté Chef, I was the pastry chef and my cousin Juan, his eldest would be the butcher and together we formed the perfect brigade de cuisine. Now I would love to tell you that we all became incredibly good at cooking and brag about the many dishes I’ve made, but that would be a complete lie. Not one of his students seemed to have gotten his passion or talent for the kitchen. But there was one recipe I’d love to share with you that we do know by heart and although fairly simple, is incredibly delicious.

The recipe is called nino envuelto, which in English means child in a cocoon. It’s a simple rolled up sandwich but I promise it tastes way better than the one you’re used to making its great for any outdoor picnic on a budget. During summer break we all loved to make this as a fun and delicious carry-on snack that we would take on our trips to the zoo, the park, or the lake. It’s so easy to store and pack on a cooler and definitely needs all hands-on deck so it was a great way to get everyone to participate. When my uncle first taught us this recipe, he told us that a family that cooks and eats together would forever be bonded by the love we put into the food. I hope you can find your own Brigade de Cuisine to help build this recipe as well as beautiful memories together.

Ingredients:

16 slices of your preferred white bread

A pack of American sliced cheese

Half a pack of Smoked uncured Ham

3 full tablespoons of Mayo

A can of table cream

A can of jalapenos *optional*

Directions:

The Sous chef begins opening up and dispersing the ingredients to each section; the pastry chef is in charge of cutting the crust off the bread, the butcher is in charge of cutting up the ham, cheese, and jalapenos if needed into thin, long slices and meanwhile the head chef and sauté chef mix the mayo and cream together until it is nice and fluffy. Once the ingredients are prepped, the sous chef lays down a large layer of plastic on the kitchen table. Next, the pastry chef uses all the bread slices and lays them next to each other in order to make a large square on top of the plastic, making sure that each slice of bread is securely on top of one another as to not leave any holes. Once there is a large even square of bread, the sauté chef spreads on a thick layer of the mixed cream while the butcher, sous, and head chefs begin placing the slices of cut up cheese, ham, and jalapenos into individual rows on top. Once this is all done the chefs spread out evenly on either side of the table; one side will get on each end of the square and begin to tightly roll the bread to the other side, then the other side will lift the plastic from the bottom and roll it back so that the roll gets wrapped up nice and tight. Then 3 chefs will carefully hold and transport the roll to the kitchen to let it cool for at least two hours. This gives you enough time to clean up your kitchen and have a small cleaning war! Once cooled, unwrap and cut into 1-inch circles and enjoy! Make sure you get lots of fun and laughs in between because that’s the secret ingredient that makes this sandwich taste extra special.