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Taco Dip

Midwestern Chef Throwback

By GrassFedSalmonPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
2
Casual Crowd Appetizer

If you’re thinking this is straight out of a 1980’s food show magazine, you would probably be right. The best part is that it’s still being ordered and enjoyed daily.

Tastes change slow in the Midwest. (This is my opinion being a young chef who’s cooked all over the country.) It seems that Southwestern flavors didn’t hit their stride in the far north until the early 80’s.

Here our stubborn Norwegian palettes demanded many changes of the Hispanic cuisine. A difficult journey for sure. However, the final result of the food’s acclimation, is one that will not be let go of easily.

I spent last year living on the boarder of Mexico and got to try a lot of authentic Mexican food. It was only when I came back to the Midwest did I realize how unique the Wisconsin “version” of Mexican food was. So I wanted to highlight it a bit with this article.

The basic recipe I’m going to share with you is a “taco” seasoned base of sour cream and cream cheese. Served with tortilla chips and garnishes that make an easy and pleasing appetizer.

A cook of any skill level can do this for a party of any size. The batches I’ve featuring in these pictures fed a party of 60, with 2 other appetizer options. (Swedish meatballs, and a charcuterie board.)

I will greatly scale the recipe down to a size that is more manageable for home cooks.

Here is how easy it is...

The mixed base.

Sour cream, 2.5 pounds

Cream cheese, 6 oz. (room temp)

Taco seasoning packets ( use two standard grocery store taco seasoning packets, 1.25 oz. each)

1/8 cup chili powder.

1/8 cup cumin.

The most important step in making this taco dip is giving the cream cheese plenty of time to warm up to room temperature. Without doing this it will take a considerable amount of elbow grease to fully incorporate your ingredients. That being said, simply combine all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together vigorously!

On to the plating!

Firstly, we will spread our base on to a plate, or plater. Be generous, 1/2 an inch thick.

To garnish the base, start with a layer of shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese. Follow this with a solid layer of finely shredded iceberg lettuce.

Finally top with a medley of sliced black olives, minced red onion, sliced jalapeños, chopped tomatoes, and sliced green onion.

I like to take some of the tortilla chips from the serving bowls and surround the outside edges of the plated dip for decoration.

Final notes.

Giant icicles hang off the bluffs along the Mississippi River near my home every winter.

The black olives are a true nod to the struggle Mexican food went through in its journey to the North Midwest. Olive trees absolutely exist in Mexico today, but their fruits are used more for snacking and not for garnishing dishes like my “gringo nachos”. You might find green olives on an appetizer plate, or in a martini stuffed with cojita cheese. It’s more than unusual to find an authentic Mexican taco topped with black olives

Here in the Midwestern United States we especially seem to put “dips” on a pedestal when it comes to appetizers. (Examples being... French onion dip and potato chips or hot spinach and artichoke dip with pita bread.) The reason for this is almost impossible to explain. Similarly, we make restaurant quality entrees that can only be described as a “casserole”.

Bacon, ribs, and potatoes.

We are a very “meat and potatoes” kind of people (as you can see above). Cheese is also held in an a semi religious sense here in Wisconsin...which could explain why we use a cream cheese as the main ingredient in this recipe. However new flavors do get introduced to our region, and new spices slowly grow to be cherished.

A long way from Mexico.

Thank you for reading, and check out some of my other articles about different food cultures I’ve encountered throughout the country! Enjoy!

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About the Creator

GrassFedSalmon

Young chef from the Midwest writing recipies and cooking stories. My content’s only on Vocal. Please consider supporting by sharing anything you enjoy or by leaving a tip. It’s greatly appreciated! Thanks and enjoy!

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