Foodie News
Street food spotlighted by Houston chef in food porn, recipe tome
The cover of Hugo Ortega's Street Food of Mexico
Food photogrpahy by Penny de los SantosPhoto by Penny de los Santos
At Hugo's, restaurateur and James Beard nominee Hugo Ortega cooks some of the best interior Mexican food in Houston. Starting this summer, you could join him.
Ortega is releasing his first cookbook, Hugo Ortega's Street Food of Mexico, in July with Bright Sky Press.
Rather than focusing strictly on what he does at his day job, the 256-page tome is part recipe book, part guide to the varied food culture of his homeland and part food porn, with stunning, colorful photography by Penny De Los Santos.
According to Ortega, street food is not only the original fast food, it's also the culmination of centuries of traditional cooking.
To tackle such a broad subject, Ortega worked with his brother Ruben, who serves as pastry chef at Hugo's, and consulted with his kitchen crew, who hail from all over Mexico. According to Ortega, street food is not only the original fast food, it's also the culmination of centuries of traditional cooking.
With a few weeks to wait before Hugo Ortega's Street Food of Mexico hits stores, it's worth noting that Ortega isn't the first Houston chef to put his recipes in print.
Randy Evan's The Kitchen Table covers his time as executive chef of Brennan's in Houston. Eat Where Your Food Lives is Monica Pope's innovative online cookbook, with more than 200 recipes and counting. Le Mistral's David Denis paired up with Finnish chef Jani Lehtinen to create Energy Cuisine, covering the food of four countries between them.
For other uniquely Houston cookbooks, check out compilations like the charitable Green Beans and Guacamole as well as Erin Hicks' series of Houston Classic compendiums. Former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh has written no less than three highly acclaimed cookbooks (among other works) and Houston-raised New Yorker Lisa Fain's The Homesick Texan Cookbook was a bestseller in 2011.
Are you looking forward to Ortega's book? What are your favorite cookbooks from Houston chefs?
