The Mexican equivalent of crème fraîche, crema is often served with Southwestern dishes as a relief to spicy food, as well as to provide richness—with refried beans or a spicy stew, for example. Crème fraîche and natural sour cream are acceptable substitutes.
Ingredients
Preparation
To make Mexican-style crema, stir 2 tablespoons of buttermilk (preferably unpasteurized) into 1 cup of heavy cream, cover, and let sit out at warm room temperature (about 75°F) overnight to thicken. This homemade version will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Tacos by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Copyright © 2009 by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
Mark Miller is the acclaimed chef-founder of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has started and owned thirteen different restaurants on three continents from 1979 to 2008. He is the author of ten books with nearly 1 million copies in print, including Tacos, The Great Chile Book, The Great Salsa Book, and Coyote Cafe. Mark currently works in International Culinary Consulting and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Benjamin Hargett is a travel-loving chef who has cooked in Europe, the Carribean, Mexico, and the United States, where he worked with Mark Miller at the Coyote Café for many years.
