Tlayudas Oaxaqueñas

Ingredients

• 4 tlayuda tortillas (32cm), or 4 very large flour-free corn tortillas
• 4 tbsp asiento (unrefined pork lard) or good lard
• 400g cooked black beans, with a little of their liquid
• 2 dried avocado leaves
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lard, for the beans
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 350g quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese), pulled into strands
• 300g tasajo or thinly sliced beef steak
• 200g Oaxacan chorizo, casing removed
• 1/4 white cabbage, shredded very fine
• 2 avocados, sliced
• 3 tomatoes, sliced
• 200ml salsa roja or salsa de chile de agua
• 2 limes, cut into wedges

Before you cook

• Pull the quesillo apart into loose strands rather than grating it, so it melts into threads.
• Shred the cabbage as finely as you can and keep it in cold water until you need it.
• Finely chop the onion and garlic.
• Slice the avocados and tomatoes.
• Squeeze the chorizo out of its casing and season the tasajo lightly with salt.

Steps

1. Light a charcoal grill and let it burn down to an even bed of grey coals, or set a large heavy comal over medium heat.
2. Melt two tablespoons of lard in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the chopped onion and garlic for four minutes, until soft.
3. Toast the avocado leaves for ten seconds directly on the hot comal, until they smell of aniseed, then crumble them into the pan.
4. Add the black beans and their liquid and cook for eight minutes, mashing them roughly with the back of a spoon into a thick, spreadable paste.
5. Season the beans with salt and keep them warm.
6. Grill the tasajo over the hot coals for about ninety seconds a side, until charred at the edges, then chop it into strips.
7. Fry the chorizo in a pan for six minutes, breaking it up, until crisp and its red fat has run.
8. Lay a tlayuda on the grill or comal for thirty seconds a side to warm and stiffen it.
9. Spread a tablespoon of asiento right across the surface of the tortilla.
10. Spread a quarter of the black bean paste over the asiento, leaving a 2cm border.
11. Scatter a quarter of the quesillo strands over the beans.
12. Add a quarter of the tasajo and chorizo on top of the cheese.
13. Set the tlayuda back over the coals and cook it for four to six minutes, moving it around, until the base is dark, blistered and rigid and the cheese has melted completely.
14. Slide the tlayuda onto a board and pile the drained shredded cabbage, avocado and tomato over the hot cheese.
15. Spoon over the salsa and fold the tlayuda roughly in half, or leave it open and cut it into wedges.
16. Serve straight away with lime wedges, before the base loses its crackle.