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It’s no secret that carnitas is my favorite taco filling—I’ve been making it since I was a teen, helping my mom run our family’s food stall at the Bucksport Bay Festival. Shreds and chunks of tender slow-cooked pork, doused with a drizzle of salsa verde, a sprinkle of minced white onion and cilantro, and a healthy splash of fresh lime juice? Heaven in a corn tortilla. But when I haven’t gone grocery shopping in a minute (or don’t have time to braise a pork shoulder for half a day), I turn to a taco filling that some folks might throw away without a second thought.
Tacos de pobre, also known as tacos de hombre pobre (poor man’s tacos), is one of those dishes born of austerity and necessity that have become more mainstream over time—not unlike lobster, carrot cake, or grits. These vegetarian tacos are commonly made by stuffing some leftover mashed potatoes into a corn tortilla with some cheese and salsa before deep-frying or steaming the whole thing. My mom, who lives in Guadalajara, has seen them sell at local taco stands for about 40 to 50 cents apiece in recent years. My preference is for the deep-fried version, for the textural contrast between that crispy corn tortilla with the creamy mashed potato filling. But my new favorite version of this money-saving taco comes from The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook by Margarita Carrillo Arronte. Rather than using leftover mashed potatoes, Arronte packs her tacos de pobre with potato skins.
Now, potato skins don’t have quite the austere reputation that lobster, which was frequently served to prisoners, had in the early 1800s—after all, they’re delicious with bacon and cheese, or roasted with garlic and served with dip. But they still need a little extra love to turn them into a proper meal. Arronte does this by shallow-frying the peelings in oil until just barely golden and crisp. She then adds sliced onions and serrano chile peppers, cooking a bit longer until the onions are translucent and softened, then packs it all into warm corn tortillas with chile sauce or salsa on the side. The dish is fast, simple, delicious and wonderfully inexpensive—to be honest, I think Arronte’s version is even better than the deep fried, mashed potato-filled version I’ve had before. Her recipe is such a melange of textures—the soft, tender corn tortilla, crisp potato skins, and barely tender onions with just a bit of crunch—that every bite satisfies.
For Arronte, tacos de pobre are a nostalgic favorite. When Arronte was a child, her mother picked Thursday to be taco day, often using leftovers from the various stews she’d made earlier in the week as the filling. Cooking for six kids, Arronte’s mother learned how to stretch meals out—when she introduced her kids to tacos de pobre, they were hooked. “We always asked her to make tacos de pobre, because we loved them so much,” Arronte tells me. Now, when she makes them herself, “they always remind me of Taco Thursdays at my house growing up. They’re the perfect thing to make the day after making mashed potatoes.”
If you’re feeling a little extra, Arronte suggests serving these arranged in a basket lined with a cloth or sheet of foil or parchment, like you’d serve tacos de canasta, for a prettier presentation. Don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to serving with just salsa. Personally, I like serving mine with a drizzle of crema, or some Oaxaca cheese (we love a cheese pull moment). “With a few slices of avocado or a little guacamole, you will like them very much,” Arronte adds. Since the filling is so simple and versatile, the sky’s really the limit for accoutrements.
The next time you’re peeling potatoes, whether for mashed potatoes or gnocchi, don’t toss the skins. They make a surprisingly appealing (deal with it) taco filling, any night of the week.
