Taco

A taco is usually a soft tortilla folded around a savoury filling. Try seasoned beans, grilled fish or meat with salsa, chopped onion, coriander and a squeeze of lime; add lettuce, cheese or avocado if you like.

Heat a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat and warm each tortilla for about 20–30 seconds on each side, until soft and lightly spotted. Keep them wrapped in a clean tea towel while you prepare the filling.

Warm the tortilla first, then use a modest amount of filling and leave a clear edge to fold over. Put wetter ingredients such as salsa on top rather than directly against the tortilla, and serve straight away.

Prepare the fillings and toppings ahead, but keep them in separate covered containers in the fridge and warm the tortillas just before serving. Assembled tacos turn soggy, so fill them at the table or just before eating.

A soft taco uses a pliable tortilla, commonly corn or wheat; a hard-shell taco uses a crisp, usually fried or baked corn shell. The soft version is easier to fold around varied fillings, while the crisp shell adds crunch but can crack as you eat it.

Use a warm lettuce leaf for a light, crisp wrap, or serve the filling over rice for a taco bowl. A small flatbread can stand in for a wheat tortilla, though its texture and flavour will differ.

Refrigerate cooked meat, beans and other perishable fillings in covered containers within two hours of cooking, and use them within three to four days. Reheat cooked fillings until steaming hot throughout; keep salsa and other toppings separate.

No: tacos are traditionally served in soft tortillas, especially corn tortillas. The familiar crisp, U-shaped shell is a later style; in Mexican cooking, tacos are commonly folded around their filling rather than served in a rigid shell.