New Books for the New Year: Sunny Days, Taco Nights

Although he’s received acclaim for his fine dining reinvention of Mexican cuisine, Enrique Olvera’s guilty pleasure has always been the everyday taco. Now he’s created a book dedicated to the (not so) humble foodstuff.

You probably know Enrique Olvera for his sophisticated take on Mexican cuisine. Born and raised in Mexico City, Enrique is the leading chef in Mexico; revered globally by diners, foodies, book buyers, and the chef community.

Shrimp Tacos. Photography: Araceli Paz

In 2000, he opened his first restaurant, Pujol, in Mexico City, and it’s been highly ranked on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list ever since. He has five restaurants throughout Mexico, plus five locations there of his all-day café Eno. There are six US restaurants – the 10-year-old Cosme, Atla, and Esse Taco in New York City; and in LA there’s Damian and another Atla.

Fish Flautas. Photography: Araceli Paz

But despite all the acclaim he’s garnered for his fine dining inspired reinvention of Mexican cuisine, Enrique’s guilty pleasure has always been the everyday taco.

So, it’s perhaps not surprising that we thought it was high time we collaborated with him on a book – our third with the Mexican chef and thought leader – solely dedicated to the humble foodstuff.

Lobster Gringas. Photography: Araceli Paz

Sunny Days, Taco Nights is an insider’s guide to authentic tacos, with 100 recipes for home cooks, offering the ultimate recipe collection to this much-loved food – exploring the taco’s history, different styles, ingredients, guacamole, tortillas, salsas, a glossary, and much more.

The taco recipes are in two chapters: Classics, featuring Mexican street tacos; and Originals, exploring his contemporary, creative reinventions of the taco.

Grilled Onion Tacos. Photography: Araceli Paz

Recipes include Fish Tacos from northwest Mexico; Cicharron Tacos from Monterrey; Chorizo Tacos with spinach; and Steak Tacos common at street vendor tricycles in Mexico City. For his contemporary tacos, there are Brussels Sprouts Tacos with spicy peanut butter; Ceviche Tacos; Pork Belly Tacos with smoked beans; and Eggs & Green Bean Tacos inspired by his childhood breakfasts.

Octopus-stuffed Chile Tacos. Photography: Araceli Paz

Each recipe has the title in English and Spanish, with a headnote story, and Phaidon home cookbook icons – dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, five ingredients or fewer, and made in thirty minutes or less.

Potato and Cheese Flautas. Photography: Araceli Paz

Enrique’s co-author, Alonso Ruvalcaba is a taco-obsessed Mexican food critic, who’s written about tacos for major Mexican publications and in English for the LA Times, Bon Appetit, and Vice.

The book features specially commissioned food photography for each taco by Araceli Paz, who’s shot all of Enrique’s Phaidon books. The colour of the cover, and the inside of the book, is inspired by the colours of native corn in Mexico.

Octopus Sopes. Photography: Araceli Paz

In 2022, Olvera received the lifetime achievement award from the Culinary Institute of America, where he received his degree, and he’s the recipient of numerous other honours. He’s the author of the chef monograph Mexico from the Inside Out and the home cooking book Tu Casa Mi Casa, published in English and Spanish by Phaidon. There is a Netflix Chef’s Table episode devoted to Enrique’s story, and he appeared in the taco episode of David Chang’s show Ugly Delicious.

Chamorro Tacos. Photography: Araceli Paz

You can pre-order Sunny Days, Taco Nights here. The book ships in May.