Mexi-Polski Fusion — aka The Kieltaco

I guess "fusion" food is a hot trend in the culinary world these days. That's where daring chefs take a bold risk and meld two different kinds of ethnic foods together in one melting pot! So the other day, I decided to get a little creative on my own, driven mostly by two key factors:

1. my hunger

2. the food I had on hand

That day, I had to use up tortillas and cheddarwurst. Do you see where I'm going with this? If the camera was working I'd have given you a play-by-play step-by-step picture walkthrough, but for now you'll have to do with your old standby, Imagination.

First I warmed up the contact grill. I sliced a slit in each of the cheddarwursts and put them on for about 6 minutes. I then soaked the sort of stale tortillas under some running water and placed them on the grill as well in order to steam.

Then I prepped my toppings:

- shredded Mexi-Jack Cheese

- Tobasco relish (homemade*)

- jalapeno mustard

- mayo

- crushed tortilla chips

Once the cheddarwursts were done (and after flipping the tortillas around a few times in order to get them all on the direct heat without crisping the bottom one), I pulled them off the grill, threw them on a hot tortilla and packed some Mexi-Jack in there and rolled it up in order to get the cheese melting while the cheddarwurst rested. (In hindsight, next time I would wrap them up and put them back on the grill, wrapped for a minute.) After about 2 minutes (once the cheese was somewhat melty), I added the rest of my toppings — the mayo, mustard, relish and then the crushed tortilla chips. I then rolled the whole shebang back up and dug in. Success!

I believe this dish passes the qualifications of fusion because it mixes some strong Mexican sentiment (the tortilla chips, tortilla, the form of the dish as well as the spicy relish) with the Polish-Wisconsinite vibe (the cheddarwurst and the mustard). What are your thoughts?

I am all for crossing the ethnic borderlines where it's never been gone before. Mexican food is very easy to translate over into other types of food — right now I'm planning some Thai Burritos, an Italian Wet Burrito (a wet burrito is a Midwest delicacy, for those of you not familiar with the cuisine of Great Lakes Mexican), as well as some Mexican lasagna. Hooray for experimentation!

* Tabasco relish: I bought a 1L bottle of Tabasco sauce at BJ's and now I'm forced to use it up — I put a few squirts into the half-full jar of ickle relish and voila — Tabasco relish. The Condimentalist would be proud.