I grew up in a small town south of Albuquerque, called Socorro. We moved from New Mexico when I was almost 13, and one of the things that I missed the most was a New Mexico sopapilla. The one Mexican restaurant our little town here in Michigan has says they have sopapillas on the menu, but what they really have are deep fried tortillas…not bad tasting, but NOT anything resembling the sopapilla I know and love.
I had two recipes for sopapillas at home, from two different New Mexico cookbooks, and I chose the one that looked like it would be less labor intensive…it had no yeast, so it needed no rise. After this experience, I really want to see the difference the yeast brings, because this version was…not super great. For the most part, they tasted fine (although my husband kept commenting on how salty his was…maybe the salt didn’t mix in properly?), but they were WAAAAAAY too thick – the recipe calls for 1/4″ thick, and that’s what I did, but there was almost no puff and it was very bread-y. There is the distinct possibility of user error, of course.
So, this version of New Mexico sopapillas was maybe not great, but definitely worth trying. I’m hoping the other recipe will be better. I will be having the real thing this spring, so I will be sure to study them closely…for research purposes, of course!
Do you have a favorite recipe for sopapillas? Let me know in the comments!
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