by Sidonie Maroon, abluedotkitchen.com

Ready to hip cook with lettuce tacos? And what is hip cooking? Hip cooking, not as in Hepcat, but cooking from the hip—cooking without a recipe.

The other day, an online student, (By the way, please join us at “Cooking with the Coop” Facebook Group) wanted to learn how to cook intuitively. When I asked what that meant to her? She replied that she wanted to know how to cook without having to use a recipe.

This made me think of tacit knowledge — knowledge that’s difficult to write, visualize, or transfer from one person to another. I cook intuitively because I’ve cooked daily, as a learned craft, since I was eight years old. I began cooking at five, but could put dinner on the table for a family of six, by age nine. It’s in my muscle memory, large parts of my brain geography are taken up by everything having to do with food.

It’s hard to transfer knowledge intuitively to someone else, that’s why I do the next best thing and write recipes. Following a good recipe will give you a look inside the cook’s head. You’ll learn a lot — following master level recipes. I have a PhD in reading cookbooks, smile.

If you were 35 and wanted to play the fiddle, where would you start? Perhaps lessons and practice. You’d gradually increase your skills until, after a few years, you could fluently improvise—play intuitively.

Cooking is as complex as music. Many brain processes, especially executive functions, are used to get dinner on the table — such as our abilities to organize, prioritize, sustain focus, solve problems, retrieve memories and multitask. In fact, cooking is an excellent way to keep your brain in shape.

To cook without a recipe, even cooking with a recipe, we have to lean into our abilities to pre-visualize the meal. We have to see it in sequence from beginning to end, and to know what techniques, methods, and equipment we’ll need along the way.

Like music, learning patterns is helpful. Now let’s go back to lettuce tacos as an example of memorized chords that are then used intuitively to create variations on a theme.

Lettuce Tacos As Formula

Lettuce tacos are a form. Lettuce takes the place of a tortilla. Stuff the lettuce with a filling and top with veggies and a sauce.

Lettuce as Tortilla + Filling (Choose a flavor way such as Mexican) + Toppings (Toppings go with flavor way) = Lettuce Tacos

Now that we have the formula, we ask questions and make choices.

What Kind of Lettuce Should I Use?

Lettuce with big leaves such as romaine, bibb or butter. I like to use two kinds in one taco. Use two big leaves to make the ‘tortilla’, situating the stems so that each end has one. Then fold the stems towards the middle which makes for a sturdier taco.

What About Fillings?

• The filling is the protein part of the meal, so think along those lines.

• You could sauté, roast, grill or steam the filling

• Use chicken, fish, pork, beef…

• Legumes, tofu, tempeh or a bean salad

• Perhaps include a grain

• Add something salty plus herbs and spices.

• Onions, garlic and ginger are always excellent companions.

“If you don’t know what to do — start sautéing onions.” Sage Advice

Got Some Fun Pickle Ideas?

Olives, pickled jalapenos, pickled onions, garlic, kimchi anything that will add an acid element to the toppings.

Think of the place you are going — Mexico, Southeast Asia, Italy... the globe’s the limit.

Suggestions For Crunch?

• The lettuce is crunchy

• Toasted nuts and seeds

• Shredded crisp veggies

Creamy Drizzles?

• Thinned sour cream

• Crème fraiche

• Thinned guacamole

• Tahini lemon sauce

• Salad dressings….

Cheeses or Alternatives?

Feta, cheddar, queso fresco, chevre, nut cheeses…

Added Veggies?

Grated carrots, roasted beets, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted chilies, roasted zucchini, corn, avocado, eggplant, parsley, basil, cilantro, dill, mint

Salsas and Sauces?

• Suit the salsa or sauce to the flavorway.

• Keep it simple.

• A salsa for traditional Mexican tacos

• A Laotian dipping sauce for Larb.

• It should add some heat and the finishing flavor touch.

• Lettuce tacos, with unique names, are popular all round the world and each have accompanying sauces

How Do I Serve The Tacos?

Lay out all the pre-prepped fillings and toppings and let everyone make their own combos.

Four flavorways to get you going

• Black beans, fresh or frozen corn, avocado, diced green chilies, cherry tomatoes, slivered radishes, cumin, fermented cordito (cabbage pickles), dried oregano and quinoa with a creamy lime and cilantro dressing

• Chicken or Tofu, tamari, garlic, ginger, scallions, toasted sesame seeds, snap peas, zucchini, red chilies, shredded napa cabbage, kimchi, bok choy, bean sprouts, rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil dressing

• Shrimp and/or fish, lemon, garlic, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, red cabbage, pickled jalapenos, and spicy mayo

• Crispy Fried Tempeh, Thai basil, pickled onions, roasted eggplant, garlic, sweet chili sauce and cashew sauce or peanut sauce