INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups bread cubes (cut them into 1-inch cubes for the salad, 1x2-inch rectangles for the bar snack) from Oaxacan pan de agua or from bolillos or French baguette
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped piloncillo (Mexican raw cone sugar) or brown sugar
- A generous teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- A few big sprigs of thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried)
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 1 large (4-ounce) carrot, peeled if you wish and thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 medium (6-ounce) onion (white onion is typical in Oaxaca, but red gives beautiful color), sliced ¼-inch thick
- About 3 ounces Oaxacan quesillo or other stringable cheese like mozzarella or string cheese, pulled into thin strings 2 or 3 inches long
- A little chile salt (preferably not one with dehydrated lime like Tajin) or Oaxacan sal de gusano
- A few splashes of Mexican hot sauce like Valentina or Tamazula
- For serving as a spicy salad
- 1 medium (6- to 7-ounce) cucumber, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 large (8-ounce) tomato, cored and cut into ½-inch pieces
- About 1/4 cup olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Toast the bread and make the pickled vegetables. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the bread onto a baking sheet, slide it into the oven and bake until the pieces are crisp through and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. In a medium (2- to 3-quart) saucepan, combine the vinegar, piloncillo, salt, bay, thyme, garlic and ¾ cup water. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the sliced carrot, cook a couple of minutes, then stir in the onion, turn off the heat, cover the pan and let cool.
Finish the dish. Scoop the bread into a large bowl. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, add the carrot and onion to the bread, then splash on about ½ cup of the vinegar mixture. (You can strain and reserve the remainder to use in a salad dressing.) To serve as a bar snack, scoop the mixture onto a deep platter, top with the cheese, sprinkle liberally with the chile salt and dollop on the hot sauce. To serve as a salad, stir in the cucumber, tomato and olive oil. Let stand a few minutes for the bread to absorb some of the liquid, then scoop it onto a platter or divide between plates. Top with the cheese, and sprinkle with a little of the chile salt and hot sauce.
To make chile salt: Mix together a tablespoon of ground guajillo chile, a tablespoon of salt and as much ground arbol chile as you like (it’s very spicy). I’d start with ½ teaspoon and increase from there. Chile salt is a spicy condiment.
