Ingredients:

Chicken Breast

Salt

Tortillas

Cheese Sauce (Optional)

Jalapeno Peppers

Tomatoes

Garlic

Cooking Oil

Cheddar Cheese

“You get you, chicken breast, because it’s the easiest. Get chicken breast, and boil it in water – add salt or whatever. Uh, once it comes to a boil, drain out all of the water and let the chicken sit for a little while. Then start shredding the chicken breast, and uh, while, uh one person is shredding the chicken breast, the other person is heating the tortillas. Once the chicken is all shredded and the tortillas are all heated for however many people it’s going to feed, they uh, start rolling them up into, um, like tacos basically. One person starts rolling them up, while the other person starts frying them. And you fry them until the tortillas are like a golden brown. Once it’s golden brown, it’s ready.

There’s also a cheese sauce that we make – well my mom makes it. Not every Hispanic person does that. Some use green salsa or some other kind of side dish. My mom, her side of the family, use this cheese dip. Um, the way you make the cheese dip, is you, char about, well my mom does it this way, you char about five jalapeno and two tomatoes and once they’re finally charred, uh, you put them in a bag and let them steam themselves, and that way, they’ll be easier to peel. Once that’s done, you put them in what we call a molcajete – which is basically a rock grinder. And you use that and a cone shaped rock to grind the jalapenos and tomatoes together. Then you put in salt and garlic and you mash it together as finely as possible, then you add that to a pot and start boiling it. And you add a little bit of oil to it, then my mom puts in approximately ten slices of cheddar cheese into it, and then you have your cheese sauce ready to go with your flautas.”

Hearing about the preparation of the flautas made my mouth water, and for good reason! This dish includes some of my favorite recipes and I convinced my informant to prepare it for me during the summer. I could tell that this was a very special dish to my informant, as he learned to prepare it from his mother, whom he is very close to.