Catching Up with Chef Susan Feniger

Throughout her three-decade career, Susan Feniger has established herself as a successful chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, TV star, and a culinary powerhouse in Mexican cuisine. Although she’s not Latino, her passion for Mexican food is palpable. After taking a road trip through Mexico with chef Mary Sue Milliken in 1985, the pair took all the techniques and recipes they learned and opened Border Grill restaurant in Los Angeles. They now have two LA locations, a food truck, a Las Vegas restaurant, and this summer they are opening a Border Grill at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

In addition to their restaurant success, the pair starred in almost 400 episodes of Food Network’s Too Hot Tamales and Tamales World Tour series in the 1990s, and co-authored five cookbooks, including Mesa Mexicana, Cooking with Too Hot Tamales, and Mexican Cooking for Dummies.

More recently, Feniger opened Los Angeles-based restaurant Street in 2009, where she offers street inspired food from around the world that is authentic yet accessible. “People get to explore flavors they might not have tasted before, like panden and coconut jam called kaya to chicken croquettes with waffles and a homemade hot sauce infused with maple,” says Feniger. The energetic chef also appeared in season 2 of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters and won $32,500 for Scleroderma Research Foundation.

Here, the chef extraordinaire shares some of her favorite street eats, booze, and tips for Latin food home cooks.

When did you fall in love with Latin cuisine?

I fell in love with the Latin kitchen back in 1981. Mary Sue Milliken and I had just opened City Café [in Los Angeles] and in the afternoons one of us would run down to Western and Melrose Avenue to get carnitas, soft tacos done in a very traditional way with just onions and cilantro in a soft tortilla with arbol or chipotle salsa. We’d bring back about 25 tacos and it was amazing. I had never had something so simple and yummy. It got us both hooked to a cuisine we knew nothing about.

What’s one of your favorite Latin dishes to cook?

Wow, that’s impossible—who’s your favorite child or pet? I love making tacos on our Border Grill Truck. Caramelizing onions on the comal (flat griddle), adding carne asada, topping it with a bit of freshly mashed avocado, a bit of chipotle salsa, that’s pretty fantastic. But a churro, right out of the fryer made with cajeta and tossed in cinnamon sugar is pretty wonderful too. But, then who doesn’t love cochinita pibil (slow roasted pork), especially cooking it in Mexico, where you dig a pit, marinate the pig in achiote and citrus wrapped in banana leaves and cook it all day while you drink margaritas before the feast!

Do you have any tips for home cooks on how to make Latin food that is tasty but still healthy?

Latin food is by nature healthy, and if you’re gluten free, it’s a no brainer. There are so many vegetables used in the Latin kitchen. When we first opened Border Grill, we were blown away by how much our produce bill increased. The base of the Mexican kitchen is loaded with produce. Much of the cuisine is also based on seafood, such as ceviches, and Veracruzana style dishes. It doesn’t use a ton of butter, cream, or even that much cheese.

What draws you to street food? What do you love about it?

Everything! I love the interaction that happens with the street vendor. I like the interaction that happens between customers waiting for their food. It brings community together. It doesn’t matter if you are wealthy or poor, it’s about inexpensive food that taste great. There isn’t a language barrier as the language is about food. Oftentimes, the dish being made by a street vendor has been in the family for years and it’s been perfected. Doing a dish over and over helps to continue to make it better. It’s real, authentic and it can be inspirational.

In your travels, what has been your favorite street food item that you’ve tasted?

There have been so many dishes, such as panipuri in India. Also, sticky rice with pickles, and yotiao with warm soy milk, chili oil, and cilantro on the streets of Shanghai. Or bun bo hue (a soup eaten for breakfast) in Hue, Vietnam.  

What food or dish reminds you of family?

My mom was an amazing, amazing cook. We do Seder at Street, we do the second night every year and many other Jewish holidays, and so much of what we do on those days brings back family memories. This year, we did braised lamb shanks and then made it into a Hawaiian musubi. When the braised shanks come out of the oven, it brings memories of my mom making brisket.

What’s your most beloved kitchen tool?

My Japanese French knife!

What’s your favorite song to cook to?

“Why” by Annie Lennox

What’s your favorite liquor?

It varies at times. For wine Angelica Cellars, beer Hitachino, and spirits: Ciroc vodka, Chinaco tequila (first tasted this 30 years ago, I’m a loyal kind of gal), and Kahlua.

What’s your favorite cocktail?

I have a few: tequila tamarindo, canton ginger kick, cucumber jalapeno margarita, and vodka soda with a ton of fresh lime.