Sights
Maiz Tortilla Viva el Taco! Mexican street food in the Fifth
© Robert Six | Fernando Loeza
Map
Opening Times
Monday + Tuesday 12-17
Wednesday to Saturday 12-22
Address
Maiz
Schönbrunner Straße 32
1050 Vienna-district 5
.How to get there
Contact
It took me a while to succumb to the magic of Mexican cuisine. I used to associate it mainly with greasy tortilla chips in the cinema and pre-packaged wraps in the supermarket. Back then, I didn't know what real Mexico tasted like. What variety of flavours and refinement the cuisine there has to offer.
Fortunately, more and more shops have opened in recent years where culinary septics (like me) are being taught a lesson. Shops like Maiz, where owner Monika Sims and her team serve freshly made, incredibly delicious tacos.
The basis is tortillas, those round dough patties that, depending on the filling, folding and rolling technique, become burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas or - tucked in the middle - tacos. The unique thing about Maiz is that it is freshly ground on-site for the tortilla flour. The grains are soaked in lime water beforehand: Nixtamalisation is the magic word.
The process makes the maize easier to digest and ensures that the dough, called masa, sticks together properly. The machine, a shiny red drum, with which Monika Sims grinds the maize, was imported especially from South Africa. Tortillas may look simple, but making them - as she tells me - is not.
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But the effort is worth it! You notice and taste that when you have the filled tacos on your plate. The fillings are also freshly prepared every day. There is always a choice of sauce with pork (the Mexican original), a vegetarian one with vegetables and a third one for which the kitchen team is inspired by Mexican and their own recipes.
With currently 42 different creations, it never gets boring, "even if you come twice a week," says the owner with a laugh. Salad and chips are available as a side dish, as well as a soup that changes daily.
The ingredients come from local farmers - including, of course, the maize, which Monika Sims grows herself: In addition to yellow, she also uses red and white. Soon there will also be black and green - old varieties that have fallen into oblivion.
How did Monika Sims succumb to the magic of Mexican cuisine? She used to work as a film and television set designer and lived in the USA for almost 30 years. It was there that she discovered her love of Mexican food, and it was there, in New York, that she learned the art of making tacos. But luckily, at some point, she began to long for her hometown of Vienna.
