Crisp Onion Relish

January quiet. The month of writing. The restaurant runs on rhythm — the staff knows the rhythm, the smokers know the rhythm, the fire knows the rhythm. January is when the owner steps back from the rhythm and does the other work — the planning, the building, the creating. This January, the creating is the book.

I wrote the first chapter of Project Fire this week. Chapter One: The Cinder Block Grill. The story of Roberto building the grill in 1982. The story of a three-year-old boy standing on a milk crate watching his father cook. The story of the first carne asada, the first fire, the first lesson that food is love and love is fire and fire is the beginning of everything. The recipe at the end of the chapter: Roberto's Carne Asada. Unchanged since 1982. The recipe that Roberto told me never to change. The recipe that is the foundation of the book the way it is the foundation of the restaurant the way it is the foundation of the family. The recipe that will outlast all of us.

I read the chapter to Jessica at the kitchen table. She listened. She did not interrupt (Jessica interrupts everything — the woman edits in real time, corrects in real time, annotates in real time. She did not interrupt the chapter. This is her highest form of praise). When I finished, she said, "Read it to Roberto." I said, "Not yet. It needs to be finished." She said, "Read him the first chapter. He needs to hear it." She is right. Roberto needs to hear the first chapter. Roberto needs to hear his grill described in words, his fire translated into sentences, his carne asada preserved in a book that will sit on shelves long after the grill cools and the man sits for the last time. Roberto needs to hear it. I will read it to him. Not yet. Soon.

Diego's writing contest award ceremony was this week. He stood on a stage in a hotel conference room in downtown Phoenix and received the first-place certificate for "The Fire That Went Everywhere." He wore a clip-on tie (Jessica's insistence) and sneakers (Diego's insistence — the negotiation ended in a draw). He gave a brief speech: "Thank you. This story is about my family and the fire that my abuelo started. The fire goes everywhere because the food goes everywhere. When you eat, you are part of the fire. Thank you." The audience applauded. A woman in the front row cried. Mr. Alvarez, in the second row, beamed. I stood in the back with Jessica and I held her hand and I thought: the boy wrote the mission statement of Rivera's and the mission statement won first place and the mission statement ends with "when you eat, you are part of the fire" and the boy is ten years old and he already understands what took me thirty years to learn.

Writing Chapter One meant going back to the beginning — to the cinder block grill, to the fire, to every element Roberto placed on that grill with intention. The carne asada anchors the chapter, but no plate at Rivera’s ever arrived bare; alongside the meat, always, was this relish — sharp white onion, brightened with citrus and heat, the thing that made the fire on the plate as vivid as the fire under it. When Diego said “when you eat, you are part of the fire,” I thought of this relish — because nothing on the table carries the heat forward quite like it does.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes + 20 minutes resting | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 large white onion, halved and very thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Salt the onion. Place the thinly sliced onion in a medium bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Let sit for 10 minutes to draw out moisture and soften the raw bite.
Rinse and press dry. Transfer the salted onion to a fine-mesh strainer and rinse briefly under cold water. Press firmly with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible. Return to the bowl.
Add the acid and heat. Pour the lime juice and orange juice over the onion. Add the minced jalapeño, oregano, and black pepper. Toss well to combine.
Fold in the cilantro. Add the chopped cilantro and fold gently to incorporate. Taste and adjust salt or lime juice as needed.
Rest before serving. Let the relish sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving so the flavors can meld. Serve alongside carne asada, tacos, or any grilled meat straight from the fire.

Nutrition (per serving)

Crisp Onion Relish — The Condiment That Has Lived on Roberto’s Grill Since Before I Could Reach the Table