Baja, Mexico - June 12-21, 2011
Part Dos: A Whole Other Kind of Southern Cooking and Hospitality
Where's Part 1? Just scroll down!
Posted 9/12/2011
Hi! Do you remember me? I used to write this blog!
Oh, you don’t? You say it’s be over two weeks since my last post? You say that’s unforgivable?
But remember the good times we had talking about this?
Oh, you don’t? You say it’s be over two weeks since my last post? You say that’s unforgivable?
But remember the good times we had talking about this?
And this?
And certainly you can’t forget this?
OK, that’s what I thought. Are we friends again? Good.
OK, where was I? Right, I was sharing with you the most authentic Mexican food of my life in Baja, Mexico. I told you about the righteous glory of Baja tacos last time (scroll down). This time, I’m going to focus on some of the best local ranch and sea foods we ate on our ten day trip so let’s cut right to the chase with warm and chewy tamales!
OK, where was I? Right, I was sharing with you the most authentic Mexican food of my life in Baja, Mexico. I told you about the righteous glory of Baja tacos last time (scroll down). This time, I’m going to focus on some of the best local ranch and sea foods we ate on our ten day trip so let’s cut right to the chase with warm and chewy tamales!
Again, most people have had a tamale but have you had one in Mexico, at a ranch, at the literal end of the road, a road that so much defines 'dirt road' that you could never truly describe it adequately enough, that had such monumental boulders that your van summited every other minute?
Nah. I didn’t think you ever had a tamale at a ranch like that.
But I’ll tell you, I think every time our heads violently struck the roof of the van as we leap-frogged over those boulders, it made the tamales we had that night all the more tasty (probably from our mild concussion-induced euphoria). Unwrapping a tamale, I think, was the first form of Mexican Christmas.
“Ohh, what’s inside?! Carnitas? Pollo? I was SUCH a good girl this year!”
See that cup alongside my plate? It’s full of steamy warm avena, a sweet, soul-satisfying oatmeal drink. Now, you may ask why we would want to drink such a hot beverage since it was a brisk 105 degrees in the Baja desert. Well, my friends, that might have been the temperature during the day but once that sun went down, I swear the temperature dropped to a balmy 50-55 degrees at night. I nearly took avena to bed with me every night being that we slept outside every night in Mexico. We also drank ourselves silly with barra, a Mexican-style hot chocolate and if you're wondering, I almost went to bed with that, too.
The rest of the items on the plate were pretty standard ranch food. Frijoles and rice? You know it. Corn tortillas? Bet your life on it.
So what about breakfast?
Well, meet this man.
Nah. I didn’t think you ever had a tamale at a ranch like that.
But I’ll tell you, I think every time our heads violently struck the roof of the van as we leap-frogged over those boulders, it made the tamales we had that night all the more tasty (probably from our mild concussion-induced euphoria). Unwrapping a tamale, I think, was the first form of Mexican Christmas.
“Ohh, what’s inside?! Carnitas? Pollo? I was SUCH a good girl this year!”
See that cup alongside my plate? It’s full of steamy warm avena, a sweet, soul-satisfying oatmeal drink. Now, you may ask why we would want to drink such a hot beverage since it was a brisk 105 degrees in the Baja desert. Well, my friends, that might have been the temperature during the day but once that sun went down, I swear the temperature dropped to a balmy 50-55 degrees at night. I nearly took avena to bed with me every night being that we slept outside every night in Mexico. We also drank ourselves silly with barra, a Mexican-style hot chocolate and if you're wondering, I almost went to bed with that, too.
The rest of the items on the plate were pretty standard ranch food. Frijoles and rice? You know it. Corn tortillas? Bet your life on it.
So what about breakfast?
Well, meet this man.
His name is Rafael and this ranch is his dream. He does miraculous things with his herbal medicines and cancer treatment. Incidentally, he also does miraculous things with prickly pear cactus, called nopal, and breakfast. Here, he’s just harvested some prickly pear from the cactus behind the kitchen and has spent part of his morning preparing them for our breakfast.
After you trim off all the protective spikes from the fronts and sides of the prickly pear, you slice it up and boil it for pretty decent amount of time. Are you boiling it to get it soft? Nope, you’re boiling it because, like aloe vera, prickly pear has a sliminess to it that, although might be soothing for a sunburn, would taste more akin to a veggie-flavored booger.
Not good eats.
By boiling all the cactus snot away, you’re left with slices of cactus that don’t taste very much different than a delicious green bell pepper. Add those to some eggs ...
Not good eats.
By boiling all the cactus snot away, you’re left with slices of cactus that don’t taste very much different than a delicious green bell pepper. Add those to some eggs ...
and don’t forget your corn tortillas, rice and frijoles and you, my friend, are off to a stupendous day. Now, what is this all washed down with? Well, coffee, of course but we also had our choice of malta, a non-caffeinated tea beverage that you sugar and cream like coffee but is chock full of nutrients.
Boom.
Speaking of boom, a few days later, I swam with one of these.
Boom.
Speaking of boom, a few days later, I swam with one of these.
But this is a food blog, so I don’t think you want to hear about it, right?
OK, well how about I talk to you about his tasty little distant cousin that one of our group members caught fishing later that day and how he made us a pretty delicious ceviche, god rest his little tasty soul.
OK, well how about I talk to you about his tasty little distant cousin that one of our group members caught fishing later that day and how he made us a pretty delicious ceviche, god rest his little tasty soul.
I don’t think ceviche gets much fresher than this. So what is ceviche? Pronounced sa-veech-a, it’s a type of seafood salad where, instead of cooking the fish or preferred sea food, it’s combined with lots of fruits and vegetables in a dressing composed of high quantities of citrus juice. The citric acid ‘cook’s the meat making it safely edible, and other-worldly delicious, for consumption. Pile your ceviche on top of some fresh, crunchy corn tortillas and you have cinco de mayo in your mouth.
Don’t believe me. Try it.
Along with the ceviche, we also had ourselves some fresh Sea of Cortez clams for dinner. A few folks and I traveled to this little inlet with crystal clear water and soft, silty sand. We hopped over board and dug about 6 inches down to find these suckers (literally, they are bivalves) and every time I found one, held it up to look at it and tucked it into my wetsuit, I’d see more of these fellows arrive.
Don’t believe me. Try it.
Along with the ceviche, we also had ourselves some fresh Sea of Cortez clams for dinner. A few folks and I traveled to this little inlet with crystal clear water and soft, silty sand. We hopped over board and dug about 6 inches down to find these suckers (literally, they are bivalves) and every time I found one, held it up to look at it and tucked it into my wetsuit, I’d see more of these fellows arrive.
First there were just a few.
And then some more. And then finally, it started getting a little creepy, them looking like ancient avians from another time and me, looking like an idiot in a wet suit with clams shoved halfway up my arms and legs.
Yup, time to go.
We went back to the field station, let the clams soak for a few hours and then gorged.
We went back to the field station, let the clams soak for a few hours and then gorged.
Oh, and we had beer. We went from consistently luke warm water in 105 degree desert to breezy ocean-side binge drinking.
I guess that’s a pretty decent analogy for Baja. It most certainly showed me the best of both worlds. Steamy deserts home to plants holding the secrets to medicine, eating frijoles to my hearts content and sipping (and sleeping with) avena and barra. Then, waking up on the Sea of Cortez, snorkeling with seals, whale sharks and bioluminescing plankton, eating some of the freshest, tastiest seafood of my life with a group of people that I may never see again but will never forget.
This is Baja.
I guess that’s a pretty decent analogy for Baja. It most certainly showed me the best of both worlds. Steamy deserts home to plants holding the secrets to medicine, eating frijoles to my hearts content and sipping (and sleeping with) avena and barra. Then, waking up on the Sea of Cortez, snorkeling with seals, whale sharks and bioluminescing plankton, eating some of the freshest, tastiest seafood of my life with a group of people that I may never see again but will never forget.
This is Baja.
And this.
Sigh. Now I need to make tacos for dinner tonight.
More I Heart Baja, Mexico Photo Gallery
On 9/13/2011, Christine wrote:
"Great post. Love the photos."
On 3/21/2012, Jill wrote:
"Rock on girl, this post is great. All the shots are wonderful and intoxicating."
"Great post. Love the photos."
On 3/21/2012, Jill wrote:
"Rock on girl, this post is great. All the shots are wonderful and intoxicating."
Part Uno: An Ode to Tacos
Posted 8/25/2011
I know what you expect of me when I write my food travel blogs. You expect honest recollections of the meals I’ve had and where with a slice of witty pie and a glass of inappropriate humor on the side.
And maybe a self-summing, platitudinal expression for dessert.
But I want to be upfront and honest about your and my expectations for the following series of blogs recounting my trip to Baja, Mexico and that, while I hope to drench the coming posts in dead-pan sarcasm, in all honesty, this trip was one of the most exciting of my life. I’ll stick to the great food I experienced but there might be some interspersed soliloquies about the meaning of life, why travel rocks mine (and most people’s) socks and that sometimes, space, time and location intertwine when the earth rotates to the right degree and you can believe in experiences that extend beyond normal life boundaries.
Deep enough for you? A little too deep? Ok, I’ll pull back a bit.
And talk about tacos!
Everybody and their mother has had a taco. If you’ve never had a taco, it’s … no seriously, everyone has had one, I don’t have to describe a taco to you. But I do have to describe Baja, Mexico tacos because, more than the birthplace of these Hispanic version of a sandwich, Baja tacos, straight from the source, are some legal version of crack and if you think you can stop at one hit, you are sorely mistaken.
Unfortunately, I can’t recall the name of the little drive up/walk up taco stand we hit in Ensenada, a few hours south of the Tijuana border but it looked like this:
And maybe a self-summing, platitudinal expression for dessert.
But I want to be upfront and honest about your and my expectations for the following series of blogs recounting my trip to Baja, Mexico and that, while I hope to drench the coming posts in dead-pan sarcasm, in all honesty, this trip was one of the most exciting of my life. I’ll stick to the great food I experienced but there might be some interspersed soliloquies about the meaning of life, why travel rocks mine (and most people’s) socks and that sometimes, space, time and location intertwine when the earth rotates to the right degree and you can believe in experiences that extend beyond normal life boundaries.
Deep enough for you? A little too deep? Ok, I’ll pull back a bit.
And talk about tacos!
Everybody and their mother has had a taco. If you’ve never had a taco, it’s … no seriously, everyone has had one, I don’t have to describe a taco to you. But I do have to describe Baja, Mexico tacos because, more than the birthplace of these Hispanic version of a sandwich, Baja tacos, straight from the source, are some legal version of crack and if you think you can stop at one hit, you are sorely mistaken.
Unfortunately, I can’t recall the name of the little drive up/walk up taco stand we hit in Ensenada, a few hours south of the Tijuana border but it looked like this:
And what you’re seeing here is a friendly Mexican man who laughed with us when we couldn’t quite get past the language barrier and had a way with beans (more on that later). What you’re also seeing here is the fresh, hand-pressed corn tortillas cooking away on the griddle in the lower left, the carnitas grill smoking away in the upper middle, beans in the red pot, minced chili’s in the stone bowl and a pile of toppings across the bar from chopped onions and cilantro, fresh radishes for munching, grilled green onions and quartered limes.
See the lovely lady pressing the corn tortillas in the background. She smiled a lot, too.
Now, about those beans. What I didn’t quite capture on camera due to his superhuman skillz (yep, skillz with a ‘z’ because it’s just that impressive), is the guy using a spoon and a flick of his right wrist to fling a pile of beans from the red pot spiraling through the air over his head and catch them splat in the center of the taco in his left hand.
He saw our amazed faces … and laughed some more.
So what did these tacos look like?
He saw our amazed faces … and laughed some more.
So what did these tacos look like?
Yes, you just saw perfection. Your life may have just peaked. You can die happy now and you’re welcome.
These tacos were layered generously with carnitas, piled with fresh onion and cilantro, given a good soaking with mashed guacamole and then topped with plump, catapulted kidney beans.
Remember that whole reference to crack before? I didn’t have one, or two of these delicious crispy tacos of the gods. I had three big fat ones AND a delicious little smoothie from the stand next door filled with milk, ice (rebel, I know), granola, bananas and honey.
Did I have any apprehensions about stuffing my face among a group of people I met only hours ago? No, because they were all there stuffing their faces alongside me.
Good tacos + good people = Bonding
Let’s fast-forward to the end of the trip after we all sweated together in the desert, met influential people with contagious dreams, bathed en masse in the Sea of Cortez and swam with 20 ton sharks and then, all sat down to eat good tacos again.
Good tacos + good people + life-altering experiences = Hardcore bonding
At the end of our trip, we stopped at a near-famous taco stand.
These tacos were layered generously with carnitas, piled with fresh onion and cilantro, given a good soaking with mashed guacamole and then topped with plump, catapulted kidney beans.
Remember that whole reference to crack before? I didn’t have one, or two of these delicious crispy tacos of the gods. I had three big fat ones AND a delicious little smoothie from the stand next door filled with milk, ice (rebel, I know), granola, bananas and honey.
Did I have any apprehensions about stuffing my face among a group of people I met only hours ago? No, because they were all there stuffing their faces alongside me.
Good tacos + good people = Bonding
Let’s fast-forward to the end of the trip after we all sweated together in the desert, met influential people with contagious dreams, bathed en masse in the Sea of Cortez and swam with 20 ton sharks and then, all sat down to eat good tacos again.
Good tacos + good people + life-altering experiences = Hardcore bonding
At the end of our trip, we stopped at a near-famous taco stand.
SRHIMP or SHRIMP, it doesn’t really matter since Baja fish tacos could easily be the mechanism to catalyze peace in the world today. I’m serious. I would stake my measly bank account on the fact that if you brought all the world’s leaders together, reduced them to sitting in white plastic chairs around a white plastic table and put a plate of this in front of them …
There would be peace in the world. Or,
Good tacos + good people + white plastic dining set = Bonding + world peace
The simplest equation that, sadly, eluded Einstein. No worries, I figured it out, you’re welcome and you can mail my Nobel Peace Prize to:
1000 Occam’s Razor Way
Idealist, USA 10101
These tacos were much different than our first tacos in that large chunks of white fish were battered and fried in a large bubbling pot of oil and after you get your tacos with cabbage and mayo, which comes standard, you then proceed down a veritable assembly line of toppings from roasted and pickled jalapeno peppers, mounds of cilantro, sweet and sloppy guacamole and more.
Ugh. I would fly to San Diego, wrestle through border patrol and drive hours just to have these tacos again.
So, if you think this post all about Baja, Mexico tacos was tasty, wait til the next post all about ranch food from eating fresh cactus to drinking barra, a spiced chocolate drink, meant to warm you up on cool desert nights.
When you’re sleeping outside.
And you hear coyotes in the distance.
Told you it was an exciting trip.
Good tacos + good people + white plastic dining set = Bonding + world peace
The simplest equation that, sadly, eluded Einstein. No worries, I figured it out, you’re welcome and you can mail my Nobel Peace Prize to:
1000 Occam’s Razor Way
Idealist, USA 10101
These tacos were much different than our first tacos in that large chunks of white fish were battered and fried in a large bubbling pot of oil and after you get your tacos with cabbage and mayo, which comes standard, you then proceed down a veritable assembly line of toppings from roasted and pickled jalapeno peppers, mounds of cilantro, sweet and sloppy guacamole and more.
Ugh. I would fly to San Diego, wrestle through border patrol and drive hours just to have these tacos again.
So, if you think this post all about Baja, Mexico tacos was tasty, wait til the next post all about ranch food from eating fresh cactus to drinking barra, a spiced chocolate drink, meant to warm you up on cool desert nights.
When you’re sleeping outside.
And you hear coyotes in the distance.
Told you it was an exciting trip.
I Heart Baja, Mexico Photo Gallery
On 8/25/2011, Kristin wrote:
"I LOVE TACOS!!!!!! can i come next time? ;)"
On 8/25/2011, Elissa wrote:
"Aahhhhhhh you are making me want to go back :)"
On 8/25/2011, Larry wrote:
"A soliloquy of tacos and a plethora of memories. I would return in a minute. Thanks for the flashbacks"
On 8/27/2011, Ashley wrote:
"My mouth is watering because I too got to experience those AMAZING tacos! Lets go back real soon, ok?"
On 8/28/2011, Krystal wrote:
"Yum Tacos! If you ever get an overwhelming craving for crack... I mean tacos. I can hook you up with a fix in Baltimore. I promise you'll feel like you've stamped your passport when you walk through the tiny store front door and you'll likely still have a language issue too :) Completely authentic!"
On 9/4/2011, Brenda wrote:
"so amazing! so wonderful! so eloquent! so memorable! SO HUNGRY!!"
On 9/13/2011, Matt wrote:
"Dear God. Those Fish Tacos... I mean, I don't even have words for them...
Awesome photos throughout! "
On 3/21/2012, Jill wrote:
"Again, love the photos you chose to publish. Spent some time considering the shot of the window and the stairs."
"I LOVE TACOS!!!!!! can i come next time? ;)"
On 8/25/2011, Elissa wrote:
"Aahhhhhhh you are making me want to go back :)"
On 8/25/2011, Larry wrote:
"A soliloquy of tacos and a plethora of memories. I would return in a minute. Thanks for the flashbacks"
On 8/27/2011, Ashley wrote:
"My mouth is watering because I too got to experience those AMAZING tacos! Lets go back real soon, ok?"
On 8/28/2011, Krystal wrote:
"Yum Tacos! If you ever get an overwhelming craving for crack... I mean tacos. I can hook you up with a fix in Baltimore. I promise you'll feel like you've stamped your passport when you walk through the tiny store front door and you'll likely still have a language issue too :) Completely authentic!"
On 9/4/2011, Brenda wrote:
"so amazing! so wonderful! so eloquent! so memorable! SO HUNGRY!!"
On 9/13/2011, Matt wrote:
"Dear God. Those Fish Tacos... I mean, I don't even have words for them...
Awesome photos throughout! "
On 3/21/2012, Jill wrote:
"Again, love the photos you chose to publish. Spent some time considering the shot of the window and the stairs."
