Oaxacan Food, Ice Cream and Raspado Tasting at Guelaguetza and Natura Bar

One of the things I love about running my dining group, Pleasure Palate, is being able to introduce my members to cuisines they may be unfamiliar with as well as to restaurants I enjoy dining at. That's why when I set up a Oaxacan Food, Ice Cream and Raspado Tasting at both Guelaguetza and Natura Bar, it was a win-win situation for all.

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By the way, since this tasting, the Guelaguetza location we dined at is now Pal Cabron, a wonderful Cemitas Sandwich Shop, that along with Guelaguetza and the Natura Bar is also owned by the Lopez Family. There are still two Guelaguetza locations, one on Olympic Boulevard and one in Lynwood.

At the beginning of our tasting, Fernando Lopez was there to start our meal with a little Guelaguetza history plus some small bowls of Fried Chapulines aka Fried Grasshoppers. Some of the group didn't want to partake, but those who did, whether it was their first time or not, enjoyed the grasshoppers' salty-crunch. Fernando also mentioned that the grasshoppers could be quite big depending on the season, but I think most of the group were fine with sampling the mini me versions.

Also on hand were bowls of tortilla chips topped with red mole sauce and cotija cheese. If you've never had mole before, it's a great way to try it with something neutral like tortilla chips to see if it's something you'd like. The fact that those tortilla chips disappeared as soon as they hit the table spoke volumes.

As a part of our meal, we could choose from one of two drinks, an Horchata or a Chilacayota. An horchata is a drink that can be made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice or barley. I'm not sure what Guelaguetza uses to make their horchata, but I do know that it's topped with a cactus fruit syrup, nuts and cantaloupe (or other type of melon).

I've had Guelaguetza's horchata before, but the chilacayota was completely new to me, so of course I had to have it. It's a drink made up of pumpkin pulp, pumpkin strands, small chunks of cantaloupe and a mixture of cantaloupe and tamarind juice as well as piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar). I really liked the sweet and slightly sour interplay of flavors and believe me, I ate every bit of pumpkin and cantaloupe left in that glass.

After the chapulines and the tortilla chips, our main meal started and first up was a plate that included Tamales de Mole and Tacos de Barbacoa de Chivo.

The Tamales de Mole was a banana leaf wrapped tamal with white chicken meat topped with a black mole sauce. I liked that the masa for the tamale itself was moist because chicken breast as a whole can be dry, but wrapped in the masa it was just right. As for the black mole sauce, it can contain anywhere from 20 to 25 ingredients or more, including chocolate, various nuts, seeds and spices as well as chili peppers, onions and garlic. With all that going on, the sauce itself has layers of flavors and can be quite intense with a slight bitterness and smoky and earthy undertones. That's what I got from the black mole sauce on my tamal and I loved it.

On the other half of the plate were the Tacos de Barbacoa de Chivo, which were deep fried taquitos stuffed with barbacoa seasoned mutton and covered in guacamole sauce. What I enjoyed was the tiny bit of heat that came from the meat, perhaps due to the addition of some chilies. It definitely paired well with the sweet, chunky guacamole.

Our next plate consisted of a Chile Relleno de Picadillo and Empanadas de Huitlacoche con Quesillo.

The Chile Relleno de Picadillo was a fresh Oaxacan-imported green chile stuffed with shredded chicken breast, raisins, peanuts, tomato and onions. When I've had Chile Relleno in the past, it's usually with a panela cheese or some other type of cheese. The only other non-cheese chili relleno I've ever had was at a Guatemalan restaurant and it had a filling of ground pork, beans and carrots and I enjoyed every bite of it. I also enjoyed every bite of this chili relleno and I didn't miss the cheese at all. What also did it for me was the spiciness of the filling. The heat made this dish even better.

Our final savory dish was the Empanadas de Huitlacoche con Quesillo, which are hand made empanadas stuffed with Oaxacan string cheese and corn truffles aka corn fungus. The flavor is similar to a truffle in that huitlacoche can be woodsy, earthy and even a bit smoky. It's definitely an acquired taste, but it's something I've always enjoyed eating whether in a taco, quesadilla or in this case, an empanada.

Now that we were done with the savory part of our tasting, it was time for something sweet from the Natura Bar, which is right next door. The Natura Bar is the newest member of the Lopez Family group of restaurants and it features Oaxacan-inspired drinks, juices and ice cream.

We started with an ice cream sampler of the following flavors: Burnt Milk, Cactus Fruit, Mamey, Vanilla, Walnut, Lemon, Pineapple Blossom and Coconut. It was an interesting variety of flavors. The burnt milk was a little smoky while there was a mild-kiwi sweetness to the cactus fruit. I was most intrigued by the Pineapple Blossom ice cream since I didn't know that anything could be done with pineapple blossoms in general. To see what one looks like, click here. Although it was subtle, I could still taste the pineapple flavor without the tartness that's usually present and it was a nice change.

Along with the Mamey ice cream, we also sampled a Mamey Licuado. A licuado is a drink that is made up of milk, ice and a fruit or a mixture of fruit. It's equivalent to a smoothie. The mamey is a tropical fruit that is similar in texture to a papaya or avocado. I'm not quite sure how to describe what it tastes like although some comparisons have been made to pumpkin or sweet potatoes in that it has a sugary taste to it.

From ice creams and a licuado, we go to raspados, which is the Mexican version of a shaved ice dessert. We sampled 4 different flavors: Coconut, Rompope (egg nog liquer), Lime and Mango. My favorites were the Mango because it came topped with fresh mango and the Lime because of its tartness.

Our finale was a Lemonade, which was refreshing and a great palate cleanser for the entire meal.

Overall, it was a great dining experience. We were shown wonderful hospitality by everyone at the restaurant and Fernando was always on hand to answer any questions about the food we were enjoying, as well as about Oaxacan food in general. From the chapulines all the way to the lemonade, everything we had was tasty. Even better, I was introduced to something I've never had before, the Chilacayota. That was a wonderful new find that and something I'd order again.

Guelaguetza
3014 W. Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 427-0608
www.guelaguetzarestaurante.com


Guelaguetza in Plaza Mexico
11215 Long Beach Boulevard #1010
Lynwood, CA 90262
(310) 884-9234
www.guelaguetzarestaurante.com

Natura Bar
3335 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 784-0943


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"Oaxacan Feast" at Guelaguetza

At the "Oaxacan Feast" that I organized, our group definitely did some major feasting as we experienced a total of 14 different dishes. Two of those dishes were the obligatory rice and beans, but the other 12 are what I'm going to talk about below.

When we arrived, they first took our agua fresca drink orders. Throughout the evening, we could get refills of mango, guava or orange. I pretty much stuck with the guava drink the whole night. It was a little sweet for my taste, but I still liked it. Before our main food orders came out, we noshed on tortilla chips, which was topped with red mole sauce and maybe, cotija cheese? The mole sauce was tasty which definitely was a good indication of what was to come, so here we go:

1. Ensalada de Nopalitos (cactus tossed salad)

– I didn't care for this salad too much. The nopales seemed a little slimy to me. I didn't think the cheese added much to the salad and whatever dressing they used was really bland.

2. Botana Oaxaquena (assorted tasting plate, including Oaxacan string cheese, memelas, chorizo, tazajo and cecina, a fresh stuffed chile with picadillo, fried pork ribs and guacamole)

– This appetizer plate is meant just for 8 people, but I think that it can probably feed 10. It's a lot of food. I liked everything on the plate, but my favorites were the chorizo, which are spicy fried sausages. If you cut into and spread the sausage meat into the tortilla, put a little salsa and than fold it, that was just another way to enjoy it, but just on its own was good enough for me.

I also liked the Oaxacan cheese, stretchy and a little salty, but good and the memela, once I got over the fact that it was cooked with lard, was really good. It was a thick corn tortilla that had a bean puree and melted cheese on top of it and was really yummy.

3. Camarones Enchipotlados (shrimp sautéed in a chipotle sauce (spicy)

– The chiptole sauce for this shrimp was awesome. You got a little bit of heat with smoky undertones. I would have liked it spicier, but still a very good dish.

4. Filete a la Talla (red snapper fish marinated with a unique in-house salsa, oven cooked)

– This was actually an interesting dish in that it's not on the menu at the Koreatown location, but it is on the menu at the Olympic location, but since I really wanted it, they accommodated me by sending the Olympic chef to the Koreatown location to make it. I'm so glad that I insisted. Although the fish was a teensy bit dry, the sauce that was encrusted on it really made the dish. I'm not sure what the sauce was made of, but it reminded me of a rich flavorful tomato sauce with a little bit of spice, but not overwhelming.

5. Nopal Zapoteco (grilled cactus, topped with grilled beef, onions, tomato, bell pepper and cheese)

– After having experienced this dish recently also at La Casita and now here, I think I know that I'm not a fan of this dish. I just don't like the mouth texture of the cheese, beef and nopales combined.

6. Coloradito Con Puerco (pork covered with Oaxaca's famous red mole, made from chiles, nuts, seeds, spices and Oaxacan chocolate)

– Finally, we get the first of the 4 mole dishes that I had picked out. I already experienced a bit of this with the tortilla chips, but now we have it in its full glory. Of the four, this red mole was my favorite. There was just so much to it. I can't describe completely why I liked it so much, but there just seemed to be more flavor layers, compared to the three moles that followed this one.

7. Amarillo de Res (bowl of beef with yellow mole flavored with chiles, cloves and cumin)

– This is the first time I ever had yellow mole and it was interesting. With the cumin as a part of this sauce, for some reason, I had visions of Indian food in the sense that the spicing seemed kind of similar. It had just a different flavor profile than the red mole, but one I enjoyed.

8. Verde de Pollo (bowl of chicken with green mole made from fresh spicy green chiles with herbs including hierba santa and epazote)

– This was also the first time I had green mole. It was definitely lacking in any kind of heat as opposed to the red or the yellow moles, but again, a completely different flavor profile from either the red or yellow moles. It was a lighter mole than the others and tasted "greener", "grassier", but the epazote and hierba santa gave it a little bit of pungency that made it from being too bland.

9. Tamal Oaxaqueno de Mole con Pollo (finely ground corn dough packages, filled with shredded chicken in black mole and wrapped in banana leaves)

– This tamal was wrapped in the way that I didn't expect. Instead of opening up the banana leaves to see all of the tamal, it was if it was wrapped in layers. You open up one layer to eat part of the tamal and than open up the second layer for another part of the tamal, etc.

What bothered me about this dish was the shredded chicken because the meat was dry and a little stringy. The masa was good, but I've had better. The black mole was good, but it didn't wow me that much. Compared to the red mole, which I loved, this particular sauce didn't pack the flavor punch I would have expected. It could also be that my palate was exhausted. We had a whole bunch of food before this black mole came out, so I feel like I have to go back and check it out again to see if I like it better.

10. Chuleta De Puerco Enchilado Frito (chile-marinated and fried pork chops)

– I really liked this pork, but it was interesting in that it reminded me of Chinese BBQ Pork.

11. Empanadas de Huitlacoche (huge, handmade corn tortilla folded and stuffed with huitlacoche)

– For the life of me, I couldn't get into this dish. The texture of this corn fungus just didn't do anything for me.

12. Flan (homemade flan)

– So ends our meal with dessert and we all got flan. I didn't care for the flan at all. It had the consistency of jello gelatin. I prefer flan that's creamier.

So ends the "Oaxacan Feast". You can imagine that we were all stuffed beyond compare. Overall, I liked the food at Guelaguetza, but I'm glad that I was able to do a pretty good sampling of what's on their menu, because there are certain things I would certainly go back for and others I would skip entirely.

To see all the pictures, click here!

Guelaguetza
3337 1/2 W. 8th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90005
213-427 0601