Baja Culinary and Wine Tour

When most people think of the Baja region of Mexico, what usually comes to mind are nights of partying, boozing and jumping from bar to bar by local college kids willing to cross the border to find a good time. Delicious food and culinary finds may not be words you'd associate with cities like Tijuana, Ensenada and any other small towns in between. It wasn't until I took a whirlwind one day excursion led by Blogger Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet LA down to Baja, that my eyes were finally opened to many tasty possibilities.

The morning started with us driving into Tijuana and starting with what I'll refer to as the "breakfast of champions" and what others may refer to as the ultimate hangover remedy. Our first stop was at a taco table called Tacos "Fitos", which is only open from 5 am to 1 pm. Only two kinds of tacos were on the menu, goat or tripe. I decided to go for one of each. Both hit the spot. The carmelization from the grilling and also the marinade that was used for both meats made my mouth sing. If I didn't have to pace myself for the rest of the day, I could have easily eaten a couple more tacos.

After our starter meal, we walked to Mercado Hidalgo to get a feel for a Mexican market. I've visited Mexican markets in LA like Alameda Swap Meet and El Mercadito and what was similar were the bright colors of the signage and the exterior walls of the various shops. I have only three words. Crayons gone wild! Just like back home, we saw foods that you normally wouldn't see at your local Ralphs, but we also saw items that you'd only be able to get while you were in Mexico. I'm speaking specifically to the variety of chili peppers and corn that we saw, in all shapes and colors.

Also present were lots of fresh and colorful produce and other foods like cheeses, big slabs of chicharon, candy, mole sauces as well as pinatas, kitchen ware and herbs and medicinals. While at the mercado, I sampled cactus fruit for the first time. Peeled and doused with lime and chili, it was quite refreshing even with the tartness of the lime and the heat of the chili.

Filled up with tacos and cactus fruit, we hit the road to Guadalupe Valley where we were going to visit 2 of the 27 wineries that are currently in that region. For those of you unfamiliar with the history of wine making in Guadalupe Valley, look below for some info, but click here and here to find out more.

Wine making came to Mexico in 1597 when the Spaniard Don Lorenzo Garcia started his winery in the Northern Mexican state of Coahuila. This winery, Casa Madero, was actually the oldest winery of the Americas. By mid 17th-century, fearing competition from this new world, Spain banned wine making in Mexico; however, many Spanish missionaries refused to obey this edict and continued to plant vines and produce wine on a small scale.

In 1791, Jesuit priests brought over the mission grape and finding the climate comparable to California's Napa Valley and France's Rhone Valley reactivated the production of wine in Mexico by planting them at the Saint Thomas Mission. In 1834, Dominican priests began growing grapes at the nearby Northern Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe, now known by the abbreviated name of the Guadalupe Valley. Between 1857 and 1888, due to Mexico's War of Reform, the Catholic church was stripped of its holdings and all property became part of the state.

Wine making again ceased until the Saint Thomas Mission was purchased by private buyers to become Bodegas Santo Tomas, the first large-scale winery in Mexico. In 1904, Russian immigrants moved into the area and they started purchasing land and devoting portions of it for harvesting grapes for wine making.

It wasn't until decades later when Hugo D'Acosta, a well-respected and well-known winemaker, started educating interested individuals into the world of grape growing and winemaking. He even established a winemaking educational facility where students can learn the trade and share information. Where before there were about 3 major wineries in the Baja region, there has been a renaissance of sorts where smaller, artisanal wineries are coming into existence. As mentioned before, there are now 27 different wineries that call Guadalupe Valley home.

Our first winery visit took us to La Casa Vieja, family-owned and only a year old. We sampled about 5 reds and roses, paired with cheeses and some of the best olives I've ever tasted. Olive farms also dot the Guadalupe Valley landscape, which is why the locally grown olives we sampled were stellar. As for the wine, I'm not really a wine expert so I can't give you a blow-by-blow account of what each wine tasted like but what I liked was their smoothness and also that the heavy oakiness that I normally associate with red wines was missing, which I appreciated.

Behind the tasting room, their vineyard could easily be seen, including a 200 year old grape vine that still produces grapes. The owner even let us pick a couple of bunches to take with us. There's just something about biting into a sun-touched, sweet, juicy grape from a two century old grapevine that's a little surreal.

From La Casa Vieja, we visited Tres Mujeres, so named because it's a vineyard owned by three women artists whose specialty is painting tiles. To get to this vineyard, you really had to veer from the paved road to a windy gravel road and to help guide you, there were tiles with painted hands to direct you along the way.

Tres Mujeres makes limited batches of wine every year. In fact, when we were led into their wine cave, geometric shelving housed all their wine for that season. The owners actually took classes from Hugo D'Acosta and in this, their second year, applied some of the techniques they learned from this famous wine master. For our tasting, we sampled two reds and when a couple of people in my group purchased wine to take home, one of the owners used a silver metallic pen to write in beautiful script, the name of the wine, its year and the name of the winery on each of the bottles.

After visiting Tres Mujeres, we veered again off the main road to check out La Casa de Dona Lupe, a small winery and gourmet food shop. Owner, Doña Lupe, is one of the first women to run a full-scale wine production, using sustainable practices since the 60's. Along with selling organic wines, this shop also sells fruit preserves, olives, olive oils, fragrant herbs and other items. My interest were geared towards the fruit preserves. I saw combinations there I've never seen before like nopales and green apple, mango and lime and then there was the tomato and chiltepin jam. Chiltepin, by the way, is a wild chile pepper that rate 50,000 to 100,000 scoville units.

The great thing about La Casa de Dona is that they weren't shy with the free samples. There were bread and crackers available to try out with the various jams. The would also pour their olive oil and vinaigrettes over bread and tomatoes so you could try those as well. If you wanted to try their wines, then you'd have to shell out the cash.

Afterwards, it was on to Ensenada. Thankfully, it was a nice little drive because between the goat and tripe tacos, the wines, the olives, the jams and jellies, etc., I needed a little break because what was waiting for us at our destination were true Ensenada fish and shrimp tacos. Yum!

While in Ensenada, we did an A to B comparison between two different taco stands where we sampled both a fish and shrimp taco from each location. One interesting tidbit that I learned from our guide, Bill, is that proper fish and shrimp tacos are double-fried, similar to Belgium fries. They're fried once, set aside to drain and cool and than re-fried right before serving. What you get is golden crispy seafood goodness.

The basic Ensenada fish taco starts off with naked fish on two corn tortillas. Your basic toppings will include shredded cabbage, pico de gallo and Mexican crema, a thin mayonnaise-based cream sauce. Squeeze some lime and you can chow down. However, if you're looking for more pizzazz, you can add any or all of the following: fresh onions, pickled carrots, onions and jalapenos and any number of fresh salsas.

After taste testing the two taco stands, I can say without a doubt that the first one we went to was the absolute best. The batter was amazing and was both light and non-greasy. All the condiments were fresh and even better, there were 7 or 8 different fresh salsas to choose from. I didn't even recognize half of them, but they all looked really good. I have to say that I'd almost be willing to make a special day trip back to Ensenada just for those tacos. They were just so unbelievably good.

Filled with fish and shrimp tacos, we stopped by Black Market, a local fish market, to check it out. Across the fish market were a whole row of taco joints so if you wanted to, you could actually do a fish taco crawl, but we've already had our fill. Whatever seafood fancy you had could be found at Black Market, from octopus with their long tentacles reaching out of boxes to sea snails to an endless variety of shellfish and fish.

Done with our Ensenada explorations, we hit the road back to Tijuana to end our tour with a delicious multi-course meal at La Diferencia. By the time, we got back to Tijuana, I wasn't sure if I could fit anything more in my system, but after perusing the menu, Bill placed our order and somehow, everyone was revitalized again. Our meal started with tamarind margaritas, a perfect combination of sour, tart and salty.

Not including the chips, salsa, black beans, dinner rolls, tortillas and rice, we shared 10 dishes, family-style. The highlights for me included:

Huitlacoche Crepes (crepes stuffed with cuitlacoche on top of poblano sauce) - I've only had huitlacoche a couple times back home and didn't understand the appeal, but fresh huitlacoche really makes a difference, because I really enjoyed the savory-earth flavors as I never had before.

Chiles en Nogada (poblano chile stuffed with ground pork, fruits and spices topped with walnut sauce and pomengranate seeds) - Luckily, this dish was still in season, so we were still able to order it. I recently found out that the poblano chile for this dish can either be battered and fried or not. The La Diferencia version was battered.

What made this dish a standout was a walnut sauce that wasn't overly sweet and with a distinct nutty flavor and a filling that was a great mixture of savory and sweet. Fruit and plump raisins definitely made an appearance; whereas, other chiles en nogada I've experienced in the past were usually too meaty.

Shrimp a L'Orange with Tequila (shrimp with spices, orange juice and tequila) - Normally, I don't really care for citrus sauces, because I find them too sweet, but let me tell you, I'd happily drink a glass of this particular sauce. The tequila added a body, a richness to the orange juice that was just addicting.

Chicken with Chipotle Cream (chicken breast chipotle cream, bacon, garlic and a white wine sauce) - Although I found the chicken itself a little dry, the combination of the other ingredients were like a fiesta in my mouth - savory, a little salty, smoky, a little fruity - simply amazing!

Tres Leches Cake (made with 3 types of milk: milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk) - creamy, creamy and creamy without being soggy, what more can you ask for?

After our meal and in fact, after our entire day of eating and drinking, we all could have been rolled out the restaurant doors quite easily, but we did make it back to the van under our own steam and what better way to rest from a food orgy than nap our way across the border and back home.

Overall, this was truly an unforgettable day and I really have to thank Bill Esparza, owner of Tasty Tours, for this awesome foodie experience. I look forward to doing a longer tour in the future for even more culinary adventures down Baja Way.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157602393781000/

El Mercadito and Lunch at El Gallito

Last summer, a group of us went off to explore El Mercadito in East LA. El Mercadito is a three-level shopping center that caters to the Hispanic population in Los Angeles, but we were there in the most part for the food. Since many of us who came were unfamiliar with true authentic Mexican foods and beverages, I enlisted the help of Raul Rodriguez, owner of Nevera Fruit Creations, to help shed some light and he's the one that would describe some of the various foods we were seeing and tasting and would even enlist the vendors to further explain, if needed.

With the weather being very warm and while waiting for others to arrive, some of us already opted to quench our thirst with many of the beverage choices that were available. I went with a fresca, which is a water beverage flavored and sweetened with fruits and flowers. My fruit of choice was cantaloupe and believe me, drinking that cantaloupe fresca was pure heaven. Others went with the more well-known horchatas and a couple of us even had the raspado, the Mexican version of shaved ice.

When everyone was finally gathered together and after paying a visit to the painting of the Virgin Mary in the parking lot, our taste buds were ready for some action and they definitely got that. For our time at El Mercadito, we sampled a variety of items from something as well-known as golden, crunchy churros to sweetened pumpkin that reminded me of a pumpkin pie with my first bite of it. We also had tried out a fermented corn drink that had a sour taste to it that didn't appeal to me very much but there were one or two in our group who enjoyed it a lot.

Other things included chili mango, corn with cotija cheese (at least I think it's cotija cheese) and a variety of sweets from the Mexican sweet shop that was inside the El Mercadito. While we were grazing, we also checked out the Market from top to bottom.

The first floor has stalls that sell a variety of goods, from leather goods to clothing to music. The second floor is definitely geared towards food. There is a bakery, a produce section and stalls where you can purchase everything from pre-made mole sauce to snack items to seeds and spices that can be used for cooking. There are also between 5 to 6 small restaurants where you can get a bite to eat. The third floor had two larger restaurants facing each other with dueling mariachi bands both playing at the same time.

El Mercadito is a really cool market and it was great to have a guide talk us through El Mercadito's culinary offerings and even better, get to sample some of them. After close to 2 hours walking through the market, the majority of the group was ready to call it a day, but my friend and I decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants and Raul recommended El Gallito.

Upon approaching El Gallito, we were overwhelmed by all the choices available to us and there were some dishes that we never heard of before. It actually helped that at the windowsill surrounding the kitchen area, you could actually see up close some of the dishes that were pictured below the restaurant neon sign.

I ordered a sope with carnitas, a huarache with carne asada and a ceviche tostado with shrimp. I have to tell you that in the pictures these items seemed smaller than they actually were once the plates were put in front of you. I think they really gave you good portions. Now on to the food. First, I didn't care too much for the sope. The tortilla shell it was resting on was too hard and the pork was a little dry. Also, it just had too much stuff on it, which made it difficult to eat.

The huarache was wonderful. It was my first time having this dish and I have to say that it was delicious, especially the meat, which had lots of flavor and everything that went with this dish, the lettuce, the sour cream, the cheese just really makes me wish for a second time sometime soon.

The ceviche tostado with shrimp was absolutely yummy. The tartness of the lime, the acidity of the tomatoes, the sweetness of the shrimp all came together in perfect harmony. I also ordered a papaya milkshake, which I was disappointed in. It had more milk than papaya I think and I would have preferred to taste more of the fruit. El Gallito was a good recommendation and I'm glad we managed to save some room for lunch there.

Overall, I enjoyed my time at El Mercadito and I would definitely go back and for those of you who have never paid a visit, I hope that you'll decide it check it sometime.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594285918251/

Alamada Swap Meet and La Casita Adventure

One hot summer day, I hosted a really special event for my dining group. It was a two-part event where the morning was spent taking a tour of the Alameda Swap Meet and our tour guides were none other than Chefs Jaime Martin Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu of La Casita Mexicana Restaurant and this was followed by a lunch at their restaurant.

First, let me talk briefly about the Alameda Swap Meet. While waiting for our two guides in front of the Swap Meet, we were just amazed at the eye-catching colors of the buildings from the bright yellow and green of the building housing the Swap Meet to the tropical blue of the building across from us. One of my members even commented on how the area was like being in Mexico.

Once Chefs Jaime and Ramiro arrived, they took us into the produce section of the Swap Meet and immediately started talking about the various greens, veggies and fruits that can be used for different styles of Mexican cooking. There was produce in that market that I never even heard about until they were pointed out to me. Things like epazote leaves that can be put into tortillas or put raw into salads. There were things I heard about, but have only seen one kind of usage like alfalfa. I'm used to alfalfa sprouts again in salads or sandwiches, but full grown alfalfa plants that can be blended, strained and with the addition of ice, lime juice and sugar made into a refreshing drink was definitely new to me.

The amount of information coming out of the two of them was just amazing. I only wish now that I had a tape recorder or something so that I could have captured more of the verbal gems they were giving to us. Once you're able to pull yourself away from the produce section and walk towards the back, past a whole section devoted just to Mexican candy, you'll make it outside to the plaza where culinary delights will await you.

Mexican juices and waters, especially on a hot day, are there to refresh your palate. Golden brown churros dipped in sugar await your sweet tooth. If you're looking for a more substantial meal, there are a couple of places there where you can feast on tacos, burritos or whatever catches your fancy. There was really something there for everyone. Just those couple of hours with Chefs Jaime and Ramiro at the Alameda Swap Meet would have made my day, but the second half of the event really made my month. After exploring the Swap Meet, we all trekked over to La Casita Mexicana for a feast that I'll never forget. When this event was first set up, Chefs Jaime and Ramiro promised a culinary tour of Mexico and they certainly delivered.

Upon our arrival at the restaurant and our drink orders were taken and throughout the lunch, we were able to quench our thirst with either the lemonade with chia seeds or the cactus pear water. We were also given the option of having the alfalfa drink that I mentioned earlier and I have to tell you that it was my favorite aqua fresca of the three. I'm not even sure how to describe it, but I liked the "grassy" taste combined with the lime and sugar. It was a very refreshing drink without being overly sweet.

While waiting for our drinks, we started snacking on tortilla chips that had their dark mole sauce drizzled over it. With that delicious mole sauce, I didn't even need the salsa that was also on the table. The mole sauce had a rich, dark smoky flavor to it and was a good preview to the traditional mole poblano that was going to be coming later on in our meal. Some of the members in the beginning part of the lunch were able to go back to the kitchen to see some of our dishes being made.

One of them brought back to the table a quesadilla made with a homemade corn tortilla. Mixed in with the masa before it was cooked, were little bits of the epazote leaves and the quesadilla was stuffed with melted cheese and squash blossoms, purchased. Already here are two appetizers that were so impressive that I was definitely looking forward to what was going to follow and look below for what that comprised of:

1. Aztec Cheese Fondue with Epazote Tortillas (4 different Mexican cheeses filled with poblano chiles slices, mushrooms and herbs wrapped in plantain leaves and grilled.) --- The consistency of the four cheeses combined was stretchy. If you keep pulling at it, you could probably stretch it pretty far and wide.. It was an interesting texture and when eating it with the tortillas, it gave me a meaty feel as opposed to the more runny nature of most melted cheese that I'm familiar with. I liked it, although I think it needed more flavor.

2. Divorced Chilaquiles (fried tortilla chips topped with salsa verde on one side and a red sauce on the other side) -- This dish was actually a revelation for me. In the past when I've had chilaquiles, the tortillas were mushy to me. I never understood why people liked chilaquiles so much, but these tortilla chips stayed crispy even with sauce poured over them. Now that takes skill and of course, the two sauces were very flavorful.

3. Blue Corn Pozole (from Jalisco) or Cream of Pork Rinds (from Puebla) -- We had a choice of soups so I opted for the cream of pork rinds just because it seemed so odd to me that I had try it. Let me tell you that the soup definitely tasted like pork rinds and since I happen to love pork rinds, I made a good choice.

4. Red Enchiladas (from Jalisco) (filled with cotija cheese, smothered with a red sauce) -- The tortillas were cooked just right, not too hard around the edges that happens when it's overcooked. The red sauce, which I found out is made of simply tomato and cascabel chile, combined with the slight saltiness of the cotija cheese was in complete flavor harmony, which gave this dish a definite yum factor.

5. Cauliflower Cakes(from Zacatecas) (smothered with a red mild sauce) -- The cauliflower cakes was actually one of my favorite dishes. Cauliflower in itself is a pretty bland vegetable, but I actually think they added some spices to this vegetable before dipping it into an egg batter and than deep frying it and with the addition of the sauce, this cauliflower certainly was no longer a wallflower.

6. Traditional Mole Poblano with Chicken (from Puebla) -- I can't say enough good things about this mole sauce. Made out of 46 different ingredients, the sauce rocked my world. Even when the chicken was gone, I grabbed tortillas and was mopping it with that so that I can continue to experience its greatness.

7. Conquista Plate (from Oaxaca) (thin steak over grilled cactus; Oaxaca cheese, chile guajillo sauce served with white rice) -- I have to say that this was my least favorite dish. The combo of the cheese, the meat, which seemed a little tough to me and the cactus didn't appeal to me at all. Like all sauces at La Casita, the chile guajillo was wonderful, but that was the only part of the dish that I liked.

8. (2) Fish Dishes -- We actually had two substitutions for what would have been the chili en nogada and instead got two different fish dishes. One of them had this very tasty chipotle sauce that was just out of this world. The other fish dish seemed blander to me, even though it was cooked with garlic, onions and green peppers.

9. Dessert: Guayabas Con Compope (a La Casita Original) (stewed guava in a Mexican eggnog liquor) - This dessert was fantastic. I love guavas and eggnog and to somehow have both of them combined was a win-win for me. I don't even know how to describe how it tasted. Tart-sweet is what comes to mind.

10. Dulce de Jicama (a La Casita Original) (candied jicama with cinnamon in a creamy sauce) - While at the Alameda Swap Meet, the Chefs mentioned candied jicama as a dessert and somehow the concept seemed kind of odd to me, but after experiencing it in person, it definitely works. This dessert reminds of me rice pudding but instead of rice, you get the crunchy sweetness of the jicama.

Overall, our adventure with Chefs Ramiro and Jaime, both at the Alameda Swap Meet and than lunch at their wonderful restaurant was just truly amazing and even with the scorching weather both at the swap meet and at the restaurant, since their air conditioning wasn't working, I would not trade this experience at all and in fact, would definitely try to plan a repeat sometime in the future. By the way, the items described are on their regular menu, so definitely check out La Casita Mexicana whenever you get a chance.

To see all the pics, click here!

Alameda Swap Meet
4501 S Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90058
(323) 233-2764

La Casita Mexicana
4030 East Gage Ave.
Bell, CA 90201
(323) 773 - 1898