EatMx: Real Mexican food, at home and on the road

A Lenten Bread Pudding from Mexico

Lent may be a time for fasting and sober thought, especially in this corona virus epoch. On the positive side, it's also the season to eat a buttery rich, syrupy sweet and totally fabulous dessert, the Mexican bread pudding called capirotada.

Alex Peña (above) is an expert in making capirotada, and in all Mexican breads. His capirotada is on the right. On the left is another of his bread-based desserts, budín.

Peña grew up with Mexican baking at his family's panadería and market, La Morenita in Cypress Park, California. Now, he's director of development for Pak Group, producer of Bellarise yeast and other commercial baking supplies. In his lab in Pasadena, California, he tests and fine-tunes everything to do with bread baking.

For capirotada, Peña bakes his own bread, often using round, sweet picones (above).

Or else he makes bolillos (above). At home, you can use store-bought bolillos, which you then cut up and dry in the oven. 

Many Latino supermarkets provide ready made dried bolillos for capirotada such as these displayed at a Northgate Gonzalez market in Los Angeles. 


I even found them at AA Marketplace in Garden Grove, a pan Asian market that also carries Mexican ingredients.  

Some Latino markets and bakeries sell readymade capirotada such as this version in the prepared foods counter at Northgate Gonzalez. 

Assembling the pudding is easy. Once the bread is prepared, you place it in a baking dish, then add melted butter, raisins, roasted peanuts, grated cheese, candies and a syrup spiced with cinnamon and cloves.

Special ingredients such as piloncillo, fat cinnamon sticks and colaciones (at left in front) are available in Latino markets. 

Here, Peña sprinkles grated cheese over the pudding--yes, cheese is an essential component of capirotada. His Guadalajara style capirotada is topped with Jack cheese. In northern Mexico, cooks might use sharp Cheddar.

Peña pretties up the pudding with candies--fat round Mexican colaciones and multi-colored candy sprinkles. You can eat capirotada warm after baking or refrigerated and cold. It's good either way, he says.

And if it's too hard to shop for the ingredients now, capirotada will be good anytime, not just during Lent. 

To see more of Peña's Mexican breads, go to his Instagram site, Baking Evolution.

ALEX PEÑA'S CAPIROTADA
Mexican Bread Pudding

6 cups sliced or cubed bolillos, from 4 bolillos, about 3 1/2 ounces each
2 quarts water
2 pounds piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar cones) 
2 large whole cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), melted
1 cup raisins 
1 cup roasted peanuts 
3 cups shredded Jack cheese 
Decorative Mexican candies such as colaciones or candy sprinkles

The bolillos can be prepared a day ahead. Spread the slices or cubes on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, until dry. 

The syrup can also be prepared a day ahead. Combine the water, piloncillo, cinnamon sticks and cloves in a large pot. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook until reduced to 1 1/2 quarts. If storing overnight, you can leave the spices in the syrup. Before baking, strain the syrup to remove the spices.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the dried bolillos in a 10-inch-square baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the butter, raisins, peanuts, cheese and candies. Sprinkle the syrup over all. Cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 1 hour. 

Serve warm or cold. Makes 20 (3-ounce) servings or 12 (5-ounce) servings. Additional cheese and sprinkles can be added after baking or when reheating for an attractive presentation. 

The Season's Best Pan de Muerto

Pan de muerto--bread of the dead--is heavenly, the way Alex Peña makes it.

Decorated with skulls and bones and sprinkled with sugar, it has the most divine texture of any bread I've tasted, like cake and bread combined. 

Peña (above right) was making it for the YouTube show Trippy Food (www.YouTube.com/TrippyFood), an episode you can see November 1. At left is show host Valentino Herrera.  

Pan de Muerto is the bread that goes on the ofrendas (altars) set up for the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). On November 1, children who have passed away are honored. November 2 is for adults. The bread and other treats they loved in life are set out on the altar so they can "taste" them again when they return home for a brief visit. 


At this time of year, all panaderías and Latino markets offer pan de muerto. Above is a supermarket loaf. Peña's bread isn't in retail outlets, but you can see how it's made on Trippy Food and imagine the dreamy taste.

Once, Peña made Mexican breads for his family's bakery, La Morenita in Cypress Park, which is now closed. They were the best I ever tasted. Now he's director of product development for Bellarise, a company that supplies yeast and other ingredients for industrial baking. Bellarise is part of Pak Group, the fourth largest yeast company in the world.  

But Mexican bread remains Peña's passion, and the other night the lab where he works was filled with the sweet scent of freshly baked pan de muerto. The bread dates from the 1940s, created by Basque bakers who settled in Mexico City, he said. 


A unique flavoring employed by the Basques was orange flower water. The taste of this in the bread is so subtle you hardly know it's there. Here, Peña sniffs a slice. 

The other ingredients in his pan de muerto are yeast, flour, butter, lard, eggs, water, cane sugar and salt. Some recipes use cinnamon instead of orange flower water, but Peña says this slows fermentation, and he doesn't use it.

After mixing the dough, he forms it into rounds and refrigerates them to ferment. The slow fermentation adds flavor and improves the texture, he said.  

Large rounds of dough represent tumbas (tombs). To make bones, Peña rolls small balls of dough into knobby strips and drapes these over the top of the tumbas. Other balls of dough represent skulls

Here is a completed loaf ready to go into the proof box, where it will develop for 45 minutes to an hour. The bread then bakes for 25 minutes in the lab's revolving oven.  

Peña paints the freshly baked golden brown breads with melted butter.

Then he coats them with sugar. The custom is to use pink sugar for children and white sugar for adults, he said.

The way the breads are decorated varies from region to region in Mexico. Peña sprinkles some of the loaves with sesame seeds instead of sugar.

After baking, he lets the bread cool just long enough to slice and enjoy. 

Talk about melt in your mouth, I've never tasted bread like this. It's truly a gift from Paradise. 

A Cooking Demo at the Salsa Grill

The food at Zapien's Salsa Grill in Pico Rivera is wonderful. Even better, executive chef and co-owner Marco Zapien (above) tells how he makes each dish.

He does this in cooking demos at the restaurant. The next one will be August 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. Zapien will show how to prepare seven dishes using Hatch chiles, which are in season now. These will be served to class participants in a heavenly Hatch feast for $55, including recipes to take home. 

Delicious, meaty Hatch chiles from New Mexico have to be roasted and peeled before use. Zapien's will take care of this with a Hatch chile roast Sept. 7 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot outside the restaurant. Above is a miniature roaster loaded with chiles. 

You can order the chiles in advance, choosing from heat levels that range from mild to very hot. The price is $40 for a case, which includes 25 pounds of chiles, provided by Melissa's Produce. 

While the chiles are roasting, Zapien's will serve a brunch of Hatch-inspired dishes, along with champagne and mimosas for adults. For reservations, go to thesalsagrill.com and click on events.   

The cooking demo I went to started with Hatch watermelon margaritas rimmed with Hatch chili powder.

Chips and Hatch chile salsa were already on the table. 

The buffet that followed included Zapien's famous pork chile verde, which I wrote about for The Los Angeles Times. Getting the recipe for this dish alone is worth attending the demo.

Crisp fried tacos were stuffed with mashed Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes and Hatch chiles. 

These are Hatch chile enchiladas suizas (Swiss enchiladas, named for their creamy sauce). 

Hearty frijoles de la olla (pot beans) were seasoned with bacon, cilantro and Hatch chiles.

This is Hatch green chile rice with cilantro. 

The salad was a Hatch and cilantro Caesar, topped with crisp red tortilla strips. Zapien makes this Caesar without anchovies. The dressing includes mayo, milk, Hatch chiles, cilantro, rice vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire and Parmesan. 

Even dessert, a tres leches bread pudding, included Hatch chiles. The bread was torn up bolillos--Mexican rolls--from a nearby bakery. Zapien soaked these with condensed and evaporated milks blended with Hatch chiles.

Heavy cream and eggs went into the pudding too, along with sugar and cinnamon. Over the top he poured more of the milks and cream blended with chiles and then baked the pudding in a water bath. 

The rice was so easy I made it as soon as I got home, using Hatch chiles brought by the demo sponsor, Melissa's Produce. My rice (above) isn't exactly like Zapien's, because he added peas and finely diced carrots, which I didn't have. Still, it's a beautiful green rice to serve with almost anything.

HATCH CHILE GREEN RICE
Adapted from Zapien's Salsa Grill

1 cup long grain rice
4 fresh Hatch chiles
1 cup cilantro leaves
2 cups chicken broth 
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
Salt to taste

Place the rice in a bowl, cover with water and rub lightly. Drain. Do this again until the water remains clear. Pour into a sieve and drain well. Let stand to dry.

Meanwhile, snip off the tips of each chile. Place them on a baking sheet, then place under a pre-heated broiler. Broil on one side until the skins are blistered and browned. Then turn and broil the other side.

Remove the chiles from the broiler and allow to steam until cooled. Strip off the skins. Remove the stems and seeds and set aside. Pick off and measure the cilantro leaves.

Combine the chiles, cilantro and chicken broth in a blender container and blend until pureed. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion starts to soften, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the rice and cook until lightly toasted, stirring to keep the onion and garlic from burning, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the broth mixture and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 16 to 18 minutes. Keep the heat low enough to prevent the rice from scorching. 

When the liquid is absorbed and the rice is dry, fluff with a fork and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Note: I used mild Hatch chiles. Use hotter chiles if you like spicy rice. 

Zapien's Salsa Grill and Taquería, 6702 Rosemead Blvd, Pico Rivera, CA 90660. (562) 942-7072.

Mexican Food and Mezcal at Maestro

What a glorious evening--great Mexican food under the stars--the moon to be exact, accompanied by three memorable mezcals.  

The place was Maestro Pasadena. Executive chef Elena Vega prepared the dinner. The mezcal came from Ulises Torrentera (above), mezcal curator and owner of In Situ Mezcalería, a bar in Oaxaca City that promotes traditional mezcal culture. 

Torrentera was on a US tour showing three mezcals from his brand, Farolito, which is a showcase for master Oaxacan mezcal makers. Each of the bottles he brought had the maker's name on the label as well as the details of fermentation and distillation and the place of origin. 

Such mezcal isn't destined for the mass market because it's produced in small batches. There are just 516 bottles of master distiller Virgilio Ramirez's papalometl mezcal, from Santa María Ixcatlán, Oaxaca (above).

To ferment the agave, Ramirez used "bovine leather" (cow skin) and then distilled the cooked, crushed agave in clay pots, according to generations-old ancestral techniques.

In the colonial era, indigenous people were banned from making and consuming alcoholic beverages, Torrentera said. When fleeing from the authorities, they could more easily carry a skinful of fermenting agave than a heavy stationary container. 

That makes this papalometl mezcal rich in history as well as flavor.

Smoky Horno (above) is from Alberto Montes of Nochixtlán, Oaxaca. This mezcal was fermented in wooden tubs and distilled in clay pots. There are just 806 bottles.

The name Horno (oven) was chosen because maguey (agave) leaves are traditionally used to cover meats cooking in a pit in the ground (barbacoa). 

Penca Verde, from Valentín Celis of Zimatlán, Oaxaca, is from the same family as espadín, a widely used agave that matures more rapidly than penca verde. This mezcal was fermented and distilled in clay pots. The batch consists of 702 bottles. It was the first agave that "touched my heart," Torrentera said. 

He's alarmed by attempts to industrialize mezcal to satisfy a growing demand. This means enlarging production by using non-agave components and chemicals. When you taste the beautiful Farolito mezcals, you would not want anything of lesser quality. 

A serious scholar, Torrentera wrote a book about the history of distillation and the artisanal production of mezcal. Published in Oaxaca in 2,000, it's called "Mezcalaría" and is in Spanish only. Amazon has a Kindle edition but not the print version.

Which means you'll have to go to Oaxaca to get it. To facilitate that, Torrentera is organizing a tour, Mezcanautic, which will visit mezcal palenques and include food prepared by the wives of mezcal makers. This tour will take place March 29 to April 2, 2020. 

In January, Maestro sent a team to Oaxaca to study how mezcal is made. The food there is just as serious. Tortillas are handmade from organic nixtamal. Mole is made from scratch. And you won't find chips and salsa on the tables. "We don't give in on the stereotypical," said founder Sergio Martinez (above, with Chef Vega).

Martinez, here with Torrentera, is co-owner of the restaurant with Emmanuel Gonzalez and Paul Gonzalez. They're all from Jalostotitlán in the state of Jalisco, and some of the food is what they remember from their childhood.

Chef Vega was born in Tijuana of parents from Nayarit and is skilled in the seafood dishes from that state as well as what she learns while traveling in Mexico.

The first dish for the mezcal dinner was hiramasa sashimi aguachile (above) with yellowtail, cucumber and pear slices--nice on a hot evening.

Then came rolled pork belly (above) with grilled pineapple, gooseberries and chicharrón.

The third dish was a vibrant mole (above) with chicken confit and pineapple, Mexican crema and fingerling potatoes. Vega makes the mole sauce with ancho, guajillo and negro chiles and a dash of chile de árbol, no chocolate or peanuts.

The tortillas were big and pliable, perfect for scooping up the rich mole sauce. They were also excellent turned into crisp chips (above) to accompany the aguachile.

The three mezcals were poured into small glasses for savoring and discussion, but there was Mexican beer too.

How pretty beer can look when presented like this. 

Maestro's small bar seats just 9 to 12. Every spirit is hand-picked and has a story, Martinez said. Mezcal cocktails are made with agave espadín, because the more rarefied mezcals are too special to dilute into fruity or spicy concoctions. 

Open for a couple of years, the restaurant looks small but can seat 95 with the patio. Although the menu is imaginative, Maestro doesn't forego all stereotypes. In other words, it honors taco Tuesday, with a special menu each week. 

Maestro Pasadena, 101 E. Union St., Pasadena, CA 91733. (626)  787-1512. Open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday, from 4 to 11 pm Friday and Saturday, to 10 p.m. other days. Saturday and Sunday brunch is 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Very Best Sopa de Tortilla

This tortilla soup is not only fabulous, it's the best I've ever tasted.

Created by an expert chef in Baja California, it's pure, fresh and vibrant, without any of the stuff I see in American recipes, such as canned beans, canned hominy, packaged tortilla chips and canned tomatoes instead of fresh.

But make it yourself, and you will see. When I asked for the recipe, I got a personal demo from Gerardo García (above), who is the executive chef of Villa del Palmar at the Islands of Loreto.

Basic ingredients include tomatoes, onion, garlic, dried guajillo chiles, avocado, panela cheese and cilantro.

And tortillas, which García cuts into fine strips and fries at the last minute so they will remain crisp. How different from putting in tired chips from a sack. 

This is epazote, which is absolutely essential to the character of the soup, García says. The remaining ingredients include sour cream from a squeeze tube, which makes it possible to squirt thin strands over the surface. And chicken broth, which should be made in advance from chicken and fresh vegetables.

The procedure is so easy. First, García sautes onion, garlic, tomatoes and guajillo chile in a skillet. 

Then he pours in the chicken broth and adds some of the fried tortillas.

Next, he adds whole cilantro sprigs.

When the ingredients are thoroughly cooked, García adds the epazote and purees the soup in a blender. 

Then he puts the soup through a sieve to get a smooth puree. 

Before serving, he arranges the garnishes in each soup plate. These include finely shredded guajillo chile, diced avocado and panela cheese, tortilla strips and a sprig of cilantro, complete with its dainty white flowers. 

The last step is to pour in the soup and then trace lines of sour cream over the surface.

And how is it? "Deliciosa," García says of his sopa de tortilla.

SOPA DE TORTILLA
Tortilla Soup
From Executive Chef Gerardo García of Villa del Palmar, Loreto

4 corn tortillas
Oil for deep frying
2 guajillo chiles
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 white onion, cut into 4 pieces
2 cloves garlic
6 large ripe roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 cups chicken broth
4 whole sprigs cilantro
Salt, pepper
5 large leaves epazote
Garnishes:
    Fried tortilla strips
    Diced avocado
    1/2 pound panela cheese, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
    Finely shredded guajillo chile
    Cilantro sprigs
    Sour cream, preferably from a squeeze bottle

With a very sharp knife, cut the tortillas into strips 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide. Heat oil for deep frying in a medium skillet. When very hot, add the tortilla strips in batches, fry until crisp, then remove immediately and place on paper towels to drain. Set aside. 

Tear one guajillo chile into 3 large shreds, discarding the stem and seeds. Remove the seeds from the other and cut crosswise into very fine shreds. Set aside for garnish. 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the tomatoes to the skillet. Add the large guajillo shreds. Cook until the tomatoes start to soften and are juicy.

Now add the broth, a good pinch of the fried tortilla strips and the whole cilantro sprigs.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes are very tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the epazote leaves to the skillet. Turn the mixture into a blender container and blend thoroughly. Pour the blended mixture into a large sieve set over a bowl. Rub through with the back of a spoon or ladle. Discard the residue. There will be about 4 cups of soup.

When ready to serve, reheat the soup, if necessary. Arrange the garnishes in each of 4 soup plates. Add some of the fried tortilla strips, avocado, panela cheese and shredded guajillo chile to each. Decorate with cilantro. Pour the hot soup into each plate. Drizzle with strands of sour cream. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings  

Note: Where I live, every ingredient is available, but if you can't find some of them, make the soup anyway. It will still be deliciosa.

Claudia's Fish with Cilantro Sauce

What amazing luck, to find real home style Mexican food in a town I'd never visited before, and almost as soon as I arrived. 

The town was Loreto in Baja California Sur, a half-hour shuttle ride from Villa del Palmar, the resort where I was staying. 

Loreto is one of Mexico's Pueblos Mágicos (Magic Towns), selected for their cultural and historic importance, charm and touristic appeal. Its laid back seaside location makes it a beautiful place to relax. 

Magic was definitely at work as I strolled about, looking for a place to eat. There were lots of choices, but I didn't want pizza or steaks.

And then I came across Claudia's Restaurant (at the top). Little more than a stand with tables outside, it was so charming I simply had to eat there. It appealed even more when I met Adela David (above), the cocinera (cook), who could have come straight from a home kitchen.  

Bright Mexican cloths covered the tables, and strips of the same fabric were tied around the chair backs.

My drink, a tamarind smoothie (above), came in a heavy Mexican glass and my food on a traditional clay platter, not restaurant ware.

There were lots of other smoothies to choose from, as well as margaritas and other cocktails.

What do you order, when you have only one chance at a perfect meal?  Seafood, because Loreto is a fishing center--the water is only a short walk from Claudia's

Fish tacos (above) were one possibility.

But I chose grilled fish with cilantro sauce. And it was wonderful, thanks to the skill of Señora David. The fish was cabrilla (sea bass), so fresh it must have come out of the water that morning.

Everything on the plate was good.  Mexican style red rice came in a little pottery bowl. Simple boiled vegetables--carrots, broccoli and zucchini--were perfectly seasoned.

The pale green sauce covering the fish was delicate and creamy, so lightly flavored with cilantro that people who detest that herb could probably eat it too.

I asked Señora David for the recipe. And like much great food, the sauce turned out to be very simple, just four ingredients, one of them a canned thick Mexican sweet cream.

If your markets don't carry this canned crema, you may have to substitute another thick sweet cream, but that should work too.   

Life in Loreto is so laid back that I couldn't get an address for Claudia's.  But it's on Javier Salvatierra, a main street, and you can't miss it if you walk a short distance from the town's Historical Center toward the sea and look for the most colorful place there. 

FISH WITH CILANTRO SAUCE
From Claudia's Restaurant in Loreto. 

1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned Nestlé Media Crema, available in some Mexican markets
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons flour
Salt
Oil
4 white fish fillets, about 1 pound 

Combine the cilantro, garlic, milk and crema in a blender container. Blend until the cilantro is very finely ground.

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, and cook and stir about 30 seconds. Add the cilantro mixture, bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste and set aside. There will be about 1 1/2 cups. 

Heat a large skillet and coat the bottom with oil. Add the fish fillets in a single layer. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cook 5 minutes, turning once, or until the fish flakes and is cooked throughout.

Place each fillet on a heated plate and cover with sauce. Accompany with steamed vegetables and rice.

Makes 4 servings. 

A Parade of Beautiful Baja Food

Look at this gorgeous shrimp cocktail, so fresh because the shrimp are straight from the sea. 

Holding it is Gerardo García Martínez, executive chef of Villa del Palmar a resort at the Islands of Loreto in Baja California Sur. Here, Garcia is at Casa Mia, the resort restaurant where I had gone for lunch.

As I nibbled on guacamole (above), I watched a parade of such tempting dishes that I leaped from my seat to photograph each one.

Shrimp taco salad is one of the most popular dishes at Casa Mia. It's in a crisp fried tortilla shell.

This beautiful tropical salad combines shrimp and mangoes.

What makes fried squid rings stand out is the puffy fried onion rings that come with them.

There are meaty dishes too, like burgers made with beef from Sonora. 

And tacos al pastor.

And fajitas of every type.

This vegetarian and gluten-free sub sandwich caters to special diets.

And here is Mazatlan style aguachile--shrimp in a lime juice and green chile sauce on a beautifully decorated plate.

Holding it is Oscar Torres, Villa del Palmar's food and beverage manager. Torres had ordered this for his own lunch and let me share. Even better, he told me how to make it.

The recipe below is what I came up with when I followed his directions. My sauce is bright and limey but not as green as that at Villa del Palmar, perhaps because I didn't use as many chiles. But it's delicious. 

What's really missing, though, is the atmosphere--sunshine, palm fronds waving in the breeze, swimming pools and the beach close by. And my house doesn't look a bit like Casa Mia (above).

MAZATLAN STYLE AGUACHILE
From Casa Mia restaurant at Villa del Palmar Loreto. 

16 jumbo shrimp (15-20 to the pound), about 3/4 pound
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup diced Persian (mini) cucumbers or seeded regular cucumbers
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup lime juice   
1 serrano chile, or more to taste, seeded and sliced
Salt, pepper
Garnishes:
    Diced avocado
    Halved grape tomatoes
    Strips of red onion 
    Finely shredded carrots and celery
Tortilla chips

Peel the shrimp and place in a large shallow bowl. Add the garlic and half the cucumber and red onion. Pour in the lime juice and stir gently to make sure all the shrimp are coated. Marinate for 5 minutes, stirring again once or twice.

Remove the shrimp from the marinade and set aside. Place the marinade ingredients in a blender container. Add the remaining cucumber and red onion and the serrano chile. Blend thoroughly.

Pour the blended mixture into a sieve over a bowl and press to extract the liquid. Discard the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. There will be about 1/2 cup liquid. 

To served, place the shrimp in a circle on a large plate. Spoon the liquid over the shrimp.  Place diced avocado in the center of the plate. Place tomatoes around the edge. Top the avocado with carrots and celery.

Accompany with tortilla chips. 

Makes 4 small plate servings. 

Loreto Plans a Party for Its Market

You'd better hurry and get to Loreto by this Saturday, if you want to join in celebrating local food and crafts. 

It's the third anniversary of the town's Mercado Orgánico Artesanal (organic market), and there will be food displays, competitions, dancing and singing, raffles and, in general, diversión (fun).

If it's too late to arrange a trip--Loreto is in Baja California Sur--go some other time, but make sure you are there on a Saturday. Then you can still see the market, because it takes place every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Loreto's historical center.

You'll stroll along a shady cobblestoned walkway between booths with such treasures as local cheeses (above).

And honey produced in Baja California.

Olives are another regional product. Home-canned nopales (cactus) are also at this table. 

Loreto is on the coast of Baja California Sur, so you may find seafood such as pickled clams. And key chains that dangle shells, some of them painted with images of saints.

Fresh eggs and produce will be there too.

And home-baked breads, cookies and cakes. This photo shows two versions of pineapple upside down cake, one full-size, the other made into cupcakes.

Hungry? Pick up a pork tamal or one made with fresh corn.

Drinks to go with these include tamarind atole and champurrado, which is chocolate-flavored atole. There are also such fresh juices as pineapple, celery, cucumber and even cilantro. 

Or buy a Baja wine.

Or pick up a bottle of pitaya (cactus fruit) juice or pulque.

And if you miss this Saturday's festival, there will be another May 31 and June 1, this one celebrating the chocolate clam. Events will include a cooking contest, food displays, a fishing tournament, live music and more, arranged by Loreto's restaurants, bars and hotels.

Loreto is a charming town with restaurants such as pretty Pepegina's (above), places to stop for coffee and shops that offer typical Mexican crafts and clothing, well worth a trip any time. 

La Tapatía: Mexican Food and a Market

La Tapatía may not be your fanciest restaurant, but it's the food that counts, and that's what makes it so popular.

You can get all kinds of tacos, as the sign shows. 

Those on this plate are topped with carne asada, carnitas and carne al pastor. You pay, get a number and the tacos are brought to the table, loaded with onions and cilantro. Then you go to the condiment bar, where choices include a fiery habanero salsa, chipotle chile and avocado salsas, pickled carrots and radishes. 

But there's more than tacos on the menu, including menudo and pozole, breakfast burritos and shrimp platters.

Specials draw customers during the week, like $1 tacos Monday through Friday, tamales on Thursday, tortas (sandwiches) on Tuesday. And chicken fajitas on Friday. 

La Tapatía is in Phoenix, a town in southern Oregon, not the city in Arizona. It's run by a family from Guadalajara--tapatío or tapatía means someone or something from Guadalajara.

It's a market too, with Mexican cheeses, meats and other essentials, so you can plan your shopping while waiting in line. As you can see from the photo, it's kid friendly.

There's always a group waiting to order, but once you get your food, there are plenty of places to sit, because the restaurant area is large.

Even on a crowded Sunday, it's a quiet and relaxed place to eat some very good Mexican food. 

La Tapatía, 125 S. Main St., Phoenix, Oregon 97535 (south of Medford). (541) 535-4565.

Crazy for Tacos at Tacomania

Thank heavens tacos are everywhere.

So when I went from Los Angeles to southern Oregon, I wasn't deprived at all. Instead, I found plenty of really good tacos, like those at Tacomania in Merlin, which is an unincorporated community near Grants Pass.

Modest outside, Tacomania is warm and atmospheric inside. Owner David Anaya, from Guadalajara, has filled it with the look of Mexico. And he's a fine host, going from table to table to make sure everyone is happy.

This keeps Tacomania filled with happy tacomaniacs.

The food makes them happy too, like this plate of carne asada tacos.

And this assortment of tacos with carnitas, carne asada and carne al pastor.

This is a barbacoa taco.

The salsa and condiment bar has more options than I could get in a single photo.

The margaritas made me really happy. They come in big, heavy glasses and stay nice and cold. There's plenty of Mexican beer too. 

Tacomania offers "street tacos y mas," as the sign outside says. The mas (more) includes such dishes as chile verde, drunken shrimp and chicken with chipotle sauce. I would like to try these, but it's hard to think about anything other than tacos at Tacomania, because they're so good.


Tacomania, 144 Merlin Road, Merlin, Oregon 97532. Tel: (541) 291-9010.