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

Have a Fish Taco Where They Started

San Felipe introduced the fish taco, or so its loyal inhabitants claim. If you want to try one where those people go, the place is Taquería & Mariscos Adriana on the malecon, facing the beach and the Sea of Cortez.

You won't meet Adriana. She's in Washington State. It's her mother, María Soledad Solorio Figueroa, who has run this stand for 24 years.

Here you see her, dipping pieces of fish in batter. Then she'll fry them until golden brown. 

María places the fried fish on a tortilla. Then you create the taco by adding the condiments she has set out.

There are plenty of salsas--one with avocado, another with cilantro, a chopped fresh salsa and a violently hot red salsa.

Tacos without that red salsa (above) aren't tacos, María says. She makes it with toasted pico de pájaro chiles.

If you can't eat anything that fiery, you can cool the taco down with shredded cabbage, thick crema and a cold beer on the side. 

Or she'll make you some ceviche (above) or a seafood cocktail with your choice of shrimp, oysters, octopus or clams, or a campechana, which combines them all. 

Taquería y Mariscos Adriana, Avenida Malecon 196, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. 

A REALLY HOT RED SALSA
Inspired by María's salsa, but slightly different 

5 dried pico de pájaro chiles, or chiles de árbol 
3/4 pound roma tomatoes
1 serrano chile
1 large clove garlic 
Salt to taste

Toast the pico de pájaro chiles on a hot griddle until fragrant and slightly darkened, but not burned.

Place the tomatoes, serrano chile and garlic in a saucepan. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil, uncovered, 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are softened.

Drain the vegetables. Remove the peel from the tomatoes. Cut off and discard the stem of the serrano chile. 

Place the tomatoes, serrano and pico de pájaro chiles and the garlic in a blender container and blend until pureed. Remove to a bowl and stir in salt to taste. 

Makes about 1 1/3 cups. 

A Hearty Fisherman's Breakfast

Miguel Ramos has been a fisherman all his life. He lives in San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez in Baja California. 

This day, he has stayed on shore in order to cook breakfast for visitors who want to see what home cooking is like in San Felipe.

He welcomes us to his modest, comfortable house, and we sit around a table set with fresh chiles, cut limes, salsa and tortillas wrapped in hand-embroidered cloths to keep them warm.

We are going to eat what Miguel says fishermen would cook for breakfast over a wood fire on the beach.

After orange juice and coffee, he brings us plates of fish machaca, the fish hash that is universally popular in this fishing port.

To make this, Miguel has cooked corvina with tomatoes, onions, serrano and fresh California chiles. The seasonings are pepper and garlic-flavored sea salt from San Felipe.

He has also refried pinto beans, making a soft puree that is spread across our plates. We spoon the beans into tortillas and fire these breakfast wraps up with Miguel's homemade salsa (above).

To make the salsa, Miguel roasts pico de pájaro chiles, which are small dried chiles similar to chiles de árbol, and blends them with fresh green chiles, tomatoes and garlic.

The salsa is fiery. For cool contrast there is locally made queso fresco--fresh cheese--that is fine textured and pleasantly different from what I buy in Mexican markets at home.

Before leaving San Felipe, I pick up a sack of pico de pájaro chiles (above) in order to make Miguel's salsa at home. I've not seen this variety in markets in Los Angeles.  

My version is a little different from Miguel's, but mouth-burning spicy.  If you can't take it that hot, reduce the number of chiles.

SALSA MIGUEL
Based on a recipe by Miguel Ramos of San Felipe

5 dried pico de pájaro chiles, or chiles de árbol 
2 fresh California chiles
2 tomatoes, about 6 ounces total
1 large clove garlic 
Salt to taste

Toast the pico de pájaro chiles on a hot griddle until they are fragrant, toasted and lightly browned, but not burned.

Cut off the stems of the California chiles. Combine the California chiles, tomatoes and garlic in a saucepan. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil, uncovered, until the tomatoes and chiles are softened.

Drain the vegetables and let them cool until you can handle them. Peel the tomatoes.

Place the California chiles, tomatoes and garlic in a blender container. Add the pico de pájaro chiles and salt to taste. Blend until finely ground. Turn out into a bowl. If not using right away, cover and store in the refrigerator. 

Makes about 1 cup.  

A Sikil P'ak Story from Buenos Aires

Sikil p'ak, the squash seed dip from Yucatán, really gets around. I recently posted a version from Chichén Itzá, a Yucatecan restaurant in Los Angeles. That's it at the top. Another comes from Dan Perlman in Buenos Aires.

Perlman (in the photo below) is an American chef and wine expert who gives dinners and cooking classes in his home, the Casa SaltShaker.

He has served sikil p'ak at a "Night of the Radishes" vegetarian dinner, and it fit right in when he gave a six-part class on Mexican regional cuisines, reworked for vegans.

"The Yucatán was the first session," Dan says. "We made three botanas (appetizers), the sikil p'ak, papas escabechadas (potatoes in escabeche) and calabazas fritas (fried squash), followed by a main course of seitan and oyster mushroom tekantó.  

"Other than that, I just make it sometimes for 'movie night,' with some chips or vegetables to dip into it while we watch something we've rented," he says. 

Perlman uses a recipe from Diana Kennedy's book, "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico," reworking it to suit ingredients that he can find in Buenos Aires. 

"Now and then I can get habaneros, but not often," he says. "So I make it with a charred rocoto pepper and then add a pinch or two of habanero chili powder, which I pick up when I'm back in New York City."

Pepitas (squash seeds) "are no problem. All the dieteticas (health food stores) and Chinatown carry them," Dan says.

Here is the recipe he uses, from the Kennedy book. 

SIKIL P'AK
From "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico" 

1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds, unhulled
¼ cup green, hulled pumpkin seeds
1 habanero or other hot chile
1½ teaspoons salt (or to taste)
3/4 pound tomatoes, broiled
⅔ cup water
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon chives, chopped

Toast the fresh pumpkin seeds until browned and crisp. Add the green seeds and continue to cook for 1 minute more. Set aside. Blister the chile over a direct flame until well browned. Grind the pumpkin seeds together with salt and set aside.

Blend the tomatoes with half the water and then stir together with the pumpkin seeds, cilantro, chives and the chile. Leave the chile whole to flavor the dish unless you want it extra picante, in which case blend a little of it with the tomatoes and water.

Add more water if needed to get a “dip” consistency. Serve as a dip with tortilla chips or vegetables.