Jalisco, land of cowboys and tequila

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Jalisco Culinary Explorer’s Trip with Rick Bayless and Ricardo Muñoz as your guides

After more than 10 years, we again are planning a trip Feb. 15-23, 2014 to the brash state of Jalisco, best known for its mariachis and tequila, the spirit of Mexico. The music and drink seem inseparable here, but also there is a distinct gutsy regional cuisine, characterized by dishes such as birria, carne en surugo, and my favorite, the messy but super flavorful, tortas ahogado.

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Ana Elena Martinez and Ricardo Muñoz

We will stay both in the sprawling capital, Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, and in a small town in the highlands. This Los Altos region is a treasure trove of fine tequila distilleries surrounded by fields of blue agave.

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Agave plant
Photo by Ignacio Urquiza

As always, we will have a packed schedule including classes with Chef Rick Bayless.

Rick Bayless

Chef Rick Bayless

To get everyone in the spirit of Jalisco, on our first full day we will attend the Ballet Folklorico with dances that symbolize the culture and importance of ranch life, and then join with the locals to watch the Sunday charreado, a very elaborate version of a rodeo. On other days we will wander through the relatively unknown archeological site of Los Guachimontes with its circular pyramids, view the dramatic Orozco  murals in the vast Institute of Cultural Cabanas, and browse and shop in the artisan towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonalá. Every major form of arts and crafts can be found in these two places, especially the beautiful local pottery, and I once brought home a 4 foot tin rooster for my husband!

During the coming days, we will tour a variety of distilleries, learning about the harvesting of the agave, the cooking, grinding, filtering, and distilling process and then sampling the end result.

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The heart or pina
Photo by Ignacio Urquiza

While we do not have all the scheduling details for this trip worked out, I did want to alert everyone so that those who are interested can send in a $400 deposit to hold a space. Our trips always fill early, and we already have people signed up. As of now, we do not have an exact cost, but it should be around $4,000. As soon as we are able to confirm, we will post the final price.

This trip will start and end in Guadalajara. Trip costs include two meals per day, hotel costs and transportation while on the trip and any fees associated with visits to local sites. Transportation to and from Guadalajara is excluded from trip costs.

Please contact Culinary Adventures if you are interested in joining us

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with liquid gold, the soul of Mexican hospitality

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Chalupas
Photo by Nacho Urquiza

 

Yes, Cinco de Mayo is a time for celebrating, as it commemorates the 151st anniversary of victory by a rather ragtag band of Mexican ex-guerrilla fighters over the invading French army. (Never mind that the French regrouped and eventually captured Mexico City with the Viennese prince, Maximilian installed as Emperor). This holiday, known in Mexico as El Dia de la Batalli de Puebla, seems to have originated in the U.S. by Mexican-American students to celebrate their heritage and the Mexican spirit to survive.

Many people in the U.S. just use this as an excuse to party, with restaurants and bars doing a heavy business in margaritas and shots of tequila or mezcal, often chased with beer.

I like to plan the 5th of May as a time for an informal but festive gathering of friends and family with a splendid array of classic Poblano foods. I make tinga, a highly seasoned dish of shredded pork and use it as a topping for tostadas, and also various traditional masa snacks such as chalupas, an oval or boat-shaped antojito with pinched up edges to hold the salsa and cheese. And, of course, I will also make guacamole with totopos for dipping, and serve the good liquid soul of Mexican hospitality, tequila, probably Herradura reposado, and a dark Negro Modelo or the fragrant Superior pilsner beer.

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Guacamole
Photo by Ignacio Urquiza

Buen Provecho!

To help choose a tequila or mezcal of your liking, my friend Lucinda Hutson, has her Viva Tequila! book releasing May 1. You could preorder now and start planning your own Cinco de Mayo celebration.

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You can find the recipe for the tinga here and guacamole here.

Ride, Cook and Eat

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Our good friends, Mary Jane and Bobby, have a new horseback adventure, Ride, Cook and Eat at their wonderful Rancho Pitaya located in the valle of Tlacolula 20 minutes from downtown Oaxaca. It includes two hours of guided riding, a cooking demo, lunch and roundtrip transport from Oaxaca. We highly recommend it.

For more information on Horseback Mexico, you can reach Bobby or Mary Jane at Rancho Pitaya.

Great food, friends and fond memories–Frontera Grill and Rick Bayless

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Rick Bayless and Marilyn Tausend
Sooke Harbour House, Marilyn’s 80th Birthday Celebration
Photo by Bill Blair

One morning, over twenty years ago, when in Chicago, I wanted to meet Rick Bayless, as his first cookbook Authentic Mexican written with his wife, Deann, had only recently been published. We had previously talked on the phone and he expressed an interest in the regional culinary trips that I was leading in Mexico, so off I went to his first flagship restaurant.

The front door of Frontera Grill was locked, no one was inside that I could see, so my intrepid husband, Fredric said for us to try the back door. We did, banged on it, and when it opened, there was a startled Rick. He served us up some tasty soup and soft tacos and we proceeded to have a long, interesting discussion. That was the first of many times over the years that I have eaten at Frontera. I only wish I could be there to celebrate the 26th anniversary of its opening. Congratulations to Rick, Deann and their wonderful staff for their efforts to present such truly representative dishes from the region we both know and love.

Over the following years, we have spent many important occasions together, Christmases in Oaxaca, birthdays, and their daughter, Lanie’s quinceañera. Thank you for being our friends. You have all enriched my life by your friendship.

Abrazos.

Mexico City Culinary Trip – Chefs’ Trip

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For many years, I have been organizing culinary trips for chefs and other culinary professionals throughout the many culinarily and culturally diverse regions of Mexico, including Chiapas, Tlaxcala, Baja California Norte, Tabasco, Yucatán, Guanajuato and Veracruz.

Now for the first time, Mexico City will be our destination from September 22 to 29, 2013. The week will be crammed with classes, demonstrations, and discussions with Rick Bayless and Ricardo Munoz.

Chef Ricardo Munoz

Chef Ricardo Muñoz

Rick is the chef/owner of Frontera Grill, Topolabampo, and XOCO in Chicago, and Tortas Frontera at O’Hare Airport, and Ricardo is chef/owner of four Azul y Cafe Oro restaurants in Mexico City. Both have written numerous Mexican cookbooks.

In addition, we have asked some of the local chefs who are making waves with their innovative renditions of classic Mexican dishes, such as Jorge Vallejo of Quintonil, Jair Telléz at Mero Tero, Pedro Abascal from Düke’s, and, hopefully, Enrique Olivera of Pujol to demonstrate the preparation of some of their dishes. We also will be eating at their restaurants as well at other more traditional establishments.

Pujol, Enrique Olivera

Chef Enrique Olivera

Chef Enrique Olivera’s flagship Pujol restaurant is number 36 on San Pellegrino’s 2012 list of the World’s Fifty Best Restaurants.

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The Red Tree House
Condesa, Mexico City

Our lodging will be at the intimate bed and breakfast the Red Tree House in Condesa, a great neighborhood and quite close to one of my now favorite markets, the Mercado Medellin. Space is limited on this culinary trip, so if interested in participating, let us know as soon as possible. The trip costs $4,200, excluding airfare and includes two meals/day, hotel and all fees associated with the trip. $400 deposit is required.

Mexico City, Days Six and Seven

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Today we had our class with Ricardo followed by a wonderful comida at Düke, as you will see by the beautiful pictures of our meal taken by Doug Martinides in this third installment by his wife, Kathy, of our video trip log. This is Chef Pedro Abscal’s first restaurant and one we think is going to do very well based on his offerings. Try the vodka, cranberry and rose petal cocktail, it is fabulous! There are a couple of great bookstores next door, too.

Here’s a short video of Chef Pedro talking about his restaurant.

That night a few of us brave souls went to Taqueria Calida for just a little more before bedtime. The next day we went to the historical Castillo de Chapultepec with its breathtaking views of the city, exquisite artworks and stained glass windows. It is a real treasure. From there, we walked to the Museo Nacional de Antropología admiring Jorge Marín’s sculptures on the way. What a fantastic public art installation by the City that we so appreciated seeing. The Museo tour with our guide, Jacinta was an overview of what is “the best” of this expansive museum.

Later, we had comida at Chef Jair Téllez’s MeroTero where we sat at one long table and had an excellent meal. And to end our journey, we had cena at Chef Jorge Vallejo’s Quintonil in Polanco. It was a spectacular finish to a wonderful week in Mexico City.