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DEL.ICIO.USMessage from Mexico
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The land stretching inland from the Sea of Cortez in Los Cabos, Mexico, is acrid and dry. Craggy and mountainous, it’s littered with saguaro cacti for years — perhaps hundreds — to the cloudless blue sky for hope of rain. Bring water to this seemingly infertile soil, and the area’s rich minerals will sprout lush green. The area around Todos Santos, just north of the tourist city of Cabo San Lucas, is a community of ex-pat artists, surfers and ex-Hollywood types who have managed to blend more easily into the Mexican culture than the average tourist. Its only real tourist attraction is the Hotel California restaurant, from the acclaimed Eagles song. It’s here that natural and organic farming practices have begun to sprout up, and it makes for good eating. You can roam the narrow streets and find Tacos Chilakos — an open air spot with a few tables and even fewer counter seats that will give you access to some of the best carne asada tacos on the Baja California Sur peninsula. The spot itself is nothing more than a palapa — an open air, thatched roof hut — and tables adorned with plastic checkered cloths and the condiments to make a meal: shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, smooth guacamole, chopped onion, chopped cilantro, roasted serrano peppers and pickled jalapeños. But it’s the meat, seasoned and stirred up on an outdoor griddle, that makes the meal. It comes in bits — not strips — each little cube a universe of outdoor beef flavor. Placed on a grilled flour tortilla, we smothered it in condiments and drank Cokes to kill the serranos’ heat. The night before we had ventured into San José del Cabo, walking a dozen blocks or more from the tourist fray of Boulevard Antonio Mijares, to find a taco stand that served the Mexico City specialty, tacos al pastor. It seemed like miles before we found it. But suddenly, there it was — El Fogon — a large, open-air stand with mounds of ripe serrano peppers behind a glass counter. In the front corner is a spit, where tender, marinated pork is sliced, with a bit of pineapple, and served in a corn tortilla with a layered hot sauce. The fiery flavor, with smooth guacamole and cilantro, was exactly what we had been looking for. Afterward, we stopped at a local paleteria (popsicle stand) and squelched the heat with a creamy coconut and tamarillo paleta (homemade popsicle). After filling stomach, heart and soul with one of the best meals of our lives, the walk back didn’t seem half as long.
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