Latest Posts
Five recommended mezcals from the guy who wrote the book.
"She is smoky, sexy and complex. She comes from the earth, from Mayahuel, and was perhaps here before colonial times. She has lived through famine, drought, wars and banishment. She has been illegal and looked down upon, but still, she held her head high. Her name?...
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There were beans, beans, as big as…
I love beans. I love ham and beans. I love baked beans on toast. I love charro beans. I love smoked turkey and beans. I love pasta and beans. I love wieners and beans. I love bacon and beans. And I especially like when those bean dishes are made, from scratch, with...
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Learning to love avocados.
I didn't have my first avocado until I was about 12. I think it was the fruit and veg supplier to my mother's restaurant who gave her a couple of samples to bring home. I liked their mysterious black skin; I loved their nickname, alligator pear; and I was pretty...
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Five cheap, cheerful, and, yes, Mexican reds.
I’m not sure where the expression cheap and cheerful comes from. Though I’m sure I didn’t originate it. I’m also not sure who first used the expression cheap and cheerful in regards to wine. But I’m sure I like their description. When you drink as much wine as I do on...
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Well I’ll be doggoned. A Costco eating alternative.
Hot diggity, dog diggity, boom what you used to do to me. I mean just how many Costco hot dogs can you eat? As good as they are and as essential as they seem to be on any shopping expedition to Querétaro or Celaya, once in a while you yearn to wander. Our chauffeurs...
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Uncomplicating mezcal. And discovering El Dorado.
Drinking mezcal in Mexico used to be so easy. You’d buy yourself a one week package to a bikini-laden beach that included airfare, hotel, all you could eat, and, most importantly, all you could drink. Then, you just followed the daily regime: Drinks with umbrellas in...
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In pursuit of the tastiest tomatillos.
Call them the Rodney Dangerfield of Mexican fruit. Apart from their frequent appearance in salsas verdes, I rarely see tomatillos being used in Mexico. And, outside of Mexico, I rarely see them at all. I think that’s a shame. For if you want a little sour in any dish,...
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Twice upon a time in Mexico.
“El, you really must try this because it's puerco pibil. It's a slow-roasted pork, nothing fancy. It just happens to be my favorite, and I order it with a tequila and lime in every dive I go to in this country. And honestly, that is the best it's ever been anywhere....
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Day trippin’. Day trippin’ yeah! A Sunday visit to a special restaurant.
Almost everyone who has spent more than a week or two in San Miguel de Allende has made a side trip to the equally beautiful city of Guanajuato. Almost all of them have got there the same way. The fast way. That’s the way I got there for years. Then one day I heard...
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