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Street Grunting

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My Brother Dan at Lily’s Tacos in Ensenada

The city of Ensenada is full of fascinating street carts and little hole-in-the-wall restaurants specializing in fish and shrimp tacos and other seafood dishes. The first one we went to, Lily’s Tacos, is right by the Mercado de Pescados (aka the Mercado Negro). It was visited by Anthony Bourdain on a show in his “Parts Unknown” TV series. In fact, there is a picture of Bourdain on the wall behind my brother’s hat.

I had two fish tacos and a Corona. As is the custom, we were given the warm corn tortilla with a plain piece of lightly breaded fish. In front of us were various salsas, crema, pickled onions, chiles en escabeche, shredded cabbage, salt, and other condiments that we spooned onto the fish tacos. We were in hog heaven.

Guero’s, Another Fish Taco Vendor

Whereas Lily’s Tacos had a few tables for customers, many of the taco stands were for standees only, such as Guero’s and Fenix. I tended to prefer sit-down places, as I had to take medications with my meals, including a shot of insulin.

Dan and I actually did go to Ensenada mainly to eat fish tacos, and we were not disappointed in our quest. Fish tacos in the U.S, usually are too heavily breaded, made with frozen fish old enough to vote, and minus the rich condiments that made an Ensenada fish taco a culinary treat. Yes, I mean you, Rubio’s Fish Tacos. May you shrivel up out of shame!

Mexico has a rich tradition of street grunting. Don’t feel like a heavy meal? Just get a taco or a quesadilla or chicharrones or carnitas or a tostada. It won’t set you back too much; and it can be an amazing treat. Of course, you have to be able to judge which carts are good and which are unsanitary traps. One easy method: Check out the number and type of customers waiting in line.

Fortunately, all the places we tried in Ensenada were strictly A-1.

Tres Días en Baja

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The Port of Ensenada, Mexico

I will not be posting again until Friday, when I return from three days in Ensenada, Baja California. Early tomorrow, I will be driving down to the San Ysidro border crossing and meeting my brother there. (He will be coming down from Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley.) At that point, I will hand over the wheel to Dan, who will drive us in my car down to Ensenada, which is something like an hour’s drive south of the border.

Although Ensenada is a major cruise port, we will not have to fight our way past boat people until 8 AM Thursday, when the USS Navigator of the Seas will begin disgorging 3,100 passengers right around the tiome we will be heading back to the border.

Why are we going to Ensenada? Why, for the fish tacos, of course. The city has a reputation for the best taco carts in Mexico, especially where seafood is concerned. When I return home, I expect to have developed gills to aid in my breathing.

To Ensenada for Tacos

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Doña Sabina of La Guerrerense in Ensenada

An hour south of the Mexican border is the city of Ensenada, which along with Tijuana and several other locations in Baja California has become a foodie hotbed. And we’re not talking sit-down restaurants with white tablecloths and snooty sommeliers, but food stands where crowds of standees munch on world-class Mexican food. Ensenada is famous for having invented the fish taco and the margarita; and Tijuana is home of the Caesar Salad.

In September, my brother and I will drive to Ensenada for a few days and indulge in some serious street grunting. To get an idea of what that might be like, check out this video from Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” show:

The little lady in both the photo and the video is Doña Sabina Bandera, whose stand—““La Guerrerense”—is famous for seafood tostadas. In fact, Bourdain called it the best street food purveyor in the world.

I have long felt that something interesting is going on in the Mexican food scene, especially in those parts of Baja so close to Alta California. It will be fun to have some of the best seafood dishes on the continent, and not have to pay a king’s ransom for the privilege.

Ceviche

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Ceviche de Pescado con Limon

My last meal in Mérida before returning to the U.S. was at a grungy little seafood dive on Calle 62 called the Blue Marlin (Marlin Azul). It was a raw fish dish called ceviche de pescado that is “cooked” with the addition of fresh lime juice. Also it contains cut-up tomatoes, chiles, and cilantro. It is served cold and is an ideal lunch dish.

In Progreso, a few days earlier, I had a ceviche de pulpo made with the same ingredients, except that octopus replaces the fish. I was in hog heaven.

Actually the seafood dish I ate the most in Yucatán this last trip was filete de pescado veracruzana. It was a grilled filet of fish in a tomato sauce with onions, olives, and capers. I never got tired of it, especially when I was near the sea and knew that the fish was super fresh.

During this awful coronavirus outbreak, I dream of traveling by bus between various seaport cities in Baja California and living on fish tacos and other local specialties.

Baja Style Fish Tacos

When I was growing up in Cleveland, I didn’t think much of fish. Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, was for all intents and purposes a body of water noted for dead fish floating on its surface. I have had some good seafood in Los Angeles, but avoid shrimp and lobster, as I seem to be allergic to them—possibly because of the pollution of the Pacific Ocean around the coast of Southern California.

Traveling to places like Iceland or Mexico where the seafood is so fresh and interesting makes me dream of travel again. Sigh.

Old Man Crazy About Fish Tacos

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Is It Now My Favorite Meal? Could Be….

My first acquaintance with fish tacos was in Yucatán in 1975. I tasted not only regular fish tacos, but also tacos with pan de cazón, or shark. I liked it then, but over the decades the taste has begun to grow on me. There’s something about grilled fish with raw shredded cabbage, a squeeze of lime, and even avocado slices that is capable of sending me into transports of ecstasy.

Today, Martine and I went to Gilbert’s El Indio Mexican Restaurant in Santa Monica. I had heard they had good tacos, but their fish tacos, which I tried for the first time today, were nothing less than superb. Each was wrapped in two warm corn tortillas and served with wedges of lime and pico de gallo.

In Southern California, there are fish taco chains, such as Wahoo’s, but I care not for their product. Maybe because they slather on some white sauce that tastes like sugared mayonnaise. No, I want to control the flavor of my fish taco, and do not want any weird sauces to wreck my flavoring the taco as I wish.

I have lived in Los Angeles now for upwards of half a century, and I find that I like the cuisine of Southern California, which is really Mexican. I love pork tamales with hot sauce, salads with marinated nopalitos (prickly pear cactus pads), and aguas frescas made with tunas (cactus fruit, not fish). I love hot chiles, when Martine lets me cook with them (they irritate her eyes). Freshly heated corn tortillas are still magical to me.

Although I was raised as a Hungarian—and I still like Hungarian food, when I can find it—I must have been kidnapped by Mexican bandidos when I got off the train at Union Station in 1966.

By the way, the first taco I ever ate was at the Mexican Pavilion of the New York World’s Fair in 1965.