White tablecloth Mexican food? Let's discuss!

[Jenise]

The next gathering of the Bellingham Supper Club is taking place at my house, and for a theme I chose "Not Your Father's Mariachi Band", an announcement I sent out with videos from cool Tex-mexy Calexico and Mexican rapper-rockers Oxomatli to underscore what I meant by nuevo, which I probably should have spelled NEW-wave-o, Mexican food. With a foot, or at least a big toe, firmly rooted in the past, I hope to see innovative food that reminds us of why we love this cuisine so much while bringing it into the present with healthier, edgier ingredients. The food will be served in a progression of small plates, where each contributor presents a course.

Long before that guy in Los Angeles became famous for his Korean Taco trucks, I've been tinkering with Mexican food both because I love the flavors to a point of need and because I just couldn't justify the fat content of the classics. To keep tacos in my life, things had to change. Hence fillings like turkey-rice, spiced hominy, and beef-potato-jalapeno have replaced the all-beef and carnitas of my childhood, all mostly without cheese. The taco shells are grilled tortillas, not fried or, god forbid, out of a box, and sometimes the taco shell is not a tortilla at all, but a trimmed romaine lettuce leaf. Burritos, tostadas and enchiladas have evolved too, like the chicken-and-grilled zucchini versions I made last week with the southwestern-flavored chile bechamel sauce. Those were served over flash-sauteed cabbaged shredded super-fine and seasoned with vinegar, salt and lots of Cynthia's dreaded soap weed (cilantro).

Beans and rice are rarely on the plate unless they're part of the filling.

For the Supper Club, I want white tablecloth food. I want to put a tuxedo on it. As I envision it now my dish will be hibiscus-cured carne asada with black truffle/corn tamales. For the carne, after curing the steak (probably flank) will be marinated in a garlic and fresh jalapeno paste, grilled super crusty and rare, and served with a tomatillo salsa fresca. I will probably add an avocado-flavored compound butter. I'll end up doing more, but I'm waiting to hear from others to get an idea of what's needed. So far, I've heard from one couple that duck and pomegranite tacos are under consideration. Another couple is actually in Mexico right now gathering ideas.

I need to come up with a killer margarita, too, using very good tequila. Hoke and Mike: suggestions?

With all this on my mind, I read this morning that Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame is going to open a Mexican restaurant in Barcelona. Now THAT commands attention! I don't know if its going to be casual or higher end, or what he's going to call it, but I can't wait to see how he interprets Mexican food. Though it shall always belong as much to the barrios of East Los Angeles as much as the palacios of Mexico City, and though Rick Bayless has moved it into the midwest and Bobby Flay has established his own brand of Southwestern food in New York City, a chef like Adria can rethink it all in such a way that Mexican flavors move onto the world stage once and for all.

I'm curious what the rest of you may have experienced in the way of updated, classy Mexican food.

This is a refreshing take on margaritas from a couple fun Austin women we interviewed recently.

Idea-Generating Margaritas
From The Casserole Queens Cookbook

"Careful! Drinking more than two of these can make your ideas seem better than they actually are."

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Lime wedge
Sea salt
3 ounces premium silver tequila
3 ounces fresh lime juice
3 ounce fresh orange juice
1 ounce Triple Sec

1. Run the lime wedge around the rim of a margarita glass, and then roll the rim in sea salt. Add fresh crushed ice to the glass and set aside.

2. Fill a cocktail shaker with crushed ice. Add tequila, lime juice, orange juice, and Triple Sec. Shake vigorously, then pour over ice in a salt-rimmed glass.

Let the ideas roll!

I love Calexio and Ozomatli!

Those were served over flash-sauteed cabbaged shredded super-fine and seasoned with vinegar, salt and lots of Cynthia's dreaded soap weed (cilantro).

The wonderful Della at my workplace in Santa Fe, served many things over finely shredded cabbage. I love that. She never put any cilantro in anything she was serving me. She was a goddess!

We get very good (and inexpensive) fresh tortillas from our local HEB grocery store, so I haven't jumped into making them from scratch, but that might be one way to up the level of the dishes.

As I envision it now my dish will be hibiscus-cured carne asada with black truffle and corn tamales. For the carne, after the curing the steak (probably flank) will be marinated in a garlic and fresh jalapeno paste, grilled super crusty and rare, and served with a tomatillo salsa fresca. I will probably add an avocado-flavored compound butter.

I could eat that. Except for the salsa verde probably.

A place here in Austin, La Condesa, does some interesting dishes that are not your average cantina finds.

This all sounds good, Jenise (and Cyn).

The hibiscus is great (just down in Jalisco recently and plenty of hibiscus all over the joint.

Also, goat meat is muy Mexican. Nopalitas are great. If you go Veracruzana, you can slap it with a distinctive French flair---or just go standard veracruana and add brandy sauce to your steak, with lots of cheese.

Crab stuffed piquillos.

Hogfish is popular on the Caribbean side. Corn smut is always a conversation starter.

For margaritas, make a Tamrindo Marg---wet tamarind, oj, lime juice, agave syrup and 100% agave...you can even use a reposado for this one. You can also rim with a combo of salt and fine ground chipotle. Or serve caballitos--shots of tequila with a side glass of sangrita.

Or make a cantarito: big mug filled with fresh squeezed lime, orange, and gapefruit, healthy dose of tequila, and topped with Squirt (or for me, more grapefruit).

Up in the mountains, you find a lot of versions of venison stew.

I love the idea Jenise. I just did a search and I don't think I talked about this here -- of course it depends on WHERE you are in Mexico, but in Mexico City, the culinary culture got a huge dose of French influence back during the short reign of Emperor Maximilian. And even though he came and went quickly (1864-1867) the court he had set up included many of the wealthiest and influential families in the city, and they had hired French chefs and developed French tastes.

So that's why when I discovered I could buy huitlacoche (corn fungus) locally, and looked up recipes, one of the most intriguing was for "crepas" which are typical French crêpes. There is a whole world out there of French influenced dishes. When we went to M.C. in the sixties, and had a good restaurant meal, I remember getting my first steak au poivre there.

Anyway the first names that came to mind were Jeff Smedstad and Rick Bayless, for tricky Margaritas or menu ideas it might be good to just run your eye down the menus from Elote Cafe.

http://www.elotecafe.com/

http://www.rickbayless.com/

That should be a really fun supper. On the boozy end of things, I like Hoke's suggestion of a good reposado tequila with sangrita. There are a number of sangrita recipes out on the web. It would be worth a little experimentation ahead of time to get the right sweet/spicy balance to it. It needs a good dose of chili heat, but if you get too much you won't taste the tequila. Get it right and the sip-of-tequila-sip-of-sangrita is a sublime experience. If you do go with margaritas, I would again recommend a little experimentation. Maybe it's just me but I find that I have to tweak the lime juice volume every time I make these. It seems to vary in intensity such that the 3/4 oz that works one time is WAY overly sour the next.

Cyn's recipe sounds delicious. I've made a slightly altered version of that called the Chapala -

1 1/2 oz tequila
3/4 oz triple sec
splash of grenadine
1 1/2 oz orange juice
3/4 oz. lemon or lime juice

Combine in a highball glass with ice and stir well. Alternatively, shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The hibiscus beef sounds like a definite winner. Not sure that corn smut would be strong enough in flavor, but you could consider using that instead of the truffles in the tamales. The pomegranate/duck combo also sounds really good. Most of the higher-end Mexican places I've been have drawn from the Yucatan region (or at least I think that's it). They tend towards marinated pork in banana leaves (cochinita pibil), turkey/chicken flavored with citrus, and some seafood dishes. I would think you could do something interesting with tongue, which is used a lot here in tacos. Maybe some sort of French-Mexican fusion thing along the lines of what Frank was talking about(?)

OK, Jenise, you've just pushed several of my buttons. Like Frank said, Mexican cooking is such a mix of cultural influences (French, Spanish, indigenous) that it is as far from monolithic as e.g. Chinese cooking is. For white tablecloth dishes, I'd think of huachinango a la Veracruzana, preferably made with a whole red snapper, though other fish can obviously be used in its absence. Pan roasted salmon in a pipián verde is one of my favorite "fancy" Mexican dishes, though it owes more to Rick Bayless and Topolobampo than any of my travels south of the border. I like Frank's suggestion of huitlacoche, too, which can be used a lot like a funky cousin of truffle, so how about stuffing some quail with huitlacoche and quinoa and then mesquite smoking them? I also think that stuffed squash blossoms can be very elegant and almost anything can be put inside. Even chiles rellenos can be reinvented, pan frying or grilling rather than deep frying and using a lighter and more elegant filling, such as a spiced crabmeat or duck confit with mushrooms (smaller chiles than poblanos can be used, too, though there are structural restrictions on your choice). Good, fresh tamales aren't that elegant, but who cares when they're so damn tasty? I think that all of your ideas sound inspired, but there are just so many good possibilities that the mind boggles. Of course, the availability of ingredients up in your little corner of paradise will dictate what you can do, but as an ex-Angelena you know that already.

I can't wait to read what you decide to do.
Mark Lipton

[Robin Garr]

I've been a big fan of Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill since the very start (before there was Topolobampo, even).

We have a couple of eateries in Louisville that, if not "white tablecloth" at least reflect regional cuisines of Mexico in "upscale" settings that compete on an even footing with other upscale eateries around town.

Mayan Cafe, with Chef Bruce Ucan, focuses on the cuisines of the Yucatan and adjoining Guatemala. Here's a peek at their dinner menu:
http://themayancafe.com/menu/dinner/

El Mundo, in my neighborhood, is sort of a lower-budget Frontera knockoff, but it's been a favorite since they opened around the same time we moved back here in 1994. The dishes are a little more standard Mexican, but preparation, flare and plating move it into bistro territory.
http://www.502elmundo.com/

Reading Jenise's proposition and the replies I find myself kind of drawing a Venn diagram in my head.

A lot of what Smedstad and Bayless are doing is elevating the FLAVORS of the food without transforming the LOOK of the food, so that it might not fit the "white tablecloth" paradigm. For example, a tamal is a tamal, but Smedstad says that you should NOT use a brick of lard purchased at the grocery store. His lard is hand-made, and is a by-product from every time he roasts a pork shoulder. You get some of the rich meaty taste in there with the greases, and this is closer to what a good cook living in Mexico is likely to do. Hominy isn't out of a can, but is either produced from dry corn or bought in a dried form in a Hispanic grocery and re-hydrated. Just punching up the flavor doesn't make the food elegant, altho it makes it delicious.

Goat is truly Mexican but the dishes I have been lusting after (Birria del Chivo etc.) are messy and really look like peasant food. You wouldn't expect a couple of waiters in tuxes to bring that dish to the table, with each plate covered with a silver dome which is to be WHISKED away just before the diners dig in...

You know what I just thought of. Como agua para chocolate. There are recipes. Quails with rose petals...

[Jenise]

Things may have changed in the nine years since I left Los Angeles, in fact I know they have, but sitting up here on this frigid March day and looking over the menus at all the restaurants each of you provided links for, and thinking about how long Bobby Flay's been around and too, the kind of inventive upscale New Mexican food that has thrived in Santa Fe ever since the Hollywood elite started 'dividing' their time between L.A. and Santa Fe 30-40 years ago, it's actually rather shocking that Los Angeles wasn't ground zero for the evolution of upscale Mex.

Clearly, it wasn't. In fact, in all the time I lived in Orange County, the only upper-end Mex was brought in by the El Torito chain. The flagship for same was opened in Newport Beach in 1986. It was the first place I ever had a top drawer tequila margarita (served on the rocks, not up/blended), the first place I ever had a relleno that was roasted, not fried, and the first place I ever had blue corn anything. All the tortillas were hand-made by an adorable Mexican lady near the front door and a wood-fired brazier where the rellenos were roasted was nearby, and those aromas swamped you with lust the second you walked in. It was terrific--until they decided they had the concept tweaked perfectly and started punching out copies all over the southland. And then away went the little tortilla lady and super-fresh tortillas, away went the brazier and away went disappointed customers like us. The El Torito Grills didn't last long. It wasn't until Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken opened The Border Grill in Santa Monica in 1990 that modern, upscale Mex started catching on. And they made it hip. But even wildly successful as they were, copycats didn't pop up all over. Meanwhile, back in Santa Fe, when the Coyote Grill's Mark Miller, he who is credited with starting the whole Southwestern style movement, decided to open another restaurant, did he open in Los Angeles? No, Washington D.C.

And you Chicagoans have had Rick Bayless all this time. It doesn't compute! His Tampolobambo menu was an inspiring read.

Btw, I just looked at the Border Grill's menu too and didn't find anything there that made me go "oh wow" like Tampolobambo. Nothing as edgy and elegant, anyway, as the dish I am planning on doing (my own creation, btw, with the tamale borrowed from Mark Miller).

@Frank, a tamal is a tamal? I'm not there. I definitely support Smedstad's method on his pork version (among meat tamales, let me say that IMO pork reigns supreme). Did you say you have his book? Does he publish his pork tamale recipe? I've been wanting to make my own and haven't found a recipe I can love that reminds me of what the Mexican ladies made when I was a kid. But back to tamales in general, I think my little black truffle tamales (made with butter), which will be tied nicely at both ends, not folded and open at one end, definitely raise the bar a couple notches. Another way to boost the tamal concept is something I did a few months ago (my own idea, haven't seen this done elsewhere) where I made a thick, grainy polenta mixture, put that on the bottom of an open corn husk, added some layer of seasoning and topped that with a flash-seared chicken breast that finished cooking together in the oven. IIRC a salsa fresca of pickled red onions went on top as it came out of the oven. Vary the ingredients and the sauce(s), and you have a tamal concept that can go anywhere you need it to. I think I took a picture of it, if I did I'll post it here later.

@Cynthia and Hoke: love the margarita recipes, thanks. And guess what, just a week ago I bought and opened a can of tamarind concentrate. I have an unopened bottle of agave syrup too. It's on the menu!

@ everybody: If nobody else in the group comes forward with a seafood dish, I'll plan to do a ceviche starter as I just learned this morning that the first local halibut came in this week. Otherwise, sadly, I can never plan on doing anything seafood on the day of a big event because there's so little available fresh up here and I can't work in the travel time to go further afield.

And I too would love to do something with huitlacoche. I've never used it before so would find that exciting. Was kind of waiting to see if someone else was going to go first, though.

[Robin Garr]

If nobody else in the group comes forward with a seafood dish, I'll plan to do a ceviche starter ...

If you want a little more inspiration, Seviche restaurant in Louisville is one of the city's best, and the chef, Anthony Lamas, is a multiple visitor to James Beard House and turns up fairly often on cheffy competition shows on the tee vee.

I didn't mention it before because it's not "Mexican" but Nuevo Latino with most of its influences from further south of the border, all transmuted through Lamas's creative spins. Still, you might like a look at the brief descriptions of his current seviche list ...

Tuna Tacuitos
Wasabi Lime Mustard, Yuzu, Local Microgreens, Avocado, Bluegrass Soy Sesame Powder. $15

Crab & Yellow Tomato
Lemon, Cilantro. $15

Hawaiian Wahoo Tiradito
Rocoto Chile, Ginger, Soy. $15

Wild Caught Shrimp
Avocado, Tomato, Jalapeño. $15

Line Caught Bigeye Tuna
Sesame, Scallion, Coconut, Ginger. $15

Oyster "Bloody Mary" Shooters
Miyagi Oysters, Tomato, Horseradish, Absolut Pepper Vodka. $15

USDA Prime Beef Tenderloin
Serrano Chile, Red Onion, Toasted Garlic. $15

Seviche Tasting 3-$25 / 5-$41

http://sevicherestaurant.com/menu2.html


Also, the seafood and fish dishes on his entradas menu:

Atun de Chefe
Chef’s daily creation of fresh sustainable tuna Mkt.

Macadamia Crusted Pacific Halibut
Cranberry Couscous, Habanero, Passion Fruit $29

Striped Bass and Shrimp “Cigar”
Toasted Macadamia Arroz, Red Chile Ginger Butter $31

Wild Alaskan Salmon
Rock Shrimp Chaufa, Pineappple Ginger Salsa, Sesame Mojo $33

Fideo
Seared Sea Scallops, Angel Hair Pasta, Artichoke Hearts, Asparagus, Truffle Goat Cheese, Toasted Pine Nuts $29

Mahi Mahi Tacos
Green Cabbage, Lime Aioli, Pico de Gallo $15

http://sevicherestaurant.com/menu4.html

[Jenise]

If nobody else in the group comes forward with a seafood dish, I'll plan to do a ceviche starter ...

If you want a little more inspiration, Seviche restaurant in Louisville is one of the city's best, and the chef, Anthony Lamas, is a multiple visitor to James Beard House and turns up fairly often on cheffy competition shows on the tee vee.

I didn't mention it before because it's not "Mexican" but Nuevo Latino with most of its influences from further south of the border, all transmuted through Lamas's creative spins. Still, you might like a look at the brief descriptions of his current seviche list ...

Tuna Tacuitos
Wasabi Lime Mustard, Yuzu, Local Microgreens, Avocado, Bluegrass Soy Sesame Powder. $15

Crab & Yellow Tomato
Lemon, Cilantro. $15

Hawaiian Wahoo Tiradito
Rocoto Chile, Ginger, Soy. $15

Wild Caught Shrimp
Avocado, Tomato, Jalapeño. $15

Line Caught Bigeye Tuna
Sesame, Scallion, Coconut, Ginger. $15

Oyster "Bloody Mary" Shooters
Miyagi Oysters, Tomato, Horseradish, Absolut Pepper Vodka. $15

USDA Prime Beef Tenderloin
Serrano Chile, Red Onion, Toasted Garlic. $15

Seviche Tasting 3-$25 / 5-$41

http://sevicherestaurant.com/menu2.html


Also, the seafood and fish dishes on his entradas menu:

Atun de Chefe
Chef’s daily creation of fresh sustainable tuna Mkt.

Macadamia Crusted Pacific Halibut
Cranberry Couscous, Habanero, Passion Fruit $29

Striped Bass and Shrimp “Cigar”
Toasted Macadamia Arroz, Red Chile Ginger Butter $31

Wild Alaskan Salmon
Rock Shrimp Chaufa, Pineappple Ginger Salsa, Sesame Mojo $33

Fideo
Seared Sea Scallops, Angel Hair Pasta, Artichoke Hearts, Asparagus, Truffle Goat Cheese, Toasted Pine Nuts $29

Mahi Mahi Tacos
Green Cabbage, Lime Aioli, Pico de Gallo $15

http://sevicherestaurant.com/menu4.html

Oh thank you for that. What a fantastic list, but reading the word coconut just stopped me in my tracks. Never had coconut in a ceviche before, but I love coconut and can't you just imagine that and ginger in a tamarind flavored margarita? Ooh ooh ooh.

I definitely support Smedstad's method on his pork version (among meat tamales, let me say that IMO pork reigns supreme). Did you say you have his book? Does he publish his pork tamale recipe? I've been wanting to make my own and haven't found a recipe I can love that reminds me of what the Mexican ladies made when I was a kid.

I've got the book. He doesn't seem to have ANY recipes for meat tamales. But if you read the section on tamales, I think it might be helpful in a "gestalt" sort of way. See PM.

Things may have changed in the nine years since I left Los Angeles, in fact I know they have, but sitting up here on this frigid March day and looking over the menus at all the restaurants each of you provided links for, and thinking about how long Bobby Flay's been around and too, the kind of inventive upscale New Mexican food that has thrived in Santa Fe ever since the Hollywood elite started 'dividing' their time between L.A. and Santa Fe 30-40 years ago, it's actually rather shocking that Los Angeles wasn't ground zero for the evolution of upscale Mex.

I found precisely the same thing when I relocated to LA (well, Claremont, actually) in '77 for my 4 years of college. "LA Mexican" was its own idiom, different from Tex-Mex and even distinct from the Mexican food you'd get in San Diego! Having spent a summer of my childhood in Mexico, where I'd fallen in love with the food of Oaxaca and Puebla (didn't make it to Merida for Yucatan food -- long, sad story involving Gov. Reagan and the summer of '69), I was shocked to see the lack of diversity in the Mexican cooking of LA. The best cooking that I found there was in the taco trucks downtown where, often as not, two abuelitas were hard at work making tortillas and cooking them. Coming from the Bay Area, I was also shocked to see the lack of freshness of ingredients in burritos in LA, only learning later that the style of burrito now fueling the success of Chipotle and its imitators is known as "San Francisco style" because it was invented in the Mission district of SF.

Perhaps because they felt that they knew Mexican cooking, LA didn't feel the need to explore. I don't think that it was an accident that Rick Bayless ended up in a place like Chicago, because Chicagoans were prepared to believe that the Mexican food they'd eaten up until then was crap and were willing to give his high end concepts a go. Ditto with DC and Mark Miller.

Mark Lipton

Things may have changed in the nine years since I left Los Angeles, in fact I know they have, but sitting up here on this frigid March day and looking over the menus at all the restaurants each of you provided links for, and thinking about how long Bobby Flay's been around and too, the kind of inventive upscale New Mexican food that has thrived in Santa Fe ever since the Hollywood elite started 'dividing' their time between L.A. and Santa Fe 30-40 years ago, it's actually rather shocking that Los Angeles wasn't ground zero for the evolution of upscale Mex.

I found precisely the same thing when I relocated to LA (well, Claremont, actually) in '77 for my 4 years of college. "LA Mexican" was its own idiom, different from Tex-Mex and even distinct from the Mexican food you'd get in San Diego! Having spent a summer of my childhood in Mexico, where I'd fallen in love with the food of Oaxaca and Puebla (didn't make it to Merida for Yucatan food -- long, sad story involving Gov. Reagan and the summer of '69), I was shocked to see the lack of diversity in the Mexican cooking of LA. The best cooking that I found there was in the taco trucks downtown where, often as not, two abuelitas were hard at work making tortillas and cooking them. Coming from the Bay Area, I was also shocked to see the lack of freshness of ingredients in burritos in LA, only learning later that the style of burrito now fueling the success of Chipotle and its imitators is known as "San Francisco style" because it was invented in the Mission district of SF.

Perhaps because they felt that they knew Mexican cooking, LA didn't feel the need to explore. I don't think that it was an accident that Rick Bayless ended up in a place like Chicago, because Chicagoans were prepared to believe that the Mexican food they'd eaten up until then was crap and were willing to give his high end concepts a go. Ditto with DC and Mark Miller.

Mark Lipton

You started in Claremont in '77? I started at Pitzer in '76.

Ever go to Juanita's, in Pomona? Basic LA-style burritos but there was something about the meat in their "meat bean rice cheese" burrito that was extra good. I do agree, though, that it was a pretty homogeneous scene out there back then. I do remember a place called "Yucatan" (I think) in Pasadena that was regional stuff and a revelation for me at the time. I think they came along in the early '80's.

Chicagoans were prepared to believe that the Mexican food they'd eaten up until then was crap

Basically because it WAS crap.

Yuh, I was always a little puzzled by the dull sameness of LA Mex too.

Second everything Robin said about Lamas and Seviche. One of the things I miss about Louisville---that, Havana Rumba, and the great Indian place south of Hurstbourne. His fideo was awesome! And what was the Brazilian bean dish he used to feature...feijoada! Also awesome.

Jenise: sounds like you're on your way to some good margaritas. Hey, why not a seviche-margarita? Too much fusion??? (In this case, of food and functionality.)

You might just possibly get hold of some banana leaves around there, Jenise. Be a good touch and a little Salvadoran in tone. Creamy sweet polenta with bits of marinated pork steamed in a banana leaf with just a touch of smoky pepper? Oh yeah!

There's a Cal-Mex restaurant near my house. Bland to the point of inedible. I can't understand how they manage that in a cuisine that has many flavorful, sharp, rich foods available to it.

You started in Claremont in '77? I started at Pitzer in '76.

Ever go to Juanita's, in Pomona? Basic LA-style burritos but there was something about the meat in their "meat bean rice cheese" burrito that was extra good. I do agree, though, that it was a pretty homogeneous scene out there back then. I do remember a place called "Yucatan" (I think) in Pasadena that was regional stuff and a revelation for me at the time. I think they came along in the early '80's.

Yeah, I think that I recall going to Juanita's once or twice, but I was on a very limited budget, having had my Cal State Scholarship pulled out from under me in the wake of Prop 13, and as I said I wasn't all that enamored of LA Mex food. Now the Thai restaurant that opened up on Indian HIlls Blvd, OTOH, was a revelation to me and a place that I'd save up my hard-earned shekels to go out to.

Pitzer, hmmm? Funny, I was pretty sure that you've got gainful employment, Mike On a serious note, did you ever cross paths with some musician friends of mine, Chuck Oken in particular? Their band name back then was Happy Cancer.

Mark Lipton

You started in Claremont in '77? I started at Pitzer in '76.

Ever go to Juanita's, in Pomona? Basic LA-style burritos but there was something about the meat in their "meat bean rice cheese" burrito that was extra good. I do agree, though, that it was a pretty homogeneous scene out there back then. I do remember a place called "Yucatan" (I think) in Pasadena that was regional stuff and a revelation for me at the time. I think they came along in the early '80's.

Yeah, I think that I recall going to Juanita's once or twice, but I was on a very limited budget, having had my Cal State Scholarship pulled out from under me in the wake of Prop 13, and as I said I wasn't all that enamored of LA Mex food. Now the Thai restaurant that opened up on Indian HIlls Blvd, OTOH, was a revelation to me and a place that I'd save up my hard-earned shekels to go out to.

Pitzer, hmmm? Funny, I was pretty sure that you've got gainful employment, Mike On a serious note, did you ever cross paths with some musician friends of mine, Chuck Oken in particular? Their band name back then was Happy Cancer.

Mark Lipton

You knew Chuck? I spent quite a bit of time with him and John Glass during their first couple of years there. I might have never gotten into Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Gong, etc. if it weren't for them. Have you followed Djam Karet much? Haven't seen Chuck in a long time.

I do remember the Thai place quite well. Their Thai Iced Coffee inspired us to make our own version that involved lots of instant coffee dissolved in milk with a good dollop of sweetened condensed milk added. Wasn't as good as theirs, but it did keep us up late into the night.

Briefly contributing to the thread drift -- Kenneth S Pitzer was president of Rice U. when I was there, and I always imagined that Pitzer College was named after him. Just looked it up, it was his father instead. I met K. Pitzer a few times, shook his hand etc. Interesting to get the names sorted out.

Laughing here...I started Pitzer in '71. We used to head west to East LA (Boyle Heights) for our Mexican food fix. Never disappointed there, thankfully. cheers, Bonnie

Briefly contributing to the thread drift -- Kenneth S Pitzer was president of Rice U. when I was there, and I always imagined that Pitzer College was named after him. Just looked it up, it was his father instead. I met K. Pitzer a few times, shook his hand etc. Interesting to get the names sorted out.

Ken Pitzer is well known in my field for his concept of "Pitzer strain" to explain the preference of ethane for staggered conformations. Less well known was his role in the Oppenheimer security hearing.

Mark Lipton

I definitely vote for making sure Duck Tacos are on the menu. Yum.

Now, these may not be hi-brow enough, but brought them to our last wine group and they were a definite hit. I think they also looked pretty nice on a platter.

peppers.jpg

Chile Relleno Camarón (Shrimp Stuffed Guero Chile Peppers
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: appx 25 Peppers

INGREDIENTS
olive oil or cooking spray
oyster sauce
Old Bay Seasoning (to taste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Green onions, minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
25 small guero chiles (these look like yellow jalapenos)
2 lbs shrimp, raw, peeled, deveined

Directions
1. Prepare peppers by making a "T" shaped cut on the side, starting just below the stem.
2. Remove the seeds, core, and veins, leaving the stem intact.
3. Mince shrimp; add old bay, garlic, onions, and cilantro. (Pulse in food processor.)
4. Stuff peppers with shrimp mixture.
5. Arrange peppers shrimp side up on a shallow pan that has been coated with a little oil or cooking spray.
6. Brush tops and sides of peppers generously with oyster sauce.
6. Bake about ½ hour at 375 until cooked through.
7. Sprinkle with additional chopped cilantro.

Laughing here...I started Pitzer in '71. We used to head west to East LA (Boyle Heights) for our Mexican food fix. Never disappointed there, thankfully. cheers, Bonnie

We are everywhere.