Valle de Guadalupe: A gastronomic paradise
With the ingredients of Mexican lands and the proposals of innovative chefs and cooks, Valle de Guadalupe, in Baja California, has become an Eden of Mexican cuisine.
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With the arrival of migrants from different parts of the world, the gastronomic offerings of Valle de Guadalupe and Ensenada incorporates local ingredients and Mexican flavors with international dishes and techniques.
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An inseparable encounter is the connection between the wine of the region, the products of the land and the sea and the characters that live there and share their spaces and their flavors with us in an informal but elegant atmosphere, since the pride that it has towards its actors enhances and glorifies all gastronomic experience.
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Many seafood and fish producers cater to local restaurants and meet national demand.
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Tons of abalone, shells, tuna, lobsters, mussels, oysters, horse mackerel, totoaba and so on leave Ensenada every day and offer the demanding diner the highest quality and fat content and properties that the cold waters, plankton and seaweed of the area give to their products.
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The quality of the products is unbelievable. I have had the fortune to visit several farms such as the mussels of Sergio Guevara and the abalone of Benito Altamira.
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Also, a little further south in the Valle de Ojos Negros (the Valle de la Luz as I call it), we can highlight the milking of Holstein cows.
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In this region we can delight ourselves with the cheeses from the happy cows of the Ramonetti cheeses, a hundred-year tradition of an Italian family who settled here, where the practices from Piedmont received a positive response.
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Puerto Nuevo is an area where for a long time the lobster taco has been prepared with sobaquera tortilla (holster tortilla) with Mexican rice and refried beans. This delicious dish is usually accompanied by wine from the region.
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Here in Ensenada, the case of the Manzanilla restaurant, owned by Benito Molina and Solange Muris, also stands out. These young chefs drive and are the new face of local gastronomy.
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Both built Manzanilla in a winery on the docks of the port.
Their history is told with heart and gratitude for all that this restaurant has sparked off along with their creativity and intuition.
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Talking about Baja California cuisine is also talking about Javier Plasencia and his family, who never cease to amaze us with his restaurant business.
Of all his creations, my favorite restaurant is Caesar's with all the legend behind it. This venue responds to and improves any version of the world-famous salad created in Tijuana in the sixties.
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An essential part of the Ensenada gastronomic experience is the street carts that excite and seduce those who live here and those who come from outside.
It is inevitable to visit La Guerrerense and try a tostada de erizo (toasted urchin tortilla) with clams at 1 p.m. or a tripe cocktail at the Coyote stand, or the Gordito clams or a shrimp cocktail with the legendary Güero (fresher, that's impossible!) and even a very Ensenada stuffed fish taco Jalisco-style.
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Food trucks, street carts on the corners in Ensenada, an open fire in Drew Deckman's kitchen and simplicity and respect for the ingredient in David Martinez's Muelle 3.
Gastronomic offerings abound in this region of Mexico
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Every time I come to the Valle de Guadalupe and Ensenada I am surprised by the new, whether it be a new restaurant or some winemaker who took on a vineyard to improve the wines and innovate them.
Change is always positive
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Like the breeze from the Pacific to the Bahía de Salsipuedes, so it reaches to our soul and the abundance and taste for life envelops us in this corner of the world. Long may the delicacies from Ensenada, Valle de Guadalupe and surrounding regions continue!
Text and photographs: Ignacio Urquiza
