MILLIE: My cousin Pol Chavez invited Karla and me to join him on a cruise from Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico, and I was excited and looking forward to the trip.
The first time I ever visited Mexico was in 1979 to observe the American Society of Travel Agents conference in Acapulco; this was in preparation for the ASTA World Congress in Manila the following year, which 10,000 delegates were expected to attend.
I enjoyed Acapulco but somehow never had a chance to revisit.
Our ship was docked at the port of Ensenada by 9 a.m. and after breakfast on board, my cousin Pol and my niece Cammy, Karla and I joined the tour around the city to see La Bufadora, the famous blowhole or marine geyser found in Punta Banda peninsula in Baja, California, Mexico.
The bus drive to the site was breathtaking, with a panoramic view of the sea. The walk to the blowhole was quite amusing as there were many curio shops selling arts and crafts and food stalls along the way. Although we were forewarned by our tourist guide to buy only from accredited shops, we did not heed her advice and instead ventured on our own, haggling for half the price or lower for each purchase.
KARLA: The walk to the blowhole was very distracting. Left and right you could see incredibly appetizing dishes cooked on the spot and being offered to you as you walked past. I was seriously considering not going to see the blowhole and just wandering around the food stalls.
One of the first stalls was selling assorted dried fruits and nuts with candies. It seemed like a street-side candy shop where you could use the tongs or shovels to scoop up whatever you wanted. One of the interesting things I tried there was ripe mango coated in chili powder and salt. It is a common snack in Mexico. The mangoes were not too soft, like how we have it here. It was, in fact, still a bit firm and chewy. The ancho-chili powder and/or cayenne pepper is mixed with salt and coated on the wedges or long strips of mangoes served in small plastic cups. It definitely was interesting but I don’t think I could have snacked on them … well, not unless I had a margarita in hand.
The next stall that intrigued me was selling traditional Mexican breads and pastries. I actually wanted to stop and buy a few items to take home, but didn’t get a chance to since when I looked up from my camera, I could no longer see the tour guide and group we were with.
The next best stall was the fish taco stall. I could not even stop myself from salivating. They were cooking the fish right in front of me and the tortillas were being grilled on the spot as well. Displayed in front were traditional Mexican versions of a mortar called molcajete with all the possible condiments you could imagine: sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, cilantro, lemon wedges and whatever else you could put on your taco.
MILLIE: I, on the other hand, was interested in the fresh oysters being shucked on the spot and the huge clams grilled right before my eyes! There was also grilled white corn on the cob, sweet and spicy tamarind and chicharrones, which reminded me of home. The sun was out but it was a pleasantly cool spring day, much like Baguio weather, and some stalls were selling piña coladas served in fresh pineapple and young coconut shells — again, just like home. For the first time, I saw real Mexican jumping beans and was so amused.
Walking up the street leading to La Bufadora, I stopped several times to check out the silver jewelry pieces and semiprecious stones and had so much fun haggling with the vendors.
KARLA: The blowhole is another wonder of Mother Nature, where the seawater is sprayed upwards due to the pressure of the waves that build up in a sea cave. When the water from the wave recedes, water explodes from it. The frequency and size of the sprays are based on the waves. Spending five to 10 minutes on picture taking was more than enough. I was more excited to walk along the food stalls again. Lo and behold, the first stall on the left coming from the blowhole was what caught my attention. A man came up to me and offered a small piece of churros for me to taste. Who can say no to churros? I immediately got one and popped it in my mouth and wow! I cannot begin to explain how light and crispy it was, coated with cinnamon sugar. I’m not even sure if we were supposed to ask for hot chocolate, but it was definitely good enough on its own. I grabbed another sample and let my mom try it. Immediately, she told me to buy a bagful for all of us to share. As soon as I was about to order, the lady in front of the stall turned around holding a rod with a long coil of churros. My eyes almost popped as I struggled to get my camera out to take a photo. I insisted on getting churros from the new batch, which they willingly allowed. Within a couple of minutes, we had consumed all the churros and had to buy another bag since we just couldn’t have enough.
MILLIE: After visiting the blowhole, we were finally ready for the alcoholic part of the tour. Our tour guide told us that the best things to buy in Mexico are leather, silver, vanilla, tequila, and wine. The wine valley produces 90 percent of the wines in Mexico. We were taken to the tasting room of Bodegas de Santo Tomas and not the actual vineyard. It is the oldest Mexican winery founded in 1888 and we were offered five different wines to taste. I liked the Tinto best — it is a mix with Tempranillo, merlot and a bit of brandy — a bit sweet and good with dessert.
They also sold different kinds of award-winning olive oil, so we were able to get a taste of those. I liked two of their olive oils. One was the Ascolano, which won a double gold medal from the Concorso Oleatorio Internazionale “Armonia†in Italy or the International Olive Oil Agency. It also won a Gold Medal for Best of Class in the Los Angeles Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. The other kind I liked was the Sevillano, which won a gold medal at the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition as well.
After the wine and olive oil tasting, we walked around town, and while Pol and Karla headed for Papas & Beer, a favorite hangout for locals and tourists alike, I preferred to go shopping for knickknacks and souvenirs in curio shops. In particular, I was looking for a clay statue of the god of corn and a sundial. On my first trip to Acapulco, Mexico, I bought them as decorative pieces but probably misplaced them when I moved from my condo unit back to my parents’ home.
Little did we know that Gigi and her two sons, Carlo and Dandan, spent most of the afternoon partying at Papas & Beer and visiting their friend Armando, who owns a tequila shop called Hacienda Don Procopio.
KARLA: Walking into Hacienda Don Procopio was like walking into a candy store. It’s a small store but with tons of bottles of tequila displayed on the shelves all around the store. There were brands I’d never heard of and flavors I’ve always dreamt of trying. They give free shots of tequila for you to try, and since my cousins were repeat customers, they got waaaaay too many free shots of tequila. We bought flavors such as chili con carne, Jamaica, mango, pineapple, strawberry, kiwi, green apple, and piña colada. I would’ve wanted to stay longer, look at every bottle and talk to Armando more about tequila, but we did not have enough time since we already had to be back on the ship. I’m definitely putting this on my itinerary on my next trip to Ensenada. Perhaps next time we can do a road trip instead.
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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. For more photos of our food trips and travels, check out @kakakarlotta on Instagram. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.