10/5/2023 0 Comments Baja cali fish tacosOverload, and the ingredients will landslide down your front. But subsequent do-it-yourself application of salsas and salads from the bar transform your taco: a little chipotle mayonnaise, some pico de gallo salsa, a pinch of shredded cabbage, some fresh coriander, sliced radish and, of course, a squeeze of lime.ĭressing a fish taco is an art. Presented with pieces of fried fish in a corn pancake, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Photograph: Tom Kevill Davies/The Guardian ‘Buen provecho!’ Tacos being made at a taqueria in Baja California. Three warm corn tortillas were taken from a griddle, the fried fish was placed in the middle and the lot was handed over on a lurid plastic plate. She would submerge a few hunks of lightly battered dorado into spitting oil, retrieving the golden morsels moments later and leave them to cool. Taking my place with the truck drivers, fishermen and rancheros, I would place my order with the smiling matriarch. Waking in the desert at first light, I would brew campfire coffee, pack my bike and then cycle to a taqueria in the next fishing village. Often little more than makeshift kitchens of gas bottles, griddles, corrugated metal and sun-bleached plastic furniture, these roadside vendors of Baja cuisine are a cyclist’s saviour. At daybreak their catch is available in tacos de pescado from numerous taquerias. Too much spice will ruin your morningĪt night the glimmer of lights from the pangas (fishing boats) reflects off the sea. Overload, and it will slide down your front. But as the Transpeninsular Highway turns east to hug the beaches of the Sea of Cortez, Mexico’s quintessential street food becomes decidedly fishy. In northern Baja, tacos are predominantly meaty, carne asada and tacos de tripa. The villages that sporadically took shape on the hazy horizon became my oases, welcome opportunities to rest, replenish supplies and eat tacos. “Besides, I wasn’t the only gringo in San Felipe with a business major.Cycling the black ribbon of asphalt that weaves through the unceasing cactus forests, scrubland and arid mountains is monotonous, shadeless and hot. “It was one of those rare moments of inspiration,” says Rubio of that fateful night. Rubio’s is a multimillion-dollar company. Today Carlos’s old San Felipe stand still operates, but under different ownership. But Carlos had moved ― some said to the rival fish-taco center of Ensenada. Not long after the opening, Rubio returned to San Felipe to see the legendary Carlos and give him some money as thanks. Eventually Rubio figured out a recipe that worked, and with the backing of his father, opened his first restaurant in 1983 in an old, failed hamburger stand near Mission Bay. “It was late at night, I’m drinking Coronas with my buddies, and the thought hit me: If he doesn’t want to open a stand, why don’t I just get the recipe?”Ĭarlos provided Rubio with a recipe, though he didn’t specify exact amounts of ingredients. “I vividly remember the conversation,” says Rubio today. Carlos, making a decision that he can only hope his wife never hears about, replied that he didn’t want to leave Mexico. One night Rubio suggested that Carlos open up a stand in San Diego. Rubio was particularly fond of the fresh fish tacos made by a vendor named Carlos. In addition to cerveza, fish tacos at local stands proved to be their main sustenance, and became one of the prime reasons they would return to San Felipe each spring. That was the first year Rubio and friends at San Diego State went down to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortés. Done right, however, grilled fish tacos can taste mighty good, authenticity issues notwithstanding.Īll of which means that Ralph Rubio made the right call in 1974 when he decided not to stay home and study during spring break. These new heart-friendly tacos may be more healthful, but they tend to lose their soul along with the fat. Though many Americans are only now learning about the simple virtues of fish tacos, surfers and seasoned Mexico travelers have long considered fish tacos an integral part of the Baja experience.Īs fish tacos reached El Norte, they went upscale ― out of the fryer and onto the grill. In the meantime, this Baja export has become the border cuisine of the moment. They say their port town is the fish taco’s true home, dating at least from the opening of the Ensenada mercado, in 1958. But the señoras hustling and hawking virtually identical fish tacos at virtually identical stands at Ensenada’s fish market won’t stand for that. San Diego fish-taco mogul Ralph Rubio, whose chain of stores makes him the great white shark of the fish-taco world, cites San Felipe as the source. What everyone doesn’t agree on is where in Baja the archetype originated.
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