kalypso

Also consider La Bastide in Scripps Ranch.

I drove by yesterday and they were doing land office business. Parking is going to be tough since the lot is dinky. Can hardly wait to check this out, especially the fish counter. It'll be closer than either Point Loma Seafood or Blue Water.

I went with a small group booked through Marilyn Tausend's Culinary Adventures . I believe she is offering a least 1 more week class this summer. I don't think you can book private classes directly with Diana, and from what I understood last summer, her web site is sort of perpetually in development.

I'm on for Cavillion and 1500 Ocean.

Lots of people write lots of words about food, but a bar? Not so much. The Tender Bar is Pulitzer Prize winning journalist JR Moehringer's tale of growing up, finding and defining himself in terms of a bar. His writing style is compelling and easy to read, the story personal and at times not that easy to read. A good read for a rainy weekend or a long plane ride. Interesting, if not unusual, insight into what makes a bar work, even if it is dysfunctional.

I haven't cooked from the cookbook but I have eaten Isabella Cruz's food many times and it's wonderful. Full flavored and simple. If the recipe for Dragon Potatoes or Coconut French Toast are in the cookbook, start there.

G*d, why am I not surprised by either cleavage or the sexual discrimination issues. But, gosh, she was just so darn normal and knowledgable.

I agree. I didn't always get a chance to see Sara's show, but I liked it when I did. I found it curious when they didn't renew her contract. Now Mario and Emeril are gone and all that remains is vapid programming. Can Alton Brown's exit be far behind...

Wow, doc, what a frightening experience that must have been for your sister-in-law . I'm glad to hear that she was okay and it wasn't anything worse than it turned out to be. Looking forward to the rest of the trip report and your usual enticing food photos.

Yeah, there's just something rather unnatural about pairing Velveta and chocolate. I'm not sure if the problem was compounded by the addition of caramel, white chocolate and nuts or not. Call me a candy snob, I don't care how many bows you tie on it, or how much red sugar you stick it in, it was an unappealing mess I just didn't want to try. And, if you watched the judges they weren't to eager to try it either. I was, however, interested in trying Tyler's Gingerbread cakes and Robert's Cranberry Clafloutie.

El Naranjo has reopened. Iliana is not running it. She sold the restaurant to an American who has renovated and reopened. There are two threads on the Chowhound Mexico board from people recently returned from Oaxaca. Both have given the new El Naranjo a big thumbs up.

No, not hype at all. Mr. A's has been around for over 35 years and doesn't get much buzz because it's not a trendy, new restaurant. It is a very good restaurant turning out very good food. It does have the absolute best views in town and the food is up to the challenge of being on the same par as the view. It's elegant, understated and the food is very good. It attracts an older (i.e. over 35, maybe even over 40) customer base and that customer has disposable income.

In fact, before i read this post, I was weighing Mama Testa's majados vs Super Cocina ~ where I love nearly everything except their carnitas (there's a heavy hand with the canela). I'm not sure if the Linkery is my hands-down favorite place in town, but if I learned that I only had a week left here, I'd hit it. Maybe twice. I would add George's at the Cove in La Jolla. I had a dry-aged steak there last week that peeled back the last vestiges of prejudices from an Kansas City upbringing that made us...particular about steaks. It was the best one I'd had since moving to town. The service can be inattentive, but while daylight remains, it's a great view of the ocean to boot. The Kensington Grill on Adams Avenue can throw down some tasty drinks, good meals, and a respectable cheese board. ←

You could feed a small army at Hash House From the same folks that brought you Hash House comes The Tractor Room an ode to red meat, game and cocktails. Tables are close together, it's a little uneven, but the cocktails and apps are great and, as with Hash House, portions are on the obscene side of generous. I don't know that I'd recommend pizza to anyone from NYC since most of my East Coast friends lament the lack of even marginally good pizza in SD. A lot of people, however, also seem to like Lefty's in addition to Bronx. And, Caffe Calabria is getting darn close to opening their new wood burning pizza oven and Napoli style pizzas. Yeah, they've been training to make pizza in Italy, we'll see how they do.

San Diego is a big and spread out over a large geographical area, a car is essential as rapid transit is neither rapid nor especially efficient. The North Park corridor has a lot of new and interesting restaurants starting with The Linkery a place devoted to sustainable and locally grown products...including some of San Diego's finest craft beers. Also in North Park are Urban Solace stylish new place Aperitivo - 30th & University (couldn't find their web site) Alexander's - across the street from The Linkery The Commonwealth Cafe Heaven Scent Desserts If downtown try Stingaree and if your friends aren't into a "scene" have an early dinner and split before the tragically trendy arrive Confidential Dussini JSix Molly's Okay, this is in a hotel, but it's incredibly good. The Ivy another hotel, but currently one of the hottest spots in downtown and the gaslamp Cafe 222 for breakfast, at all cost SKIP Richard Walker's Pancake House If in Little Italy Songo diVino nice for a glass of wine and a quick app. Mona Lisa or Pete's Meats for great sandwiches to go Papplecco (State & Cedar) (most of Little Italy is over priced and over rated Italian tourist food) For Mexican, well unfortunately, San Diego doesn't really have great Mexican food. We've probably got more taco shop per square inch than anywhere else in the world, but good Mexican is hard to find Candelas upscale alt cocina Mexican El Agave in Old Town, if mole is the choice, this is the place. Can be inconsistent Mama Testa Taqueria devoted entirely to tacos from every state in the Mexican republic. The Mojados de Carne are exceptional (a soup really, rolled tacos cut into lengths and floating in a richly flavorful and spicy broth) or the hard shelled mashed potato tacos El Comal Since the closure of Chilango's this is the closest thing I've found to mid-range, not dumbed down Mexican food. On Illinois a 1/2 blk. north of Univeristy Super Cocina - the only place in SD to go for homestyle Mexican cooking. On University between Cherokee and 37th. Very far off the beaten tourist track, locals only. Food is served from a steam table but do not let that deter you. This is truly homestyle cooking and is very, very good. They will give you as many tastes of items as you want. Very inexpensive. Neighborhood can be a bit sketchy, especially after dark, perfectly safe during the day If going upscale Cavaillion Market Many votes for best new resto in SD Tapenade Addison 1500 Ocean at the Hotel Del and remarkably good Mr. A's best view in town, you get the harbor + all the planes landing and taking off, at night it's magical...and the foods pretty darn good too. If going mid-scale Oceaniare probably the bet oyster bar in town, strong happy hour crowd with disposable income, service can be snotty. Nine-Ten Terra And if your friend find themselves in or close to Balboa Park around happy hour time they should check out 7 for $7 before 7 pm at Laurel and that would be 7 apps for $7 before 7 pm, great bargain, sexy room. SD is not really a food destination, but if you look hard enough you can really find some pretty interesting stuff happening around town.

I want this Catrina! Thanks for posting, this is bringing back wonderful memories of Oaxaca for me

IF you've seen the original IC then you know that Kaga the original Chairman was quite campy, hokey and over the top. Nephew does not bother me much at all. French cuisine was held in high esteem on the original show and there were many French chefs with restos or branch operations in Japan that were on the original Japanese version. There were a series of shows filmed France in which each of the 3 Japanese ICs competed at least once. I don't believe these shows were ever shown on FTV. The Japanese IC was Nakamura who preceeded Morimoto. These shows were IC events and very similar to what we saw Sunday. In the Japanese version each IC talked about their relationship with food, we saw them shopping in various locations around France (not necessarily Paris) and then they cooked in the Chariman's Chauteau, which was not unlike the American Ambassador's residence. If you've seen some of the old Japanese IC segments the NIC episode from Sunday really kind of did harken back to them.

Good Lord, you just about have me convinced to jump in my car and and drive 8 hours through smoke and desert for dinner. If I flew I could be there in time for happy hour... Oh, great report and photos, BTW.

If you haven't yet tried Papplecco on the fringes of Little Italy, go. The gelatos are lovely, smooth, creamy, rich, robustly flavored and so decadent considering there's only about 110 calories per cup. Espresso is wonderfully rich and full-bodied with nice crema. The serve a delightful iced coffee drink that comes in an oversized martini glass. In addition to coffee and gelato there is a short selection of salads, bruschettes and panini. The pear salad with assorted cheese, walnuts and "green sauce" (read really well balance pesto) is perfect for lunch. I'm pretty sure the pears are soaked in prosecco. I've only had the brushette Napoli with tomatoes, pesto and pine nuts, but is was light and refreshing and the tomatoes actually tasted like tomatoes. The owner is charming, the ambiance is European, the gelato outstanding. It's at the corner of State and Cedar. Make a short 2-block detour east from India St and Little Italy and you won't be disappointed.

We had one meal at Rancho San Cayetano and breakfast several mornings. Diana has worked with them and done a lot of training with their kitchen staff. Even with that she referred to their queso fundido as dreadful. Here it is None of us really thought it was dreadful. In fact, my table had absolutely no difficulty polishing off the entire bowl. And rather quickly at that The queso fundido was part of the welcome meal we were served. It also included a very respectable and delicious Posole Rojo A refreshing ensalada de nopales And a choice of desserts The posole and the nopales salad were really quite good. The desserts I thought a bit weak. I think we all enjoyed breakfast there very much. I think I tried several of their egg dishes and found them to be light and well made. I think most of us also discovered we were very fond of their house made jams and honey. Even though it was rainy season when we were there, with the exception of 1 morning, the rest were all warm and dry enough that we could enjoy breakfast outside on the terrace. Rancho San Cayetano grows much of their own produce as well as actively farming stands of fruit bearing trees and bushes. I brought far too many jars of jam and honey home as gifts...some of which never made it to the giftee Here is a list of all the food we prepared in our classes with Diana Render lard Rich (very rich) chicken stock pork stock Slake corn and grind for masa Salsa de Cascabel Rice Beans Beans Yucateco style Sopes with the beans and chicharron from the rendered lard and the salsa de cascabel Panuchos Pickled Red Onions for the panuchos Red Chorizo Green Chorizo Mole Amarillo (am not a huge fan of mole amarillo and I think this is the single best version of mole amarillo I've ever eaten) Mole Verde Carnitas (which didn't turn out very well, and with which Diana was not happy) Guacamole with fruit from Guanajuato Tacos de Huitlacoche Tacos de flor de calabasa Uchepos Moreliense (fresh corn tamales) Prepared hominy for posole from scratch Posole Verde de Guerrero Cochinita Pibil Blackberry Atole And I'm sure I'm forgeting at least 7 or 8 other things we made We prepped chiles, we toasted, we charred, we ground ingredients, we blended, we fried, we pressure cooked, we played with our food, but most of all we simply ate...and ate well. This is not necessarily an experience that I'd recommend for everyone. It certainly helps to have a basic understanding of Mexican cooking and perhaps some experience with the techniques. If it's important that classes have a defined beginning, middle and end, this might not be the class for you. Small groups of us would be assigned to begin work on a dish only to be interrupted to come and watch a demonstration about something else, taste an interesting sample, observe an important technique, or listen to an explanation or short lecture about a different dish, techinque or ingredient than we were already involved in preparing. There's a huge amount of information provided, a huge amount of visual and sensory stimulation and things didn't always proceed from step 1 to step 2 to step 3 in an orderly manner. But, in the words of Diana Kennedy...ni modo. Everything worked out in the end and it all tastes good. Flexibility and the ability to kind of roll with the punches is helpful. Diana is particular about the way she wants things done and not exactly shy about telling you if you're not doing it just right It's also a fairly physical series of classes in that participants are on their feet most of the time and there is very little time to sit - and - it's all done at altitutde. For me it was the chance of a lifetime to meet an icon. I got confirmation that after(20+ years of serious study) I really do know as much as I thought I did and that my technique is pretty good. I was thrilled and delighted to have the chance to take classes with Diana and I do it again in a heart beat if I had the opportunity.

I've had a couple of good meals recently at places that haven't been mentioned here so I thought I'd give them a mention. Neither is fine dining and both are family owned, neighborhood type of places. They aren't cheap eats, but neither will they break the budget. Sabor Latino This is a sorta new, mostly Mexican, place in San Carlos that took over the space formerly occupied by Ana Maria Peruvian. I'd call it contemporary Mexican more than traditional or alta cocina. Traditional items have been updated and given modern twists but fall far short of the creativeness of alta cocina. My limonada was fresh squeezed lime juice that was refreshing though it could have used more sweetener and there wasn't any on the table. The tortilla soup that is a choice with entrees was excellent. Though the menu says chicken broth, the base was really a creamy soup infused with a subtle smoky hint of chipotle. Finshed with crisp, thin strips of corn tortilla, fine dice of avocado and a sprinkling of cotija cheese, it's simply one of the best versions I've had in San Diego. The beans and rice accompanying the entrees are standard but both the puntas de filete a la tampinquena and the chicken mole were pretty good. The beef tips had been sauteed in a fresh tomato sauce with onions and serrano chiles. The mole, which a bit sweet for my taste, was well balanced and a nice match with the chicken. Sabor Latino is located in a small Spanish-style shopping center at the corner of Navajo Rd. and Lake Murray Blvd. El Comal I'd heard a lot about El Comal and was anxious to try it. I was craving some good Mexican soup yesterday since the weather had finally turned a little bit chilly from our usual "sunny and 72* standard. A friend and I were actually on our way over to Cafe on Park for a late breakfast but were put off by the length of the wait so we changed gears and went over to El Comal for lunch. El Comal is located in a converted old house on Illinois about a half block north of University Ave. in North Park. The place is quaint and charming and even though the menu has English translations, the wait staff doesn't speak a lot of English; I was liking this place already 3 table salsa and a basket of chips hit the table pretty quickly. We like the chunky salsa with fresh tomatoes, onion and a mild chile kick. We both loved the salsa verde with the pronounced flavor of roasted green chile. The 3rd sauce was, I think, chile de arbol based, and while good, it lacked some balance and was our least favorite. I think it would probably work well as a condiment for tacos, quesadillas, huraches , etc. One of my favorite things from the Mexican kitchen are the soups, especially the ones that are an entire meal. I selected the Tlalpeno and my friend the Albondigas. Both soups were served in deep narrow soup bowls along with a smaller bowl of rice to be added to taste, a hot corn tortillas. Mine also came with the ubiquitous plate of chopped onion, cilantro, lime quarters and chopped serrano. My soup was chock full of juilenned carrots, zucchini, garbanzo beans and 2 nice pieces of chicken still on the bone. I would have liked the chicken broth to be a little richer, but still it hit the spot. My friend's albondigas were well seasoned and I thought the beef broth that they came in was pretty good. Caldo de Res, Siete Mares and Posole Rojo/Posole Blanco are other soup options. There aren't a lot of "combination" plates here, but there are a lot of corn based antojitos and entree plates that sound pretty interesting that I want to go back to check out. With Chilango's now gone, Sabor Latino and El Comal offer viable alternatives, though neither is quite as polished or sophisticated as was Chilango's.

The trip to Diana's actually began in Mexico City and was one of the trips offered by Marilyn Tausend's Culinary Adventures. On every trip Marilyn arranges an educaitonal, fun and highly entertaining market day and this trip was no exception. We were to stop at the market in Metepec just outside of Toluca on our way to Zitacuaro. In order to have enough stamina for the market we stopped at the new Polanco lcoation of El Bajio for breakfast on our way out of town. It's quite a lovely restaurant, though they do seem to have a lot of flat screen TVs scattered around. Luckily, however, the TVs were far outnumbered by lots of interesting folk art A playful 2-story wall of woven baskets As good as the folk art was, the food was even better. Fresh juices and hot pan dulces quickly arrived at our table. They were soon followed by a sublime tamal rilled with black beans and fragrant herbs and a plate of addictive soft cheese in a light and equally addictive broth finaly ending with one of the house egg specials The sauce was seed based and finished with avocado leaves and when mixed with the runny yolk from the eggs was really good. A never ending supply of fresh, warm corn tortillas accompanied the meal and were the perfect mop for the egg sauce. Sufficiently fortified we drove an hour (or so) northwest to Metepec. Marilyn spent some time at breakfast going over the lists of items one could expect to find in a Mexican street market and broke us up into smaller groups of 2 or 3, pairing those with market experience or Spanish skills with others who didn't. I was paired with a woman from San Francisco and another from New York City, neither had ever been in a Mexican market. As I hopped out of the van Marilyn handed me $200 pesos, pointed us in the direction of the market and told us we had 2 hours to find everything on our list. The 2 market virgins and I plunged in, they visibly blanched when less than 100' into the market I accepted the first food sample offered to me. Perhaps not the safetst thing to do, but it was hot and cooked through and I figured the odds were on my side. First stop was the vendor selling mesh bags. Having been on previous tours with Marilyn I knew we'd need it. Mexican markets, especially large and busy ones like this, are an assault on very sense, sight, smell, touch and sound. They're loud, they're colorful, they smell good in some places and stink in others and everythign has a texture to it. And each market has it's own particular vibe created by the sellers and their customers who come to meet and transact a little business. The vibe in theis market was very good and a very good place for novice market excursions. My two cohorts were, at first, somewhat repelled by the chaos but quickly adapted and got into it. Theyw ere captivated by the unusual fruits and vegetables, the many varieties of bananas, the care with which many displays were set up. My marekt Spanish is pretty good so we were able to find what we needed without too much difficulty (and you can never find everything on one of Marilyn's lists because some of it is seasonal and not available). My companions were impressed and touched by how nice everyone was to us and by how good the quality of the produce was and how inexpensive it was. We were the first group back tot he van with 15 mintues and $18 pesos to spare. Provisions safely stowed we piled back into the van for the remainder of the trip. The tour was headquartered at Rancho San Cayetano. Dinner there was our first encounter wiht Diana and we were asked to display our purchases and Diana would talk about each of the different items. One group laid out their dried chiles, gorgeous (but cultivated) mushrooms and in the back you can see was were some glorious squash blossoms Another group managed to find jamacia, yet even more chiles, fresh favas, and, IIRC that round thing in the center is a chichayote (if my memory is faulty, someone please post to correct) My group took a little different approach to our display. The woman from NYC happened to be a display artist by trade, sow we chose to focus our efforts on highlighting the sheer bounty avaiable The long skinny pods are guajes and you open them up and eat the seeds. The bushy green stuff in the back are - and oh, god I'm going to spell this wrong - huazontles. They have a flavor reminiscent of broccoli and are often served sort of like a fritter, i.e. dipped in a capeado similar to chile relleno, fried and served with a light tomato broth. Most of the produce made it up to Diana's house and augmented what she already had on hand or purchased at the Zitacuaro market. There are lots of weird and wonderful fruits and vegetables in Mexico and we encountered one of the oddest at Diana's. Behold the pitaya I believe these are also called dragon fruit. Dragon fRuit or pitaya, they are swet and refreshing and as Alton Brown would say - Good Eats.

In answer to the question about corn, I don't think it was green dent corn that we processed for masa. But, it could have been a variety of yellow dent corn since field corn is farm more common in Mexico than the overyly hyrbidized corn here NOB. This is probably as good a spot as any to share a little about Diana's land as it really is an impressive accomplishment. During the mid-50s Diana was taking a rather circuitious path home to England when she landed at the airport in Haiti. What she didn't know at the time was that she landed just ahead of a major coup. Her taxi deposited her at the Olafsson Hotel where she and the other guests ended up sequestered for the next few weeks as the city erupted into warfare and the bullets flew, sometimes even over the grounds of the hotel! It was here that she first met Paul Kennedy a Times reporter. She eventually returned to England and he to California. He was reassigned to Mexico City and invited Diana to visit. She hoped a freighter, stopped off in (pre-Castro) Cuba and then set sail for Mexico. The year was 1957. So what does this have to do with her land in Zitacuaro? Paul and Diana married but he died (cancer I think) in 1963 and Diana left Mexico for New York City. But as too many of us have found out, once Mexico has gotten under your skin there is no way out, the lure of the siren is too great. So she moved back to Mexico City. It was through ex-pat friends in D.F. that she first became acquainted with the area around Zitacuaro and eventually found and purchased her property. It took several years to find an architect and contractor who shared her vision of an ecologically friendly and self-contained compound, not to mention having to raise the money and negotiate water rights. Each morning promptly at 10 am we passed through the patio with the shady palapa dining area and entered directly into the kitchen through the back door There were numerous boulders on the property in it's raw state, some that would need to be blasted out of the ground, something she was not allowed to do. So, they built the house around them. The boulders dominate a landing that is between the kitchen, dining room, living room a stairs that lead up to a couple of bedrooms and greenhouse. Diana's beat up old pick-up truck has logged many miles on Mexican highways and ferried back numerous plants, trees, shrubs, flower, herbs and other botanicals from her explorations. Many of those ended up in her greenhouse or property as growing experiments. Some thrived in Michoacan, some didn't. IIRC she has about 7 acres of property and one the last day we got a tour. There was corn under cultivation, perhaps those of you that are more knowledgable than about as to variety can identify what is beign gorwn And in true Mesoamerican fashion Diana even grows corn and beans together An agricultrual experiment that really worked was coffee And no property in Mexico would really be complete without chiles. These may have been fresh chile de arbols, but I'm really not sure right now. I am more certain that these were poblanos Good soil and adequate irrigation seems to make just about anything grow in Michoacan And most of her property is lush with greenery, mature trees, foliage and flowers Not to mention the resident source of fresh eggs And new chickens Since water resources have been scarce Diana has several collection cisterns in place around her property. This one happens to be just off the patio Rainwater is collected and feeds into the house. Grey and waste waters are recycled and used throughout the property for various functions, making her water a continuous loop of collection, use, recovery, use and eventually back to the land. Also part of the patio is a really cool outdoor cooking set-up. Who wouldn't want to try cooking or baking in these wood burning babies Additional cooking options and storage for kindling and wood We used the adobe ovens to slow roast, as in over night, cochinta pibil. The marinade for the cochinita we made from scartch beginning with achiote seeds. No photo of that, but here are the panuchos that were the dish in which we used the cochinita pibil The land that Diana owns and developed is wildly beautiful but still in harmony with it's original intent and function. She may be a diminutive woman with a proper British accent, but she's also a fiesty lady determined to achieve her vision of sustainable living in a modern world. By all accounts she has succeed quite well.

I was delighted to learn that we'd be making chorizo from scratch, both red and green varieties, since I am very fond of Mexican chorizo. For the chorizo rojo, Diana chose Chorizo de Huetamo from The Art of Mexican Cooking (pg. 266). Huetamo is a small town in the hot coutnry of Michoacan. The chorizo was deceptively simple and once we got everything measured out and processed to Diana's satisfaction the recipe went together in a flash. The primary ingredients were pork, pork fat, guajillos and pulya chiles. The herbs and spices included fresh garlic, bay leaf, marjoram, thyme, dried Mexican oregano, whole peppercorns, cloves, whole allspice and salt. We added mild and strong vinegar and ended up with a soupy concoction Normally, Diana recommends letting the meat mixture rest for 3 days before stuffing the casings. Since time was of the essence, and we didn't have 3 days to wait, we stuffed the casings and then hung the finished chorizo for 2 days before using it. We did, of course, use natural casings...and a sausage stuffing tool Diana had acquired years ago in the Yucatan. It looks much like a large funnel with a wide exit tube, but a thrid of one side was missing. Strips of dried corn husk were used to tie off the chorizo at various points to create links. Both meat mixtures were pretty soupy so we placed bowls underneath the links to collect the excess liquid as it oozed out. We began the Wednesday class with a tour of the local market in Zitacuaro. I have yet to meet a Mexican market I didn't like and the one in Zitacuaro proved to be no different. Unforutnately, my camera chose this excursion to malfunction Spilling over several blocks and multiple buildings the market was the typical cornucopia of colors, aromas and organized chaos. We visited many of Diana's favorite vendors, watched 2 female butchers manhandle large primal cuts of pork while deftly wielding enormous and razor sharp knives. We learned that Mexican pork seems to be going the way of American pork, overly lean and flavorless. We purchased chickens, cheese and pickled figs and then we headed to the streets. It was summer, it was rainy and it was the growing season for corn. That can only mean one thing...huitlacoche. Historically, one of the Mexican ingredients that I have been much less fond of than chorizo has been huitlacoche. Pretty much I think it tastes like dirt. I've had it a number of different ways, fresh, canned, made by home cooks and skilled restaruant chefs. But still, it has always reminded me of mud. Nearly every vendor selling corn had grotesquely beautiful (not to mention photo-op worthy) ears of corn loaded down with the infamous corn smut. We loaded up on it and my dread level increase as well. Not only was I going to have to work wtih this stuff, I was, once again, going to have to eat it too. Oh, well, ni modo. Whether she trusted us or not with the goods I can't say, but Diana decided she would do the honors of getting the huitlacoche off the cob (and my camera decide to work once again). It's hard to see, but the cob is in there We sauteed up some white onion and added the huitlacoche and epazote leaves we'd made some rajas earlier and those went into the pan as well The huitlacoche was served simply as a taco It's not much to look at, but that taco may have been the single best thing I put in my mouth the entire week. It didn't taste like dirt or mud. The combination of flavors was light, ethereal, completely seductive and captivating. If I could have huitlacoche like this every time it might just become my new favorite food.

Diana grows much of her own corn, and we used some of it for our classes. She had already slaked out corn and sent it to her molinario to be ground for tortillas and other masa based products. And she wasn't expecially happy with the batch that got sent back...too lumpy. One of the most interesting demonstrations was grinding corn for masa. One of the things that I've always found rather amazing is that - without the need or use of modern technology - ancient MesoAmericans figured out that if they used cal (chemically pure calcium oxide) they could soften up dried corn and make it pilable, palatable and digestable. And the process remains remarkably unchanged over the course of several millenia. Cal looks like stark white rocks and can be found in most markets and tianguis in Mexico. First Diana broke a piece of cal into an earthenware bowl and sprinkled it with water. Since her cal was older, not much happened at first. A little more cal and a little more water got the chemical reaction going. Sizzle and steam were soon erupting from the little dish and as we put our hands over it we could feel the heat of the chemical reaction. And since it is a chemical reaction, using a non-corrosive pot, pan or cazuela is pretty important. Dried corn went into an enamelware pot alogn with some water. The cal quickly followed and within a very few minutes the skin on the corn kernels had turned bright yellow. We cooked it a bit and, IIRC, finished it using a pressure steamer to save on time. And Diana is all about doing things in a way that saves time, steps and energy. In other words, efficient and econonical, she wanted us to think about what we were doing a work smart. I don't have photos of the cal treatment of the corn, but I did take some of the next step...grinding the corn for masa, which was probably one of the more interesting demonstrations. This is a great upper body work out and there is no way to do it very quickly or in very large quantity. The corn grinder was attached (via "C" clamp) to a rail above a stump. In went some of the corn And we each got a turn, if we wanted it, turning the crank and grinding the corn. But once is never enough and the corn had to be ground a second time. The first grind corn, though lighter in weight and texture, was much finer and wetter than the whole corn kernels. This had a tendency to jam up the grinding gear. But as I've discovered time and again, Mexicans usually have a simple, logical and effective solution to problems like this. And, of course, they do. Inserting a finger down to the screw mechanism aerates the ground corn and can also clear any corn stuck to the grinding mechanism. And this is what the grinding mechanism looks like It's certainly not fancy, but it works. The corn we ground ended up being used to make the bases for the sopes. The chicharron from the lard rendering was used as garnish on the sopes, but really the high point of the sopes were the unctous, savory and utterly heavenly beans underneath the chicarron. Once again to save time we used the pressure cooker for the beans, but once done we really went to work on them. We heated a large cast iron skillet and tossed in some lard, the beans and a little liquid and went to work with a bean masher, ending up with combination of creamy and whole beans. We charred a few serrano chiles and then sauteed them in a little oil, slit them open and drug them through the beans to infuse them with some spicy heat and bite. Those beans were so good we even ate them straight and they were quite satisfying.