My Pescado - Eating from the Sea of Cortez
The Sea of Cortez is teaming with fish; perhaps not as abundant during Steinbeck's adventures, but they are still here. You can see them under the crystal blue water. They jump into the air to tease the fisherman. Each morning, a fleet of Mexican fishermen in their tiny pangas and American sports fishermen in their fast boats head out toward the rising sun. Later in the afternoon, they return with their catch in time for the dinner hour.
The day we arrived in Loreto, my friend Randy brought in two large yellowtails (see picture). He quickly filleted them and took them to a local restaurant for tonight's meal - Mita Gourmet, owned by Juan Carlos Cortes. For about five dollars per person, the chef prepared a gourmet feast for eight people out of those two fish.
The first course of ceviche, a Mexican dish of raw fish marinated in lime juice, chiles, and ? I love ceviche and this was the best that I have ever eaten. The next course was some tuna "fish sticks" to dip in some type of sauce - another winner. The main course was the yellowtail prepared in three different ways, from Veracruz style to grilled with spicy, dried chiles. There was no salad; no rice and beans - just those four types of prepared fish. We left the restaurant stuffed, but still had room for some homemade Mexican ice cream on the plaza.
So far, we have eaten our share of camarones (shrimp), squid, lobster, and clams. We went out fishing once and didn't catch anything. Of course, the people around us were pulling them in right and left. We had originally thought that we would be fishing from our kayak, but once you get a look at the size of some of those fish, I could see us being pulled out to sea by a huge sailfish; never to be seen again. Visions of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea streamed through my head.
We did kayak a bit, including using an electric trolling motor that I mounted to it. I love paddling a kayak, but I could really get used to the motor. It quietly propelled us about five miles along the coast. Since the motor was blocked by my body and and I steer with my feet, I wonder what the people on shore were thinking as we went zipping by a few miles per hour? I should of put my hands over the side, pretending to paddle.
In the afternoon, there is quite a breeze that blows across the Sea of Cortez. It is good for small craft people - like the two of us - to be on shore when that happens. We wanted to paddle out (or motor!) to out to our favorite seafood restaurant, LaPicazon (means "the feeding frenzy"), located about 8 km north of Loreto. This open palapa-style restaurant is owned by Alejandro and Imelda Igartua and their sons. Alejandro is the host and palapa-builder, and the person in charge of ferrying in the people who arrive by boat. Since Alejandro does not have a boat dock, he wades out and piggy-backs the people into shore to they won't get their feet wet. I have a great picture of him hauling my wife to shore last year. Imelda is the chef and prepares whatever her sons catch that day by spear-fishing. We decided on the house specialty - large shrimp baked in a pineapple. I am sure the boys didn't spear-fish the shrimp, but I can say this is one of the best meals that I have ever eaten. The ambiance is incredible, too - sitting in an open palapa with only the Sea of Cortez as your window.
We are going to LaPicazon today. I suspect my friends are preparing an early birthday celebration for me since they asked me what kind of cake that I liked. I can already taste those pineapple shrimp.
This blog entry is like a restaurant review, but in Loreto, eating seafood is a noble pastime. I was reluctant to even brag about the food and this little town for fear that people would be coming in droves. Loreto is changing, unfortunately. It will not be a sleepy village of 15,000 people for very long. The cruise ships have found it and so have retirees. There are hundreds of Americans and Canadians that own homes here. They are systematically eating all of the fish...MY fish.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Loreto, Baja, Mexico, Sea of Cortez, fish, yellowtail, seafood
Photo Credit: Rod Moser
The first course of ceviche, a Mexican dish of raw fish marinated in lime juice, chiles, and ? I love ceviche and this was the best that I have ever eaten. The next course was some tuna "fish sticks" to dip in some type of sauce - another winner. The main course was the yellowtail prepared in three different ways, from Veracruz style to grilled with spicy, dried chiles. There was no salad; no rice and beans - just those four types of prepared fish. We left the restaurant stuffed, but still had room for some homemade Mexican ice cream on the plaza.
So far, we have eaten our share of camarones (shrimp), squid, lobster, and clams. We went out fishing once and didn't catch anything. Of course, the people around us were pulling them in right and left. We had originally thought that we would be fishing from our kayak, but once you get a look at the size of some of those fish, I could see us being pulled out to sea by a huge sailfish; never to be seen again. Visions of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea streamed through my head.
We did kayak a bit, including using an electric trolling motor that I mounted to it. I love paddling a kayak, but I could really get used to the motor. It quietly propelled us about five miles along the coast. Since the motor was blocked by my body and and I steer with my feet, I wonder what the people on shore were thinking as we went zipping by a few miles per hour? I should of put my hands over the side, pretending to paddle.
In the afternoon, there is quite a breeze that blows across the Sea of Cortez. It is good for small craft people - like the two of us - to be on shore when that happens. We wanted to paddle out (or motor!) to out to our favorite seafood restaurant, LaPicazon (means "the feeding frenzy"), located about 8 km north of Loreto. This open palapa-style restaurant is owned by Alejandro and Imelda Igartua and their sons. Alejandro is the host and palapa-builder, and the person in charge of ferrying in the people who arrive by boat. Since Alejandro does not have a boat dock, he wades out and piggy-backs the people into shore to they won't get their feet wet. I have a great picture of him hauling my wife to shore last year. Imelda is the chef and prepares whatever her sons catch that day by spear-fishing. We decided on the house specialty - large shrimp baked in a pineapple. I am sure the boys didn't spear-fish the shrimp, but I can say this is one of the best meals that I have ever eaten. The ambiance is incredible, too - sitting in an open palapa with only the Sea of Cortez as your window.
We are going to LaPicazon today. I suspect my friends are preparing an early birthday celebration for me since they asked me what kind of cake that I liked. I can already taste those pineapple shrimp.This blog entry is like a restaurant review, but in Loreto, eating seafood is a noble pastime. I was reluctant to even brag about the food and this little town for fear that people would be coming in droves. Loreto is changing, unfortunately. It will not be a sleepy village of 15,000 people for very long. The cruise ships have found it and so have retirees. There are hundreds of Americans and Canadians that own homes here. They are systematically eating all of the fish...MY fish.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Loreto, Baja, Mexico, Sea of Cortez, fish, yellowtail, seafood
1 Comments:
Now thats living. Good food, good company, a beautiful place. Nothing better
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