Belisario Dominguez seems to have become the street of the wonderful, healthy bakeries, first with Molika (#1503) and now El Trigal (#1807).
Many of you are familiar with 20-something Daniel and his mother, the proprietors of El Trigal. Last Thursday the terrific smells wafting out from their simple, clean new bakery literally demanded that Greg and I enter during our wanderings.
We purchased a luscious chocolate brownie which we munched on a shaded bench in the Plazuela, as well as a pie that we took home for cena/late night dinner.
And what a pie it was! We’ve all sadly had pies that, after cutting, fall nearly flat. Not so with El Trigal’s!
Our pie was piled tall with fresh tomatoes bursting with flavor, chopped fresh basil and goat cheese. We purchased it warm from the oven and it filled our car with such a good aroma that I can’t believe the pie made it home in one piece. Reheated later on it tasted so so good!
El Trigal sells a wide variety of breads including garlic, onion, cheese, bacon, herb, carrot, cranberries, raisins and nuts. They also carry a broad selection of pies such as strawberry, blueberry, pineapple, guava, apple, cheese and pumpkin, and flanes (custards) flavored with peach, caramel, mocha, nuts and neopolitan.
If you have not yet tried out El Trigal, you’ll definitely want to stop in and have a taste! It’s on Belisario Dominguez downtown, near where 21 de Marzo crosses. They are a terrific addition to the food scene in Mazatlán, I wish them much good fortune!
We’ve been watching it being built. Have gone in a couple of times to check out the progress. Was supposed to have opened in time for Carnavál last February.
But, hey, the Jonathan Hotelis now open, it’s been open for five days, and it’s beautiful!
Facing the Angela Peralta Theater, it has a view of our city that we haven’t yet been privy to; unless of course you own a 3-story home right in front of the opera house!
On this Thursday evening during graduation and end-of-the-school-year season, it was quite the exciting place to be!
The Hotel Jonathan, built with Korean-San Diego money from what I hear, is really gorgeous.
Very modern, though they kept the historic façade per Centro Histórico regulations.
We went at sunset this evening, and had a drink up on the rooftop bar as we waited for Danny to finish his painting classes at the Municipal Center for the Arts.
The setting is gorgeous, although you see the reality of our fair city right next door.
The food was good but not outstanding. That may of course improve as staff get accustomed to their roles. We ordered barbecued shrimp and crab-stuffed mushrooms. Danny later had clam chowder.
All our dishes were fine, just not remarkable. Presentation was nice.
The Jonathan Hotel would seem to be a beautiful addition to our local boutique hotel scene: well located, old-world yet modern, romantic yet sleek. The restaurant is on the ground floor and is gorgeous, with some nice Asian ink-brush paintings and floor-to-ceiling-windows onto the central courtyard.
A great place to wait for our kids to finish their classes. A great place for before or after the theater. A wonderful place to hear the Plazuela music without the crowds. Tonight the rooftop bar was ours and ours alone.
Let’s hope this venture endures! Good luck and god speed!
Update in July: The Hotel seems to have liked our photos. Check out the header on their web page. Would have been courteous to acknowledge this post and request use, but, glad it’s of use….
I’m privileged to have a terrific group of lady friends who like to cook, and we get together to learn and to teach one another once a month or so. In addition to our Thai cooking classes, we’ve made timballo (Italian “drum” with pasta and eggplant), tortas ahogadas, rajas, chicken mole, macarones, and lemon cake, among some other wonderful things.
Well, my friend Magda got the wonderful idea to book us a series of classes with Héctor at Molika, downtown on Belisario Dominguez near the Plazuela. While I’ve known Héctor for several years — he’s a GREAT bread baker (sourdough and ciabatta plus other good loaves) and I am in love with his grilled vegetables (which we also frequently make at home) — I discovered that he also truly shines as a teacher!
He is funny, charismatic, and I LOVE that he teaches METHODS rather than recipes! In one two-hour class on cooking fish, he demonstrated SIX different methods of preparing the fish we commonly have available here in Mazatlán. For me who learned to cook fish while living in Japan, I learned a lot. For example, he taught us to cut off the fins (see video above) before cooking the fish (you’ll know that most Asians LOVE the crispy fins and would never think of removing them before cooking), saying that the fins have too strong a flavor.
My favorite? Well, by now you know me. I love something different, and especially something impressive. And Héctor delivered: Pesce in crosta di sale, or fish in a “tomb” of salt. I’ve eaten many fish baked in salt crust before, but nothing quite like this!
Rather than just salt with aromatics, Héctor made a salt dough with the 2 salt : 1 flour, eggs, fresh herbs and a bit of water.
He kneaded it (see video above),
Rolled it out,
Pressed two pieces (top and bottom) to the form of the corvina, sealing the dough with beaten egg, decorated it a bit,
Trimmed it to shape (video above), and then baked it for 45 minutes.
The fish of course turned out incredibly moist, aromatic and flavorful. He said he prefers to use robalo rather than corvina, but I was plenty happy with this.
He suggested that we cut the rock-hard crust in the kitchen (you can see above that’s pretty challenging), then take the encrusted fish to the table, where we open it in front of our guests. That way the room fills with the wonderfully aromatic scents.
Finally, unlike Japan where everyone knows how to eat fish on the bone, Héctor suggested we remove the flesh from the fish in front of our guests, serving it up on plates. He removed and discarded the skin, saying that baked/steamed fish skin doesn’t taste good. I can hear the shocked gasps of my Asian friends now, but it was nice for me to learn a more European approach. I will definitely give this gorgeous dish a try. I must admit that I preferred the taste of several of the other dishes he prepared! This one was just a presentational stunner, like my timballo (thanks, Allison, for teaching me!).
We made pescado en papillote, fish steamed in paper. We stuffed the fish with aromatics: lemon peel, garlic and fresh herbs (basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme), then garnished with sliced fresh celery, onion and carrot. It was interesting to me, again with my Asian influence, that Héctor taught us to peel the celery, removing the fibers. Definitely a finer dining touch than I’m used to.
Above you can see Héctor opening the papillón.
A third dish we made in this two-hour class was the dish I swore every single Japanese restaurant serves: sole meuniere (lenguado). Many of the ladies were very happy to have Héctor teach them how to filet. Cleaning and preparing fish is fortunately one of the many skills I learned well in Japan. One of the key points he pointed out is to filet fish when it’s cold, fresh from the icebox. That way it’s much firmer and easier to handle.
Héctor studied and cooked in London before returning to his native Mazatlán, and he uses lots of olive oil and sea salt, as you’ve already seen (way more than I’m used to, though I will start putting a bit more olive oil on for taste at the end), and for this dish he used a whole lot of butter as well. Nobody said good cooking isn’t fattening! He did caution us to check the ingredients on the butter we buy, as ideally it should be made from milk, and not contain emulifiers and a bunch of chemicals. I do think that’s part of the baking challenge I’ve had since I moved here — gotta buy better butter.
And here we have the finished lenguado/sole, covered with sauce from the pan and garnished with a bit of parsley.
I had been craving salmon and asparagus, and just that morning bought both to make for lunch, so was fascinated to see Héctor make this as part of our repertoire for the day. He of course used clarified butter as it withstands higher heat, to get the nice crispiness on the salmon. Note: he removed the skin before cooking. I guess this is also either a European way or alta cocina, because personally I love the crispy skin. I was sooooo gratified to see him cook it the way I feel it should be. Héctor told us that salmon, tuna and swordfish should always be left rare in the center, and I heartily agree. People here in Mazatlán always seem to overcook fish.
The fifth dish he made was swordfish. He cubed the fish, sauteed it with fresh herbs, cherry tomatoes, capers and olives. In addition to the lemon (yellow lemon) rind he added to most all these dishes, he also added a bit of lemon pulp. This concoction he poured over his famously to-die-for ciabatta, and oh my!!!! The bread somehow soaked up and enhanced the lemon flavor of the sauce, and it was soooooo delicious!
I’ve left my favorite dish for last. Fortunately, it was also probably the easiest to cook: pescado en la bolsa, fish in a bag. He used the same ingredients as most of the other dishes — fresh herbs, cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil. The wonderful part, besides the incredible taste?
He put all the ingredients in a ziploc bag and cooked it in near-boiling water on the stove! It took just a few minutes and there was nothing except the serving dish to clean up! My son is in Scouts, and they cook just like this on their campouts. Maybe not quite the gourmet ingredients as this, but still very tasty nonetheless.
Thank you, Magda, for setting this up for us! Thank you, Héctor, for a marvelous class! We are very much looking forward to our next one.
Anyone wanting to arrange a class for a group of friends, please give Molika a call: 669-981-1577. Héctor’s English and Spanish are flawless, and his kitchen skills are a gift to Mazatlán.
One of the best aspects about living here in Mazatlán is the fresh fish we are able to buy every morning. Okay, well, we don’t go on Mondays, because there’s not been a lot of fishing on Sunday, but any day Tuesday through Saturday, you can bet we are happy campers.
We take our daily walk down the malecón and, in Playa Norte just across from the pangas, is our favorite spot: Pescadería del Mar.By now these guys know us and they’ve helped us to learn a lot about fish and fishing here in town: what’s seasonal, how fish are stored (on ice, frozen, salted) from the time they’re caught till they’re brought in to shore, and how to cook what’s available locally.
At 7 am when we’re there we usually have a terrific selection. Of course, depending on the season and the weather, we may have more or less fish to choose from. As you can see in this photo, though, there’s usually quite a variety.
The fishmongers will scale and clean any fish we choose, so I can cook it whole, or they’ll fillet (de-bone) and cut up anything we’d like, however we’d like it. They also get fresh shrimp, which I love, because they are deep water shrimp that have NOT been stored in salt, so they’re sweet rather than pungent. They get quite a bit of squid, also, which I love to saute with garlic and herbs. We can occasionally get fresh scallops, too. Our favorite is corvina, a nice firm fish that is sooooo savory! We can at least a couple of times a week get smoked marlin (usually still warm from the smoker and sooooooo aromatic!), and escabecheon Fridays.
It’s fun to watch either the fishermen fresh off their pangas across the street, or a dealer/go-between (usually on a scooter or motorcycle) come to deliver the fish to the fishmongers and make a deal. They have an outdoor scale to weigh what’s brought in, and an indoor scale to weigh what you purchase before it’s trimmed to order.
Having lived so many years in Japan, I am also very happy when they get sushi-quality tuna, though I do believe most of the fresh fish they have is sushi/sashimi quality. Chirashi has never been so delicious and affordable!
If you are a carnivore/omnivore, and do not take advantage of our local fresh fish, please do! You are missing some really flavorful and healthy, and easy and quick to cook, local delicacies!
We made a terrific new discovery today, out of the blue. A wonderful little restaurant right on the beach with a laid-back style and … drumroll please … a very creative menu: Jamaican jerk beef, sun dried tomato quiche, shiitake mushroom and vegetable spring rolls with mango-habanero salsa … How unusual is THAT for Mazatlán?
As if creativity weren’t enough (you know you can recite the ceviche/aguachile/pescado o camarones a la diabla, mojo de ajo o a la plancha of 90% of our local restaurants), items are made fresh, the menu changes weekly, and it includes lots of fresh veggies, salads and homemade soups. The owner loves music, so she chooses a musician of the week (this week is most rightly dedicated to recently departed Etta James) and tailors her weekly menu to the theme. As I said, creativity reigns in this place.
The restaurant, called “Surf’s Up,” is owned and operated by a vivacious young Canadian woman named Leanne Wright (that’s her at left, between my two boys). She relocated here from Vancouver a year ago, and together with her parents has spent the past year readying the cafe and an adjoining four-room bed and breakfast called “El Sol La Vida” for business. The “resort” opened nine weeks ago, and is located right next to Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay (Camino al Delfín #520) in Sabalo Cerritos. It is definitely worth the drive!
The inviting interior with open kitchen seats maybe 20-24 people, and there are outdoor terrace tables as well as numerous tables on the beach. The view is spectacular, the setting very peaceful and yet vibrant. Surf’s Up is open Wednesday through Saturday 8 am – 4 pm, and any evening for dinner with a prior reservation (669-164-1896). They also serve a Sunday brunch from 10 – 4. In addition to the substantial meal menu, there is a full coffee menu (lattes, cappuccinos, frappes).
Leanne (that’s her at left, between my two boys) told us she’s worked in food service for 14 years, and loves to travel the world taking cooking lessons with top chefs (this summer she’ll be in Tuscany). She buys breads from Héctor at Molika and produce from the new Organic Farmers’ Market in Plaza Zaragoza. Turns out that in addition to being an outgoing and upbeat cook with a keen sense of design (the whole place is really charming), she’s a highly ranked amateur boxer who will travel with the Canadian team to this summer’s London Olympics (she won’t be boxing, though, due to injuries from a car crash). And, no, she hasn’t yet made it to la cancha German Evers to see one of our local boxing matches.
There were three of us for lunch today, and we had the above-mentioned spring rolls served with a terrific side salad (spring mix lettuce with sweet onion, four colors of bell peppers, craisins, almonds and cheese);
a very tasty chicken tostada (the sweet onions made it);
and roast beef on ciabatta with potato slices, two kinds of cheese, grilled onions, and mustard seeds. This last was listed on the menu as a breakfast item. The breakfast menu is lengthy and also creative, and is served all day.
For dessert we split a homemade oatmeal cookie with coconut, raisins and almonds. Leanne was just taking these out of the oven as we entered, and the smell was to-die-for. She also had slices of apple coconut cake available.
We all very much enjoyed our meals. Each of them was solidly good tasting, beautifully presented, and a welcome breath of fresh air in an exceptional setting. Keeping in mind this restaurant is only nine weeks young, it is our hope that as Leanne settles in and gets more comfortable, the flavor of her recipes will rise to the high level set by the creativity of her menu.
Menu items (most accompanied by soup or salad) ranged from 80 – 100 pesos, which we felt was very reasonable, though for some reason the hamburger is priced at a very high 150 pesos. Yes, it’s Henderson’s sirloin, but … My fear is that as Surf’s Up gets popular the extensive menu may have to be trimmed, and Leanne will obviously have to hire and train some more staff, which seems so often to make for difficulties with a new place. Changing menus each week can place added stress on a kitchen staff as well and quality may suffer; we will have to check back and see.
After lunch we toured the four rooms and common area of the bed and breakfast, El Sol La Vida. The rooms were large and airy. The wood carpentry has been beautifully done. All rooms except one had a terrace or patio.
Bathrooms have onyx sinks and marble tile work. Shower enclosures are glass block. Rooms are $129 Canadian per night, and the one without a terrace is $99/night.
Leanne’s parents were owner-operators of a garden center for years and it shows with wonderful landscaping and floral treats throughout the property.
The pool is heated and well positioned. There is a poolside bar, and some incredibly comfortable-looking seating, plus easy access to the beach.
I wish Leanne and her parents all the best of luck! I do hope this place gains popularity in a way that will allow them to succeed; it has a terrific energy about it.
Welcome to Mazatlán, and thank you for being here!
One other small note:
As we drove in, we noticed a very interesting property next door. Danny said it reminded him of the Lord of the Rings. Sure enough, Leanne told us that the guy who built it had the book series in mind, and the 5-bedroom uniquely built place is now a rental property, called Sand Castle. Like elves? Check it out!
¡VidaMaz! 