The Dining Diva

Restaurante Asao en Tecate

Tecate sprawls out over the starkly beautiful, rocky hills about 25 miles East of Tijuana, or 45 miles East of downtown San Diego and is readily accessible from either. With only about 320,000 inhabitants life flows along at a slower more relaxed pace, making it an attractive escape to those of us in the neighboring metropolitan areas.

So yesterday I did a day trip to Tecate along with 4 friends, Barbara, David, Jim and Suzanne. The date, 11-11-11, was supposed to be a lucky day, and whether that is true or not it's hard to say; I can say we did have a magical day that was capped off and highlighted by an unforgettable meal at Asao. There is nothing quite as satisfying as sharing a meal with good friends where the conversation is relaxed and easy, the food fantastic and everything seems right with the world...whether it is or not.

Restaurante Asao is part of the El Santuario Diegueño conference and event center.  The name of the center pays homage to the Digueño, or Kumeyaay, indians who inhabited - and still do - both sides of the border in this area. The grounds themselves have been beautifully landscaped with local, regional and indigenous plants and the contemporary buildings built to blend into the environment. It all creates a lovely and elegant ambiance that seamlessly connects the outside to the inside.

 The word Asao in Kumeyaay means to eat, and boy did we. Since we'd been traveling around town on foot, and the last 2 blocks to Asao are mostly uphill we were ready for some cool drinks. David went with a Michelada, but the rest of us opted for Sangria Preparada...

...which is essentially limonada on the bottom with a red wine float on the top. Not only was this version attractive it tasted really good when blended together with neither the limeade or the red wine overpowering the other. Along with the drinks we were served an amuse bouche (single bite hors d'oeurve) of a crisp baguette disk topped with a creamy cheese mixture, drizzled with balsamic syrup and delicate sprouts. The perfect little bite to whet the appetite while we reviewed the menu.

All of us seemed to breeze by the Entradas (appetizers) and Sopa (soup) and homed in on the Ensalada menu. David, Barbara and Suzanne all decided to go with the mixed lettuce salad...

...that came with a lightly crumbed and sauteed knob of goat cheese and half a small pear that had been poached and glazed. The salad was dressed with a tamarind based vinaigrette.

I happen to like plantains quite a bit, so resisting the spinach salad was pointless. In addition to little bits of plantain, the salad also held crushed nuts, a couple of cherry tomatoes and some strips of candied fruit (biznaga?)...

...dress it with an agave nectar based vinaigrette and finish it off with an amaranth crisp and I had a salad that pleased me right down to the last bite.

Jim went simple and old school with the Caesar salad but ended up with probably the most interesting presentation...

...a Caesar salad stacked like a napolean and showered with shredded parmesan. More of those super crisp baguette thins stood in for the traditional crouton.

As anyone can see, the plate presentation on all 3 salads was beautiful, but the best part was, each salad actually tasted as good as it looked. Then we moved on to the entrees.

David doesn't eat a lot of red meat so decided to treat himself to one of the beef filets...

...which came still pink inside and napped in a spicy salsa verde. David doesn't like super spicy chile dishes so much and thought the sauce just bordered on being too hot for him. I, on the other hand, who does like spicy, thought the salsa verde had a nice kick that really complimented the beef very well, but wasn't too hot. David didn't really have too much difficulty polishing off his tender steak, and he was delighted with the grilled chunk of corn still on the cob that came with the plate.

Suzanne thought the Chile Relleno filled with Smoked Marlin sounded just like her ticket...

...and turned out to be a dried chile that had, indeed, been stuffed with a very rich and savory smoked marlin. As she ate it she tried difference combinations of the accompaniments and finally decided that if she put a bite of relleno, a dab of guacamole, a little cabbage and some of the cheese crisp all on the fork together, it was darn near the perfect bite for her (and for us as well)

Barbara and I each chose one of the duck preparations. Both duck dishes started with a very generous portion of confit duck...

I chose the duck with the salsa de tamarindo (tamarind sauce) and I can only say it was delicious. It did get a bit too sweet towards the end of the dish, but at no time did it ever enter into cloyingly sweet territory. And part of that may have been my own fault. My spinach salad had some nice sweet notes to it. Perhaps if I had chosen a different starter or salad, I may not have noticed the sweetness at all. But it makes no difference, duck was very good.

I did think that Barbara had the better of the two duck dishese though...

...with her choice of duck in pipían verde.  Pipíanes are nut and seed based rustic sauces. There was nothing particularly rustic about this one as it was elegant and well balanced. In fact, as Barbara got to the end of her duck she was wishing she had more of the pipían, it was that good.

Having dined with Jim in the past, I knew he had a knack for unearthing menu items that maybe didn't sound so interesting on the menu but turn out to be some of the best things on it. He didn't disappoint me...

...in his selection of the luminous seared tuna. Wow, probably one of the best dishes of the day. It's resting on a bed of sea beans and that little blob of light green is wasabi sorbet. The buttery, sashimi grade tuna was a very light and refreshing dish.

Portions at Asao are not stingy and the well stocked bread basket dangerous, so after salads and mains we were all feeling pretty full. But whether I actually order dessert or not, I've not really ever been known to refuse a dessert menu. It had most of the usual dessert suspects, but the first one caught both Suzanne and my eye. Espuma de Atole con Dulce Frijol y Buñuelos?  Atole (corn) foam with sweet beans?  That seemed like such an unlikely combination. We debated back and forth about whether to order it or not. David solved the dilemma by ordering 1 dessert and 5 spoons...

...Suzanne and I took the first bites and almost simultaneously had that Oh...My...God moment. This has got to be the single best dessert I've had so far in 2011. It was impossibly light, but at the same time wonderfully rich, not to sweet, utterly delicious. The corn from the atole was subtle and nuanced and the sweet bean puree, silky smooth. The buñuelos?  Well, those were probably the only thing that wasn't just about perfect in the entire meal, but they were such a minute part of it, who cares, certainly we didn't.

Good friends and good food...what a day. 

The check for 1 Michelada, 4 Sangria Preparadas, 5 salads, 5 entrees and 1 dessert (with 5 spoons), tax and a generous tip was $40 each making this an incredible deal for the quality of the meal. And it should be mentioned that the service was stellar. The staff is efficient and well trained and service is professional and anything but stuffy.

Restaurante Asao is located at Estaban Cantu 214 and is walkable from the Tecate border crossing.

If coming from San Diego on highway 94, it is probably advisable to dine at Asao for midday comida as the stretch of 94 from Tecate to the border patrol check point is fairly curvy with a couple of steep descents that might be a touch hairy in the dark after a tequila or 3.  If driving across the border to Asao, it's super easy to find. Once you cross, go down to the stop light at Ave. Juárez, turn left and follow it until you see the sign, turn left, go up the hill and park. Or just follow this map

I'm not sure if 11-11-11 was a perfect day, but it was certainly magical

 

Ek Balam

 

Ek Balam - Black Jaguar.

Like those big black cats there is something rather slinky and seductive about Ek Balam.  It could be the light. It could be the lush, deeply green jungle foliage. Or it could simply be the lack of tourists.  Whatever the reasons, it is a hauntingly beautiful site and well worth spending a morning (before it gets too hot) exploring the nooks and crannies.

According to oral histories that have been passed down, Ek Balam was the leader of the group of Maya that originally settled and developed the location. It thrived for about 1,000 years reaching it's peak between 700-900 A.D. and was a contemporary settlement to Cobá  In fact, on a clear day, from the top of the main pyramid, it is possible to see the pyramids of Cobá 30 miles away!

Ek Balam, like most Maya cities, lay on one of the well traveled sacbe, the Route 66 of the Maya world.

 

The first thing a visitor traveling the sacbe would have encountered was a 4-sided, arched entry into the town, each arch facing one of the 4 directions (North, East, West and South). During Maya times, travelers would have made offerings for having arrived safely, or offerings to ensure a safe trip. Modern day travelers simply take photos.

 

Walls around a Maya city were not all that  unusual.  They functioned to fortify the city and provide an extra measure of defense during periods of warfare. The system of double walls discovered at Ek Balam is unique to that location. Archaeologists have found no clear indicators that would explain the purpose of the 2 walls.

There are still numerous oval Maya homes dotting the landscape all over the Yucatan. They usually consist of adobe/mud walls with tall thatched roofs that rise to a peak over the center of the house. Even though the homes were oval, an oval structure atop a pyramid was uncommon. Other than Ek Balam, very few have been documented

 

Another  unique feature of Ek Balam, that most likely speaks to the importance or significance it commanded, is the sheer size of some of the structures. The Acropolis is an enormous building, over 500 feet long, 200 feet wide and 6 stories tall. It was home to the government palace and most of the city's business functions, and functionaries.

 

 

(The thatch pictured above was added by archaeologists excavating the site to protect from the elements some of the well preserved relics, artifacts and bas-relief carvings they found while working on this pyramid)

True to Maya construction principals, every 52 years a new shell was wrapped around the outside of the original structure. Any new levels would have been added at this juncture as well. 52 years  - about the average life span at the time Ek Balam was active - is a frequently used time frame in the Maya system of counting and marking time. Using the day, month and year system of astronomy/astrology to name babies usually meant that a name was not repeated for 52 years. So unless there were multiple babies born on the same day, it pretty much ensured that everyone had a unique name as their personal identification.  But, back to the pyramid...

As excavation began on The Acropolis, a number of key discoveries were made. Chief among them was a fierce facade about half way up the pyramid. It is a gaping mouth lined with fangs, presided over by a ruler and flanked by warrior guards.

 

 

 
 

The Maya actually believed in 5 Directions - the 4 cardinal directions North, South, East and East - with the 5th Direction being a portal into the underworld.  The mouth/doorway is believed to be such a portal and Ek Balam himself is thought to be buried within the pyramid. The jaguar was, in multiple guises, a primary player in the Maya pantheon of deities, and is represented by the fangs (the inverted hook-like pieces that protrude from the walls) around the portal. Evidence of blood has been found within the fang-lined platform in front of the monstrous gaping mouth. Most of it is believed to be the result of ritual blood-letting by sacerdotes (priests); it is unknown how much of the blood residue may be the result of human sacrifice.

The fanged portal is guarded on either side by large warrior statues. Statuary as we know it was not common in the Maya world and statues with what appear to be angel wings is virtually unknown. Most Maya stone work is in flat bas-relief. These status are 3-D with well chiseled features.

 

The climb up the pyramid to the platform where the fanged portal and warrior guardians are located is, surprisingly, much easier than it looks.  The stairs not nearly as steep or as narrow as at other sites.  Continue on up the pyramid to the top where the view is grand, if not flat.

 

 

Bring a hat, bring a bottle with water and about $4 USD for the entry fee. Ek Balam is a gorgeous and well maintained site . It has features that are unique and unusual, but best of all you may have the entire place to yourself. It that's the case, climb up to the top of The Acropolis, settle in and try and imagine what it must have been like 1,000 years ago. You might discover your imagination doesn't have to wander far...

ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena

Picture it, the year is 1552, you're young Spaniards fresh off the conquest and you've just been asked to construct your order's first church in a foreign, and often strange, new world. Your objective is to create a space conducive to converting, ministering and protecting the indians, meeting the needs of the religious and secular communities as well as being a safe haven from potential attack. This was the position in which ex-Conquistador turned architect, builder and Friar, Juan de Mérida and Fathers Hernando de Guevara and Francisco de la Torres found themselves.  

They chose to build their church in a small community called Sisal just outside Valladolid and away from the primary Spanish settlement. Not only would the location allow them to protect their indigenous charges from abuse by local landowners that was already becoming evident, it would also allow them to create a wholly self-sustaining community. Naturally, this didn't sit too well with local landowners who perceived the friars as unfairly meddling with their indian labor. Numerous hostile conflicts occured before and during construction of the church as a result of the choice to situate the church in Sisal. The monastery was built over a large cenote call "Sis-Ha" (cool or cold waters in Mayan) that connected to a quick flowing underground river. From the directional orientation of the church to the many cave-ins during construction, each architectural problem was dealt with as it arose. By 1560, however, after the conflicts, cave-ins and assorted other delays and set-backs, the church was finally completed and consecrated. 

The finished church had a rather squat, fortress-like appearance and certainly lacked the ornate flourishes of churches found in other parts of Mexico and also lacked the typical East/West orientation. The austere construction continued into the interior of the church as well which was, and still is, a plain affair that is devoid of the usual adornment found in many Mexican churches.

One of the things that makes the ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena an interesting and worthwhile visit is that it looks very much like it did when it was completed. There has not been much modification or addition to the original structure so it's pretty easy to get a good idea and feel for what the church must have been like in 1560.

 

Though walled up now, an open chapel was built on the south side (to the right in the photo above) of the building for the indigenous parishioners.

400+ years of wear and tear have been kind to the ex-Convento. The severe lines have soften considerably, and, in the light afternoon sunlight, the stones and mortar settle into an attractive and mellow ocher glow.

 

 

Fans and students of religious iconography will find a number of statues and retablos inside the church worth checking out. Just to left of the church entrance is a small museum in the old cloisters area that reflects the daily life in the monastery, some treasures that were recently dredged up from the cenote as well as a few nice pieces of colonial religious art.

If the Franciscans were successful in building a stable and functional monastery, they were wildly successful in making it a totally self-sufficient one as well. Once the church was completed, extensive gardens and orchards were planted ensuring a steady source of food for both nourishment and trade. Remnants of the old orchards still stand and on certain parts of the grounds the gentle scent of orange blossoms hauntingly drifts through the air.

 

 

 Since the church was build over a large cenote and underground river, they also had a steady source of clean water. There are 4 access points to the cenote, one of which was turned into the "noria" or well-house. Much of the original stone well-house still exists and it's an easy climb up to take a peek into the depths of the cenote though there really isn't much to see these days except a big grate covering a big hole.

 

 

 In the early 2000s the depths of the cenote were plumbed and yielded a surprising cache of weapons. 167 guns and rifles were recovered from the deep water, along with part of a cannon. Many of the firearms are now on display in the monastery museum along with period photographs and information (in Spanish) about the local skrimishes in which they could have been used.

If walls could talk, as the saying goes, those of the ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena could surly tell a tale to rival any present day telenovela. As it is, we are left with the purity of the architectural design and graceful old stone facade keeping silent testament to 450+ years of history.