Caldo De Piedra — Oaxaca Restaurant Review
December 26, 2009 by admin
Filed under Restaurant Reviews
Alvin Starkman asked:
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
Campesinos working the land or tending flocks in the river valleys and hills of the Sierra Norte would stop, fish for trout, or perhaps gather lobster-like langostinos after the first rains in May, and then cook their bounty in an unusual way. They would place their catch in a half-gourd filled with river water and freshly picked aromatic herbs, heat rocks from the banks to red-hot, then place them in the bowl and watch their meal quickly poach in a boiling broth.
Caldo de Piedra, located a few minutes outside of Oaxaca on the highway leading to Santa María el Tule, ceremoniously replicates the age-old custom before your eyes. The restaurant is a large, simple palapa with an open kitchen. The menu is effectively non-existent since all that is served are generously filled quesadillas and similar appetizers, your choice of three soups (the caldos), and non-alcoholic beverages.
The owners boast that this traditional meal preparation dates to pre-Hispanic times, and was practiced in their home village, San Felipe Usila, in the district of Tuxtepec.
Service is uncharacteristically fast. Waitresses are eager to attend to orders, and more importantly answer all queries about your comida’s preparation, so be sure to ask to go over to the two kitchen areas to bear witness to the procedural pomp. On the one side are women working over metate (grinding stone) and comal (large round clay “stove-top” used for cooking over an open flame), hand-making tortillas for filling with your choice of quesillo (the famed Oaxacan string cheese), mushrooms, squash blossoms and more. On the other side unfolds the curious convention. A substantial helping of your choice of raw, medium sized shrimp, red snapper, or a combination of the two is placed in a jícara (the half gourd) with a selection of chiles, onion and leafy herbs including requisite cilantro. A blender off to the side is used to prepare a tomato-based liquid which is then poured into each vessel. With the aid of a large wooden tong, a couple of baseball sized river stones are plucked from a flaming fire pit, gingerly placed in each gourd, and voilá, your meal starts to boil. Rocks are added a second time, following which each comida-in-a-pot is brought to the table.
Flavors remain distinctly discernable to the extreme, given that fresh ingredients are combined on the spot. The chef/proprietor is in complete control of process so as to assure the proper degree of doneness (with only one cooking method and a choice of only three main dishes, it’s pretty well guaranteed). It’s low-fat protein, herbs, vegetable and tortilla, yielding ideal fare for the diet and health conscious, in a region of the state noted for pretty well the opposite … and they even serve coca light (diet coke). It’s all so simple, making the experience gastronomically rewarding, while at the same time awe inspiring.
NOTES:
Open daily, noon to 7 pm.
Price with beverage and shared appetizers, 125 pesos pp.
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
Campesinos working the land or tending flocks in the river valleys and hills of the Sierra Norte would stop, fish for trout, or perhaps gather lobster-like langostinos after the first rains in May, and then cook their bounty in an unusual way. They would place their catch in a half-gourd filled with river water and freshly picked aromatic herbs, heat rocks from the banks to red-hot, then place them in the bowl and watch their meal quickly poach in a boiling broth.
Caldo de Piedra, located a few minutes outside of Oaxaca on the highway leading to Santa María el Tule, ceremoniously replicates the age-old custom before your eyes. The restaurant is a large, simple palapa with an open kitchen. The menu is effectively non-existent since all that is served are generously filled quesadillas and similar appetizers, your choice of three soups (the caldos), and non-alcoholic beverages.
The owners boast that this traditional meal preparation dates to pre-Hispanic times, and was practiced in their home village, San Felipe Usila, in the district of Tuxtepec.
Service is uncharacteristically fast. Waitresses are eager to attend to orders, and more importantly answer all queries about your comida’s preparation, so be sure to ask to go over to the two kitchen areas to bear witness to the procedural pomp. On the one side are women working over metate (grinding stone) and comal (large round clay “stove-top” used for cooking over an open flame), hand-making tortillas for filling with your choice of quesillo (the famed Oaxacan string cheese), mushrooms, squash blossoms and more. On the other side unfolds the curious convention. A substantial helping of your choice of raw, medium sized shrimp, red snapper, or a combination of the two is placed in a jícara (the half gourd) with a selection of chiles, onion and leafy herbs including requisite cilantro. A blender off to the side is used to prepare a tomato-based liquid which is then poured into each vessel. With the aid of a large wooden tong, a couple of baseball sized river stones are plucked from a flaming fire pit, gingerly placed in each gourd, and voilá, your meal starts to boil. Rocks are added a second time, following which each comida-in-a-pot is brought to the table.
Flavors remain distinctly discernable to the extreme, given that fresh ingredients are combined on the spot. The chef/proprietor is in complete control of process so as to assure the proper degree of doneness (with only one cooking method and a choice of only three main dishes, it’s pretty well guaranteed). It’s low-fat protein, herbs, vegetable and tortilla, yielding ideal fare for the diet and health conscious, in a region of the state noted for pretty well the opposite … and they even serve coca light (diet coke). It’s all so simple, making the experience gastronomically rewarding, while at the same time awe inspiring.
NOTES:
Open daily, noon to 7 pm.
Price with beverage and shared appetizers, 125 pesos pp.
Veracruz — Excellent Seafood in Oaxaca, That Simple (a Oaxaca Restaurant Review)
December 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under Travel Tips
Alvin Starkman asked:
We non-native Oaxacans have our rules…don’t drive outside the city after dark, never eat fresh unpeeled produce, be cautious feasting on the street or in markets. For me, after less-than-orgasmic culinary experiences, there was “wait ‘til you’re on the coast to eat fish or seafood.” Thankfully all changed after starting to dine at Veracruz a couple of years ago. For over 10 years owners Leo and Rosita have been serving up some of the best seafood I’ve ever eaten, anywhere. Perhaps because as native Veracruzanos, mariscos is in their blood. Perhaps because they take pride in their fresh, and exquisitely prepared and seasoned dishes, as is abundantly evident when you see Leo continually seeking assurance from his patrons that all is well.
Located a few kilometers out of Oaxaca proper, Veracruz has a quaint coastal flavor to it, one side simple marine décor and the other a palapa. I prefer the atmosphere of the beachy palm leaf roof with walls of reed construction, so for this comida we dined in the palapa.
Friendly and attentive staff promptly present an array of complimentary starters foreshadowing the rest of the meal….each dish distinctly flavorful, not too spicy, light, cold when it’s supposed to be, and hot when that’s what you would expect!
Crisp tostadas appear almost as quickly as you are seated, with sides of green and red salsas and requisite mayonnaise and saltines. Next a meaty crab leg salad in a light spicy vinaigrette with chopped tomato and green pepper, lime and chile. Your intermezzo is steaming crab leg and pincer tomato based soup ready to give your teeth and fingers a workout.
We decided against the cocktails (octopus, shrimp, crab, etc) which come in 50 and 90 peso sizes, and the larger meal sized broths and bouillabaisses ranging from 85 to 150, opting for cold seafood platters. First came the lightly dressed shrimp salad with sliced red onion, lime and habanero chiles, followed by large triangles of sea scallop combined with white onion, chile and orange slices, each of these plates having been prepared with attention to color and flavor combinations. Finally appeared a tray of still steaming succulent cracked crab pincers over a bed of citrus slices and ice.
Entrees, ranging from 125 pesos, arrive appropriately garnished, together with baskets of sliced oven-fresh baguette style bread. My wife’s giant split-shell shrimp were served in a chipotle sauce, almost in defiance of the traditional strong flavor of this chile, alongside a healthy dollop of melted Oaxacan string cheese. Our daughter opted for shrimp in a semi-sweet white wine marinade, with sides of cooked cubed veggies, and undressed mixed salad. My whole sea bass, Veracruzano style, was served in a savory sauce with tomato, olive, caper, carrot and chile. The red snapper of Fernando Gonzalez our culinary cohort for this meal, still enveloped in aluminum and extending well beyond the edges of the plate, was baked with pureed green tomato and spices, the steamy aroma of hierba santa filling the air upon the foil being stripped away.
After a feast of such Bacchanalian proportions, which included several copas of the best house mezcal any of us had previously tasted, coffee and dessert were out of the question, although we yielded to temptation and finished off with the sweet Spanish liqueur, “43”, chased with soda over ice.
NOTES:
Full bar
Credit Cards
From noon, 7 days
Margen Izq. Del Rio Atoyac #250, Col El Pilar 51-27610
We non-native Oaxacans have our rules…don’t drive outside the city after dark, never eat fresh unpeeled produce, be cautious feasting on the street or in markets. For me, after less-than-orgasmic culinary experiences, there was “wait ‘til you’re on the coast to eat fish or seafood.” Thankfully all changed after starting to dine at Veracruz a couple of years ago. For over 10 years owners Leo and Rosita have been serving up some of the best seafood I’ve ever eaten, anywhere. Perhaps because as native Veracruzanos, mariscos is in their blood. Perhaps because they take pride in their fresh, and exquisitely prepared and seasoned dishes, as is abundantly evident when you see Leo continually seeking assurance from his patrons that all is well.
Located a few kilometers out of Oaxaca proper, Veracruz has a quaint coastal flavor to it, one side simple marine décor and the other a palapa. I prefer the atmosphere of the beachy palm leaf roof with walls of reed construction, so for this comida we dined in the palapa.
Friendly and attentive staff promptly present an array of complimentary starters foreshadowing the rest of the meal….each dish distinctly flavorful, not too spicy, light, cold when it’s supposed to be, and hot when that’s what you would expect!
Crisp tostadas appear almost as quickly as you are seated, with sides of green and red salsas and requisite mayonnaise and saltines. Next a meaty crab leg salad in a light spicy vinaigrette with chopped tomato and green pepper, lime and chile. Your intermezzo is steaming crab leg and pincer tomato based soup ready to give your teeth and fingers a workout.
We decided against the cocktails (octopus, shrimp, crab, etc) which come in 50 and 90 peso sizes, and the larger meal sized broths and bouillabaisses ranging from 85 to 150, opting for cold seafood platters. First came the lightly dressed shrimp salad with sliced red onion, lime and habanero chiles, followed by large triangles of sea scallop combined with white onion, chile and orange slices, each of these plates having been prepared with attention to color and flavor combinations. Finally appeared a tray of still steaming succulent cracked crab pincers over a bed of citrus slices and ice.
Entrees, ranging from 125 pesos, arrive appropriately garnished, together with baskets of sliced oven-fresh baguette style bread. My wife’s giant split-shell shrimp were served in a chipotle sauce, almost in defiance of the traditional strong flavor of this chile, alongside a healthy dollop of melted Oaxacan string cheese. Our daughter opted for shrimp in a semi-sweet white wine marinade, with sides of cooked cubed veggies, and undressed mixed salad. My whole sea bass, Veracruzano style, was served in a savory sauce with tomato, olive, caper, carrot and chile. The red snapper of Fernando Gonzalez our culinary cohort for this meal, still enveloped in aluminum and extending well beyond the edges of the plate, was baked with pureed green tomato and spices, the steamy aroma of hierba santa filling the air upon the foil being stripped away.
After a feast of such Bacchanalian proportions, which included several copas of the best house mezcal any of us had previously tasted, coffee and dessert were out of the question, although we yielded to temptation and finished off with the sweet Spanish liqueur, “43”, chased with soda over ice.
NOTES:
Full bar
Credit Cards
From noon, 7 days
Margen Izq. Del Rio Atoyac #250, Col El Pilar 51-27610
