Heading several miles east from the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley on a sunny afternoon, we found ourselves miles from the upscale restaurants of Yountville but closer to the true regional cooking of Mexico than we had been in a long time.
The Mexican food that we are often exposed to can be delicious, if one- or two-dimensional.
One of the highlights about traveling to Oaxaca or Michoacan or anywhere else in Mexico is tasting the differences between the regional food. The platillos from a particular area can blast away any assumption you might have about Mexican food and give you 10 dimensions of new flavors.
The day of our visit to Favia Erickson Winegrowers, we could smell those dimensions of flavors right at the gate. The air itself, redolent with chiles and simmering meats, seemed good enough to eat.
We were there to taste the Michoacan cooking that's done by several members of the viticulture team, right out in the fields where they work.
Most of them come from the small community of Atacheo in the Michoacan region. They are never far from their loyalty to those Atacheo cocinas, driving to the vineyards in a truck loaded with a wood-burning barbecue and a flattop grill powered by a 5-gallon propane tank.
The truck is unloaded, and so an outdoor Michoacan kitchen is born. Right now the kitchen is springing up near the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir vineyards that are being harvested. Next month, the kitchen will appear by the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
That Michoacan blood runs thick. Cousins Jorge and Pancho Delgado, who were the main cooks the day I visited, were generous in recounting how they put dishes together.
They couldn't give me recipes because there are no recipes. It's just what they remember the mothers in the family making.
In a mixture of Spanish and English, they related what was cooking the afternoon we visited. Tomatoes, meat with bones, onions, lots of green chiles and salt are favorite ingredients.
They love bringing up heat with arbol chiles, the skinny, dried red chiles sold in cellophane packets everywhere. They use very little oil or lard and brown meats in their own fat.
One of their favorite foods are the peruano beans beloved in Michoacan and now available at Bay Area Latino grocers, some Safeway stores and other markets. They usually precook these at home and bring them along in the truck.
Forget textbook Mexican cooking. When you have to get meals out for hungry workers, you don't fool around with too many steps or ingredients.
The Delgados' best technique is cooking outdoors on the fly. Anywhere, anytime.
Winemaker Andy Erickson waxed poetic over harvesting grapes in the middle of the night and coming into the barn to be greeted by simmering soup.
Viticulturist Annie Favia calls it the Night Pick Soup, and you can bet that someone will be making it around the end of September.
There is no recipe, but I might just need to get out there and pick grapes in the cold just to see what goes into it. I said "might."
I'm just happy with this style of soul food that lifts the spirit and carries you through a day or night of hard work, helping us remember how good real Mexican food can be.
Briefly cooked, then cut across the grain, this beef makes great tacos.
Instructions: Combine the lime juice, garlic and salt in a self-sealing heavy-duty plastic bag. Add the meat, press the air out of the bag, seal and refrigerate. Marinate at least 2 to 4 hours, turning the bag over at least once.
Prepare a grill or a stovetop grill pan to high heat. Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry and grill until the steak has some color, 5-8 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Cut across the grain into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Serve in warm tortillas, with the beans and Pico de Gallo.
Nutrition information: The calories and other nutrients absorbed from marinades and syrups vary and are difficult to estimate. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.
Serves 6 to 8 The beloved peruano beans of Michoacan are available at Latino grocers, and from other stores such as Rainbow Grocery and Rancho Gordo in the Ferry Building ( www.ranchogordo.com), as well as some well-stocked supermarkets. The light yellow ovals turn into the creamiest beans you've ever eaten and are one of the simplest to cook. Because of their inherent creaminess, they make great refried beans with little effort.
Instructions: Place the rinsed beans in a large pot; add the onion and water, bring to a simmer, partially cover and cook over low heat about 2 hours, until tender and creamy. Add the salt near the end of cooking time. Makes 6 cups beans.
Drain and serve. If desired, reserve the cooking liquid for making refried beans.
For refried beans: Heat the oil or lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 cup of warm cooked beans and several tablespoons of the reserved cooking liquid. Press the beans with a potato or bean masher until coarsely mashed. Keep adding 1/2 cup beans and 1/4- 1/2 cup of liquid while simmering and mashing, until all the beans are incorporated. When you run out of bean cooking liquid, use plain water and add until desired consistency is reached.
Split the chiles lengthwise down the middle, keeping the stem intact. Add to the beans and simmer about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Per serving of non-refried beans: 184 calories, 12 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 402 mg sodium, 14 g fiber.
This salsa is a celebration of the best a garden has to offer but you can make it all year long with supermarket tomatoes, if you like, adding more serrano chiles to make up for the flavor.
Instructions: Combine the tomatoes, onion, serrano and cilantro in a bowl. Add salt to taste. Makes about 4 cups.
Per serving: 30 calories, 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 186 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.
This recipe calls for the small pork ribs called costillas del puerco that are sold at Mexican butcher shops and supermarkets. You can substitute baby back ribs; ask the butcher to cut them in half through the bone. The bones add flavor to the mixture, making the tomatillo sauce velvety.
Instructions: Rinse the ribs in cold water, blot dry and cut into 2-rib pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a heavy-bottom pan over medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, add half the ribs; brown on both sides in their own fat, which will slowly render, about 8-10 minutes. If the ribs seem lean, add about 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Be sure to let the ribs brown before turning. As the ribs brown, remove them and add the remaining ribs to brown. After you finish, tilt the pan and spoon out the rendered fat. Save for refried beans or discard.
Place all of the ribs back into the pot, cover with 2-3 cups water and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot, but leave the lid slightly ajar. Simmer about 35 minutes. This little bit of precooking helps tenderize the ribs and loosen all of the brown bits on the bottom.
Meanwhile, rinse the tomatillos and pull off the husks. If the tomatillos are still sticky, rub with paper towels.
Bring 1 quart water to boil in a large saucepan. Add the tomatillos and chiles and simmer until the tomatillos turn from bright green to dull green, about 10 minutes; drain.
Cut the chiles into pieces, removing any remaining stems; place the chiles and tomatillos into a blender jar. (You may need to do this in batches.) Puree into a sauce. Taste and if the sauce seems a little sharp, add the vinegar; it sweetens the sauce. Set aside until you're ready to add to the pork.
When pork has simmered 35 minutes, check the liquid. Ladle out some broth if needed, so 1 cup remains in the pot. Add the tomatillo sauce and 1 teaspoon kosher salt, bring to a simmer and cook over low heat about 35 to 60 minutes more, or until meat is tender.
If serving as a taco filling, remove the ribs from the sauce, and cut the meat away from the bones. Serve the meat with some of the sauce in corn tortillas, along with peruano beans and salsa.
Per serving (costillas del puerco): 402 calories, 27 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 29 g fat (10 g saturated), 108 mg cholesterol, 440 mg sodium, 8 g fiber.
You can make the ribs a day ahead of serving. Ask your butcher to saw the ribs in half through the bone.
Instructions: Rinse the ribs in cold water, blot dry, and cut into 2-rib pieces. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Place a heavy-bottom pan over medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, add half the ribs, and brown on both sides in their own fat, which will slowly render, about 8-10 minutes. If the ribs seem lean, add about 2 teaspoons vegetable oil.
Be sure to let the ribs brown before turning. As the ribs brown, remove them and add the remaining ribs to brown. After you finish, tilt the pan and spoon out the rendered fat. Save for refried beans or discard.
Place all of the ribs bone side up back into the pot, cover with 2-3 cups water and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot, but leave the lid slightly ajar. Simmer for about 35 minutes. This little bit of precooking helps tenderize the ribs and loosen the brown bits on the bottom.
You can use ribs immediately or chill them in the broth for the next day.
When ready to proceed with the recipe, remove the ribs from the liquid. Reserve remaining broth for use in the sauce, if needed, or save for another use.
For the salsa roja, line a heavy-bottom skillet with foil or use a nonstick skillet. Working in batches, if necessary, place the tomatoes in the pan and char, turning to get all sides, 15-20 minutes.
Toward the end of charring, throw in the number of chiles you are going to use. Watch carefully and toast chiles for about a minute on both sides. Do not burn. Use only 2 chiles if you want the salsa mild, or 8 or 9 if you want it very hot.
When the tomatoes have charred, remove and let cool. Pull off whatever skins you can, remove the cores and cut the tomatoes into quarters. Place the tomatoes, chiles, garlic, red onion and about 1 1/2 teaspoons salt into a blender jar and puree into a sauce.
Pour the salsa roja into a large pot or skillet (you can use the same pot you used for the ribs). Bring to a simmer and add the ribs. Sprinkle in the oregano, some black pepper and enough reserved broth to cover the ribs. Simmer, partially covered, about 35 minutes, or until tender.
If serving as a taco filling, remove the ribs from the sauce, and cut the meat away from the bones. Serve the meat with some of the sauce in corn tortillas.
Per serving: 519 calories, 31 g protein, 35 g carbohydrates, 29 g fat (10 g saturated), 108 mg cholesterol, 187 mg sodium, 5 g fiber.