The lord of the ceviche: The two cities

San José del Cabo is the city where my brother lives. It is located in the southern part of Baja California and if you drive 30 Kilometres heading west through the coast highway, you'll reach San José's twin city: San Lucas.

In San Lucas, I tried two ceviches at eateries for locals; tourists prefer to have giant steaks with giant shrimps or giant hamburgers at hooters or Johnny Rockets. I assume that good food in San Lucas is reserved for Mexicans ;-)

One of the ceviches I got there was interesting and the second was very good.

I bought the first one from a guy who selling fish and shrimp ceviche from the trunk of his mini-van at the marina. He prepared it with fish, coriander, red onions, lime and something that surprised me: shredded carrots! The flavour was very balanced since the carrots added a sweet taste to it. The ceviche was served over a tostada, which is nothing but a tortilla chip the size of a cd.

“Las tres islas” was the place I had the very good ceviche, their ceviche was perfect: White fish perfectly marinated in lime juice with the ideal amount of red onions, coriander and tomatoes and it was served along with tortilla chips.

In the city of San José I also had very good ceviche, it was actually nearly amazing. My brother drove us (my mom and me) to the “container”, a shipping block adapted as a restaurant. It is located at the new San José Marina. They prepared an incredible good ceviche: Big chunks of fresh tuna*, loads of red onions, coriander and the perfect amount of lime juice…and the right amoutn of their secret ingredient: Mango. To add even more points, they serve the ceviche with fresh home-made tortilla chips.

Not far away from the posh container, there is a couple selling excellent ceviche, oysters and clams on the street. They use an old cable barrel as both, kitchen and table for the guests. The atmosphere there is magic: Locals, gringos, dusty streets, dogs and chickens blend perfectly with their excellent ceviche using the traditional ingredients.

Want to see how some of the eateries look like? Click here

* In Baja California there is no industrial fishing; fish comes from sustainable lane fishing.

I'll just call ourselves "The fellowhip of the ceviche"

In winter 2006, my family and I decided to spend our December holidays at the Mayan Riviera. As we flew from Chihuahua to Cancún, we knew this was not a simple family trip, it was the beginning of long quest: The search for the greatest ceviche ever; a quest that until now, four years later, hasn't been concluded.

Looking for the tastier ceviche in the galaxy is not an easy task. Back in that summer, we found our favourite among ten different eateries. On the Riviera highway, in the city of Tulum, not far from the point were you turn left (if coming from Playa del Cármen) to reach the archaeological site, there it is, a street restaurant serving one of the best ceviches we have tried.

I still remember how it all happened: We all ordered ceviche, but my sister was the first one to try it. As soon as the magic blend touched her tongue, she took a look at us and with her eyes wide open said "No…está bien bueno!“. That ceviche is since then our standard: We give ceviche grades based on that one.

My family and me...well, I'll just call ourselves "The fellowhip of the ceviche" continued our journey last month. In December we started exploring new territories. My brother, who has been living in Los Cabos for over a year now, located new terrains. Before I narrate the impressions from the best ones last month, I have to dedicate the next paragraphs to ceviche. Some readers may have joined this blog recently and are not aware of what ceviche is.

I often describe ceviche as the Latin blend of sashimi and gazpacho. Ceviche has the Japanese minimalism if you count the number of ingredients (all raw), it is perfectly combined with some of the fresh ingredients of gazpacho and is pimped with the two best ingredients of Latin kitchen: Lime and coriander/cilantro.

Ceviche has six ingredients: Fish, lime, tomato, red onions, cucumber, coriander and salt. Some people add fresh jalapeños and/or avocado. In Peru, the birthplace of ceviche, ceviche is prepared sometimes with corn and served with slices of grilled sweet potato.

Many cooks try to make ceviche tastier by augmenting the number of ingredients. There is ceviche prepared with tomato juice, black pepper, ketchup, chillies, and a mix of Worcester, Soy and Maggi sauces…

For us, the fellowship of the ceviche, the dish has to be fresh, simple and it must have red onions. That’s it.

I will write about the ceviche experience in Los Cabos in my next entry...

P.S. The picture is a ceviche I had at the marina of San José

fat, old and lonely...niiice!

The British newspaper „the guardian” recently published an article on a trend in cosmetic surgeries: Women want to look like 36. “Sweet” I thought! The consumer society has selected “36” as the landmark of aesthetic-human splendour, the non plus ultra of hotness.

The first thing that came to my mind was that in only four years people will envy me, and if not, they will find me pretty damn sexy.

As I continue reading, I couldn’t believe the article: Looking like 36 was not the goal of ladies in their late 40’s, they are women in their early 20’s the ones trying to look like cougars!

Anne, my flatmate has a refined sense of humour which she perfectly complements with her German way of telling things (She is quite direct). Well, some minutes ago, Anne saw me in the kitchen, and apparently I was looking worried (but I wasn’t) and as I told her I was going to write for my blog, she asked me if I was writing about how sad my life was.
She finished our short conversation by adding that I was “fat, old and lonely”. Although this comment may sound as a reason for either stop talking to her or suddenly committing suicide, I thought it was great and laughed out loud :-D

I liked Anne’s comment so much I told her it was the perfect title for the blog, then I grabbed a bottle of red wine and came into my room to write this.

It is nothing new that I whine for being fat, old or lonely, but that’s not the case this week. Not since I read that Lindsey Lohan and Heidi Montag are 23 and 24 respectively and just got themselves fixed with botox to look older than me.

Thank you Lindsey!


P.S. The article “The year-zero face: is 36 the perfect age for a woman?” was written by Eva Wiseman in case you would like to google it.

that warm family noise

In 1996, a set of circumstances enabled me to go to Europe for two semesters to learn German, I was 17 back then.

I came to Innsbruck, studied German and then enrolled at the University to study political sciences. By the time I finished my studies, I was member of an incredible and lovely circle of friends. I bonded so well with them that taking the decision to stay in Innsbruck and look for a job was not hard at all.

I know many Mexicans who cannot live without consuming Mexican products: Chillies, sauces, snacks and sweets. During my first years in Austria I also showed symptoms of that gastronomic nostalgia. My mom used to send me candies, salsas and chips by either parcel, or with someone who happened to travel to Innsbruck. At present, I can survive extreme long periods of time without consuming Mexican food, but there is something I cannot turn my back to: my family.

The only reason I still travel home is to meet my mom, my brother and sister, and my vacations turn even better if I meet my grandmother, my grandfather, my father, my aunts, my uncle, my cousins and their children. There are also a number of good old friends with whom I enjoy chatting, but sadly, most of them no longer live in Chihuahua.

I came back from Los Cabos only three days ago. While there, I spent most of the time with my relatives, who came for the wedding of my cousin William and to spend christmas and news year's eve there. We were around 30 Castro-clan members. Those weeks were everything but calm: children playing, running and yelling; the adults were eithwer watching TV, cooking, discussing or eating. It was noise and chaos at its highest peak, all the time and everywhere we went to.

Right know, I am happy to be back in Austria, I love my apartment, my friends and the cultural offer here; however, I am missing something: that warm family noise...