We're pathologically social. We're professional leisurists. We're burrito lovers, bar flies, art whores and music nerds. We dish the good dirt, and we'll risk a parking ticket for a cheap sample sale. Sometimes, we blog drunk.
Can't get Yucatan out of my mind
I was probably asking for it. The week after Metromix debuts In.Mouth.Now, a new feature talking about our latest, can’t-get-off-our-brain food obsessions, I encounter this on a short trip to the Yucatan:
The most riquísimo fish tacos. Ever. Punto y basta.
But the infatuation will have to remain so for a long while, as these beauties reside on the other side of the North American continent. You need to get on a ferry boat to Isla Mujeres, then rent a scooter, and drive the length of the island until you come to a smoke-engorged shack by the beach to make your rendezvous. I can’t stop thinking about ‘em.
I’m sure I’ll try to hound down something comparable in L.A. once I’m done pining. Hillhurst’s Best Fish Taco in Ensenada won’t do—that’s Baja-style and deep-fried. And Yuca’s, though passably Yucatecan, doesn’t have fish tacos last time I checked—the same goes for Chichen Itza, L.A.’s best diplomat from the peninsula.
It must be this: On the island, fish (most likely, red snapper or even tilapia) is grilled under some kind of aromatic wood to create a delicious smoky essence. Even the tortillas are grilled, a genius technique that brings out the richness of the starch.
That, and a bottle of cerveza on the sands? Sigh…
Anyone have a secret restaurant, shack, even an aging, taco-making auntie with an unauthorized firepit in her backyard? I’ll drive anywhere and pay top dollar. You know where to find me.
—Jiyeon Yoo
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