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Margarita Cabo San Lucas Tequila
Jalapeño margaritas at The Sand Bar, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
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Raising Cabo

There's a sleepy town, south of the border,
If you go there once, you'll be there twice.

– “Cabo Wabo” by Van Halen

Not so sleepy anymore, that’s for damn sure. Back when Van Halen frontman Sammy “Right Now” Hagar penned these words sometime deep in the ’80s, Cabo San Lucas was just beginning to show signs of paving its way from tuna-centric fishing village to the tourist-centric supernova it has now become. Part of the vanguard of those sniffing out the party potential of this town early on, Hagar and friends would eventually jump-kick the doors open to the now world-famous Cabo Wabo Cantina in 1990 – a place where you can bang your head, have a shot and some nachos, and “Raise Some Cabo”, as the establishment’s slogan encourages. We’re not exactly sure what that means, but it would seem that it has been raised, continues rising, and it’s not just the boys from Van Halen who got it up there. 

Thanks to a decades-long deluge of development on the real estate, hospitality and tourism fronts, Cabo San Lucas today boasts not only spectacular beaches and natural wonders ripe for the excursioning, but bursts at the seams with clubs, bars, high-end eateries, luxury resorts, condos and timeshares, visiting cruise ships, all the yachts you can handle, as well as boat-loads of drunk gringos getting their fiesta on. If you’re there for just a few days, and centrally located, there’s a good chance this will be your takeaway. But there is, of course, so much more to this town.

The Hungry Herald recently spent a week in Cabo San Lucas, and yes, a total blast was had, only a portion of it set to the thump of a Médano beach club sound system. A totally tasty total blast, I might add. From superb street tacos and authentic cow head soup to killer chilaquiles and excellent craft beer enjoyed on one of the most spectacular terraces on the planet, we dug this town. Throw in the ultimate boat ride around the very tip of the Baja peninsula at sundown — frolicking sea lions included — and we’ve got a recipe for a visit we would not hesitate to repeat.   

In our last post, we spotlighted the not-so-grumpy lady across the street from our hotel who took our taco game to the next level. We’d like to now kick things off from there and share with you a few more of our experiences over the next couple of posts, from the lovely to the loud, in this vibrant and stunning town. Hope you enjoy!

Desayunos de Campeones

medano beach cabo san lucas
Médano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

For several days in a row after arriving in Cabo San Lucas, we put our complimentary hotel breakfast in harm’s way by going to a taco stand right across the street that would close up shop while still in the AM. The taco lady kept surprisingly early hours and ran out of wares fast, and it was not easy while sampling her cuisine to exercise restraint in order to keep room for breakfast. Not easy at all, but well worth it. 

Let’s talk a bit more about those breakfasts now.

Sweet Beginnings

Deciding to treat ourselves a little in honour of both the launch of our voyage and our wedding anniversary, Médano Hotel & Spa is where we lay our heads during our stay in Cabo, and we would lay them there again in an instant. While at this bright little oasis in town, just up the street from gorgeous Playa El Médano and boasting great amenities and a resort-style vibe, we were blown away by two things: the service and the breakfast. Particularly when combined together. 

On the service front, we were showered with 5-star levels of attention and hospitality from the moment we arrived, without the 5-star price tag, to be clear. For starters, having completely forgotten that we had mentioned our wedding anniversary while reserving months earlier, we were touchingly reminded upon checking in when, after being escorted to our room by a genuine mirth beam of a gentleman, we were met with a Happy Anniversary banner wrapped around our door. This was then followed by a dessert plate made in our honour, on which were two colourfully decorated glazed carrot cupcakes. I am admittedly not a big dessert guy, and carrot cake has never in my life caught me by surprise, but this thing slapped me upside the head. If a humble carrot cake was this good, what else was in store for us here? We’d find out at breakfast.

Medano Hotel Cabo San Lucas
Sorpresa de Aniversario at Médano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
Cupcakes Medano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
Cupcake Surprise at Médano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas, Mexcio © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

This Ain’t Continental

On the first morning, instead of finding ourselves in a stuffy, carpeted conference room with a buffet table featuring glass cereal samovars, plates of breakfast salami and cheddar slices, plus the requisite hard-boiled eggs in a metal steamer, we were shown the way to a bright and breezy patio dining area just outside the hotel. Lined with young palms on one side, this was the al fresco extension of the hotel’s freshly-minted Kamú restaurant. The name is shorthand for yenekamú, an indigenous Pericú word meaning the “place between two waters”, a reference to the nearby breathtaking tip of the Baja peninsula, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.

We took a seat at a table by the black marble bar under a large, wicker-thatched awning and soaked in our sweet surroundings. As we were admiring the bright, sober and tasteful set-up, Isaac, our server who would be our main morning man for the rest of our stay, came over with menus. We ordered coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice and took a look at what was on offer.

Chilaquiles!!” Vee almost screamed, her eyes wide with childlike excitement. Omelettes and pancakes and the like could of course be had, but we were delighted to see what else was on the breakfast roster. From poblano enchiladas and huevos rancheros to beef machaca and enmoladas, the menu featured an array of Mexican classics, which got us all tickled in the tummy as we were expecting something along the lines of good old eggs and bacon. We had a few days ahead of us to sample these dishes, but we had to start somewhere. Vee and I were on the same page: chilaquiles it would be.

Chilaquiles 101 And Then Some

Chilaquiles Rojo at Medano Hotel Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
Chilaquiles Rojos con Huevos Revueltos at Médano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

So, what, you might ask, are chilaquiles? And why was my wife so enthusiastic about them? By too many accounts to tally, they are hailed as Mexico’s favourite breakfast food. Many swear by them as a potent antidote to a cruda (perhaps known to you as a proper hangover), and they are one of the greatest and most beloved ways out there of dealing with leftovers. Put simply, they’re downright delicious, comforting fun. And no, they’re not nachos.

Although there are of course regional differences, chilaquiles are essentially fried tortilla triangles – known in Mexico by the unbearably enjoyable-to-say totopos – which have been simmered and tossed in a chile-based sauce until tenderized and then served up with a selection of accompaniments. These traditionally include onions, crema (think Mexican sour cream), queso fresco (fresh cheese), refried beans and avocado. They are then commonly topped off with shredded chicken and/or fried eggs, for a hearty dish bursting with bright flavours that will definitely mop up last night’s margaritas and start your day on the good foot.  

There are two mainstay versions of chilaquiles, and it all comes down to the sauce: chilaquiles rojos and chilaquiles verdes, red or green. The rojo is made with red enchilada sauce, which includes tomatoes, garlic, onions and dried red peppers like ancho, árbol or guajillo. The verde is a tangier, salsa verde-based version, with tomatillos, cilantro, and fresh green chile peppers, namely serrano or jalapeño. We like the red, but we’re team green all the way. The signature zing brought on by the fresh tomatillos and peppers just cuts through that thick morning fog and wakes you right up.

In addition to these two pillars, there are several bonus variations of chilaquiles one might encounter, including chilaquiles done with mole, as well as the lesser-known and less bright cousin, chilaquiles blancos. This is a creamier version whose sauce ingredients err on the lighter shade of pale, featuring cheese, milk and butter. We have yet to try either of these, but we’re super curious.

Regional differences can affect the duration of contact between sauce and totopo during cooking. For instance, in central Mexico, the sauce is often poured on top of the tortillas for a crispier end result, while in Guadalajara, the tortillas are simmered until the chilaquiles get nice and soft. We like them in between, mostly tender but crispy on the edges, for a full-gamut texture smackdown.

Chilaquilling It Since…

The history of chilaquiles is a tad bit nebulous. There is some debate regarding their timeline as the base ingredients – namely tortillas and chiles – are pre-Colombian, while players like cheese, onions, chicken and cream were brought over from the Old World; when exactly these ingredients came together remains unclear.  On the surer side of things, the very first appearance of chilaquiles in print was in the 1828 compendium of Mexican cuisine, Arte nuevo de cocina y repostería acomodado al uso mexicano, published by Casa de Lanuza, Mendía y Co. This recipe involved chorizo, butter and sesame seeds, a rendition you are most unlikely to encounter these days. But if you do, we want to know all about it, so do drop us a line. 

Arte nuevo de cocina y repostería acomodado al uso mexicano, published by Casa de Lanuza, Mendía y Co
Arte nuevo de cocina y repostería acomodado al uso mexicano, published by Casa de Lanuza, Mendía y Co

Adding to all the uncertainty, the etymology of the term toggles between two accepted versions, both rooted in the Nahuatl language. On the one hand, according to famed historian and linguist Ángel María Garibay, chilaquiles comes from chīlaquīlli: chīl(li) for chile pepper and aquīlli meaning “to be inside of something”. Those totopos couldn’t be more inside those peppers, so to speak, so this explanation definitely carries weight. The other contention, courtesy of the Real Academia Española, is that chilaquiles is a combination of three words: chīlli (chile), ātl (water), and quilitl (edible herb). Some reject this explanation on the grounds that herbs (sometimes interpreted as greens) are not a significant enough component of the dish to warrant a place on the marquee. Our Nahuatl is nowhere near good enough to get involved here, so we’ll leave it up to the experts to duke it out. 

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Whatever the case, preoccupations with chilaquilean etymology went right out the window when Isaac arrived with our dishes. We have now had several plates of chilaquiles during our stay in Mexico, and we are happy to say that these first ones were a spot-on introduction. Nice and hot and topped with crumbled fresh cheese, shredded chicken and a couple of over-easy eggs, the tortillas had imbibed the perfect amount of tangy, slightly kicky tomatillo sauce, maintaining those crispy edges that we love so much. And Vee maintained the enthusiasm of a five-year-old on her birthday. 

Chilaquiles Verde at Medano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
Chilaquiles Verdes con Huevos Fritos at Médano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

As we swooned over our dishes, Isaac came over, happily accepted our rave reviews, and then insisted we try the other authentic Mexican breakfast offerings over the course of our stay, with a particular emphasis on the enmoladas. Yes, sir.

After the chilaquiles and before the enmoladas, came the enchiladas poblanas. Many years ago, on our first visit to Mexico, I ate a cream of poblano pepper that went down as the best cream of anything I had ever had, and this distinction still stands to this day. It was most deceiving in its simplicity, and I wondered if I would ever come close to this specific corner of deliciousness again. The morning enchiladas at Kamú brought me about as close as can be. Four rolled-up clouds of chicken-stuffed corn tortilla lay on a bed of refried beans, bathed in a silken cream of poblano sauce that had that same balance between creamy richness and the deep yet lively pepperitude that only the poblano has. Just wow. It was so good to be back.

Enchiladas Poblanas at Medano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved..jpg
Enchiladas Poblanas at Médano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

Next stop, Enmoladaville. This was an entirely new dish for us, and there’s no wonder Isaac insisted we try it. Hailing from Puebla, Mexico, enmoladas take enchiladas in a sumptuous, cocoa-paved direction, served up covered in a very healthy ladling of mole. As we marvelled at how balanced the sauce was, walking that easily overstepped line between deep chocolate and multi-spiced savoury, Isaac let us know that mole was the chef’s speciality, if not passion. The dish before us made that abundantly clear. Again, wow.

Enmoladas at Medano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
Enmoladas at Médano Hotel, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

Enough With The Breakfast Already

Ok, time to break away from the brekkies now and get back to that first day in Cabo (but we do thank you for indulging us, the tastiness just had to be shared). So, what to do with all that premium fuel and where to burn it off?  A la playa, por supuesto

Médano Moves

Medano Beach Cabo San Lucas © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.
View of Médano Beach from The Sand Bar, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico © The Hungry Herald. All rights reserved.

After a short walk down the street, politely weaving our way past several agents who tried to strike up conversations that we were quite sure would end up in us listening to a timeshare pitch on some condo couch somewhere close by, we arrived at Playa El Médano. 

Lying directly across from the majestic rocky tip of the Baja Peninsula, the beach, with its bright teal, yacht-peppered water, is absolutely stunning. The vibes here range from the laid-back to the luxurious, to the spring-breaky side of things later in the day –  think “boomp-ch-boomp-ch” – courtesy of a string of beach clubs, each one more amped than the last and vying for the place-to-be top spot. And if you’re looking for merch, you’ve found it. Ultimately, we skipped the bracelets, inflatable toys, and little banners inscribed with often offensive fluorescent messages that are a hit with the frat crowd, and opted for oysters and huge clams out of a vendor’s bucket instead. Fresh from the sea that morning, expertly shucked right in front of you and all-dressed with lime and an assortment of sauces. When the lime juice hits the clams, they dance. #fresh. 

We dipped, we frolicked, we strolled. Pre-lunch margaritas at The Sand Bar ensued, followed by a lunch of kickass seafood ceviche and fried calamari, naturally followed by a couple of post-lunch margaritas. 

As the ambient tempo crescendoed later in the day, we decided to go as Daytona-deep as we’re likely to get and took a front-row seat to the action at the very boisterous and colourful Mango Deck Cabo beach club. Cocktails and beer flowed aplenty, the subwoofers were set to stun, and a fired-up emcee guided tables of ecstatically drunken young adults from one blissfully inane group activity to the next. Speaking of which, we made a friend who found herself alone on her birthday and with whom we teamed up to win a trivia contest. Category: classic TV theme songs. First prize: you guessed it, a round of margaritas. Honourable mention goes to Vee, who clinched the win with Miami Vice.

Deep Thoughts

Later on as the sun went down, with heads full of Cuervo and echoes of vintage Bon Jovi we stared out over the water at Land’s End. We wondered what was in store for us now, not only right across the way but on this new adventure upon which we had just embarked. There was a lot of love, beauty and deliciousness coming up, we would soon find out, and gratitude was going to be a constant. Indeed, it had already taken firm hold. As the day dissolved all around us while the view and the breeze melted our little worries away, we thought vaguely on things, eventually coming to ponder that age-old question about tomorrow that should never, ever be taken too lightly:

So, what should we have for breakfast?

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Thanks for reading, and please check out our concluding Cabo San Lucas post, featuring a hunt off the beaten path for cow head soup and other birriería delights, a high five to one of our favourite breweries, and maybe even a sea lion or two.

Disclaimer #1

If you clicked on the link at the beginning of this post and actually took the time to listen to Cabo Wabo – a song that clocks in at just under 7 minutes so you’re forgiven if you didn’t – halfway through, Sammy Hagar screams about drinking mezcal from the bottle and desperately trying to get at the “guave worm”. We know what he means, but we feel it behooves us to point out that there is no taxonomical record of such an animal. Don’t be fooled.

Disclaimer #2

If you’re still waiting for something about Battlestar Galactica, you clearly haven’t watched enough of The Office. We direct your attention to Season 3, Episode 21.

CHECK IT OUT

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Michael Emeleus

Michael Emeleus

Michael is a freelance writer, translator, purveyor of English lessons and Taichi enthusiast who has been following food ever since his dad fed him caviar one Christmas when he was a toddler, and he tried to grab the spoon. He has written and translated for renowned restaurant guidebook Gault & Millau, and has dishwashed, bussed, bartended and served his way through three action-packed decades in the Montreal restaurant scene. He likes walks on the beach, the smell of gasoline and taking pictures of plants, and he is also pretty much guaranteed to order the most challenging thing on the menu.

2 Comments

  1. The food fills my widest stomach dreams, but your words, aawww, your flamboyant descriptive words, fill my soul….
    THANK YOU

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