July 13, 2016 Breakfast Migas trip to Gueretero. Dinner
Salsabor Prehispanic Delicatessen
Today reminded us of how Mexico is changing for good and bad and yet timeless in so many ways. We started our day with breakfast at the Posada at our favorite table on the patio beside the swimming pool. Reina our waitress, concierge, and translator served us Migas which are strips of fried tortilla cooked with eggs into a tangled cake of egg and tortilla with chili sauce served on the side. As a point of reference chilequiles which we ate yesterday was fried tortillas cooked with salsa with eggs served on the side. I am not sure I care whether I am eating my eggs, tortillas and salsa one or the other way. We discussed with Reina whether to go to Guanajato or Queretero. Since we had both been to Guanajato before and never been to Queretero and because Reina told us Guanajato had become a huge, rather unpleasant city, we decided upon Queretero, because it had a UNESCO designation for its monuments in the town center.
We also were served fresh orange juice that was delicious and I drank green tea and Suzette was served coffee and steamed milk just as she likes it plus the ubiquitous toasted bolillo slices and strawberry preserves.
I turned on the TV this morning to try to find Squawk on the Street and instead found live coverage of the Tour de France on the Fox Sports channel, so I watched it a bit before breakfast and then the finish of Stage 12 after breakfast. A four man breakaway including Peter Sagan in the green jersey and another Tinkoff rider plus Chris Froome in the yellow jersey stayed clear of the peloton and Sagan won the stage, but not by much, in a thrilling finish.
At 10:30 we drove to Queretero, which is also rather a large city and found a parking lot near the center. We walked, as we usually do, to the tallest church and found the city art museum beside it. We visited the art museum and enjoyed its traveling exhibit of the Femsa collection of contemporary American Art from the entire hemisphere.
Then one of the attendants gave us walking directions to the tourist information office and a map. We were soon impressed that the center of Queretero is a network of cobblestone walking streets, gardens and monuments/statues. We soon arrived at a tourist information kiosk beside a lovely garden that was closed for reconstruction where several walking streets met. We discovered that there is a wine growing area and cheese production area near Queretero. We immediately decided to visit it. We walked back to the car on a street with wide sidewalks and stopped at a bakery and bought a baguette for 17 pesos a large palmier dipped chocolate for 15 pesos. I was getting tired of walking and felt like I needed a bit of energy to keep going, so when we returned to the parking lot I ate the approximately three oz. of delicious chocolate coating on one half of the palmier and Suzette and I split the rest of the sugar coated palmier.
We then drove out to the wine and cheese route around the town of Ezequiel Montes. We first stopped at Freixenet’s large production facility named Finca Sala Vive. It had no tasting, only a sales room and large courtyard and surrounded by a wide covered portal with tables and benches. We bought a bottle of sparkling rose made with .pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon and the attendant opened it for us and gave us two small plastic cups. We sat and drank for a few minutes. The wine was drinkable, but not great. I had seen another vineyard next door as we drove the back road into town, so I suggested we go there next. We drove out of Freixenet’s parking lot of, back to the corner of the side road, turned the corner and soon came to De Cote Vineyard.
De Cote was a revelation. An ultra modern winery, an award winning architectural design building with a classy tasting room with an horno and cook with elegant chocolates, pastries, cheeses of the region, and impressive wines ( http://divisare.com/projects/314417-serrano-monjaraz-arquitectos-vinedo-de-cote ). The owner and his daughter, who both spoke perfect English, were both in attendance, helping the staff and greeting visitors. The daughter helped select the wines and poured for us. The wines were elegant. There were interesting blends such a Blanco, blending Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño, and Verdejo grapes into a pleasant fruity wine with well banned acidity.
The two roses were fabulous, one dry and the other Demi-sec (called Clarete. The Reds tended toward huge earthy full bodied wines that Suzette liked very much. The Tempranillo/Shiraz blend (60% Tempranillo 40% Shiraz) was particularly elegant. We bought a bottle of each plus two pieces of cheese for 1000 pesos.
I can not say enough good things about De Conte. The building is beautiful. The tasting room and dining area is comfortable. It combines the best aspects of wine culture. You can either taste at the counter as Americans and French prefer with the wines served in lovely stemware and then buy the wine or you can sit inside or outside and relax on a patio overlooking the vineyard and take food and wine together as many Mexican families and groups prefer.
I put this vineyard experience right up at the top of the list with Riscal in Spain. De Cote exceeds ones expectations in every respect; great wine, world class architecture, elegant food, and pleasant, knowledgeable service.
Here are De Cote's wines:
We were given directions to the cheese production area near Tequisquiapan. Soon we found the “Cheese Route”. After one cheese shop where there was unpleasant service, we arrived at Quesos Vai farm that sliced several of its cheeses for a tasting. We chose not to take a tour that shows people the milk to cheese production process; visitors can also get a peek at their stables and cellars. Instead we bought in our baguette and opened bottle of sparkling rose’ and had a cheese tasting with wine and bread. We loved all Vai’s cheeses and bought 540 pesos of cheese, including an aged cheese that tasted like Parmesan, a block of Manchego cheese and two sheep milk cheeses.
Here are pictures of our cheese and wine selections:
We returned by back roads to San Miguel, which were faster than the main road at 5:00 in the ending until we came to an Industrial park near Queretero.
We arrived at the Posada around 7:30, washed our faces, and decided to go to Salsabor Prehispanic Delicatessen, because we were intrigued by the concept of prehispanic cuisine and because it was only one block from the Posada.
Suzette ordered a fish filet served on a squash blossom and Hoja Santa sauce. The fish was a stream fish found near Veracruz, (named modo?). It tasted a lot like Tilapia. I ordered a white pork stew with a lovely sauce made with vanilla, and 23 other ingredients according to the owner chef.
We started our meal with bowls of a very pleasant spinach soup.
The dinner was perfect for our mood. We were tired and did not want a fussy restaurant experience. The food was well prepared with all natural ingredients that emphasized the healthful effects of certain combination of food, spices and herbs reflecting early Mesoamerican recipes. If Good food puts you in a good mood, then Salsabor Prehispanic Delicatessen would add to that good food makes you healthier and feel better.
For dessert we ate a piece of spice cake drizzled with a mandarin orange and vanilla sauce.
We loved dinner at the Salsabor Prehispanic Delicatessen.
We returned to our room at the Posada and went to bed around 9:30.
Bon Appetit
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