Special Tasting at Mision 19: Baja California Culinary Festival 2011

The Baja California Culinary Festival, coming to Baja on October 11-14, includes special dinners at Baja's best restaurants with guest chefs from all over Mexico and the US. Last year I attended the dinner at Javier Plascencia's Mision 19 in Tijuana with these guest chefs. A 10-course tasting menu ensued.

First was a Tiradito de Hamachi with rabanos, charales, chicharron, preserved lemon, habanero, black salt from Chef Angel Vazquez of Puebla. This was paired with one of the best Baja wine, a JC Bravo Palomino 2010

Next was an outstanding roasted bone marrow from Chef Javier Plascencia himself (Tuetano de Res Rostizado) topped with tuna, tobiko, and serrano "air"

We've had plenty of bond marrow before, but none topped with tuna and it was a unique and wonderful combo!

This was paired with a cocktail from LA's mixologist Julian Cox: Negrito Sandia

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Go Thee To Baja! Baja Culinary Fest Oct 11-14

October 11-14 is the 2nd annual Baja California Culinary Fest! Thanks to the generosity of Chef Javier Plascencia, I was able to attend the 1st annual festival last year and with more experience, this year's is promising to be even better. There are many different events over the four days, from special dinners, a gastro tour of Tijuana, a visit to the Ramonetti cheese cellar, a festival in Rosarita, and many more.

It all culminates in a festival at the Galerias Hipodromo. Last year's festival had some of the best restaurants in Tijuana, and this year will probably have even more. Instead of paying an all inclusive ticket, last year attendees buy tickets for each item purchased.
From a whole leg carved on-site by Cheripan, Tijuana's premier Argentinean restaurant.

There was a great chocolate clam cocktail from Catavina (it's a type of Mexican clam, there's no chocolate in it!)

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Cebicheria Erizo (Tijuana, Mexico)

Chef Javier Plascencia from Tijuana can be likened to Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles, dominating the Tijuana dining scene with numerous restaurants. Capping off the weekend-long Baja Culinary trip this past year was a tasting at one of these restaurants, Cebicheria Erizo, specializing in fresh seafood (including, of course, ceviches). Seafood from fish to octopus to clams are displayed in refrigerated cases as you enter; daily specials written on the blackboard above it. For our visit, though, we left it up to Chef Plascencia to serve us whatever he wanted.

To whet our appetite was a shot of leche de tigre with cucumber, fish jerky, and sea urchin (erizo de mar, the restaurant's namesake) hidden at the bottom.


Following up was a bowl of lightly spicy callo de hacha, Baja scallops with chicharrones

Instead of scooping up ceviche with tortilla chips, why not take it to the next level with chicharrones? Better yet, can we replace salad croutons with chicharrones from now on?

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Mariscos El Mazateno (Tijuana, Mexico)

My last trip to Tijuana with Street Gourmet LA took me back to Mariscos El Mazateno, a Sinaloan seafood taqueria. I came here on my first trip to TJ, but back then I was even weaker to spicy food as I am now so it was nice to revisit and enjoy it even better this time.

The must order here is the Taco Mazatena (shrimp/camarones enchilado), a taco packed full of fresh, crisp, lightly spicy shrimp. If you walk by the kitchen, you can see them cooking the spicy shrimp in a giant pot.

Dress this with the available condiments including cabbage, crema, pico de gallo, and a bottle of house made spicy green sauce made with avocado and serrano chili. The shrimp taco to end all shrimp tacos!

The meals start with a styrofoam cup of shrimp consomme.
While waiting for our tacos, they served us a plate of seafood cocktail including shrimp, octopus, scallops, and more.

If you have room for another after the heaping shrimp taco, try the smoked marlin taco, equally stuffed to the brim.

The pulpo/octopus was also popular among the other diners.

The tacos here cost up to 40 pesos (around $3) and considering how much seafood you get with them, it's not bad at all. Whatever the price may be, the taco mazatena is a must try!


Mariscos El Mazateno
Calzada Tecnologico,No. 473-E
Tomas Aquino
Tijuana,BCN

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