tiffin unboxed

Baja Culinary Trip - Unplanned Adventures (Part 4)

Have you ever received a bouquet of warm, just-made churros?

Photo courtesy of Ellen Hai

Who wouldn't want to dig into this? Abby, my friend and fellow traveler, showed me a photo like this of churros which she'd tried a couple of times.

It became crystal clear that I could not leave the Tijuana trip without enjoying them too.


A group stopped by the stand both on Saturday night and during breakfast on Sunday and were given the directions of going toward the big arch on Avenida Revolucion, the main road in Tijuana, and turning left on the street after the "Viagra nurse".

Well we found her. And the churro cart.



My Spanish isn't great, but that sign indicates they've been doing business for 20 years. And may the do 20 more. Their product is fantastic!


We stood mesmerized even before they opened, till the oil bubbled up and they extracted cylinders of dough into the hot oil.


And then out into a tiny rack.


The churros get rolled (or not) in a small amount of sugar, then filled with vanilla crema, chocolate crema or cajeta crema - my favorite, goat's milk caramel.

This wonderful man could not stop laughing at our enthusiasm and constant photo taking. He laughed the entire time we were there.


Perfection! The dough itself caramelizes quite a bit and retains a level of grittiness and structure which complements the cream so well.


And they are good to the last bite. Yes, that's me double-fisting two churros in one hand.

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I met a few friends in the lobby with the plan of having drinks and perhaps a light snack. Serendipitously, we ended up joining forces with Dave Lieberman, of OC Weekly's blog Stick a Fork In It, along with his lovely wife Linnea.

They were two of the many fascinating food writers and foodies I met on this trip, many of whom I'm still in touch with. Hang out with a group of people with the same passions and you will make new friends.

We walked from the hotel to the Argentinian restaurant Cheripan and enjoyed this tamarind margarita aperitif with some empanadas and chimichurri for the table.


Lucky for us, Dave speaks fluent Spanish and knew his way around town. After Cheripan and the churro run in downtown we had a relaxing time chilling out at this little cantina, El Dandy Del Sur.



We had some chips, Palomas, local beer, and a make-your-own Michelada.


Which turned into a very cool amber with orange foam after being mixed.




Dave introduced us to his favorite local bar snack. In Spanish it's called
carne seca calientita but Dave's "murky jerky" description covers it adequately.
Well spoken.

Even our free time turned out exciting and fun without the craziness one might assume with a night out in Tijuana.