Marcela Valladolid Is Reclaiming the Mexican Pantry (Part 2)

Well, as you know, I've been traveling a lot lately, and I did make a quick trip out to Phoenix, and the main goal was to try Bacanora.

I've had Bacanora at events.

I had them at Family Style Fest before, but that's not the same, and I would say that You know, there's a lot of times I can look at photos and really understand a restaurant right away, especially if it's a regional restaurant, a regional Mexican where I've been to the food.

I've been to that part of Mexico or Central America or South, whatever.

I've been there and I understand the food.

So I know what it looks like.

But with Bacanora, I sort of had some reservations.

I'm like, you know what? I'm not getting this just by looking at photos.

So I'm, you know, I'm hoping I'm going to get out there soon.

And I did.

And this is Chef Rene Andradez, a contemporary Sonoran restaurant.

And you know, you've heard of this place.

It's very popular.

I mean, hey, you gotta be popular to be at Family Style Fest.

and really doing his take on that region where you have a Mexican-American cuisine that's very influenced by Sonora and also the Southwest of the United States.

So at the restaurant, of course, what I really loved, what I loved about my experience at Bacanora is it's really a taquiza.

You know, you just, you order some meats and they come with vegetables and salsas and chiles, and you just make tacos with their wonderful flour tortillas.

So you get some bone marrow that comes with mushrooms, which is a wonderful flavor.

And, you know, even though we're talking about the region of Sonora, there are some national Mexican and indigenous ingredients thrown in.

So you have some hojasanta in there on the bone marrow.

you know, having the bone-in New York coming with chorizo confit, beans, potatoes, and tortillas, again, to make tacos with the wonderful salsas on the side and some, you know, local, of course, they have Bacanora, which is a mezcal from Sonora.

And it's actually done, it's mostly Sonora where you can get Bacanora, and it's still not very, it's the least organized of the Mezcal regions.

And in terms of, you can't find a lot of brands.

So it's a lot of, you know, moonshine style homes that are doing their own.

And when we say moonshine, we're not saying something that's a bad product, but we're talking about something that's craft oriented.