Corn quesadillas made with fresh masa and queso oaxaca.
In case you hadn’t heard, Oaxaca has established itself as Mexico’s gastronomic capital. With varied geography including a coastal border, mountainous regions, and fertile farmlands, indigenous and transplanted cultures have created a diverse cuisine that defines the state. Whether you’re seeking chicken mole, banana leaf tamales, seafood dishes, or a glass of mezcal, you’ll find a quintessential example in Oaxacan cuisine.
Adolfo Gomez and his mother, Doña Libo.
Thanks to the Gomez family, we have a fantastic Oaxacan restaurant right here in the Bay Area. Located in downtown San Jose, Mezcal’s beautiful dining room and large patio appeals to corporate clients and downtown diners alike. Owner Adolfo runs the business, and his brother Octavio and mother Libo preside over the kitchen. Adolfo’s sister and aunt still live in Oaxaca, where they make the chocolate and grow all of the epazote, oregano, and other herbs used in the restaurant.
Doña Libo creates all of the recipes. Here, she demonstrates making tortillas by hand.
Doña Libo is extremely particular about sourcing Mexican ingredients for authentic Oaxacan dishes, and her recipes sing with fresh flavors. The tortillas are made in-house, horchata is blended fresh daily, and guacamole is prepared table-side in imported molcajetes.
Only cilantro, white onion, jalapeño, and salt are added to the avocado guacamole.
Chapulines, a.k.a. grasshoppers, are a common ingredient in Oaxacan cuisine. While they’re not necessarily an every day food in Oaxaca, they are far from exotic in the region. At Mezcal, you can eat them in a traditional manner, served with chips and a creamy avocado sauce. They’re a bit chewy, adding an extra savory, salty note to an otherwise familiar appetizer of chips and guacamole.
Chapulines, a.k.a. grasshoppers, served with chips and a creamy avocado sauce.
Aside from the queso-filled quesadillas and pecan ice cream, very little dairy is used in the recipes at Mezcal. The tortilla soup is thick and creamy without any cream — the tomato-based soup is thick and flavorful, with garnishes of crispy tortilla strips and silky avocado.
Thick and creamy, dairy-free tortilla soup.
You won’t find a lot of lime juice and hot peppers in the dishes here, either. Adolfo explained that those ingredients are used to mask off flavors, and they prefer to let the taste of the other ingredients come through.
Horchata with cantaloupe and chopped pecans.
While most people outside of Mexico are familiar with tequila, mezcal is only starting to gain a following here. Tequila is actually a type of mezcal, its name denominationally controlled, not unlike French champagne or Italian Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese. Unlike tequila, mezcal is known for its smoky flavor, produced when the agave is cooked before its juice is extracted and distilled into liquor.
Traditional condiments for mezcal: salt with arbol chiles, sal de gusano, limes, and oranges.
The restaurant has an extensive list of regional mezcales, all made with 100% agave juice. With our meal, we were treated to a tasting of three mezcales from Don Amado, a distillery based in Oaxaca. The Rustico, Reposado, and Añejo varieties are aged for varying amounts of time, resulting in their different flavors. The Rustico is a mezcal blanco, aged for the shortest amount of time. It is clear in color and has a stronger bite than the longer-aged añejo, which is smooth and mellow. The reposado is aged for a medium amount of time (about 4-8 months on average), and is generally preferred as an ingredient in cocktails.
Don Amado mezcales. From left to right: añejo, reposado, and rustico.
We capped off our meal at Mezcal with a delicious, house-made ice cream. Its texture was similar to granita, with bits of chopped pecan and a dollop of raspberry jam on top.
Ice cream with pecans and raspberry sauce.
Thank you, Adolfo and Doña Libo, for sharing so much of your knowledge and culture with us at this event! I can’t wait to come back for dinner with my friends and family and try more of your Oaxacan specialties.
This event was sponsored by Foodie.com, a Glam Media company.
