Senior Puerco - South Of The Border!

By Rocco Loosbrock

We've talked about so many wonderfully delicious ways that America's favorite past-time, BACON, is preciously prepared and enthusiastically enjoyed from Portland, Maine to San Diego California and from Tallahassee Florida to Seattle Washington. However, one important bacon consuming geographical location hasn't really been featured as prominently as many of our loyal readers would like. After reading our latest batch of mail and email, it became clear that we really needed to more fully cover some of the artistic and aesthetic adventures of "Senior Puerco - South Of The Border!"

Bacon is loved with as much fervent passion and compelling commitment to being a certified "Bacon Freak" (Loco Por El Tocino) down in Mexico as it is anywhere else on the planet. When it comes down to carefully crafting an entire library worth of seductively spicy and sensuously scintillating recipes for bacon, nobody does it better!

One of the great benefits of living in Southern California, as well as other south-western U.S. States that cozy on up against the Mexican Border, such as Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, is the easy access to a culinary culture that is so delectably delicious, that it's terrific taste treats are nearly as popular and passionately enjoyed in the northern regions of the United States, from New York to Seattle.

I must confess; I love Mexican Food so much; I really simply can't get enough of it. Now it's true, like most Californian's, I grew up eating the "Americanized" or "Gringo" versions of many of the most popular, "border bridging" dishes and delicacies from Mexico and I won't pretend that my personal taste-bud transition to some of the actual traditional, classical preparations took a little bit of time to adapt to, but the process and palatable pay-off was well worth the effort.

From Bacon Tamales and Enchiladas, to Rellanos, Sopas and Asadas, all spiked with substantial portions of savory, smoked bacon. Even some very popular dishes that are relatively new to me, such as Chalupas and Carnitas have found their way to make space for the bold and beautiful beloved flavor of our beloved bacon.

My favorite? Check this out! Chili Peppers, stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon, served with fresh vegetable salsa and some herbed guacamole! I've even has some blazingly bodacious hot sauces that had bacon in them.

Here's a fast and flavor-friendly trick that I learned from a wise and wonderful woman who grew up in Mexico City. When I'm in a big hurry and need to run, but definitely have to eat something hot and hardy before "taking off" out the door, I quickly and easily make a few "Bacon & Bean Taco's."

All you do is simply pour a can of stewed black beans in a pot and put it on the stove at a low heat while you take out a well oiled baking pan and spread a mixed palm-full of grated jack and cheddar cheese, along with some left-over bacon strips from the fridge on a few corn tortillas that are evenly distributed on the baking pan. Place the tortillas in the oven at 300 degrees for a just few minutes, enough time to make sure the cheese is well melted.

Pull the tortillas out of the oven and throw then onto a plate, toss a tablespoon of hot beans into the center of each tortilla and then generously sprinkle with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, onion, black olives and avocado. Pick a salsa or hot sauce to accentuate and accessorize and start chomping down on those bad boys like there's no tomorrow!

Mmmmmmm, just writing about it makes me hungry. Now that's what I call a real "Run for The Border!"

Eat Up!

Rocco.

Rocco Loosbrock operates a food and wine company in Los Angeles, California. Visit http://www.cvwine.com to learn more.