BajaNomad

Just In Time for Cinco de Mayo

Gypsy Jan - 5-3-2013 at 09:07 AM

From The San Diego Union Tribune

Enchiladas and Cucapá.

BY Eduardo Contreras

"Cinco de Mayo is Sunday, so you know what to expect: tacos by the ton and Corona by the gallon.

Yawn.

A craft beer revolución is rocking Baja California, but you wouldn't know that in San Diego, where local Mexican restaurants pour the same old ho-hum imports: Corona, Dos Equis, Sol, Pacífico. Brews from upstarts like Insurgente, Border Psycho and Rámuri, all in Tijuana; and Canneria in Ensenada, aren't available. Struggling to gain toeholds in their own market, these brewers don't send their full-flavored products across the border.

"We are not trying to compete in San Diego right now," said Walter Soto with Asociación de Cerveceros Artesanales de Baja California, a trade group representing the peninsula's small brewers. "We have a long ways to go."

But one Baja craft beer has made that trek: Mexicali's Cucapá.

Shops across the county - from Del Mar's Whole Foods to South Bay Liquors in Chula Vista - carry bottles of Cucapá's blonde ale (Lookout); American pale ale (Chupacabras); and India pale ale (Runaway).

A handful of restaurants also offer these beers. At Aquí es Texcoco in Chula Vista, the acidic grapefruit and lime undertones of bottled Runaway ($4.25) cut through the sour cream and grated cheese on the barbecued lamb enchiladas ($6) and rolled tacos ($6). Romesco Mexiterranean Bistro in Bonita has the superbly balanced Chupacabras ($6 in a bottle or on draft). Order it there, as I did with a Caesar salad and paella large enough to feed two ($22.95), and your waiter may give you an approving smile.

"It's new here," he said. "You'll like it."

As a boy dining at Tijuana's Chiki Jai restaurant, I sipped my first Mexican beer: Carta Blanca. At the time, it seemed like brewing perfection, light, crisp, refreshing.

But that was back when Michelob was an exotic "super premium" American brew. Since then, craft brewers have introduced us to dozens of beer styles, from malty Helles to joltingly bitter IPAs to roasty imperial stouts.

As tastes changed, mass-marketed cervezas like Sol and Corona seemed bland and stodgy. Mexico, Mario Garcia decided, deserved better.

Garcia, Cucapá's director general, wanted to make beers with the depth of American microbrews but the heritage of Baja. So the brewery's name salutes a local Indian tribe, the Cucapah, and beer labels reflected border experiences. Runaway, for instance, is wrapped in yellow-and-black images of a family dashing to El Norte; Chupacabras honors the region's mythical bloodsucking creature; and perhaps it's no accident that the imperial stout, La Migra, isn't seen north of the border.

San Diego seemed like a natural market for Cucapá, and the brewery began exporting here in 2008.

But it withdrew in 2010. "To be honest," Garcia said, "our volume wasn't where we are at today. We really couldn't afford to export."

That's changed. In the last three years, Cucapá's annual production has quintupled, from 1,500 to 7,500 barrels. After landing some major accounts, including Walmart and 7-Eleven in Mexico, Garcia decided to re-enter the U.S. earlier this year.

"It's been really fun to work back in the States and especially back in San Diego," he said. "We've had a really good response."

peter.rowe@utsandiego.com * (619) 293-1227 * @peterroweut

Why they celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the US

durrelllrobert - 5-4-2013 at 09:25 AM

From the Punta Banda Bulletin Board (unnamed source):
On this date in 1862, the rag-tag army of Mexico defeated the strongest army in the world. The Mexican people began to walk towards Freedom.

The French Army was considered the greatest military force on the
globe. For nearly 50 years—since the defeat of Napoleon I’s army at the hands of allied forces at Waterloo, Belgium in 1815—it had not known defeat and had recently won victories in Europe and Asia.

In 1862, the French landed in Veracruz along with forces from Queen Isabella II of Spain and Queen Victoria of Great Britain.




They had come to collect the debt owed to them by Mexico—debts that Mexican President Benito Juarez had officially suspended because the country was essentially bankrupt.
Refusing Juarez’ proposed compromise to repay the debts two years later, the collaboration of the three countries’ militaries seized the custom house at Veracruz. They intended to intercept the customs payments in exchange for their debt.




After some time, the diplomats for Spain and Great Britain reached an agreement with Juarez and the armies from those two countries departed from Mexico.



The French, on the other hand, stayed and headed for Mexico City.
France had significant interest in halting the growth of the United
States. The North American country’s rate of expansion and power was threatening to the other world powers.

If Napoleon was successful in conquering Mexico, the possibility of marching north to aid the Confederates in dividing the United States into two less powerful and less threatening countries was real. The United States was a major cause of France’s attack on Mexico.




Lincoln and the United States were dependent on Mexico staving off the French troops until the Confederacy could be defeated and Lincoln could deploy troops south to aid Juarez.


Early on May 5, 1862, General Laurencez led 6,000 French troops toward Puebla, Mexico, just 100 miles from Mexico City. Expecting the attack was General Ignacio Zaragoza, a Texas-born Mexican who was ordered to defend Juarez with a force of 4,000 troops, many of them agricultural workers armed with antiquated rifles and machetes. The battle would take place in a muddy, uneven field.


To show his contempt for the Mexicans, Gen. Laurencez ordered his troops to attack through the middle of the foes’ defenses, their
strongest position.




The French cavalry went through ditches, over adobe ruins and toward the slope of Guadalupe Hill. By then, the cavalry, exhausted and nearly disbanded, failed to achieve its goal.


The Mexican army stood its ground. Gen. Zaragoza, who had no
experience in military tactics but was a veteran in guerrilla warfare,
ordered his troops to go after the French, who fled to Orizaba, where Zaragoza attacked the French again, forcing them to flee to the coast.

VIVA MEXICO!

DENNIS - 5-4-2013 at 09:41 AM

I just followed the above post on the PBBB with this:
-------------------------

WHY DO WE REALLY CELEBRATE "CINCO"

History gives us the Battle of Puebla to commemorate an otherwise
inconsequential turning point in Mexico's war against French forces, but Mexico
is among the last to see the occurrence as worthy of wide spread celebration.
More often, they view it as a non-event.

A more probable inspiration for this week of cross-border debauchery, as it was
meant to be in it's inception, was the international yacht race from Newport
Beach, California, to Ensenada, BCN.
The event was a yearly fiesta for boaters and landlubbers alike who planned a
trip south with the idea in mind to party 'til the lights went out......which,
of course, we did.
The Bahia Hotel was the center of official race activities, trophy presentations
and dinners, while Hussongs was the heart and soul of the hellish behavior that
accompanies excessive, unrestricted partying.

Year after year, the party called "Cinco", for it's traditional date of "Cinco
De Mayo," grew in popularity as well as attendance, and in Newport, displaced
even the Fourth of July in importance on the party calendar. It had become a
local tradition.

Well....it didn't remain a local tradition for long. Advertisers picked up on
the attraction and soon the term "Cinco" was being applied to everything
associated with summer fun away from the watchful eyes of home. Cinco had
advanced from tradition to institution.

The race still happens yearly, although the date may be only near Cinco De Mayo,
and the debauchery has been regulated to an allowable level, but the inspiration
for "Cinco' remains. It's party time.

[These thoughts are mine alone, so if you disagree,......well.....]

Here's some background on the yacht race:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_to_Ensenada_Internation...

Thank you For the educational summary

Whale-ista - 5-4-2013 at 10:07 AM

Thank you Bob, I learned a few new things in your report.

In the past Ive been asked to speak out against the alcohol fueled advertising around Cinco de Mayo, And to encourage a better understanding of the reason behind this holiday. I appreciate your summary and global economic analysis.

Economically inspired wars to intervene in others affairs are nothing new. Thank you for the overview of how this played out and how the US was involved at this time.

Many people in San Diego are transplants from other parts of the country. They have never studied Mexican history, or California history for that matter. They don't understand why so many of our place names are Spanish based And rarely if ever cross the border. Their antipathy towards Mexico is often apparent.

But give them a reason to drink beer-craft or otherwise- due to a "Mexican" holiday and they're good to go... To extremes, unfortunately.

Thank you for the update.

DavidE - 5-4-2013 at 10:51 AM

DENNIS - 5-4-2013 at 10:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Whale-ista
Many people in San Diego are transplants from other parts of the country. They have never studied Mexican history, or California history for that matter. They don't understand why so many of our place names are Spanish based And rarely if ever cross the border. Their antipathy towards Mexico is often apparent.



It's difficult to imagine that in San Diego, any assembly of three or more people wouldn't include at least one person of Mexican heritage, and within their peer group, Mexican heritage has become a popular raison d'etre. Some see it as a mystical attraction to their raices....a magnetic affiliation with Aztlán.