Having a Whale of a Time in Baja--and Eating Well, Too

Laguna San Ignacio on the Pacific shore of Baja California, Mexico, was glassy calm. The only sound was the low throb of the Zodiac outboard motor in neutral. Then it came: “Whoosh.” The sound was behind us. It came again: “Whoosh.” From another direction, a breathy snort. “Whoosh . . . Whoosh . . . Whoosh.” Our heads swiveled. From every compass point we could see the gleaming backs of gray whales as they exhaled 15-foot spouts and took a slow slide beneath the sea.

To be completely surrounded by gray whales is to be stunned by the magnificence of these incredible and gentle giants of the sea. This lagoon is one of Baja’s romantic havens for the mating and calving of the California gray whale from December until April. Afterward, the whales migrate northward once again, making their return trip along the California coast to their summer home in the Bering Sea. But this Baja lagoon is a place where friendly whales are found--whales that will come right up to a boat and play.

For four nights, 14 of us camped in tents on a wind-battered, isolated outpost directly on the Baja desert shore 600 miles south of the California border. It was intense whale watching by day and a whale of a party by night.

We were in the lagoon on the only permit issued by the Mexican government for a land-based whale-watching operation with permission to use Zodiacs--swift inflatable boats--in a designated area. The number of watchers is closely regulated. There are several large San Diego boats with permits to put in three skiffs on specific days, but their passengers live on the boats. We camped.

We were in the hands of Piet and Karen Van de Mark, owners of Baja Frontier Tours, San Diego. Piet has been a Baja guide for 21 years. Feeding this crowd was not an easy task. They had on their hands a vegetarian, a diabetic, Southern California sushi and salsa lovers, a South Carolina wine expert, Midwesterners who didn’t like seafood and were used to dinner at 5:30 p.m., drinkers and non-drinkers. Somehow, it all worked out.

To get to our whale-watchers camp, half of our group, the California crowd, caravaned across the border in four 4-wheel drive vehicles to rendezvous at Quintas Papagayo in Ensenada. Before taking off for the two-day drive into lower Baja, we watched the Van de Marks stock up on football-sized papayas, pineapples, mangos, avocados, jicamas, chayote squash, and Santo Tomas wine, the local Baja wine considered one of Mexico’s finest and from the oldest continuously producing wine district.

There were more stops to the beer distributor for cervezas ; the panaderia for Mexican rolls, the bag still warm and deliciously steamy; to the gas station for fuel and a final look under the car to locate the cause of a suspicious “clunk.” No one heads for offroad Baja without complete confidence that the car is going to make it. Final marketing stop was at San Quintin to get a flat of strawberries to be shared with the local fishermen’s families.

The other half of our group flew into Loreto, were met by tour staff member Monte Woodworth and made the stop to fill propane tanks and buy Mexican baguettes at the French bakery in Santa Rosalia before going offroad at San Ignacio for the tortuous 50-mile, three-hour, spine-jarring ride to the lagoon, a road that isn’t found on most Baja maps.

This was not the good life. Everything we ate or drank had to be hauled in, including water. We would have no showers, electricity nor outside communications. What we would have were close-up whales, and that was worth it.

We weren’t eating nouvelle Mexican on this trip, but we were surely nouvelle camping--our pride was a solar-powered flush toilet in a pristine white tent. “Mas Cafe” (Spanish for “more coffee”) was our 30-foot army tent that served as dining room, cantina, library and study hall. It was outfitted with a complete propane kitchen--oven, burners and refrigerator--and propane hanging lanterns. We had everything but a food processor and microwave oven. We didn’t need those because we had Monte Woodworth. Monte was as efficient with a chef’s knife at dinner as he was driving a Zodiac by day.

Breakfasts were wonderful, with platters of fresh Mexican fruits, custom-cooked eggs and orange-spiked whole-wheat French toast. Wine lunches on the beach were a lovely timeout from whale watching, but dinners took on a life of their own.

Whale break lunches were in the lee of a sand dune at Rocky Point or on Rusty Truck beach, named for an old flatbed truck whose owner thought he could drive to the mouth of the lagoon and was wrong. This year even the flatbed, usually used for lunch buffets, was under the drifting sand.

Exhilarated by the whales, the sea and the sun, we were always starving. Anchors would be dropped, the coolers would be unloaded and we would tear into Mexican baguettes, stuffing them with pate and cheese, washing it all down with wine, cervezas or fruit juice.

Several Mexican fishermen, including the local delegado (mayor), arrived each glowing sunset to visit “Mas Cafe.” They brought us gifts from the sea, shared cervezas (beer), let us practice our Spanish and seemed to enjoy watching us take three hours to get dinner on the table.

We entertained them and they helped feed us. Since fishing is banned during the whale season in the lagoon, some fishermen spent their time in wet suits diving for scallops, providing us with four kilos of fresh bay scallops gathered in one day. We had scallops with wine and garlic, scallop ceviche and scrambled eggs with scallops.

The night that dinner fell apart was the night Juan Luis Aguilar brought us deer antlers to decorate “Mas Cafe.” This called for a celebration. It also called for a menu change. Van de Mark had hoped for a fish delivery and it didn’t arrive. He decided to have his “American Pie” menu--meat loaf and mashed potatoes.

Never mind that meat loaf is retro-’50s chic. Meat loaf we can get at home. We were in Mexico and we wanted Mexican food, not Eisenhower-era nostalgia. The Kansans loved it. The Californians rolled their eyes and asked for salsa. Actually, it was pretty good. It had sausage for punch and was zinged with chiles. It did make a splendid pate at the next day’s lunch at Rocky Point.

Van de Mark’s nachos are unusual for the method he devised to get the cheese on all the chips. He layers them vertically in the pan so the melting cheese will run through instead of spreading over the top.

He serves them with a Baja guacamole that is simply mashed avocado and freshly chopped Baja garlic and salt. No tomato, no lemon, no chiles. It’s a rich buttery spread. The jolt of heat is provided with salsa and canned jalapenos en escabeche-- potent jalapenos pickled with carrots and onion rings.

WHALE CAMP NACHOS

Tortilla chips

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Garlic salt

Guacamole

Salsa

Canned mixed pickled jalapenos and vegetables

Tilt 8-inch square baking pan and layer chips so they stand on edge vertically. Bake at 350 degrees until chips are quite hot, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle cheeses over top and season to taste with garlic salt. Return to oven until cheese melts, about 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with guacamole, salsa and mixed pickled jalapenos and vegetables.

MONTE WOODWORTH’S SCALLOPS FLAMBE WITH WINE AND GARLIC

6 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 whole head garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 1/2 to 3 pounds bay scallops, washed and towel-dried

3 ounces white wine

1 ounce 150- to 190-proof grain alcohol, optional

Chayote and Carrots with Lime

Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet. Add chopped garlic and saute until golden and crispy. Do not overcook or garlic will be bitter. Pour garlic butter into small pan and set aside.

Add scallops to skillet and saute briefly, 1 to 2 minutes, until scallops begin to turn opaque and are tender. Do not overcook.

Add wine and grain alcohol to garlic butter and heat slowly. Pour over scallops. Tip pan carefully so heat will ignite alcohol fumes without using match or carefully light fumes with match. Serve when flames die down. Serve with Chayote and Carrots With Lime. Makes 8 servings.

Chayote and Carrots With Lime

2 chayote squash, peeled, cut lengthwise in quarters, then 1/2-inch slices

4 carrots, peeled, sliced diagonally in 1/4-inch slices

Butter

2 tablespoons lime juice

Steam or blanch chayote and carrots until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes for chayote, about 7 minutes for carrots. Drain and toss with butter to taste and lime juice. Makes 8 servings.

VAN DE MARK’S BAJA CAMP TAMALE PIE WITH TORTILLA CRUST

6 to 8 corn tortillas

1 (15-ounce) can chili with beans, excess fat removed

1 (8 3/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (2 1/4-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

1/4 teaspoon ground oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 (15-ounce) can tamales, paper removed

8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

Paprika

Line greased 8-inch square baking pan with tortillas. Overlap tortillas and place to extend over edges of pan for scalloped effect, covering bottom and sides completely.

Spread half of chili on bottom, then cover with half each of corn, onion, garlic, olives, oregano, cumin and lemon pepper. Arrange all whole tamales over layers.

Mix 1 cup Cheddar and 1/2 cup mozzarella and distribute evenly over tamales. Repeat layering with remaining chili, corn, onion, garlic, olives, oregano, cumin, lemon pepper and remaining cheese. Season to taste with paprika.

Bake at 375 degrees 45 minutes until cheese topping is golden brown and ingredients are bubbling. Cool 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 6 servings.

WHALE CAMP ORANGE FRENCH TOAST

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

Grated peel of 1 orange

1 tablespoon orange liqueur

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

8 slices whole-wheat or raisin bread

Honey or syrup

Nutmeg

Beat together eggs and milk. Add orange peel, orange liqueur and vanilla. Dip each slice of whole-wheat or raisin bread in mixture. Brown lightly on each side on buttered grill. Serve with honey or syrup and dash of nutmeg. Makes 4 servings.

WHALE CAMP GRILLED QUESADILLAS

Butter 1 side of flour tortilla and grill lightly in large skillet to soften. Sprinkle half of tortilla with Jack cheese and chopped green chiles. Heat until cheese melts, fold over, cut into wedges and serve with beef vegetable soup.

WHALE CAMP CHILI-SALT SHAKER

For quick hors d’oeuvres, combine chili powder and salt in shaker and use to dust thin slices of jicama which have been drizzled with lime juice. Try this also on cucumber or slices of fresh fruit such as pineapple or oranges.

WHALE CAMP BAJA SANDBLASTER

The “Mas Cafe” official after-dinner drink was coffee with a jigger of rum and Rompope, a Mexican eggnog-brandy liqueur.

WHALE CAMP TORTILLA BAKLAVA

Heat 1 flour tortilla, spread with butter, honey and chopped nuts. Roll up to eat.