Finding the Right Foods for a Fiesta

Cinco de Mayo--being celebrated with fiestas and other events this week--commemorates the date in 1862 when Mexican forces fought one of their most valiant battles against French invaders.

Whether the holiday is part of your cultural heritage or not, Cinco de Mayo is a perfect excuse to put on your own fiesta, with the help of North County purveyors.

Rodeo’s Meat Market

223 W. Vista Way, Vista. 758-0513. Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Saturday; Sundays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ruth Salvador manages the bustling market for the owners, her brother-in-law, Salvador Linares, and his wife, Naomi. “We have everything you could possibly need to put on your Mexican fiesta,” says Ruth, seated inside her office at the front of the store. Rodeo’s, which opened in Vista two years ago, has long been a landmark in National City. While Ruth manages the newer North County operation, her father and three brothers still work out of the original store in southern San Diego County.

Rodeo’s is first and foremost a meat market that specializes in Mexican-style cuts such as carne asada ($2.99 a pound), menudo, and steamed beef for taquitos. Goat meat for barbecues ($4.99 a pound), or birria, a traditional Mexican specialty, is here year-round, as are the crisp-fried, pork chicharrones (pork rinds, $3.99 a pound) and Rodeo’s own fresh salsa.

Ruth keeps the market stocked floor to ceiling with authentic Mexican food products, from a variety of chili peppers to medicinal herbs, as well as with traditional pinatas.

Esperanzas Tortilleria

933 Rancheros Drive, San Marcos. 743-5908. Open to the public Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Owner Victor Martinez, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, worked for other companies at first, “but I always wanted a business of my own,” he says. Twelve years ago, he opened Esperanzas Tortilleria, which specializes in some of the crispiest tortilla chips around (La Esperanza brand, also available at Albertson’s in Escondido.)

Martinez’s tiny store, in a San Marcos business park, is almost entirely taken over by hefty packages of chips ranging in price from $1.59 to $1.69. The chips are fried in canola oil rather than the traditional coconut oil, because “the public started asking for something healthier,” says Martinez, who runs the store with the help of his wife, Teresa, and 26-year-old son Gabriel. They also manufacture about 50,000 flour tortillas and 25,000 corn tortillas a week.

“We’re small by commercial standard, but that’s all we can handle at this time,” says Victor. Quality ranks high on his list, he says as he explains the slow process to prepare the home-made masa, or dough, the old-fashioned way. “We don’t use ready- masas ,” says the tortilla maker. “We cook our own corn, then we grind it to make our tortillas.”

Esperanzas also specializes in the oversized flour tortillas (14” flour tortilla, $1.39 a dozen) favored by restaurants for fashioning burritos. The deli case features 6” corn tortillas, fried tostada shells made on the premises, as well as Mexican bread and chicharrones.

Lola’s Deli

3292 Roosevelt Street, Carlsbad. 434-2191. Call ahead to order in quantity. Hours: Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Drop in anytime at Lola’s Deli in the Carlsbad barrio, and chances are you will engage in friendly banter with Ofie Escobedo or her sister, Connie Trejo. Mexican food aficionados flock to Lola’s for the plump chicken tamales, those filled with shredded pork in red chili sauce, or the home-made “chili rellenos” ($1.25 apiece) made from a recipe handed down from Ofie’s grandmother.

Customers who favor desserts linger at the counter or at one of the cafe tables savoring each bite of the sisters’ home-made flan ($1.25 each). All the food at Lola’s is available to eat on the premises or to take out. Ofie or Connie will be happy to fill special orders with a few days’ notice.

El Nopalito Tortilleria

560 Santa Fe Drive, Encinitas. 436-5775. Hours: Daily 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The air is fragrant with the scent of warm corn tortillas at El Nopalito, for more than 15 years a fixture on Santa Fe Drive on the east side of Interstate 5.

“We sell thousands a week,” says assistant manager Antonia Ramirez. Although corn tortillas ($1 for two dozen, $2 for five dozen) are the store’s best sellers, El Nopalito also sells its own tortilla chips and tostada shells, and fresh salsa (from $1 to $6 a container depending on size). Tamales of beef, pork, or chicken, as well as sweet tamales are made daily on the premises ($9.16 per dozen).

The small restaurant adjoining the tortilleria features freshly made tamales along with other authentic Mexican dishes such as nopalitos (cactus pad) with shredded beef.

La Chiquita Market

410 San Diego St., Oceanside. Hours: Monday to Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Old-timers in Oceanside still gather just north of K mart, at La Chiquita, a local Mexican market in operation since 1946. In 1963, Ruben Adame, a North County native, took over the business from his parents, who had emigrated to this country from the state of Michoacan.

Today, Ruben’s wife, Carmen, and their three children regularly lend a hand in running the family store.

Ruben specializes in products not normally sold in convenience stores. Here too, specialty meats make up much of the business. “We have a different line of meat cuts,” he explains. “For one thing, we make our own carnitas ,” said Ruben, who prepares fresh carnitas every day. The deep-fried pork sells for $4.19 a pound. “The secret is to monitor the heat when carnitas are being fried,” he explains. Carnitas is a popular dish for parties, and to take along on picnics. “You can serve them in various forms. The best way is to serve them on a plate, so everyone can make their own burrito.”

Ruben recommends serving them with the cilanto-flavored salsa made fresh daily at the store. La Chiquita also sells home-made red or green salsas (90 cents for a small container), Mexican candles, household products, and specialty cooking implements.

OTHER FRESH PICKS:

Tears are not part of the program at the annual Sweet Imperial Onion Festival held May 2 and 3 in El Centro.

The Imperial Sweet, like the locally grown Del Luz Sweet, are subtle enough to be eaten out of hand--a fact you can verify in person by sampling the onion specialties prepared for the festival.

Details available from the Imperial Sweet Onion Commission, 353-1900.