COOKS’ WALK: TIJUANA : Looking for the Real Thing

Mexican food is immensely popular across the United States. But what is it really? Big, slushy margaritas, fast-food nachos, fajitas , combo plates buried in red sauce, canned beans and frozen guacamole?

These things may be practical for mass feeding--and not all bad. But wouldn’t you rather bite into a peneque , a little handmade masa turnover that was popular before Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico? Or sip a luscious, creamy guanabana licuado as they do on the streets of Veracruz? Or hang out on a dark corner, long after midnight, eating the best imaginable tacos, the freshly grilled meat tucked into fragrant little tortillas just off the comal ?

Only a thin line separates these two styles of eating--the border between Tijuana and California. Just south of that line, you can get anything from huitlacoche (a delicious black fungus that forms on ears of corn) and huauzontle (a wild green) to big, fresh Colima coconuts, heavy with cool, sweet liquid.

Tijuana is no longer a border “town.” It’s a large city, with a population approaching 2 million, and fully equipped with goods and services aimed at residents, not American visitors. The old honky-tonk tourist strip along Avenida Revolucion tells as much about the city today as Olvera Street does about Los Angeles. The music from margarita bars may still deafen your ears on Saturday night, but the street has been spiffed up and even boasts a branch of Sanborn’s, the Mexico City-based chain of classy restaurant-shops.

Food-wise, there is so much to discover that a weekend cook’s tour can’t even hit the highlights. You have to make hard choices--then go back, again and again. During three days of intensive exploration we discovered wonderful restaurants and food stands, looked at kitchen accessories, went to supermarkets, toured bakeries, searched for cookbooks, dropped into shops that custom-make marble pastry boards or frame art for your kitchen. We left frustrated at how much we had missed.

The area we covered runs from Avenida Revolucion and its surrounding streets out Boulevard Agua Caliente to La Mesa and branches off to the Zona Rio (riverbed zone), which is packed with newer shopping centers and restaurants.

Prices are up. Boccaccio’s Nuevo Marianna, once a rather rustic Italian restaurant, is so tony now that you’ll pay $20 for a veal cutlet and $10.75 for an enchilada plate. A weathered tin cookie cutter at a household goods shop in the Mercado Hidalgo was $4. The beautiful ceramic ware you once could buy in supermarkets at bargain prices was no longer around. And the price of books has risen to such an extent that four small paperback cookbooks came to $30.

Nevertheless, we stuffed a bag with bolillos (French rolls) at 30 for $1, bought excellent ground coffee at a little more than $2 a pound and feasted on an ocean-fresh, fried red snapper for $7, with a full plate of accompaniments.

Some merchants offer samples to shoppers. We ate free chorizo tacos at a Calimax supermarket; tried samples of baked goods, soup, sandwiches and tamales at the Suzett bakery in Plaza Rio Tijuana; and sipped free margaritas from salt-rimmed plastic cups at a liquor store in the Mercado Hildago.

Restaurants often sweetened their meals with courtesy appetizers, maybe shredded beef with tortillas, grilled chiles and onions, nopales salad or fried chicken fingers. A couple even added free after-dinner drinks. Nevertheless, most restaurant owners admitted that they’re feeling the economic crunch. And some people said they shop north of the border for better-quality goods and better prices.

Actually, many of the ingredients that make up the meals you eat in first-class restaurants may have been purchased in the United States. Also, a lot of the produce sold in the big, open-air Mercado Hidalgo is American-grown. You can see the place of origin on the crates.

Trends we saw in restaurants included a preponderance of Northern Mexican meat dishes. Smoking planchas (grills) and parrillas (grates) turn out the sizzling carnes asadas popular in this part of Mexico. However, you’ll also find dishes from other regions, including achiote -flavored foods from Yucatan, nut sauces from Puebla and Mexico City-style enchiladas. In all but one restaurant that we visited, menus were in Spanish only, indicating that customers are primarily local.

Desserts that we saw repeatedly included flaming bananas, crepes in cajeta sauce ( cajeta is a soft caramel made by boiling milk with sugar) and cajeta flan. Table-side cookery makes a show out of meats as well as the flaming desserts and fancy coffees.

Dishes made with huitlacoche appeared often, with crepes and quesadillas the most popular vehicles for the black corn fungus. We were told that huitlacoche is now cultivated in Mexico and, therefore, is available throughout the year.

Huauzontle , on the other hand, is a rarity. We found it at just one restaurant, La Fonda Roberto’s. This stemmy green, which looks like an herbal form of broccoli, is batter-coated, fried and topped with tomato sauce. You pull out the stems and eat the remainder taco-style with corn tortillas, the way it was done long before the Spanish conquest.

Although we had intended to concentrate on Mexican food, we stumbled upon an excellent French restaurant and saw scads of Chinese eating places, including elaborate ones that could have been plucked out of Hong Kong, Singapore--or Monterey Park. One of these, the Shangri-La in the Fiesta Americana Hotel complex, serves a dish that crosses both cultures--beef with shredded jicama--along with old-style Cantonese-American fare like pineapple shrimp and sweet-sour won ton.

The following list of shops and eating places is an introduction rather than a complete guide. Food shoppers should declare all purchases when re-entering California. Products not allowed over the border include pork, raw chicken, fresh mangoes, avocados, pitahayas and sweet limes. Admissible foods such as dried chiles, dried beans, rice and certain fruits and vegetables, may be rejected if they show signs of disease or infestation. The alcoholic beverage limit is one liter per person. If you do not declare prohibited products, you will be subject to penalty. Check with the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Customs Service for further information.

Note: To telephone Tijuana, dial the access code, which is 01152; then dial the area code, which is 66; then dial the local phone number. Numbers are changing rapidly as the city expands, so city directory listings may no longer be valid. For assistance, contact the Tijuana Chamber of Commerce, 01152-66-8584. Or stop at the tourist information booth just after crossing the border.

RESTAURANTS

Fogo’s. You dine in a purple glow here because that’s the color most conducive to relaxation at the table, or so a psychiatrist told owner Sergio Coppel and his wife, Maritza. This ambitious new restaurant offers upscale Mexican and international foods. Try the pollo en nogada (chicken in almond sauce), filete enchocolatado (thin steak prepared table-side with chocolate-butter-brandy sauce) or molcajete retazos (steak in pasilla chile sauce served in a volcanic-rock mortar). For starters, choose from soup, crepes or quesadillas made with huitlacoche (corn fungus) or squash flowers. Then gear up for dessert pyrotechnics as crepes or bananas are cooked in syrupy sauces and ignited at the table.

Leona Vicario No. 6, Zona Rio. Phone: 84-95-92.

Farmacia Gusher. There’s nothing cold or sterile about this pharmacy/soda fountain. It’s wildly decorated with jungle murals to make it seem as if you’re in the tropics as you sip licuados (blender drinks) and aguas (thin juices) made with exotic fruits, including guanabana (soursop), tuna (prickly pear), mamey (salmon-fleshed sapote ) and mango. The fruit salads are magnificent. Open 24 hours, Gusher is a good place for a snack or breakfast, to which you can add substance with a slice of pastel de tres leches-- cake soaked with three types of milk.

Plaza Rio Tijuana, Paseo de Los Heroes, Local 27-B. Phone: 84-02-29.

La Espadana. An espadana is a mission wall cut with niches for bells. And that’s what this restaurant looks like--a sandy mission in a tree-lined stretch of land peacefully apart from noise and traffic. Opened in 1990, it’s become a stylish place for breakfast, which stretches until early afternoon. Try the eggs with machaca , made with genuine sun-dried Sonora beef; chilaquiles with red, green or mole sauce; caldillo norteno , a hearty beef and potato soup, or a cactus omelet, all served with beans and tortillas. And, of course, you must have steaming, sweet, cinnamon-spiced cafe de olla .

At dinner, there’s an impressive leg of lamb-- pierna de borrego --baked with white wine, garlic, rosemary, carrots and potatoes; also shrimp in pale sauces colored with green chiles or the smoky chipotle ; grilled pork ribs and much more. Sangria comes layered in a wine glass. And the apple cake-- pastel de manzanas verdes --has a large following.

10813 Avenida Sanchez Taboada, Zona Rio. Phone: 34-14-88.

La Fonda Roberto’s. Lots of locals say this is their favorite spot for typical Mexican food. And typical doesn’t mean tacos, tamales and enchiladas but peneques -- masa turnovers stuffed with beans and cheese, chiles en nogada (chiles stuffed with meat, fruits and nuts, topped with walnut sauce), fried bundles of huauzontle , nopales salad, beef tips in chipotle sauce and so forth. There’s a wonderful, garlicky mushroom soup from Puebla that will introduce you to the flavor of the herb epazote . And you’ll learn new definitions for huarache and taco. On this menu, huarache Azteca is not an Indian sandal but fish sandwiched in a split cactus paddle, and taco Roberto is a thin steak rolled around diced cactus in pipian sauce, topped with cheese and chipotle chile sauce. Can’t choose? Then order a fiesta platter, which lets you taste five or six dishes.

16 de Septiembre No. 365 (Highway to Ensenada). Phone: 86-46-87.

La Lena. First you see the colorful tiled counter embedded with grills. Then you see men in 10-gallon hats at tables that are lined up like soldiers in a no-fuss wood-paneled room. It’s not the wild West, but you’re due for a hefty meal of grilled meat, beans and hot tortillas. The house appetizers are he-man stuff--tripe cooked with green onion and pasilla chile, or chewy shredded beef to fold with salsa in small corn tortillas. Gaonera , named after a famed matador, is steak pounded thin, rolled around guacamole and covered with melted Jack cheese. But best of all is los punos, a rustic dish of meat cubes marinated for hours with onion and vinegar, then grilled with bacon and green onion. You pick up handfuls ( punos ) of this wonderful stuff with the aid of tortillas laid on top. For some unfathomable reason, los punos has been demoted to the children’s menu and renamed punitos . So lie about your age and order it anyway. Lena , by the way, means firewood, the sort over which cowboys cook their meals on the open range.

4560 Boulevard Agua Caliente. Phone: 86-29-20 .

La Torta Plaza. A torta is a sandwich, and this fast-food place, which has several branches in Tijuana, is a good place to try one. Soft telera rolls are split, grilled and filled with pork, beef, ham and combinations such as chorizo and egg. The tortas are finished off with a bit of shredded lettuce, tomato and guacamole. Soft drinks or refrescos such as tamarindo , jamaica and horchata make good accompaniments. And there’s a fairly decent flan for dessert.

Plaza Rio Tijuana. Phone: 34-17-51.

Los Arcos. You may think that machaca is always made with beef. But at this seafood restaurant, you can have a rare dish: smoked marlin machaca . There are lots of ornate dishes on the menu, but what could be better than simple, super-fresh, fried red snapper for about $7, including rice and salad? You’ll automatically get a plateful of grilled whole onions and chiles, but try also the shrimp ceviche tostadas or the taco gobernador , which is filled with shrimp and cheese. A little tumbler of Kahlua and cream sprinkled with cinnamon comes after the meal. But for a real show, order Mexican coffee, which is concocted with as much hocus-pocus as a magic potion. The rim of the glass is coated with sugar, and in goes a shot of tequila. Next, the glass is slowly swirled over a flame. And when the tequila is hot, dashes of ground cinnamon ignite inside, forming showers of light like a Fourth of July sparkler. Now it’s time to add hot coffee, whipped cream and a sprinkle of instant coffee powder. But the show isn’t over: A ladleful of Kahlua is set on fire and poured into the glass in a flaming stream.

1000 Salinas Boulevard. Phone: 86-47-57 .

Sanborn’s. People from Mexico City frequent Sanborn’s big tiled dining room, and no wonder. They can have the same foods and enjoy the same ambience as in the capital, where the chain originated in 1903. The enchiladas Suizas and the whopping juice of seven fruits are legendary. And the sopa especial Sanborn-- chicken rice soup with guacamole on the side--must be good, too. All the customers at a large table ordered big bowlfuls. Sanborn’s coffee alone is worth a stop. And when the waitress in her starchy, folkloric uniform wheels up the pastry cart, don’t say no. The cakes and pastries may look wicked, but they’re lighter and less guilt-inducing than you would expect. Sanborn’s has its own bakery, where you can buy treats to go and pick up a can of Sanborn’s cocoa. The coffee, unfortunately, is not for sale.

Avenida Revolucion at Eighth Street. Phone: 85-26-66.

Tacos El Gordo. That flashing red light doesn’t mean you’re getting a ticket. It means you’ve arrived at one of two incredibly good taco stands. This Tacos El Gordo is beside the Mercado Hidalgo. The other, on Avenida Constitucion downtown, has both a red police car light and a traffic signal. If the light is green, stop anyway for wonderful tacos and mulas of carne asada (grilled beef) or carne adobada (barbecued pork sliced off a spit). A mula is a taco “sandwich.” The fillings are piled on one tortilla and topped with another. The meat is top-quality, purchased in the United States. And the tortillas are made fresh at the stands. There’s also unusually good horchata, the traditional Mexican rice-based drink. The stands are open during the day and most of the night. At 1:30 a.m., the mercado stand was going full tilt, and the lively crowd even included a baby in a stroller.

Corner Avenida. Sanchez Taboada and Calle Francisco Xavier Mina, Zona Rio. No phone.

Tour de France. Located in a remodeled house, this French restaurant opened last October under the command of Martin San Roman, a serious young chef from Mexico City. San Roman, who has studied at Le Notre in Paris, insists on ingredients from Europe and the United States but tosses in an occasional Mexican fillip. There’s an arbol chile, for example, in the olive oil and herb mixture that you pour over pizzas, and the coffee blends Mexican Sabarex with Italian Medaglia d’Oro. Popular dishes here are beef fillet with snails and garlic sauce, veal sweetbreads with roasted chestnuts, and duckling with a sauce of fresh figs plucked from a tree in the garden out back. For an appetizer, try the seafood pizza. The base is puff paste made from scratch at the restaurant. Then finish with an unusual “cake” that layers some 20 crepes with Belgian white-chocolate mousse. Shavings of white chocolate decorate the top, and dark chocolate sauce lies underneath. For a final touch, there’s Cognac, at $6 to $100 a shot.

Gobernador Ibarra 252. Phone: 81-75-42.

MARKETS

Commercial Mexicana. One American shopper calls this “the K mart of Tijuana.” Walk past the book section, the clothing and appliances to the back where there’s a full-scale market including deli, produce, liquor and canned goods. The cheese counter displays awesomely large blocks of Chihuahua and cotija cheeses, along with Oaxaca, Manchego, queso fresco , Jack and others. Show interest, and you’ll be offered a taste. Nearby is a counter devoted to candied fruits and vegetables like calabaza (pumpkin), camote (sweet potato) and biznaga (cactus). At the deli counter, giant clay cazuelas are packed with seasoning pastes for mole poblano , mole with sesame seeds, adobo and green and red pipian sauces. Busy Tijuana residents buy food to go here. Paella pans hold prepared salads and desserts, including chongos Zamoranos (milk curds in syrup) and arroz con leche (rice pudding). Main dishes include beef tongue, beef in chipotle sauce, pork chunks in red chile and bisteck ranchero. There’s a seafood cocktail booth too.

Plaza Rio Tijuana. Phone: 84-08-66.

Leyva’s Liquor. The attraction here is an enormous display of Mexican vanillas, including white vanilla for use in frostings. The problem is that certain vanillas may be flavored with coumarin extracted from the tonka bean, which is banned from use in food in the United States. We were advised to look for the words pure, natural vanilla on labels. One brand, Pasa, even states “Warranty: free of coumarin contents.” But the only real guarantee is a lab test.

Avenue Revolucion No. 1026-17. Phone: 85-55-07.

Mercado Hidalgo. This market has everything--open-air stalls stacked with colorful fruits, vegetables and more varieties of chile than you’ve probably heard of; shops selling traditional crafts, and places to eat. (Try the tacos and mulas at Tacos Fabiola.) There’s live action too--women peeling cactus paddles, a group chatting around a bin of garlic as they separate the cloves, a man simmering beans in a brightly painted clay pot on a charcoal grill. In the center is the coconut vendor, who’ll hack apart a juicy young coco for your refreshment. After you’ve drunk the liquid, he neatly scoops the flesh into a plastic bag for a walkaway snack. You’ll see bins of dried beans, stacks of sugar cane, wheels composed of cinnamon sticks, long garlic braids and a lot more. For local color, this is your best bet.

Boulevard Independencia, between Paseo de Los Heroes and Sanchez Taboada. (1 block west of Plaza Rio Tijuana). No phone.

Supermarkets. Branches of chains such as Calimax, Ley and Gigante are scattered all over. In downtown Tijuana, there’s a Calimax on Revolucion and a small Gigante on Constitucion. Both chains have larger stores in the Zona Rio. As you drive toward La Mesa on Revolucion, which becomes Boulevard Agua Caliente and eventually turns into Boulevard Diaz Ordaz, you’ll pass two Calimax markets and, shortly before La Mesa, a large Ley store. Good buys include canned milks, canned Nestle crema , Maggi and Knorr chicken stock granules, coffees such as Sabarex, Combate and Marino, bottled jarabe (simple syrup) and grenadine. At Ley, Cuervo Gold tequila on sale was a lot cheaper than in downtown liquor stores.

Locations throughout greater Tijuana.

BAKERIES

La Baguette. This bakery chain has several outlets, including one at Commercial Mexicana. Market customers rush to the counter when freshly baked rolls appear. And no wonder. They’re only 100 pesos each, which is about 3 1/3 cents. La Baguette also sells pastries, but the breads, including pan dulce (sweet bread), are especially recommended.

Commercial Mexicana. And other locations.

Panaderia El Molino. A spacious bakery with one wing devoted to cakes. You’ll dip down into big bins to pull out rolls, and pick out your own pan dulce in the customary way--with a tray and tongs. Quality is excellent.

Calle 10 at Avenida Quintana Roo. Phone: 84-90-40.

Panaderia La Mejor. Even late in the afternoon, fresh pan dulce was emerging from the ovens at this small, cozy bakery. La mejor means “the best,” and that’s what some inhabitants think of this company’s baked goods. There’s another La Mejor in La Mesa.

Avenida Constitucion No. 954, downtown Tijuana. Phone: 85-21-88.

Suzett Bakery and Pastry Shop. You can watch bakers shaping bolillos in Suzett’s window then go inside for endless temptation. Gooey cakes and pastries should be eaten at once. They won’t survive a long drive home unless packed carefully in a cooler, but pan dulce and French bread transport well and can be frozen. Suzett provides the makings for lunch on the run or a picnic. Choose from big zeppelin sandwiches or tiny tortas , soups and hot, ready-to-eat tamales filled with chicken, beef or chile strips with cheese, or sweetened for dessert. This is one of two Tijuana-area Suzett bakeries, which are part of a chain headquartered in Mexico City.

Plaza Rio Tijuana, Local 14-D. Phone: 84-04-26. Also at Plaza Playas, Local A-1. Phone: 80-98-10.

HOUSEWARES AND ACCESSORIES

Dresden and Venecia. These two shops, which have been in business for many years, are located a few doors from each other in a district that caters to local trade, not tourists. The stock includes tortilla presses, tamale steamers, molcajetes , lime squeezers, blue enamel pots, Vasconia aluminum pots, cake pans and even old-fashioned flat irons.

Dresden, 1827 3rd St., downtown Tijuana. Phone: 85-98-20. Venecia, 1805 3rd St., downtown Tijuana. Phone: 86-32-55.

El Circo del Marmol. This company will cut marble or granite to order for pastry boards, cutting boards, tabletops and other kitchen needs.

Paseo de los Heroes No. 100-A, Zona Rio. Phone: 34-12-89.

El Porton. Upscale decorative and gift items, including shiny Mexican “pewter” serving accessories, glass salad bowls, blown glass canisters and candleholders, rustic wooden dining tables and colorful woven tablecloths and napkins.

Plaza Rio Tijuana, Local B-22 and 23. Phone: 34-00-14.

Galeria Picasso. Paintings, photographs, cartoons, tapestries and tiles for your kitchen and/or dining room will be custom-framed here at a fraction of what you would pay in the United States. A large order will require one or two night’s stay.

Boulevard Diaz Ordaz No. 1351-2, La Mesa. Phone: 81-03-49.

Mercado Hidalgo. Shops here carry traditional accessories including wooden spoons, molinillos used to blend hot chocolate, metal and wood tortilla presses, tortilla baskets lined with styrofoam, metates (grinding stones), animal-shaped molcajetes and lacy bunuelo molds. Artesanias Tonala (Local No. 72) has unusual avocado-shaped sauceboats, napkin holders and salt and pepper shakers from Guadalajara, mugs with quaint sayings in Spanish, ristras of shiny glazed fruits and vegetables, and miniature kitchen scenes.

Boulevard Independencia between Paseo de Los Heroes and Sanchez Taboada, 1 block west of Plaza Rio Tijuana. No phone.

Sanborn’s. In addition to its restaurant, bar and bakery, Sanborn’s has a large shop that amounts to a small department store. Dining accessories include elegant silver serving pieces, Talavera pottery from Puebla, decorative platters to hang on the wall, cobalt blue glassware and copper accent pieces. Large framed tile food pictures are unusual and attractive.

Avenida Revolucion at Eighth Street, downtown Tijuana. Phone: 85-26-66.

Supermarkets. Most have good supplies of cookware and traditional items such as tortilla presses, comals (griddles), lime squeezers and orange squeezers as well as tart, cake and flan molds. Small appliances at Commercial Mexicana include one designed to shortcut an ancient art. It’s the tortilladora electrica from Ispasa, an electric griddle that presses out and cooks flour tortillas in a single operation.

Locations throughout greater Tijuana.

Times staff writer Minnie Bernardino contributed to this story.