Hold the Cerveza

Attend this coastal city’s annual wine festival and you’ll emerge with a new view of Mexican food--and the sad awareness that, for the most part, this is not what you get north of the border.

Picture freshly caught skate wing with a crunchy topping of fried jamaica flowers. Risotto prepared with huitlacoche, the darkly intriguing fungus that grows on corn. Lobster medallions sauced with vodka-laced bechamel and topped with caviar. Tiny squid in dark beet sauce. Deep sea shrimp that are sweet like lobster. Quail simmered with white wine and lots of fresh rosemary.

These are not rare dishes. They’re regular fare at Ensenada restaurants--refined, classy dishes that you drink with wine, not beer. Save the cerveza for the heavy, sauce-flooded combo plates that you get in Alta California.

Perhaps taste is elevated here because Ensenada is the center of Mexico’s wine district. Two wineries, Bodegas de Santo Tomas and Cavas Valmar, are in the city. A string of others are situated off the Ensenada-Tecate highway, a short drive from town.

The ultimate in wine-dining is the Santo Tomas winery restaurant, La Embotelladora Vieja. Dramatic, free-standing brick arches soar above the tables in this big, dark room. A long wine bar, huge wine casks and bottle storage bins let you know that you are in a winery.

During the Fiestas de la Vendimia, the wine festival held in August, Santo Tomas staged a street fair, and La Embotelladora offered a special menu that tells more than anything else what modern Mexican cuisine is like.

The first course was a salad of Greek feta cheese ringed by tomato slices, each topped with a leaf of locally grown basil. Tiny capers cascaded over the cheese, and the dressing was raspberry vinegar and Argentine olive oil.

Next came a pyramid of toast points sheltering slices of foie gras from the state of Morelos. On the side: a marmalade of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries cooked in wine made from Tempranillo, a grape characteristic of the Rioja district of Spain.

The main course required a difficult choice between risotto made with huitlacoche flown in from Mexico City, porcini mushrooms, chanterelles and white truffle oil and one made with duck confit and Merlot.

For dessert, chef Benito Molina created a tart of puff pastry and vanilla cream topped with a pear poached in Merlot accompanied by strawberry coulis, Sherry-flavored chocolate sauce and scoops of vanilla ice cream. Molina, who is from Mexico City, trained at the New England Culinary Institute.

Home cooking is not far behind the chefs. Cavas Valmar stages an annual wine cooking contest for amateurs during the festival. This year’s winning recipe was shrimp cooked with white wine, tomatoes, garlic, a dash of curry powder and chipotle chile. Second place went to mussels in puff pastry. Squid marinated in white wine and baked with a cream cheese-onion sauce came in third.

At a party after the contest, local cooks dished up specialties such as tuna pa^te prepared with white wine and pork loin in a rich sauce that contained chorizo and ham.

Spurring on the movement toward fancy cooking at home is Leticia Backhoff of Ensenada. Backhoff teaches cooking in private homes in Ensenada and Tijuana and doesn’t stint on luxury ingredients. Trained in France and England, she prepares an enchilada casserole that requires 1 1/2 pounds of lobster meat and a pound of large shrimp.

Another dish from her curriculum is pork loin marinated with rosemary and ancho chile and served with a sauce modeled on green mole enriched with lots of whipping cream. She accompanies this with mozzarella-topped stuffed potatoes that contain bacon and jalapen~o.

Backhoff would match white wines with these dishes: a Sauvignon Blanc with the seafood enchilada casserole and a Chenin Blanc or a blend of Chenin Blanc and French Colombard to accompany the pork.

Her husband, Hans, is the winemaker for Monte Xanic, which produces some of the region’s most prestigious varietals.

An aficionado of fine Mexican food (he’ll tell you the best restaurants in Ensenada and Mexico City and what to order), Hans Backhoff says even tostadas and gorditas can go with wine--that is, if the spices are kept at a palatable level. Lobster tacos, an Ensenada specialty, are excellent with Chardonnay. “But tacos with spicy sauce? I’d have a beer,” he says.

To get a North American slant on pairing Mexican food with wine, we turned to Ronald McClendon, winemaker for Vides del Guadalupe-Domecq, producer of Pedro Domecq wines. McClendon was formerly winemaker with R.H. Phillips Vineyards in Yolo County, the now-defunct John Culbertson Winery in Fallbrook and assistant winemaker at the San Pasqual Vineyards in Escondido, which is no longer in business.

With lobster burritos, and even with chiles rellenos, McClendon likes Chenin Blanc, a wine that is more popular in Mexico than in California. Domecq’s version has a little residual sugar and enough acidity to cut through richness.

Carne asada would take a stronger red, he says, like Domecq’s blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Nebbiolo. He would also drink Cabernet with quail marinated in white wine and grilled over grape vine cuttings. Don~a Cuca, a Domecq chef, makes that dish for the winery’s executive dining room.

McClendon says that four Domecq varietals--Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay--should be available in California before year’s end. In Mexico, he says, per-capita wine consumption is only half a bottle a year; but sales of local wines are up 50% as prices for imported wines have risen with the devaluation of the peso.

The eagerness to explore wine and food was apparent in the sellout crowd that attended a wine seminar held at Real del Mar on the coast near Tijuana. This event was sponsored by the Cofradia del Noble Vino de Tijuana in connection with the Ensenada festival.

After the seminar and a blind tasting of six wines, attendees wandered among tables where Mexican wineries poured their products. The evening ended with a buffet that offered a striking range of dishes: Caesar, pasta and potato salads; beef in chipotle sauce; garlic squid; fish; rice; and refried beans.

Seminar lecturers were Hans Backhoff; Hugo d’Acosta, winemaker of Bodegas de Santo Tomas; and Victor M. Torres Alegre, winemaker for Chateau Camou, which opened a year ago in the Guadalupe Valley near Monte Xanic.

“Mexican culture with wine is not as broad as in your country,” says Ernesto Alvarez Morphy Camou of Mexico City, the founder of Chateau Camou. “Unfortunately, Mexicans drink too many soft drinks. Beer also is very popular. But the culture of wine is beginning to develop. In the next 10 years, there will not be enough Mexican wine available for Mexico itself.”

LETICIA BACKHOFF’S ENCHILADAS GOURMET

You can make this casserole in advance and freeze it. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. Accompany with a salad.

Butter

Oil

20 corn tortillas

2 onions, chopped

3/4 pound fresh Anaheim or poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and cut into strips

2 cups half and half

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons oregano leaves

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 1/2 pounds lobster meat, cooked and cut into pieces

1 pound large shrimp, cooked, peeled and cut into pieces

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1 (12-ounce) can seeded black olives, cut in halves or sliced

1 pound Jack cheese, grated

1 pound longhorn Cheddar cheese, grated

Optional additions:

Longhorn Cheddar cheese

Red pepper slices

Green or black olives

Avocado slices

Grease 4-quart earthen or glass casserole generously with butter. Heat oil for frying in small skillet and fry each tortilla until softened. Drain and keep warm. Fry onions in 1/4 cup butter until tender but not browned. Place onions with butter in blender. Add chile strips, half and half, sour cream, oregano and garlic salt and blend until smooth. Turn into heavy saucepan and heat gently until warm.

Line buttered casserole with 1/3 of fried tortillas. Top evenly with half of lobster meat and shrimp, then half of nuts and olives.

Mix Jack and longhorn cheeses. Set aside 1 1/2 cups cheese mixture for later use. Sprinkle half of remainder over layers in casserole. Reserve 1 cup sauce mixture and pour half of remainder over layers. Repeat layers. Top with layer of remaining tortillas. Pour reserved 1 cup sauce over casserole and top with 3/4 cup reserved cheese.

Bake at 300 degrees until casserole is bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes. Raise heat to 450 degrees. Sprinkle casserole with remaining 3/4 cup cheese and bake until browned, 5 to 7 minutes longer. If using garnish, arrange red pepper strips, olives, avocado and extra cheese over casserole. Return to oven until cheese melts.

Makes 12 servings.

Each serving, without optional additions, contains about:

769 calories; 1,256 mg sodium; 202 mg cholesterol; 51 grams fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 46 grams protein; 3.49 grams fiber.

LETICIA BACKHOFF’S ROAST PORK LOIN WITH PUMPKIN SEED SAUCE

Backhoff serves the pork with baked stuffed potatoes, topped with either mozzarella or Chihuahua cheese. You could also serve it with rice to take advantage of the generous amount of sauce.

1 dried ancho chile

Water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons coarse salt

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon ground dried rosemary

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 (3-pound) pork loin roast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup raw peeled pumpkin seeds

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 slices white bread, toasted and cut in little pieces

2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Soak ancho chile in hot water to cover until very soft. Drain and remove stem and seeds. Place in blender, add 1/4 cup water and blend until pureed. Combine ancho puree, sugar, salt, rosemary and pepper. Coat pork loin with mixture and marinate, covered, in refrigerator overnight.

Next day, pat meat dry. Brown in olive oil on all sides in deep skillet. Transfer to baking dish and bake at 350 degrees to medium doneness, 150 degrees on meat thermometer, about 1 hour. Turn every 15 minutes to cook evenly.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce. Toast pumpkin seeds in dry skillet over high heat. Grind in blender or food processor. Add chicken stock, bread, poblano chiles, cilantro, onion and garlic and grind to puree. Melt butter until browned. Add sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, until thickened. Add cream and bring just to boil. Slice pork. Pour sauce over slices.

Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

664 calories; 2,160 mg sodium; 139 mg cholesterol; 52 grams fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 31 grams protein; 1.21 grams fiber.

SKATE WINGS WITH BROWN BUTTER AND FRIED JAMAICA FLOWERS

Benito Molina, chef at La Embotelladora Vieja, the restaurant attached to Bodegas de Santo Tomas, devised this dish. Dried jamaica flowers usually are soaked to make a sweet, red drink. Here, they are fried, producing a crunchy, tangy topping for the fish. Skate is ray, a cousin of the shark. The wings are sold in premium fish markets but are not always available. Call stores to order in advance.

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup dried jamaica flowers

2 pounds skate wing

Butter

2 to 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Heat oil in small skillet. Add jamaica flowers and fry 20 to 30 minutes, until flowers begin to darken. Drain. Chop fine.

Divide skate into 4 servings. In large skillet, fry pieces in 2 tablespoons butter until fish flakes when pierced, 7 minutes on one side, 3 to 5 minutes on other side. Remove skate and keep warm. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to skillet and cook until lightly browned. Add jamaica flowers and lime juice. Pour over each serving of fish.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional data not available.

CAMARONES A LA CHANITA

This recipe won first place for Susana Natera in a wine cooking contest conducted by Cavas Valmar in Ensenada. Natera’s unusual idea was to season the sauce with both curry powder and chipotle chile. You barely taste curry, but the spice blend brightens the color of the sauce.

5 large tomatoes

3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Salt, pepper

1 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 dried chipotle chile, finely ground

Cooked rice

Drop tomatoes into boiling water and cook 40 seconds. Drain and peel. Remove seeds, dice tomatoes and cool. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in skillet. Add tomatoes and cook over medium heat 2 minutes.

Heat remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and butter in another skillet. Add shrimp and garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until shrimp are pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove shrimp from skillet. Add wine and cook until reduced by half. Add shrimp, tomatoes, parsley, curry powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle to skillet and cook until heated through. Serve with rice. Pass remaining ground chipotle to add as desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

215 calories; 125 mg sodium; 123 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 16 grams protein; 0.69 gram fiber.