My aunt and I enjoy similar things in life. We both enjoy travel, food, wine, museums and Japanese American history. As a child, I even traveled to Mexico with her. Together we visited Acapulco, Taxco and Mexico City.
Usually, I’m current on my LA area food festivals, but she told me about one that I didn’t know about – The Enchilada Festival. Just like any other country, Mexico has many different styles of cuisine and because of that, there are many regional versions of the enchilada.
La Casita Mexicana and its sister restaurant Mexicano played host to a month-long tribute to the enchilada. This festival was the result of a collaborative effort between chefs Ramiro Arvizu and Jaime Martin del Campo. Between the two restaurants, over 24 different enchiladas were featured. Upon perusing both menus, I decided to go to Mexicano.
Mexicano is located in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. My wife and I arrived before Mexicano opened which gave us an opportunity to explore the mall. Of course, I had to check out the food court and I was impressed at the diverse offerings: New York Pizza, Japanese, Chinese, Hot Wings, Mexican, Creole, Burgers and Yogurt.
Walking towards the restaurant, we could see through the window and watch the tortillas being made by hand. By the time we walked to the front of Mexicano, it was open; we were only the second table seated.
The restaurant is beautifully decorated. Mexicano gives you the feeling that you left LA and are vacationing in a luxury Mexican resort. Beautiful Mexican tile is abound, folk art from different parts of Mexico are mounted in the wall. Mexicano was definitely a treat for the eyes.
To set the tone for the meal, we ordered a couple of drinks. I had the Paloma and my wife requested the classic Margarita. Classic Mexican glassware was used and I appreciated the fact that they didn’t skimp on the amount that was served. Both drinks were very good.
There was a choice between 3, 5 and 7 enchiladas per person. Figuring that 7 was a bit too much, I prepaid for 5 enchiladas per person. Yes, that is a lot, but I already had in mind that we were going to have boxes to take home.
My wife’s #1 and #2 choices were the mole enchilada and enchilada suizas. I agreed with her #1 choice, but my #2 choice was Enchiladas Mareñas – stuffed with shrimp and cooked with guajillo chile and topped with a tomatillo sauce.
The mole enchilada was creatively presented with three different mole sauces. The first was the mole poblano. This is an extremely complex sauce that is made with Mexican chocolate and several different types of chiles. It is both spicy and sweet. The green mole achieves its color from the use of romaine, cilantro, serrano peppers and tomatillos. Pumpkin seeds, chile peppers, cinnamon and cumin give the red Pepian sauce a unique taste.
Enchilada en Nogada was the most interesting of the group. This was a creation of chefs Jamie and Ramiro. It is filled with ground pork, dried fruit, walnuts and candied cactus. It is topped with pecan cream and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. To me, it was more like a dessert dish.
I hope they bring back the enchilada festival next year. It was fun getting immersed with enchiladas this way. As my wife and I shared each enchilada, we exchanged comments. I believe the freshly made tortillas really enhanced the experience. If you have an opportunity to try this, I recommend that you watch out for the festival next year.