Not last week but the one before, I was whisked away to the sunny shores of Sinaloa, Mexico for the 18th annual Gran Fiesta Amigos de Mazatlán. As part of the festivities, I explored the gastronomical delights in and around the Mazatlán region along with two fellow food writers. It was a tremendous experience chock full of deliciousness, and I am excited to share the highlights from my trip in these coming posts.
On my first full day in town, we hopped aboard a van and traveled to Puerta de Canoas, a teeny tiny town founded in the 18th century with just over 300 inhabitants. While it was a center for canoe manufacturing in the past, hence its name, these days the town is better known for raising cattle.
Here, we feasted on a traditional Sinaloan lunch prepared by two local ladies—Doña Rosa (left) and her daughter Monica. Sitting down to a home cooked meal in a part of the world where I didn’t have any friends or family was quite the treat and definitely one of the highlights of my travels.
When we arrived at the billiard hall cum kitchen and dining room, Doña Rosa was preparing corn tortillas on an old school Mexican stove. She didn’t speak of lick of English, and my Spanish was rudimentary at best, but we managed to get some basics down like greetings, names, and such. In this situation, smiles and nods went a long way.
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