Valle de Bravo

We just spent a lovely weekend in Valle de Bravo, which is a lake resort in the State of Mexico, about 2 hours away from Mexico City. We got there on Friday afternoon and drove through the town to get a glimpse of all of the sites. The first stop was at a small panadería on the corner, where they sell the best conchas in the WORLD. They were wonderfully crunchy and had a really authentic flavor. Later we went to the Hotel Batucada for a margarita, and then home for a dinner of artichokes with vinaigrette and smoked salmon on toast. The next day was a full day of work (although there was also a lot of preparations that went into the trip beforehand also).

The next day I woke up early and went with my grandmother to get the tortillas, which are made blue on Saturdays. They process both yellow and dark corn, which creates a blue masa. We went back home and had a full breakfast of molletes and chilaquiles; my aunt Lupita was determined to give us the full Mexican experience. By then my uncle Nacho had arrived, so we began to cook and get our luncheon together. We made three excellent plates: a crown made up of two types of beans, a nopal soufflé, and pork pibil with achiote. Dessert was also great and combined campechanas with vanilla ice cream, cajeta, and pecans. Campechanas are a specialty of Valle, and are crispy desserts made of puff pastry glazed with sugar. To start off our lunch I made everyone a Paloma Pura, a tequila and grapefruit cocktail with fresh basil. After lunch we headed into town to a photo exhibit and a walk around some of the shops. There are beautiful artesanal shops with handmade napkins and tablecloths, which make excellent gifts.

This morning was our last morning in the tranquil lake valley surrounded by pine trees. We had another great breakfast with huevos ahogados (eggs poached in a tomato sauce), the leftover beans, and a fresh fruit salad of papaya with blackberries and granada china (similar to a passion fruit). Did I forget to mention the nata? ? My aunt buys cheese from a local ranch, where they also make nata, which is a sort of clotted cream. Things like nata always taste different from place to place, because it is made with raw milk from local cows and picks up the taste unique taste of local bacteria (in a good way). We spread the nata on our conchas an on our campechanas, boy was it good! Nacho took us on a long boat ride around the lake, and then we were off to town. We went to the church with the famous black Christ, who was not destroyed in a horrible fire that took down the original church, and is now considered miraculous. We finished up the trip with a wonderful lunch and came back to Mexico City in time to shower and check our emails before we head off to San Miguel de Allende tomorrow!