Cabo San Lucas is at the tip of the second longest peninsula in the world, the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. Despite what you may have heard, Sam Hagar didn’t discover Cabo.
Cabo has many magnets. The whale watching is superb. The seafood and dining choices are first rate. The contrast between the blue of the ocean and the desert is stunning. And, the local residents make you feel welcomed.
On this trip our main focus was whale watching and relaxation. But, since Sausagefest never sleeps, we wanted to pass on some new finds while we were in Cabo.
Our home base was the Las Ventanas al Paraiso resort on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula. Fabrice Guisset is the Executive Chef there and a great ambassador for the hotel and the local cuisine. A trained French chef in a seaside resort is a dangerous combination – but in a very good way.
He graciously shared with us one of his recipes that marry local seafood with sausage – Dark Beer Steamed Mussels with Chistorra (see our recipe page for this).
But what is Chistorra?
Chistorra is a pork-based sausage of Basque origin. Small in diameter its length can be one to three feet in length. The Chistorra we had in Cabo was the Mexican version. Which meant that the paprika of the Basque version was absent. Instead of the paprika there was chili pepper added. This New World version is worth seeking out and trying. When you think Chiorra think of it like a better breakfast sausage alternative. Except, Chistorra can also be found as a tapas bar treat – its more than a breakfast staple.
On a Tuesday morning at the Ocean Grill Fabrice treated me to a Chistorra tasting with French and Mayan touches. Accompanying the Chistorra was Fougasse. Being French, Fabrice took this bread from Provence, added some olive oil, and cooked it in the adobe oven with the sausage.
Sausage and bread is a traditional combination in many cultures. What brought this combination to new heights was Xni-pec salsa. Xni-pec (a Mayan word for a dog’s nose) is a simple Mayan salsa with dramatic impact. Fabrice’s interpretation of this dish followed this recipe:
Ingredients:
• One half habanero pepper (no seeds) diced
• One cup of red onion finely diced
• Juice of half a lime
• A pinch of sea salt
Let this mixture set in a bowl for at least an hour; stir occasionally. For those more adventurous you might want to use a whole habanero pepper, but also double the onion and lime ingredients.
What does the “dog’s nose” have to do with the salsa? Common conjecture is that your nose will run like that of a dog. A graphic and sobering image – enough said.
As always, take care with working with the Habanero pepper. Gloves for your hands and eye shield are worth investing in.
That cautionary note aside, this is a simple but amazingly good salsa. Teamed with the Fougasse and Chistorra this is a breakfast meal that will quickly wake up your taste buds.
The Las Ventanas al Paraiso resort is part of the Rosewood group of fine hotels and resorts. Its one of those high quality, high personal service hotels. It also has a tequila – sushi bar on the premises that also requires a visit.
For the first time in Sausagefest history we had to deal with some rainy weather. But, we had positive things happened that helped us deal with the weather.
First, we had Spontaneous Tent Erection (STE, for you medical types) and that saved us from:
A. Electrocuting Irv and his musical equipment
B. Kept our sausage serving buffet dry
Many thanks to our friends who brought the extra tents. May your STE powers stay with you forever.
Second, several people walked up to me and said. “It never rains at Sausagefest.” Proving that a positive attitude can overcome obvious empirical evidence to the contrary. I think the wine and beer consumption helped bolster that ignore-the-weather attitude.
Here are some of the measures of our misbegotten behavior:
• For the first time ever we had more sausages consumed and tasted than wine. We sampled 31 different sausages and drained 28 bottles of wine.
• We had at a minimum 86 people in attendance – documented by photographic and other CSI (Criminal Sausage Investigations) evidence.
• We had the first sausages on the grill by 4:30 PM and the lights in the wine bar went off at 1:30 AM Sunday morning. Rain was coming down pretty good but at this time of the party no one noticed.
• We had two people take headers into terra firma. No injuries to report on either.
• The beer consumption was dramatically up. We had a variety of type flight micro-brews and our recycle bins were overflowing with that evidence.
The Winners of Sausagefest 2011:
Best Theme for Sausagefest 2011: Osama Bin Sausage - Marc Zider
Best Home Made Sausage
• Kielbasa - Ed Grabowski (welcome back to the Winner Circle, Ed!!!)
Best Store Bought Sausage
• Philly Cheese Steak Brats, from Mariano’s - entered by the Wippman’s and Duffey’s
Best Italian Sausage: (two way tie)
• Sanagan Meat Market, Toronto, Canada – entered by Mr. Fuld
• Fausto’s, Arlington Hts, Ill – entered by the Kleiva’s
Best Sausage & Vegetable Pairing
• Italian-Mexican Sausage & Pepper, Paulina Market – entered by Rohrbach-Klott
Sausage en Croute
• Sausage Torte – home made – entered by Mr. McClure (second year in a row).
Creativity Award
• Piggy’s in a Blanket – entered by Lawrence (a first time winner from Champaign, Ill)
Best Home Made Desert
• Almond Cake – entered by Sue McClure
Best Store Bought Desert
• Fruit Torte – Mariano’s, Arlington Hts, Ill., entered by the Wippman’s.
Best Red Wine
• Parusso, Barolo, 1998 Honorable Mentions: 2008 Turley, Old Vines, 2008 Scott Harvey Zinfandel (Amador County Mountain Selection), 2007 Opolo Vineyards, Petite Sirah (Paso Robles)
Thanks to many people, including; Irv Pavlik (great music again), Steve Chastain and JoAnn (wonderful sausage support for the kitchen), Edward Spengler (the Chef), Leslie Holfeldt (tent erection expert), Kate Kleiva (event operations and live posts to Twitter), Mike Vargas (beer tent manager), Kristen Kleiva (event planning), Dr. Graan (wine sommelier).
Sausagefest 15 is Saturday, September 1, 2012 – start making plans to be there.
Also, that will mark the 2nd Annual Sausage Day in America. Please mark your personal bucket list as this past Saturday was the inaugural Sausage Day in America. If you attended, you were part of the elite few who were there to witness a new American holiday. Spread the word – or just tell them about Sausagefest.com.
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Thanks for stopping by and we hope you become a regular visitor to Sausagefest.com.
Cabo has many magnets. The whale watching is superb. The seafood and dining choices are first rate. The contrast between the blue of the ocean and the desert is stunning. And, the local residents make you feel welcomed.
On a Tuesday morning at the Ocean Grill Fabrice treated me to a Chistorra tasting with French and Mayan touches. Accompanying the Chistorra was Fougasse. Being French, Fabrice took this bread from Provence, added some olive oil, and cooked it in the adobe oven with the sausage. 
Let this mixture set in a bowl for at least an hour; stir occasionally. For those more adventurous you might want to use a whole habanero pepper, but also double the onion and lime ingredients.
First, we had Spontaneous Tent Erection (STE, for you medical types) and that saved us from:
The Winners of Sausagefest 2011:
Creativity Award