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began my culinary journey at AQUI ES TEXCOCO, a hidden gem located in Chula Vista that is known for their barbacoa, traditional Mexican lamb BBQ. The dish that I was interested in trying was the Grilled Lamb’s Brain Tacos. And I know what you’re thinking—brains? That can be a scary thought if it is not something that you are traditionally used to eating, which I’m sure most of us are not. However, as soon as I arrived at this restaurant, I knew all of the food and cooking was going to be authentic and made with great care and love. As the chefs got to work preparing the dish for me to try out, I got the pleasure of sitting down with Francisco Perez, the owner and passion behind Aqui es Texcoco. Q: Aqui es Texcoco has been in San Diego since 2008, but you’ve been doing this a lot longer than that haven’t you? Francisco Perez: Oh yes! Our restaurant in Mexico has been around for 25 years, so we’ve been doing this for quite some time. Q: What inspired you to bring your authentic cuisine to San Diego? FP: While running the restaurant in Mexico, Tijuana to be exact, we found that a lot of people from San Diego were traveling down just to eat at our restaurant. We wanted to make it available to them without having to leave their country, and there seemed like a lot of opportunity in San Diego. Q: I’m sure the local San Diegans appreciated and anticipated this move for you. What adjustments, if any, did you have to make when opening this branch in Chula Vista? FP: Well, at our restaurant in Tijuana, we only serve lamb on the menu. We wanted to expand our dishes and what we serve to give people more American options that they were used to, while still serving dishes from our roots and culture. We had to find a balance between the two and help introduce people to our traditional style of cooking. Q: The fact that you only served lamb at your Tijuana location opens up the door for the fact that you have some interesting dishes involving that type of meat. Specifically, I am referring to the Grilled Lamb’s Brain Tacos that I will be trying out today. What can you tell me about this style of cooking and this dish? FP: Since we only serve lamb at our restaurant in Mexico, we want to be able to prepare it as many ways as possible and by using as much of the animal as we can. For example, we use the shoulder, different parts of the head, the ribs and so on. It’s a very traditional style of cooking that our clients there are used to growing up on, but we want to showcase it the best way HISTORY possible on the menu at all of our locations and the tacos are LESSON: one way that we do that. Q: Does sustainability and/or honoring the animal as a whole come into play at all? FP: Of course. In Mexico, growing up and cooking, you learn to use all of the ingredients that you have and try not to waste any part of the animal. That is how these delicious dishes are born, and they’re some of the delicacies that we now have today.
Texcoco isn’t just a name of a restaurant, but is also a region in Mexico considered to be the birthplace of barbacoa (lamb barbecue).
Q: I am lucky enough to have just tasted these delicious tacos, and I am shocked at how much I love them. I had a completely different picture in my mind about how they would look and taste, and I was happily mistaken. Can you describe this dish to our readers and let us know how exactly your chefs make them so delicious? FP: The taco is definitely one of the more unique dishes that we serve, even though it is quite traditional to our culture. We grill the corn tortillas, which we make here at the restaurant. They are grilled up to add some texture and crunch and then stuffed with the cooked lamb’s brain, chopped onion and of course, epazote. Q: What exactly is epazote? FP: The best way I can describe it to an Italian girl like you, is that it is arugula to Mexicans. It’s a herb that we use quite frequently and in this dish, it gives great flavor to the brains and taco. Q: That makes perfect sense to me because, of course, I am familiar with and love my arugula. The flavor of the taco is amazing and has made me really open to trying all of the interesting dishes you have on the menu. Is that what your style of cuisine is about? FP: Definitely. This restaurant and my food concept are all about traditional recipes that we have brought to San Diego. I wanted to cater to what people were traveling to Mexico for and also expand the menu and give people a taste of what we do. Fortunately, we have had a lot of success and just opened another restaurant in Los Angeles. Q: Congratulations on all of the success! It is very clear that you are amazing at what you do to get me to eat lamb’s brain and rave about it! Are there any other interesting dishes on the menu that involve some unique components? FP: We’re proud of all our authentic lamb dishes, since that is where we started, and we serve as much as we can of that. On our menu we also have traditional lamb’s head, ribs and tripe. These may be traditional to a lot of our local customers, but I know they are unique to a lot of the people we serve them to. That’s what our food and what we do here is all about! | MARCH 2015 | 37