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One of my friends is a retired corpsman, Navy chief, spent much time with the Marines he did, and is a rather pleasant chap and is a handy fellow with grills and charring meat. He also makes a fine guacamole.
He and his lovely wife tendered an offer of dinner last night which I, yearning to eat something fit for human consumption, that is, not prepared by myself, readily accepted. When I asked what I could bring, he mentioned that beverages of the barley, water, hops, and yeast variety would go well with the repast he was planning on serving.
What better to go with carne asada, refried beans, Mexican rice, and home made guacamole than Cerveza Pacifico Clara? I had never heard of the beverage but Doc is a fan. I, being of an adventurous nature, especially when it comes to beer, was all in. I sought out that elixir of Old México and purchased same.
Though the brew was born in Mazatlán, 'tis readily available in Little Rhody and to the north in the Bay State. A twelve pack was purchased which proved sufficient to the needs of the assembled company.
The company was superb, the food sublime. The conversation proved that Doc and I have much in common. We enjoy the same authors, we've even been stationed at the same place, Okinawa, though not at the same time.
Many thanks to Doc and his lovely wife for feeding this old Master Sergeant and providing a few hours of pleasant company.
Oh, and that beer? Wonderful.
In 1900, three German brewers established Cervecería del Pacifico in the small Mexican port town of Mazatlán. Word of the exceptionally drinkable pilsner-style lager traveled fast. Soon, thirst for Pacifico spread from Sinaloa and up the rugged Baja coastline. (Source)I guess that's what Germans do when they find themselves far from home, set up a brewery.
Gotta love that.
Sounds like a fun time, and a great meal.
ReplyDeleteWhen we owned our wine shop, we also stocked it with beer, so the menfolk would also have something to drink. We stocked a lot of different Mexican beers also, Pacifico Claro being one. Came to find out that most Mexican beers were made by German immigrants. There's 3 breweries in our little town also. All 3 make pretty good beer.
It was excellent.
DeleteThree breweries in Juvattown? I definitely need to visit!
In the days when I was stationed at Sandy Eggo, some of us would occasionally slip into Tijuana because we were not yet at the age where we could purchase adult beverages in California.
ReplyDeletePacifico Clara was one of those beverages I enjoyed.
Crisp and flavorful, an excellent brew.
DeleteSome years ago I was in Qingdao, China (better known to old China hands as Tsing Tao) on business. The local beer was an excellent pilsner and I asked about it. Back in the late 19th century when western powers had “concessions” (think Boxer Rebellion) the Germans garrisoned an infantry regiment in Qingdao. To keep the troops happy they built a brewery and imported a bier meister from the old country to ensure that the local learned how to make a beer that the troops would like. Time passed, concessions lapsed, revolutions came and went, but even Mao couldn’t kill a fine beer. And so I found a wonderful German pilsner to wash down God alone knows what I was served at various banquets.
ReplyDeleteI've had Tsingtao beer, very tasty.
DeleteOh, Mao could kill a fine beer easily enough. He just refused to kill the foreign currency flow that said fine beer generated!
DeleteHard currency good for Commies. (As their own money is generally worthless outside Commie-Land!)
DeleteGermans always seem to bring two things with them wherever they go, beer and a Biergarten/Gasthaus building (that looks surprisingly Bavarianish...)
ReplyDeleteI remember one memorable trip to the center of Texas, Burnett, TX to be precise, where we went to dinner at the local cowboy steak place. Yup. Mixture of Soutwest/TX Ranch/Bavarian architecture, C&W and Polka music on the jukebox, huge-ass steaks or snitzel served with spuds or those funny hollow noodle-thingies, and, of course, Beer. Lots of dark, chewy, heavy beers next to the usual Bud and other Ami-beers.
Oh, yeah, forgot. Cowboy hats. Lots of cowboy hats in Burnett while eating some of the best German food I've had.
DeleteWeird, go to Cow Country and chow down on good German food.
Country and western plus polkas. Odd combo.
DeleteSpätzle is the word you're looking for on the noodle thingies. Very tasty if made right very southern German/Austrian.
Hahaha! For some reason cowboy hats and German food made me think of a bunch of old Prussians clad in pickelhaube chowing down on Texas BBQ.
DeleteI kept looking for the table full of guys in Wehrmacht grey singing "Ya, ya, ya, ya...." Though there were two guys in black trenchcoats and fedoras, sitting with the guys wearing dusters and Stetsons. Really. It was a weird day. Especially since I was in the area for an SCA event.
DeleteAnd, well, Texas BBQ and sauerkraut with pickled beets and pumpernickel is pretty damned good (2nd day at the restaurant.)
And Polka is one of my secret vices.
Andrew, my maternal grandparents emigrated from Germany to West Texas. When my mom needed a passport to visit my brother, in the Navy, stationed in Spain, she didn't have a birth certificate, as not many children were born in hospitals in those parts in those day, so she had to use her Lutheran baptismal certificate for her USA proof of birth...written entirely in German.
DeleteLots of good Churman Looterans in Texas!
Andrew - polka, what's not to like?
DeleteGibt es viele Deutscher in Texas.
DeleteMike et al...
DeleteYeah, I know that now. Back in the '80s I was still a starry eyed (mental) youth who didn't know that so many Germans went to Texas, that weren't relocated by Project Paperclip. I expected good German restaurants in Houston and Huntsville, not expecting to see good German in John Wayne country.
And, yeah, figures, they mostly went through New Orleans, where my German great-grand pa ended up at (and ended due to some disease outbreak.) Don't know why my mind never made the darned connection.
But, still, in middle of nowheresville, still kind of a double-take, until you pile into some good schnitzel, aka Chicken Fried meat...
Veterans of Napoleon's army attempted to start a colony in Texas. It failed, look up General Charles Lallemand.
DeleteGibt es viele Deutscher in Texas?
DeleteJa, ja, das sind sie!
Jawohl Herr Oberstleutnant!
DeletePacifica Clara is pretty fine. Have any of you tried Negro Modelo? Also a nice cerveza! And I think I am addicted to tacos carne asada, although I prefer the flavor of corn tortillas (standard fare served table side at Tex Mex joints like Herrera Cafe in Dallas, which used to be a favorite of mine.)
DeleteI haven't tried that, I will add it to my list. I do like the darker brews.
DeleteLove Tex Mex.