Slow Baja - Noel Morales And Rachel Glueck On El Refugio Mezcaleria And Their Fabulous Cookbook The Native Mexican Kitchen

Episode Date: November 12, 2021

Today you are getting a double feature on Slow Baja, the first is with Noel Morales owner, cook, owner and chief personality at El Refugio Mezcaleria in Todos Santos BCS. The second is with Noel, and his wife Rachel Glueck, discussing their beautiful cookbook The Native Mexican Kitchen: A Journey into Cuisine, Culture and Mezcal.  WINNER of the 2020 US Gourmand Award for Food Heritage! A Deep Dive into the Complex and Vibrant Native Culture that is the Bedrock of Mexican Cuisine, with Over One Hundred Recipes, Including Moles, Pozoles, Chiles en Nogada, and More Mexican cuisine is ubiquitous in the American dining scene, yet it remains far removed from its roots. The Native Mexican Kitchen is an homage to the indigenous peoples and their culinary and cultural traditions that create Mexican cuisine, elevating it beyond Americanized tacos and tequila. With recipes by Mexican chef Noel Morales—born of Aztec and Omec blood, grandson to a mezcalero, and raised by native dancers—The Native Mexican Kitchen offers its readers the ability to recreate the flavors of centuries-old dishes in a modern kitchen. Morales shares well-known plates such as birria and barbacoa and beloved market foods like tlayudas and tacos al pastor, as well as a few of his own vegetarian and seafood creations. Signature mezcal cocktails and decadent desserts adorn these pages, while the Medicinales section includes teas, tinctures, and baths of traditionally used herbs for a variety of ailments, such as colds, muscle tension, and infertility. Author Rachel Glueck provides rare access and insight into a Mexico that few foreigners or nationals see today, leading you through indigenous festivals with masked dancers, bountiful market places, and sacred pilgrimage sites. Unwrap the philosophies and customs of Mexico’s native communities and discover the depth of this magical country and how you can welcome it into your own kitchen. Personal stories of mezcaleros, traditional cooks, and native healers are accentuated by 130 stunning photographs and are woven through with mouth-watering recipes. With pages bursting with color, culture, and wisdom, you’ll discover a Mexico you never knew existed. -Simon and Schuster  Follow El Refugio Mezcaleria on Instagram Follow El Refugio Mezcaleria on Facebook

Hey, Slobaha, friends. It's a double header, a double feature, a double whammy. Two shows, two conversations from Toto Santos from my summer recording trip with the owners of El Refugio Mescalaria, right there behind Tecalode bookstore. Say hello to Kate if you're in the bookstore. But Noel is just a character. He's not a chef. He's a cook. He'll tell you that straight up. He's got great stories. we had a fun conversation talking about his family and their mescal roots and his journey and there's some salty language so I'm just going to say if you're listening with young kids you may want to save this one for later the second conversation is with noelle and his wife and they've just written a beautiful cookbook the native Mexican kitchen it's great stories

beautiful photographs recipes of course and really is a lovely book, so you can find that one online where you buy your online books, or if you've got a great independent bookseller, you can walk in and ask if they have it, and hopefully they'll order it for you and an extra copy or two, because it's a beautiful book. So, all right, strong, Slow Baja approved on that one, buy one for yourself and buy one for a friend. On with the show. Hope you enjoy it. Cheers. Hey, this is Michael Lemery. Thanks for tuning into the Slow Barra. This podcast is powered by Tequila Fortaleza, handmade in small batches and hands down my favorite tequila.

Hey, I want to tell you about your new must-have accessory for your next Baja trip. Benchmark Maps has released a beautiful, beautiful Baja California Road and Recreation Atlas. It's a 72-page large format book of detailed maps and recreation guides that makes the perfect planning tool for exploring Baja. Pick yours up at Benchmarkmaps.com. Digame, Amigo. Hello. Hello. Hello.

How do you know? Noel Morales. Noel. Noel de Mescalero. Okay. Hey, Noel, tell me about your place. My place is a legal place. Nothing fancy, not so much fancy.

It's same with my English, very rustic. But very functional and I have amazing things. Why? Because we made it with the heart. Authentic. Yeah. You know, sometimes you don't know where you are authentic or you are a copy or you don't are. You know, only we try to enjoy, we try to serve, we try to have a life.

Well, I'm delighted to be here. Just had a lovely sopas for lunch and a margarita. So tell me the name of your restaurant. We're here in Toto Santos. We're in the beautiful backyard of El Tecolote bookstore, the oldest bookstore in TOTOS. and you have a beautiful outdoor restaurant under a tree. Yeah, the name of the mescalerie, because we don't have a restaurant. Everybody says, ah, you eat so good.

Yeah, basically we try to have a mescalerie. The name is El Refugio, you know. The specialty of this house, your house, is the ancestral mescal. We have amazing dishes. Why I say this is amazing? Because I eat in my place. My family did my place. My friends eat my fridge.

And we try to everything, are extremely fresh and extremely good. We have filters for the water. Don't worry, you know, because this is the recurrent question. Every time the people... I'm drinking it now. Yeah, every time the people ask me. And you water and say, I have a system of filtration. And I hope so, one day you come.

And your family has been involved in Mescal, your grandfather. Yeah, my grand grandfather, my grandfather. father and my father in the world the mescal. I'm a lazy guy, only I sold some mescalis. You're not making it. No, because, you know, many people, yeah, it's hard work. Don't know. It's almost in human work. You know, when you work for hours and hours, when you are in places to the, it's very hot, it's not human, you know. Sometimes you need to have a special passion for Bime Scalero. It's not easy.

So you said you found yourself in Toto Santos by accident, in Baja, California by accident. Where are you from originally? I was born in Chilpancingo Guerrero, but I spent 20 years in Siguanhejo, Guerrero. You know? But I know a beautiful, amazing,

incredible woman, and in love of this woman, and she said, I can only stay more time, but I can return, only you stay there. It's complicated. I want to look in for other place to, we can stay together and say, why you don't come for Baja?

I say, why not? Let's go, you know? When I arrive here, I have zero pesos, only have my legal backpack and one legal two box. No more. But I'm very scenic. And I love fight, you know, every day. So tell me a little bit about your drive. getting here. You were talking about this earlier. Tell me about that car and that it broke down every

30 minutes. Every 30 minutes it stopped running. We buy in Topilejo, Ciad de Mexico, a Volkswagen Sedan. It's a special version. The name is bocionetas. This car was made it for sold cigarettes. It's a delivery car. Yeah. It's a little sales car. Yeah. You know, we buy this car and this car start to have problems in Siwatanjo. We have a problem with a battery and this problem uh fuck the computer and we start to have a problem you know age 30 minutes the car stop it you know and in the in the hills the car go very slow maybe 10 miles for hour you know and it's very very very hard and we cross some states on mexico to are very dangerous in this car and the narco states yeah the narcos maybe have a fucking biggest miles say

Jesus Christ, you know, we maybe we run a thousand kilometers with this problem, you know, and we have... I thought you said you were a mechanic. Yeah, but you know, this is a problem to the computer, you know. I know the basic things of mechanic, but when it's a computer, you need a scanner, and I don't have the scanner. I have only a beautiful lady in my side to scream the complete time. because the brakes are not good, you know, when you push the clutch, the car running, and I finish in the holes in the road.

It's very ridiculous, no? And the car is very ridiculous. With one Mexican and one American person, Jesus Christ, you know. It's a great, fantastic adventure. I'm very happy with Finnish, you know. I know exactly what you mean. It's a good story. It's a good story.

is a beautiful lady to give a space for a sleep and she recommended an amazing mechanic. You know, Masatlan, Sinaloa, the popular cars, the name is Pulmonia. It's an open structure with the engine and the frame. It's a Volkswagen sedan. And this guy is amazing. In 10 minutes, the guy tells me, you need a new computer. You can need a new computer. It's ready for dying.

And this guy sold me one very cheaper. Say, you can buy one for $5,000 or one to maybe function good, maybe no, for $1,000. Say, $1,000, I don't have option. And I take $1,000 and I made it the Mazatlan to Kuliacan in three hours. I say, Jesus Christ. For a sedan 95, wow, it's very, very fast, you know. When I arrived to the ferry, unhappy. almost I want to cry

so how did you start a restaurant you said he wanted to start a bar you didn't want a restaurant but you have a restaurant yeah we want a bar but in the bar the people finish very drunk and we feel embarrassing why because it's not the function it's not my function in this life

you know I want the people enjoy the mescal but I want the people finish happy you know some guys don't can find the door despacio de spasio yeah you need the mescal you need drink as low and you know but in many places, it's very smart people to know everything. We call in Spanish Todologos.

And Todologos say, OK, I can drink wherever you give me, and I don't have problems. And these people drink very fast. You know, I repeat you, oh no, I don't tell you. It's five years ago when the popularity of the mescal got up. You know, and these people drink very fast, Finnish very drunk, and we don't feel happy. And we start to make some plates.

I don't are a chef. I'm Cucinero. I don't want to go to the school. My mom and my aunts teach me, you know. I start to cook when I have 11. You know, I don't make French. I don't make Asian. I don't make USA.

I don't make hamburgers. I don't make spaghetti. It's impossible for me. Why? I'm lazy. You know, and make Mexican food only. You make what you know. Yeah.

I made everything too I know. I want to be honest, you know. I don't want to say, I have the best hamburger. In my life, I made one. Why? But I can make an amazing milanesa sandwich, you know? Or milanesa torta, yeah.

You know? But this is the big lecture in my life. Only I made the things I want, I can, I need to do. I don't make more. Why? Because you want to make more,

maybe you finish in something stupid and you are so ridiculous old man, you know? and it's better, don't play. So I told you about my problems with mescal, and you said something very profound to me. The problem is not the mescal. Yeah, the problem are you. Yeah, when you, you know, I say the people,

you have emotional problems, don't drink mescal. You are extremely sad, don't drink mescal. You are extremely bored, don't drink mescal. You are extremely sexy, don't drink mescal. Why? Because the mescal is the key for your emotions. In the end of the day, you don't finish drunk for the mescal, you finish drunk for your emotions. You know, and you may be made ridiculous things, and the next day, you don't are hangover, because the mescal is so pure.

The ancestral mascara are pure. You have a moral maybe problem, because you may, maybe you say, or you take or you fuck, whatever, you know. Things can happen. Yeah, the least is very long. Only you need follow, your instincts of preservation, you know. Tell me a little bit about Pulke. You serve Polke here. Okay, Pulke, yesterday I have a beautiful conversation.

Every times I tell something. I don't know, this time is a history about the Pulke. Pulke is the most ancestral reverence in Mexican history. Pulke has a register about 4,000 years, you know. Pulke is made it with Maggi Pulkero in the center of Mexico and in the north of Guaxaca, you know, some part of Halisco too, some parts of Michoacan, but basically the best for me is in the state of the Mexico, Idlego, Clascala. When you have a time, have a beautiful museum of cultures populares.

This museum have the history of the glass of pulke because in the Poulke, because in the pulke everything is a history you made a hole in the center of this magey you take the a while meal you put out you give a time for rest for a couple days and now after you add some rods and you have a pulke you know and the fantastic thing pulke have almost the complete protein do you need every day you know it's a very good now start the Renaissance Renacer of the Pulke and the young people start to ask for Pulke. Why?

He's completely full of probiotics. Only don't drink more of two leaders because you clean your stomach. Next day you feel very good, but not so much. You know, the limit for common people is have leader. But it's fermented and it's what? 1% alcohol? No, sometimes depends. The Pulke have sex.

The first day is Pulke Ligero and the last day is the Tlapewe. Tlapewe is the most strong stinky pulke. It's almost vinegar. Maybe it's 20 or less, I don't know exactly. But the first pulke is strong, you know, it's not the degree of alcohol. It's the composition, you know. And the pulke for the composition, for the everything to move and you stop. to move in your stomach sometimes it's you finish drawn with with two glasses

depends why because you your stomach accept so good for your stomach is some some plate you know it's not an alcoholic drink you know you you drink and running very very fast in your stomach you know but you're in the next you are very happy and you know the pulkerias is the place to solve the pulkeria's is a other universe you know because this is the place to start the man's at the woman's to the before to the social the poor people in Mexico you know but these people is very authentic now more in fashion more romantic people looking for this place and enjoy Polk you know we made I think so in the

December 29, I invite everybody to want to come with me. We made some visit for some pulcherias in Mexico City. Three days, we visit maybe four or five pulcherias, or maybe one. I don't know how much pulke I can drink, you know, because I want to write something for this. Interesting. All right. Well, maybe I'll go with you. Tell me about the range of mescal here.

So in tequila, you have lowland, highland, you know, fresh, aged, very, very, Tell me about how mescal works. Okay, we have ancestral mescal. We have some brands too. But basically, I don't believe, honestly, maybe it's a big mistake, whatever is my mistake. I love young mescal. That's the only time to have.

Only. That's the only kind. Yeah. But now you know many brands, many people want to kick my ass, start to promote the Esch-Meskall, the Anhejos, and the special spiritual mescal with seven years in the glass. in the glass and I say, don't fuck me.

You know, the mescal is a communal product. You know, the difference in tequila de mechal the tequilaos have a lot of money. The mescaleros, not so much. You know, only the big brands, you know, for example, 400 rabbits with

the Casacuerbo, you know, Osceinum, these guys have a lot. But this is not mescal, this is an industrial mescal. But the ancestral, young. You know, my grandfather's say six hours after and everybody want to fuck. Yeah, because it's ready.

Six hours only for to balance the steam, boom, let's go. And you know, this is other question. In the communities, the people use Coca-Cola glasses or soda glasses for put them ascal. Why? Because these people don't have glass, you know. Bolls, sorry. These people don't have bottles of glass, have bottles of plastic. But these don't make different than mescal.

Why? Because this Coca-Cola or whatever, soda bottles are made it for preserve the liquid. You know, and the mescal is good. Other thing, the good mescal is to like it, have a very high level of alcohol. You put in something bad, maybe may explosion and you lose your mescal. For the reason, some people say, ah, but this is a Coca-Cola glass. Yeah, but maybe it's the best Mescal in your life. You know?

Another thing, Mescal is around, in 45 to 52 for Senol alcohol. Kill everything. Yeah, sometimes kill your reputation. But it's so nice, you know. Hey, Noel, I appreciate you making some time for Slow Baja. We're going to leave it right there on that beautiful message. So thanks, Amigo.

Thanks a lot, and I hope so. Tell people where to find more information about your restaurant and bar here. Okay, you can find in Facebook. You're looking for a refugium escalaria, and they have the description of the place of the day. We are crazy people. We change the place every time. Why?

Because it's born made the same menu. I eat different things every day. I'm very egocentric for the reason every time makes circles in my stomach. Thank you so much. Thanks for this conversation. I hope so you have many questions. That's El Refugio, E-L-R-E-F-U-G-I-O, and that's on Facebook. And you've got a website, El Refugio Baja.com.

Yeah. Thank you so much. I'm very bad for this. This is the part of my beautiful wife. I'm a pinch pendejo. Well, I'm sorry, your beautiful wife's not here, but I do appreciate you making some time for me. And it's right here in Toto Santos, folks. Slow Baja, approved.

I had some sopes, a beautiful. margarita and I'm going to have a little sip of mescal that Noel's going to pick for me and thanks again. Thanks, Alder. See you. We did it. BNBN. Okay. Haiti, wish you had joined us on the Nora 500

well here is your chance. It's double the mileage, double the fun, double the parties, double the dirt. It is the Nora Mexican 1,000. We're going to drive by day, we're going to party by night. I'm pouring shots of Fortilease of Tequila, April 30th through May 6th, 2022.

We're driving the entire peninsula. You don't want to miss out on this one. Again, if I can do it in my 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser, totally stocked, you can do it in any modern 4x4. The Nora Mexican 1000 is the happiest race on Earth. Check it out at nora.com, n-r-r-r-a-com or on Slow Baja. Here at Slow Baja, we can't wait to drive our old land cruiser south of the border. And when we go, we'll be going with Baja Bound Insurance.

If your website's fast and easy to use, check them out at Bajaubound.com. That's Bajaubound.com, serving Mexico travelers since 1994. So say hello. Rachel Glick, my husband and I run El Refugio Mescalaria in Toto Santos. Your husband, my old friend, Noel, Kea on, amigo. Okay. Hey, well, we're here at your restaurant in Toto Santos, El Refugio, and you've produced this beautiful book, The Native Mexican.

kitchen a journey into cuisine, culture, and mescal. Now, Noel, since we're practically old pals now, you've told me your family, you come from a family of mescaleros. My father, very in the business for some years. Only when they am tired and she started in a hospital and say goodbye for the mescal. Only they continue to sell illegal batches in home for, I don't know, maybe, 30 years, 20 years.

So I know a little bit about tequila and tequila like champagne. You can only call tequila, tequila, if it's made in a certain region, champagne. Of course, you can call champagne if it's made in a certain region, but it's sparkling wine if it comes from the rest of the world. Tell me about Meskow. It's the same chingadera. You know, the, yeah, the rich guys put the rules. The motherfuckers' politics guys in Oaxaca say,

Mescalis of Oaxaca, and we lose everything to, we give chance for everybody just the name. And now only United States in this country can use this name. But Mescalis made it in 22, only money. Money, money. Yeah, so your experience, came from Guerrero, correct? Yeah.

Okay, the state of Gros. So let's get on to how the two of you met and your journey to this book. It's the great idea. I'm a natural lazy guy. But these are all your family recipes. Yeah, but you have a recipe, maybe you don't have the intention. You know, I love it the very simple things, extremely simple. sometimes maybe I'm lazy, you know, and Rage, I just speak with somebody, and this person

are interesting in the book, and Rage is amazing for right things, and Rage says, okay, we made the book, and I say, yes, okay, we made it. I think neither has had any idea what it entailed to write a cookbook. It's not like writing a novel or even a regular non-fiction book because recipes are like, I mean, aside from translating them from Spanish into English and from metric into U.S. measurements, there's the like checking that the recipe is right and then checking it again and checking it again and checking it again and checking it again. and, you know, suggesting where people can get ingredients if they can't find what's in the recipe. You know, there's so many details in it that it was just, it was a much bigger project than either of had imagined. So, Rachel, you've had a pretty interesting travel work. We had a conversation yesterday, and I was just sort of blown away by where you've been, what you've done, what you've accomplished.

and here you are in Toto Santos, which is a beautiful town, Pueblo Magico, and you've got this stunning, stunningly photographed. I haven't tried to cook any of these recipes. It could be all bunk. But the photographs are beautiful, and the story of where these things come, the street photographs of what's happening in Guajaka, in Guerrero, is also beautiful.

So it's a cookbook as a story book as well as a, you know, There are recipes, of course, that you can cook, but I think I'm going to sit down to read this thing. Oh, I hope you do. We had a literary agent approach us. She knew my writing, and she came to the restaurant and was, you know, of course, charmed by Noel. And all the stories.

He's very charming. He's charmed me. It's my third visit in three days or two days. We can't get rid of you. Who is this guy? Yeah, and, you know, heard all the stories or a lot of stories about mescaleros and cooks and dancers and healers and all this stuff.

And she said, oh, you need to write a cookbook. And I said, nah, she said, no, no, no, but you put all these stories in it. I was like, oh, okay. And she said, and I'll represent it. And I said, well, okay, then I'm sold. Because what I love is stories and sharing stories, especially about culture and philosophy and kind of worldviews. So that, for me, was the driving force behind the cookbook.

And just because it's a cookbook, we had to put recipes in it. I had to drag poor Noel into the whole process and come up with 108 recipes. So, I mean, that's just not, it's not easy. Like, when we have that binder of all the things we love to cook, all those handwritten tape, photocopy recipes that somebody passed along to us about the best way to make this or the best way to make that. This is, this is a cut above. I mean, you've produced a beautiful photographic book.

You've got stunning stories of Mexico. I'm assuming from the things I've eaten here in the last two days that these things taste great. So what was the timeline to making this? How many times do you cook these things? A couple years? How do you cook them so that they're photogenically spectacular? Because that's totally different than stuff you're just going to eat. Right.

The recipes, so they're all just in Noel's head. I mean, he didn't have anything written down. And he doesn't use a recipe. He just goes in the kitchen and he cooks and he feels his way through it. So as we talk about in the cookbook, intuition is a big part of this. And so that made it extra challenging. I think it took us the whole process. Well, maybe took for the recipes a year, year and a half.

The stories took probably less than a year. I mean, you know, because we have a little daughter here and so I have to just squeeze in the writing where I can. I hope she's going to say hello at some point. You're going to say hi? Say, hello. No? Say hello, car of the bola.

So back to the timeline. Sorry, she's so beautiful. I've already lost my train of thought. It was 2017 that the agent said you should write it. And it took, you know, I had to write a book proposal and then to get a publisher and I mean all that took quite a while. I don't know. Maybe it was a year of the actual writing and recipe process or maybe it was less.

We had to do it while we were running a restaurant and raising a toddler. All right. Well, let's talk about your restaurant here briefly. What sets you apart? What sets us apart? I think that our intention has really always been to share Noel's culture with people. I don't think you'll meet a man more proud of his culture. And so we started with like, okay, well, we love mezcal and we have some amazing mescal's.

Let's just start with that and offer a little bit of food. And, you know, we didn't care about all the, you know, how the plates looked and getting this a beautiful location. We started in a place. It was a rundown house. We threw sand down on the ground and put some little lights up and got rickety old tables and cooked. And so it was really about the food and the mescal and the stories and connecting with people. And little by little, we add the other elements, you know, like a nice touch here there and a nice touch here. So I think that like the storytelling and the sharing of the culture is what really sets us apart, as well as access to some really incredible mescal's.

And, yeah, just engaging with their customers, because I will be here, or more often than not, it's Noel that's here, and he'll just, you know, people ask him questions, and I'll start talking about how plates are made or about ceremonies or all kinds of stuff, anything related to Mexican culture, and people really love that. You seem to have a little bit of a gift of gab, as we would say in the United States, a gift of gab. You're a man who can talk about just about any subject and find plenty of things to pontificate about philosophy. We went through a lot today just making some sandwiches for some volunteers. You're yoga. You do a lot of yoga, I understand.

You know, I repeat you, it's not my intention. You know, I don't want to make it, only I made it. I don't look into me. I don't write nothing, only I... And Noel's also maybe one of the least ambitious people, I know. Not that he doesn't work hard, but he's not trying to be famous. He's not trying to be rich. He's just, like, trying to do something to support his family,

and also is very passionate about his culture and has a gift with food. And yes, a gift of gab, a gift for talking. Third or so generation, Ms. Gall guy. In the end of the day, I repeat you, when you are, you have a very strong ambitions, in the end of the day, when you die, you go naked. And maybe you don't go happy because you want everything. But when every day, day, today you work, you say thank you, you share, the things coming. The necessary things come, you know. I don't need a new car because I have a voucher.

And in the end of the day, the principal idea is moving, you know. Maybe I look more handsome in a new BMW, but in the end of the day, maybe I'm an idiot. Well, I'm going to take a minute and just describe, this is, is this your third location, fourth location, sixth location? Third location. We have no matter. In third location, five years. Yeah. Okay.

Well, it's a beautiful backyard. in downtown in Toto Santos with a spectacular tree. The center of your property is this tree that creates shade and is beautiful. You've got lights strung up. It's casually elegant here. You have these huge, thick tables that are, I'm assuming it's the exact same tree that has been felled someplace and then cut in six-inch slabs to make these tables. And then hand-woven chair.

here. You've got some Mexican marvels of design, hand-wovean vinyl cords. It's poured concrete and and some, we would call that decomposed granite, some dirt that's nicer than dirt, and it's beautiful. It's dirt that's nicer than dirt. I think it's actually Arroyo sand. Okay, it's Arroyo sand. Well, I thought that was DG, decomposed granite, but it's it's lovely. got some light strung here, and a fair selection of mescal that Noel had me putting on my mosquito bites today. So it's a darn comfortable place. People were in from mescal tasting last night. There's some crazy COVID restrictions on right now about when you can sell alcohol and when you can't. So I understand you're doing a little more daytime lunch trade than maybe it might be

normal. Yeah, we were always only over for dinner. With the goal, of opening for lunch eventually. We just never got to it. But they put down restrictions for a little while. It was just a week of no selling alcohol after five, and that's when we usually open. So we shifted to 1 o'clock to 8 o'clock schedule. Now they've opened it back up. Alcohol sales till 8, so. But we're going to stick with 1 to 8 for, we only have two weeks left, and then we have to close to finish making this place beautiful. We still have a lot of work to do to get it to where we want. So we'll be working on that in August. and September.

It's rainy and hurricaney here. So we'll be closed then too, and we've got events we're doing on the West Coast for the cookbook and for the Mescal brand that should be exporting in a few months' time. So let's transition and talk to the cookbook. Where can people find it? Or one more time,

The Native Mexican Kitchen, a journey into cuisine, culture, and mescal with my guests, Rachel Glick and Noel Morales, and they're a married couple. Met somewhere in Mexico on one of your travels, right? Yeah, we met in an Aztec Sweat Lodge, actually, in Zwetanaho. You know, that's where most people meet these days. It's like Tinder or an Aztec Sweat Lodge.

Yeah. Right. Nobody's going to go into that sweat lodge story. All right, well, we're going to go from, you've got, where do people find out about the book? The book, you can order it on our website, elderfugio Baja.com. Those will be in, backslash, cookbook. That'll be in the show notes. actually connects you to, I'm going to get a special link and a couple extra bucks for it there. Of course, you can get it on Amazon, or I like to tell people to go into their local independent

bookseller and ask for it because then the bookseller will often order a few copies, and then somebody hopefully else will also buy it. Skyhorse Publishing Incorporate. Beautifully done. So you'll be doing some events around that. Do you want to mention anything about the Mescal brand? Where can people find out about that? We've been working for a while in getting all our paper.

to export mescal and we're in the last stages but you know Mexican bureaucracy it's all a bit slow but hopefully in the next few months we'll be ready to export and probably starting in the West Coast I'm sure so in September we'll be in Seattle Portland Sacramento and San Francisco to do mescal tastings you can when we have those dates locked down specifically we've got a couple of them but when they're more specific we'll you can look at our events calendar or you can always sign up for our blog on our website and that we'll send out an email and one more time on the website el refugio bah.com

refugio is r yeah for our folks in Cincinnati right e L-E-F-U-G-I-O-B-A-J-A dot com awesome Facebook Instagram Facebook and Instagram yeah same El refugio now it's a little different Yeah, just, you know, Google it or find it on a website. Slow Baja, check out the website. You'll be able to see everything in the show notes at slowbaha.com. If you're in Toto Santos, you've got to ask for it. I happen to be right in the El Tocolote bookstore, checking out the book and looked out the back door

and saw this beautiful little restaurant just hiding behind a book shop and went in and check it out and got sucked into Noelle's web of stories and philosophies and all that. And now he won't leave. No, I'm leaving today, but I've spent three meetings and three days and had two great meals and some mescal and learned a lot about life. So thank you, Noel. Nice to meet you, Rachel. And thanks for making some time to talk about your book and your beautiful restaurant on Slow Baja. Thank you.

Good viege. Thank you. Have I told you about my friend True Miller? You've probably heard the podcast, but let me tell you, her vineyard, Adobe Guadalupe Winery is spectacular. From the breakfast at her communal table, bookend into an intimate dinner at night. Their house bred Azteca horses, Solomon, the horseman will get you on a ride

that'll just change your life. The food, the setting, the pool, it's all spectacular. Adobe Guadalupe.com. For appearing on Slow Baja today, our guests will receive the beautiful benchmark map 72-page Baja Road and Recreation Atlas. Do not go to Baja without this, folks. You never know when your GPS

is going to crap out and you're going to want a great map in your lap. Trust me. A lot of you have asked how to support the show. Well, you can go to slowbaha.com, buy yourself some merch, click that donate button, drop a taco in our tank, and always share the show with a friend. Give it a five-star review on whatever app you listen to, and I will see you next week.