« The Anatomy Of A Black & Tan | Main | Book »
January 04, 2005
Carta Blanca
If you're like me you went through a frighteningly long John Steinbeck phase from junior year in high school to freshman year in college, because nothing makes those years more special than constant reminders of the plight of the downtrodden. And perhaps the phase was so deep that you even tortured yourself by reading The Log From the Sea of Cortez, which was about the terribly dull marine biology survey of the Gulf of California in Mexico that Steinbeck took with his old buddy Eddie Ricketts. Here's a typical passage:
"Found another tidal pool. Three sea anemone, four sea cucumbers, eight star fish. The sickly sweet smell of the mangrove trees permeated the air"
And so forth. There was also a lot about how the commercial fishing industry was hurting the ecosystem, true enough. Anyway, for such a dull book there are still two things I remember pretty vividly. One is the mention of a town called Puerto Escondito, which is on the southwestern coast of the Gulf of California, I think. I just rolls off the tongue, I never forgot it for some reason, in fact I think I might have mentioned it as a possible honeymoon destination. The second thing I remember is that the beer they both liked and drank during the voyage was Carta Blanca. At some point I pestered my father to pick some up, it wasn't very good as I recall.
So then, what did I see at the grocery store the other day? That's right, a giant quart bottle of Steinbeck's favorite. I figured I had to give it another shot, it can't be bad if they sell it by the quart, can it?
Posted by stan at January 4, 2005 10:40 AM
Comments
Your "quart" is actually called a caguama (Espanol word for turtle). It's the Mexican version of the 40-oz.
Carta Blanca is a light-bodied American style pale lager with little flavor which makes it a good complement to spicy Mexican food. Good to washdown a jalepeno. If you want Mexican flavor, try a Bohemia or Dos Equis Amber.
See what I learned at work today? Working on cerveza certainly has it's advantages..
Posted by: Deb at February 24, 2005 11:17 AM