Modern Mexican Fare at Alvarado on Main in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
I tried two modern Mexican dishes at Alvarado on Main in downtown Salinas, California recently that might interest adventurous diners.
The first dish I tried was a street corn salad. Street corn is roasted and called esquites in Spanish. The roasted kernels in this salad were mixed with creamy cotija cheese from Mexico. Then, the esquites was mixed with baby salad greens that Salinas is famous for.
The corn was sweet and full of vitamin C while the cotija cheese had protein and calcium. All good things to go with the fresh salad as a vegetarian delight.
I order salads, so I do not feel bad about the calories if I get in dessert. I decided to order dessert at Alvarado on Main and had a Mexican hot chocolate pot de crème pudding made with Ibarra chocolate.
Whipped cream topped off the pot de crème with a liberal dusting on sugar, cinnamon, and powdered hot chile pepper.
Powdered hot chile peppers are an acquired taste, but the peppers, chocolate, and cinnamon are all good antioxidants made sweet with sugar.
These dishes can be served pretty quickly for lunch customers and are good take-out items. Both are more winning dishes from Alvarado on Main in downtown Salinas, California.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
