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Page 4C East Oregonian EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE Saturday, March 3, 2018 ‘Atlas of Beer’ surveys brew culture around the world By BETH J. HARPAZ AP Travel Editor AP Photo/Nicole Evatt This 2017 photo shows the entrance to the Vinas de Garza winery in Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, Mexico. Foodie paradise in Baja By NICOLE EVATT Associated Press ENSENADA, Mexico — Wine lovers, listen up: There’s a little-known gem just south of the border called Valle de Guadalupe. It’s a bit dustier and rougher around the edges than California’s prized Napa Valley, but Baja’s wine country offers a relaxed, unpretentious, budget-friendly experience clustered along a main highway in this region of Mexico known as the Ruta del Vino. The fast-growing wine mecca just two hours south of San Diego is home to hip boutique hotels, an impressive culinary scene and more than 100 wineries to satisfy the most discerning of aficionados. The greenest and busiest time to visit is May through September, but other months welcome serious connoisseurs looking for a quieter trip with more personal attention — often from the winemakers themselves. Add in a few crisp evenings spent sipping your favorite chardonnay by a fire pit and you’ve got yourself a memorable wine getaway with a fraction of the fuss. SIP TIPS: Vinas de Garza: This romantic hilltop tasting room has some of the best views in the valley. Tastings range from $10-$16. Don’t leave without trying the Blanco del Rancho Mogorcito, a delightful sauvignon blanc-chardonnay blend that delivers bright, fruity, unoaked flavors ($17.10 per bottle). Hacienda la Lomita: Family-run Lomita, and its biodynamic sister loca- tion, Finca La Carrodilla, are committed to organic farming. Lomita’s tiny, but trendy tasting room is known for its artsy ambiance and ruby red rose, a marshmallow and caramel flavored dream ($11.82 per bottle). Tastings range from $12-$21. Villa Montefiori: Set back off the main road, Montefiori’s tasting room is a large viewing deck perched above its sprawling vineyard. They boast “Mexican wines with an Italian heart” with vines imported from owner Paolo (AP Photo/Nicole Evatt) This 2017 photo shows a glass of wine during a tasting at Hacien- da la Lomita in Valle de Guada- lupe, Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, Mexico. Paoloni’s home country, Italy. Try a glass for $4, tastings range from $6-$24 and bottles run $16-$64. Monte Xanic: This lakeside oasis is owned by a collective of Mexican families. It’s one of the largest, oldest and well-manicured properties in the area. The winery’s dry and fruity malbec ($37 per bottle) was a standout. Tastings are $10-$17 and bottles range from $12-$53. FOOD FINDS: Come for the wine, but stay for the food. Valle de Guada- lupe’s restaurants serve up artistic, creative haute cuisine with a more palatable price than a comparable meal stateside. Finca Altozano: This rustic, Insta- gram-friendly, steakhouse whips up locally sourced, seasonal delights like wood-fired quall ($13.25) and ahi tuna tostadas ($5). The most memorable meal of the trip was Finca’s grilled pacific octopus ($8.75) in a mouth-watering citrus soy sauce. Don’t forget to check out the gorgeous grounds and the larg- er-than-life wine barrel viewing decks, perfect for stargazing with a nightcap. Adobe Food Truck: For a casual lunch with outdoor seating, stop by this popular food truck serving sandwiches, salads and tapas. Many plates are $5 or less. Deckman’s: Dine under the stars with an outdoor kitchen helmed by Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman. The locally grown, farm-to-table fare includes Thai curry mussels ($12.75) and a five-course tasting menu for $39.80. HIP HOTELS: Though gourmet food is a steal in Valle, expect fewer frills and pricier rates from the boutique hotels popping up throughout the area. Villas Maglen: This newly built, centrally located hotel has six desert- chic villas grouped around fire pits, a small pool and an onsite restaurant. Adobe Guadalupe: Explore the valley’s vineyards via horseback while staying in this stunning, hacienda-style hotel. Encuentro Guadalupe: This unique property offers 22 modern, eco-friendly pods with sweeping vineyard views. PLAN LIKE A PRO: You can fly into Tijuana Airport or cross the border by car. To drive, you’ll need a passport, a tourist card, also called an FMM (Forma Migratoria Multiple), and Mexican car insurance, which can be purchased in advance from a number of companies. Visit on weekdays to avoid crowded tasting rooms and traffic jams at the border, but note that many wineries are only open Thursday-Sunday and most close by 5 p.m. You can check border wait times online. Credit cards are widely accepted throughout Valle, but it may handy to pick up pesos before you arrive. You can bring one liter of alcohol back per person, duty free, to the United States. Pay a small fee at the border for additional bottles. You’re allowed five liters per passenger when traveling by plane. Wine not your thing? Check out bike rentals, zip lines, spas, horseback riding and ATV adventures or head to nearby Ensenada for fishing, watersports or a stroll through the touristy pier. Shredded sweet potatoes for Passover or Easter side dish By SARA MOULTON Associated Press With spring just down the road, you’ve likely already figured out the main dish for the feast accompanying whichever of the two big seasonal holidays — Easter or Passover — you celebrate. Leg of lamb and glazed ham are Easter favorites. Braised brisket or roast chicken land on many Pass- over tables. But no matter which way you roll, Shredded Sweet Potatoes with Dates and Pistachios is a tasty side dish that’s a great way to round out the menu. The easy part of this recipe is that it takes just 5 minutes to cook on top of the stove. And because the oven is going to be hogged for hours by the main dish you’re roasting, on top of the stove is exactly where you want it to cook. But sweet potatoes are dense, you say. How can they become tender in 5 minutes? Well, it’s a snap when you shred them before putting them in the skillet. Like many of us with a food processor, you might have long ago stashed the box it came in — the one containing all the slicing and dicing blades — on the top shelf of a closet. Now’s the time to pull it down, dust it off and pull out the grating disk. Then simply peel the sweet potatoes, cut them Sara Moulton via AP This February 2018 photo provided by Sara Moulton shows Shredded Sweet Potatoes in New York. into chunks that fit into the processor’s feed tube and grate away. You’ll be done in about 5 minutes. The pistachios contribute crunch — and some complementary flavor — to the sweet potatoes, but feel free to use your nut of choice. The dates contribute a nice jammy sweetness, but if you’re not a fan, just leave them out. Finally, if you prefer basil or cilantro to mint, by all means, swap them in. Before the meal is over, you may find this side dish earning a place nearer to the center of the plate. Shredded Sweet Potatoes with Dates and Pistachios Start to finish: 30 minutes (20 active) Servings: 6 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely shredded, preferably using the grating disk of a food processor Kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/3 cup toasted chopped pistachios 1/3 cup chopped dried dates 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons shredded fresh mint In a large skillet cook the onion in the oil over medium heat, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and a hefty pinch of salt, increase the heat to medium-high, cover, and cook, stirring, occasionally, until the potato is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika, pistachios, dates, lemon juice and mint; add salt to taste. Think of beer and you may think of Irish pubs or Germany’s Oktoberfest. But a National Geographic book called the “Atlas of Beer” surveys beer across six continents, from banana beer in Tanzania to beer aged in wine barrels in Argentina. “We like to seek out and drink the local beer or just see how it tastes and see how it’s different than the beers we can get at home,” said Mark W. Patterson, who wrote the book with Nancy Hoalst- Pullen. Patterson and Hoalst- Pullen, who teach geography at Kennesaw State University in Georgia outside Atlanta, spoke about National Geographic w the “Atlas of Beer” and beer culture around the world in a podcast for AP Travel’s weekly series “Get Outta Here!” Here are some excerpts, edited for brevity and clarity. Associated Press: How has Irish pub culture spread around the world? HOALST-PULLEN: You don’t have to necessarily be in Ireland anymore to have an authentic Irish pub experience. When the Irish diaspora went all over the world, they brought their pubs with them. ... Some people think it’s quite magical, where you can slip in and have a pint by an open fire and have a deep conversation with people that you like. ... A location that feels like home is part of what people relate to. AP: Your book describes the “shebeen queens” of South Africa, saying the term comes from an Irish word for places that illegally sell alcohol. HOALST-PULLEN: The women (in South Africa) who would make the beer would create in their homes illicit bars. People would come in and drink in those locations. And then when they would be raided, they would have ways that they could hide everything. So it looked just like a normal place. The shebeen queens were some of the most powerful people in the community. PATTERSON: There are companies in Ireland, one in particular called the Irish Pub Co. that was acquired by Diageo, the company that owns Guinness, and they have five or six styles of Irish pubs that they build and ship all over the world. So you can order a somewhat customized Irish pub and have it delivered at your doorstep, where you assemble it and you can serve Guinness beer there. AP: Talk about the ancient roots of beer and how different grains grown in different places determine flavor. PATTERSON: The biggest impact on the taste of beer is not so much the grains but it’s actually the yeast. So the yeast imparts a lot of flavor on the beers. Talking about the ancientness or the DNA of beer, archaeologists have found evidence that beer was being produced as long ago as 7000 years B.C. in China of all places. They’ve also found it a little bit later in time about 5000 B.C. in what we would call modern-day Iraq. But they also speculate, too, that when people would migrate, they would actually bring the grains from their local places and then actually sow the seeds in their new place. And that was specifically for brewing beer and not for making bread. HOALST-PULLEN: The four main ingredients that make beer, which is water and cereal grains, yeast and hops, those are the four things that can lead to what we many times call beer terroir. You may hear the term with wine. People think about wine and where it’s grown and how that location imparts a taste onto the grapes. And there is quite a bit of thought that ... different flavors of different types of beer are in part based on the locations that they’re made. AP: Your book mentions banana beer in Tanzania. HOALST-PULLEN: It’s kind of a wine-beer hybrid. ... It’s quite thick. It’s not what most people would probably consider to be beer, that you would drink that would be reminiscent of maybe a lager or most ales, but given where it comes from and what’s available there, it’s probably something that you would want to drink to shake off the hot sun if you’re at the base of Kilimanjaro. AP: What are some great craft beer and microbrewery destinations in the U.S.? HOALST-PULLEN: California, especially in San Diego, San Francisco; Portland (Oregon) area, on the West Coast, and Portland, Maine. ... The Midwest is probably one of the really good hot spots to see regional beers. So Ohio and Michigan, Indiana. ... Of course, Asheville (in North Carolina). Texas is another one. PATTERSON: I will add in there Denver. Denver is also the home of the Great American Beer Fest, which is the largest beer fest in the U.S.