Three Recipes and Pairings from Baja California

• 1½ pounds pork cheeks, trimmed of excess fat
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 orange, sliced thin
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 bunch fresh thyme, more for garnish
• 2 medium white onions, quartered and sliced thin
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1½ pounds plum tomatoes, fine-chopped
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups Sherry vinegar
• 1 serrano chile, halved lengthwise

Heat oven to 400˚F. Place pork cheeks on large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Season with salt and pepper, and cover with orange slices, 2 bay leaves, thyme, half of onions, and half of garlic. Wrap tightly in foil, and place on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until meat breaks apart when prodded by fork, about 90 minutes.

While pork cooks, combine remaining ingredients in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until it achieves consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour. Remove chile and bay leaf, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool. (This can be prepared and refrigerated up to 2 weeks in advance.)

Remove from oven, and let cool. Carefully remove meat from foil, and strain cooking liquid into saucepan. Skim fat, and simmer liquid over low heat.

Brown cheeks in sauté pan over high heat. Serve with chutney and spoon cooking liquid atop and around cheeks. Garnish with remaining thyme sprigs. Serves 4.

Adobe Guadalupe 2015 Kerubiel (Valle de Guadalupe). This Rhône-style blend combines Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Grenache. It has exuberant red fruit with complex earthy and dried-herb notes. This style pairs beautifully with pork, especially with sweet or fruity elements.

“Adobe Guadalupe is a pillar in the Baja wine community, and the entire portfolio is extremely food friendly,” says Deckman. “My personal favorite is Kerubiel. Its earthiness and bold fruit flavors go equally well with the richness of the meat and with the sweet-sour chutney.”

The Winemaker

Daniel Lonnberg

Born in Santiago, Chile, Lonnberg worked at several of the country’s top wineries before he moved to Baja in the early 2000s. At one point, he even worked with Hugo d’Acosta, a 30-year veteran of  Baja winemaking.

Lonnberg’s Adobe Guadalupe wines are regularly among the region’s most acclaimed bottlings, as are those from his own Vin Sur project. He also works as a winemaker or consultant for other wineries.

• 2 medium eggplants, peeled, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 12 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
• ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 20 sea scallops, cut crosswise into ¼-inch-thick rounds
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 8 flour tortillas, for servin

In seasoned cast-iron or nonstick pan over medium-high heat, add eggplant in a single layer. Cook, in batches if necessary, until charred on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Set aside.

Wipe pan clean, and reduce heat to medium. Add 6 tablespoons butter and cook until it just starts to turn golden and smell nutty. Add eggplant, and stir well. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant becomes completely tender, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt, and cook 2 minutes.

Transfer eggplant to blender. Purée until completely smooth. Thin with water if mixture becomes too thick to blend. Add more salt and/or vinegar, to taste. Cover blender jar to keep purée warm. Warm sauté pan over medium heat, and add remaining butter. Cook until it just starts to turn golden and smell nutty. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and scallops. Turn heat off, and stir gently until scallops are heated through. Add salt, to taste.

Mound eggplant purée in shallow serving bowl or divide among 4 individual bowls and cover with scallops. Sprinkle with 1½ teaspoons lemon zest and parsley. Serve with warm tortillas. Serves 4.

Bodegas Henri Lurton 2017 Vino Naranja (Valle de Guadalupe). This natural orange Chardonnay is macerated for a month on its skins, fermented with wild yeasts, and neither filtered nor clarified. Orange wines can be terrific with rich shellfish meals, as they have the body to stand up to heavier dishes without obscuring the seafood’s delicacy.

“This wine has both freshness and tannic structure to balance the lusciousness of the toasted butter in the scallops,” says Hussong. “It enhances the depth of the dish the way a red wine would, but at the same time, its crispness complements the scallops’ minerality.”

The Winemaker

Lourdes Martinez “Lulu” Ojeda

Ojeda spent 15 years in Bordeaux, where she studied enology and worked a decade for owner Henri Lurton at the Grand Cru Classé Château Brane-Cantenac in Margaux. The two saw the potential of Baja California, so Ojeda returned to her hometown of Ensenada and started the winery in 2014. The elegance of her wines and a willingness to share knowledge has made her one of the region’s most admired winemakers.

• 3 pounds octopus tentacles, thawed
• 6 tablespoons minced garlic
• 4 bay leaves
• Salt, to taste
• 2 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 12 lemons)
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup ponzu sauce
• 1 cup saké
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup minced cilantro
• ¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped

In large stockpot, combine octopus, garlic and bay leaves with enough water to cover octopus by 1 inch. Boil gently, partly covered, for 30 minutes. Add enough salt so broth tastes pleasantly salty.

Boil 20–30 minutes, or until octopus pierces easily with fork. Let cool in pot, then remove octopus and pat dry. This can be done up to 3 days in advance. If so, cover octopus and store in refrigerator.

Prepare grill on high heat, or use grill pan over high heat. Grill octopus until charred but not burnt, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from heat. Slice diagonally into 1-inch pieces.

In large bowl, combine 1¾ cups lemon juice, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Add octopus, stir to coat and refrigerate for 1–4 hours.

When ready to serve, remove octopus from marinade. Place in large sauté pan with ponzu, saké, remaining lemon juice and 1 tablespoon butter. Cook over medium-high heat until liquid reduces by half. Remove from heat. Add remaining butter, and stir until melted. Serve garnished with cilantro and peanuts. Serves 4.

Lechuza 2017 Acero Inoxidable Chardonnay (Valle de Guadalupe). Acero inoxidable is Spanish for stainless steel, and it distinguishes this Chard from Lechuza’s oak-aged “Chardonnay Roble.” It’s a bright, fresh wine with a tropical citrus nose and a subtly creamy texture. The crispness of unoaked Chardonnay is a welcome contrast to the deep flavors of soy, peanuts, and char from the grill.

“I tried Kristin’s wine with this dish, and it was perfect,” says Plascencia. “The combination of citrus and butter in the sauce reflects those flavors in the wine.”

The Winemaker

Kristin Shute

Shute’s parents started to plant what would become Lechuza Vineyard in 2005, not long after a dinner at the pioneering restaurant Laja jumpstarted their love affair with the region. Shute and her husband, Adam, followed in 2013, and they took the reins upon her father’s death two years ago. Shute considers herself an ambassador for both sides of the border and makes the winery available for customized private events.