Salsa
By Sam Lowe

Today's quick quiz: What do you get when you mix 13 Mexican restaurants with a tortilla factory and a chile farm, then stretch them out along a 240-mile route?

In southeastern Arizona, there’s only one answer: The Salsa Trail.

It’s one of the more interesting culinary promotions ever to hit Arizona, not only because it takes Mexican food gastronomes along a path of epicurean delight, but also because it includes so many dispensaries of the much sought-after cuisine.

And because it presents such a challenge, even for those who put themselves in the world champion class when it comes to devouring enchiladas, tacos and tamales. The restaurants are located in three counties – Graham, Greenlee and Cochise – and eight towns – Safford, Pima, Thatcher, Solomon, York, Clifton, Willcox and Duncan – so it would take even folks like Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill a couple of days to get to and dine at each one.

Those up to the challenge will find Safford an excellent starting point for a couple of reasons. First, six of the participating restaurants, as well as the tortilla factory and chile farm, are all located there. Second, the concept is promoted by the Graham County Chamber of Commerce which is located in Safford, so it gives out free Trail maps that show the exact locations of all the establishments, as well as information on other places to go and things to see in the area.

The Safford participants include El Charro, El Coronado, Chalo’s, Manor House, Taco Taste, and Casa Mañana restaurants, the Mi Casa Tortilla Factory and the San Simon Chile Company.

The Bush and Shurtz restaurant is in Pima, the La Casita Cafe is in Thatcher, the La Paloma is in Solomon and they’re all within a 10-mile radius of Safford. The Country Seven Grocery is in Duncan, about 45 miles east of Safford and Salsa Fiesta is in Willcox, about 45 miles south of Safford.

Off to the northeast, Gi’mee’s is in York and PJ’s is in Clifton, a round trip of more than 100 miles from the starting point, if the starting point is Safford.

All of them are locally owned because chains aren’t allowed to join the promotion. And, obviously, they all have to feature Mexican food as a major part of their menus.
Each restaurant serves many of the items familiar to anyone who regularly partakes of Mexican food. That includes chips, salsas, enchiladas, beans, rice, tortillas and all the other regulars common to menus across Arizona. What sets each one apart, however, are the salsas and the exceptions.

Every one of them makes their own salsas, and they range from mild little concoctions that go down without a whimper to fiery mixtures that require antacid chasers. They’re all prepared fresh daily and, for the most part, contain locally grown produce. And, naturally, every salsa and sauce recipe is a deep secret, known only to the owners and the cooks who prepare them early in the morning.

So while the salsas account for the spiciness, it’s the departures from the norm that produce the pleasant surprises.

One of them is the chalaca, a specialty at El Charro. Mary Lou Alva has been the chef at the restaurant for more than 25 years, so she’s been making them for that long and she makes them extremely well. The dish starts with masa shaped into a bowl then deep fried. Once removed from the fryer, the bowl is loaded up with a variety of fillings, ranging from chicken to beef to beans, and topped with fresh lettuce and tomatoes.
Also worth investigating are El Charro’s enchilada-style fries: normal French fries covered with cheese and enchilada sauce then heated. Although listed as an appetizer, they are a meal unto themselves.

Sometimes, location isn’t a key to success. Gi’mee’s, for example, is well off the beaten path in York between Duncan and Clifton on State Route 75. Although housed in a nondescript building in a very small community, the restaurant draws regular customers from as far away as Silver City, NM. Owners Holly and Ed Scott created the double-apostrophied name because their patrons usually say something like, “Gimme a taco,” and they weren't sure how to spell “gimme.” What they are sure of, however, is that most who try their chile rellenos will like them well enough to order them again.

Sometimes, it’s the atmosphere that brings ’em in. Bush and Shurtz in Pima is housed in a 100-year-old ice house that also once served as a hardware store. Now, it specializes in low-cost daily specials that attract a group of area farmers who meet at the same time and at the same table every day of the week. They come, according to one, “because we’re hungry and we got four dollars.”

Back in Safford, Mary Coronado gets up early every morning to blend her salsas and sauces, just like she has since buying the El Coronado in 1983. Her huevos rancheros were once judged highly superior in a story that appeared in U.S. News and World Report, and her chorizo plates are so popular that she serves breakfast all day.

Just down the street, Manuel Bertoldo opens large sacks of flour, pours the contents into large mixing devices and another day begins at Mi Casa Tortilla Factory. Once mixed, the dough goes into other machines that shape and flatten it into both flour and corn tortillas. Bertoldo isn’t sure how many he makes, but says he uses about 1,800 pounds of flour on a busy day. He sells his product to many area restaurants and in a small shop in the front of his factory.

A couple of miles to the south, at the San Simon Chile Company, Jane Wyatt hoists big sacks of her homegrown chiles into a propane-fired roaster and stands aside as they tumble over the flames. She grows the peppers on her 10-acre ranch and sells about 2000 sacks of roasters every year. She also uses them to make salsas and jellies that she sells at fairs, or to anyone who stops by her operation.

Each restaurant has something special to offer customers, either an interesting background, story or menu item. La Casita makes the Little Mommy, which is similar to a Navajo taco. Three employees at PJ’s have worked there for a combined total of 90 years. The Casa Mañana originally was a residence. The Country Seven Store seats only six, so reservations are never required.

The specialty at Taco Taste is the Super Taco Burro that includes “everything but the kitchen sink.” The décor at the Manor House includes two ancient wagons hanging from the ceiling. Salsa Fiesta features a Mexican pizza that should tame even the wildest appetite. And La Paloma is located in a 75-year-old adobe building.

The Salsa Trail has been in operation for less than a year, but already has attracted national and statewide media attention. Anyone interested in making the trip can get details by logging on to www.salsatrail.com or by calling the Graham Chamber at 888-837-1841.

But here are a couple of caveats for those who might think about hitting all 15 establishments:

It’s going to take more than one or two days and hotel and motel rooms are hard to come by due to a new mining operation in Safford, so make plans well ahead of time.
And take along plenty of Rolaids.

photos courtesy of Sam Lowe