El Farolito’s also has the best Biscochitos!

 

 

Last night my companion and I went to the little adobe restaurant in El Rito for the first time since my return to Abiquiu. El Farolito’s is a family run business that serves delicious Mexican food.

 

Just seeing the small narrow building festooned with an array of colored lights makes me feel happy. Once inside the cozy building (it’s walls are papered with a multitude of articles/reviews/maps of interest) the simple wooden benches and tables and enticing scents create an invitation to join a family tradition – or that’s the way it seems to me.

 

I love Mexican food and here every dish is made from scratch in the kitchen just beyond the counter. Casual in the extreme, customers are invited to bring their beverage of choice to accompany the steamy dishes that seem to appear like magic even when the place is packed.

 

Every single time Bruce and I go to this restaurant I have the same entrée – Chiles Rellenos. This dish is believed to have originated in Central Mexico. The roasted Poblano peppers, are smothered with cheese and a medley of vegetables, and served with delicious rice and beans by friendly and courteous restaurant employees.

 

I consume every single bite with great gusto and deepest appreciation!

 

Last night I noticed that one of the specialty deserts happened to include Biscochitos, and my companion bought some, not recalling ever having had these cookies before.

 

We finished them on the fifteen- minute drive home!

 

I love Biscochitos, first having had them at the Feast of Saint Tomas at Abiquiu Pueblo a year ago last November. These delicacies are traditionally served around Feast days and even became New Mexico’s state cookie! A kind of shortbread in texture they are flavored with Anise and Cinnamon and the ones from El Faralito’s melt in your mouth.

 

I just learned this morning in a conversation with the Chef that he learned to make these confections from his grandmother before she became too frail. He remembers how he helped her work the dough. When I told him that I had never tasted such exquisite Biscochitos his response was that although he had been making them for 22 years he still felt that “something was missing!” Surely, not in the cookies! I imagine that his grandmother must be very proud of her grandson’s expertise.

 

From what I understand the confections were developed by the original inhabitants of New Mexico. They have both Spanish and Indigenous roots and have been adapted by countless family cooks to suit individual family palates. They are sometimes shaped as stars and crescent moons which suggests to my taste buds a celestial origin!