December 3, 2021 – The aroma hit me right as I awoke. I sat straight up. It was incredible to inhale, equal parts slow-roasted garlic, heirloom tomato and panic.
Panic was present because I immediately realized what had happened: I left the oven on all night. The appliance staying on wasn’t uncommon: The dial sometimes gets stuck on the lowest setting and I nudge it to OFF once I notice, but typically the oven is empty. This time the dial stuck and I went to sleep with the olive-oil-drenched tomatoes and garlic still cooking, ever so lowly and slowly.
I ran into the kitchen and swung open the oven. The tomatoes were pitch black. I moved to toss them out, then had a change of heart. I threw them in the Vitamix instead.
What emerged was a miracle: Tiny granules of blackened and super-super-slow-roasted tomato, glistening like tiny pearls of caviar, caramelized to a place of rich and smoky complexity.
I knew what to do. I had been workshopping a chili recipe built on chorizo and pulverized chicharrones from Mi Tierra Carnicería and Supermercado in Seaside. On the foundation of cho-chi-chee (chorizo, chicharron and cheese), tucked into a tiny bite-sized crispy tortilla bowl, atop some homemade avocado cream, I plopped the blackened tomato. Magic.
The atypical chili ended up being that year’s most popular in the amateur division of the Carmel Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Great Bowls of Fire Annual Chili Cook-off.
There are several key points to extract from this tale: Sometimes—maybe oftentimes—a mistake is a most welcome outcome. “Super” is a good thing. And Mi Tierra chorizo is incredible.
Penicillin, pacemakers and X-rays were all invented by mistake. On the food front, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies and corn flakes were also unintended results.
One day at Mi Tierra, a different sort of mistake struck: I was served a chorizo “super” quesadilla. I didn’t order it, but that’s what they served me, and I ate it. It helped inspire the chili. Now I order one on every single visit, because it’s that good.
Mi Tierra was already one of my favorite Mexican food destinations before the chorizo revelation. I love the piñatas hanging above the grocery aisles, and even found my own Baby Yoda piñata to decorate my garage. I love all the batch salsas and 12-pound wheels of queso fresco and various meats in the deli case.
I love that the taqueria is tucked in the back of a bustling supermarket. I love that they have honest-to-Dios tacos al pastor cut to order from a giant meat hurricane, or “trompo” (Spanish for top, given its shape), and served with diced pineapple. I love the grilled green onions that come with each dish. I love being able to wander the aisles for hot sauces, tortillas and produce while I wait for my food and listen to Mexican music. I love that they don’t have a website, but you can call in orders. I love that every employee is bilingual but they tend to greet you in Spanish.
Ordering the quesadilla super is key, as the super version brings on the thick slabs of avocado and Mexican-style crema. Those additions merge with melty cheese, the fresh salsa and electric orange grease of the chorizo to equal a sum greater than its parts.
There are many other things to recommend the taqueria, well beyond the robust range of quesadillas, burritos, tortas and tacos.
Sopes and over-the-top nachos await. Weekends mean menudo. Lengua and tripe fans tell me Mi Tierra makes some of the area’s best. The rotating aguas frescas are made fresh constantly. Party packs load up the family with rotisserie chicken or carnitas to go with dozens of tortillas, rice and beans for less than $30.
New specials crop up regularly; at the moment they include fried-hard barbacoa tacos, a chicharron burrito and a California burrito with carne asada and potato. The staff is perpetually welcoming and friendly, and genuinely seem to like what they do.
So you really can’t go wrong. But if you do, that might just work out too.
Mi Tierra Carnicería and Supermercado • 1000 Broadway Ave. Seaside • 831.394.8113
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
