[CH] Much! More Bethesda Heat

AndyB (quark@erols.com)
Fri, 08 Mar 2002 01:21:43 -0500 

Fellow ChileHeads,

Or, "What I had for dinner last Tuesday night."

Was at Guapo's, Wisconsin Avenue, in the center of Bethesda, MD.
(http://www.guaposrestaurant.com/main.html).

Simply, the best TexMex dinner I've had anywhere East of the
Mississippi, and in the top three, anytime, anywhere (even without the
"special" salsa, below).
--------------------------------------
Freshly-made tortillas, with salsa.

Tortilla Soup (carrot puree based, con queso, tortillas, cilantro, ...)

Combination Platter:
    Steak fajitas - excellent
    Large, butterflied shrimp - mesquite grilled.
    Semi-boned, mesquite grilled quail.
    All the normal culinary accouterments you would expect.

---------------------------------------
Howsoever, what made this meal unique was as follows:

I remarked to my waiter (all were speaking Spanish amongst themselves),
that:

"The salsa, while freshly made and very tasty, just had no significant
heat for me, and that for the food to come could he provide something
for me "muy picante"". There must have been a degree of earnestness in
my voice, as he replied:

"Si, amigo. I will have something made _specially_ for you."

A little later he came out a freshly-made salsa, having a dark orange
appearing base.  I selected a large, curved tortilla to act as a
suitable scoop, filled it with the new salsa and devoured it all with
one big munch!

For the first eight seconds my entire mouth, upper throat, and lower
sinuses were filled with the all the wonderful flavors of the salsa --
including the strongest, slightly fruity flavor of fresh El Grande
Habanero that I have ever tasted, by at least X5.

At about 10 seconds, it was as if I were a VW bug that crossed paths
with a very high-speed freight train.

I immediately grabbed my (amber) Dos Eqques, and as I neared finishing
it, I managed to say (in poor Spanish) "Un mas Dos Eqques, por favor".

Very shortly after this, the sweat broke out, and the endorphins were
rushing.

The entire base of the salsa was pureed Habaneros.  Many seeds were
floating about.

The soup came out and, not to loose any momentum, I put three large
tablespoons in my soup --> better than almost any hot sauce I have had.

The dinner came out:  

The salsa juice went into the drawn butter for the mesquite-grilled
shrimp.  Have you ever had shrimp that "bite back"?

More tablespoons of salsa on the steak fajitas.

--------------------------

I would be pleased to join any CH out there that is coming to the area
and who would like to try Guapo's.  Perhaps a few of us could have a hot
dinner there.  Just contact me.

AndyB
quark@erols.com