You know, the whole food truck scene in Baja
has allowed entrepreneurs, young chefs
to really launch quicker than would normally be possible,
if you had all the overhead of a restaurant.
we're in Rosarito where we've come to a place
that came recommended a place called, Sal Y Humo,
which is salt and smoke, as in smokiness of food.
And the guy in charge of it is a young chef
called Wenceslao, and he's standing right next to me.
How you doing my friend?
- Been better myself.
- So talk to me Wences about your story.
What kind of food are you serving in this food truck?
- So this is a (speaks foreign language).
It's a concept that I started a year plus ago.
The concept is barbecue.
- [Jorge] Okay.
- But we're trying to put a flare of Baja onto it.
We use olive wood, which is local for Ensenada
and from the region right here.
- [Jorge] Okay.
- And we're trying to try to showcase Rosarito
as a meat, not just lobster, we all know,
we love our lobster but--
- [Jorge] You wanna showcase the meat
that's available in Rosarito.
Olive oil from Baja--
- Exactly.
- Local produce. - Mm-hmm.
- And Rosarito has a lot of produce, right?
A lot of ex-pats live here.
- Exactly.
- And they want organic, you know,
produce and vegetables and so on.
And you're providing that?
- Yeah, I mean I'm lucky that I'm in the middle of it.
The Valley's really close and so there's no excuse for it.
- [Jorge] Exactly.
- So, yeah we're trying to showcase the best of it.
The concept is backyard barbecue.
- [Jorge] Okay.
- That's how we started.
- [Jorge] Backyard barbecue.
- Yeah, so it's like a backyard, so--
- [Jorge] Right, which is...
it looks like a--
- [Wenceslao] Exactly, that's the concept behind it.
That's how we started in my backyard.
- [Jorge] Oh, what's your background?
- [Wenceslao] My background, I was a Banque chef
for a big hotel in San Diego.
- [Jorge] Oh really?
- Yes, so I spent my last 11 years.
And then plus--
- [Jorge] So you were a chef at a hotel in San Diego?
- Exactly.
And then after that COVID happened, like everybody knows.
So, I decided to put a little investment on this.
I bought the truck.
- Where are people buying the food trucks?
Is there a food truck, you know, depot,
where are people getting all the food trucks from?
Like where where'd you get the actual truck?
- [Wenceslao] I started with Craiglist, Facebook--
- [Jorge] You started looking--
- I started looking every everywhere.
I mean, I was driving on the road and if I see a truck park,
I was knocking on the door.
- [Jorge] Yeah.
- Which is, I mean,
it's part of the experience too, you know--
- [Jorge] For sure, it's part of the adventure.
- Exactly.
- [Jorge] Okay. - Yeah.
Well the main adventure here
is going to be trying your stuff.
So, I think we're ready my friend.
Let's get to stuff, okay?
- [Wenceslao] All right, perfect.
- Let's show the people what he is got. Crossing South folks.
Don't go anywhere, we're coming right to you.
With the meats, with the menu, with the stuff, stay with us.
Crossing South.
Baja is a region of immigrants,
a confluence of talents and cuisines from across Mexico.
But now you can add to that
people who bring their US learned craft
and combine it with this region,
a region rich in ingredients that turns many chefs,
cooks and entrepreneurs into culinary Mozarts.
Well, let's see the result.
Oh wow.
- [Wenceslao] So this are barbecue glaze ribs
with coastline Mac and Cheese.
- [Jorge] You could say this is one dish?
- [Wenceslao] That's one dish. - [Jorge] Okay.
- [Wenceslao] This is one main dish.
This is how it comes.
- These are the St. Louis style ribs right here.
I don't know what this biscuit is,
but I will find out it may be cornbread.
I don't know, I'll find out.
And it's coleslaw salad with Mac and Cheese.
So we'll be the judge of how good these things are.
I've had Mac and Cheese in many ways,
in many different places.
So we'll see how good this is.
- [Wenceslao] And this is our burger combo.
- Okay, so this right here,
what he brought is a cowboy burger.
It's on his menu.
Look at the beautiful romaine lettuce it has.
It's got a bacon jam, which sounds awesome.
He puts sirloin meat, some melted cheese there.
And he's got the Sal y Humo sauce,
which is his own secret recipe sauce as they should.
Okay, so this is their pulled pork burger, apple coleslaw,
and Mac and Cheese.
So that's another combo.
So, that's the thing.
That's the thing you're making down here.
And that's when you have the combination of cultures.
you have like your pulled pork, you have your cowboy burger,
and we're gonna try 'em.
And they're very different.
You know, when you see the burgers, the style of burgers
that maybe locals who grew up in Baja make
are very different than the one ex-pats
or people who grew up in the states do.
You know, they have that American influence,
all these different styles from across the US.
So that's what he's bringing down here.
And we're gonna try it right now.
So let's do that.
All right. Let's do the pulled pork.
Hmm.
The meat tender.
The barbecue is not overly sweet.
It is a very good tasting burger, man.
Look at the meat right there.
Almost like it smoked.
Well that's why it's called "humo."
Look at it, its super tender, hmm.
an issue I sometimes with have barbecue sauces,
is that they're overly sweet.
Not this one.
I like his touch.
Let's try some its Mac and Cheese.
Not the best one I've had, but better than many
oh, very good, it's very, very good.
Let's try the cowboy burger.
This is your cattle meat right here.
You got your sarloid in steak.
That was my old Roy Rogers style imitation, anyway.
(upbeat music)
Hmm, oh man, that's good.
Pulled pork was good.
This one is better.
If you want my recommendation,
I would go straight for the cowboy burger.
Wow, this is so good.
The creaminess, the smokiness.
Look at meat, you even have your bacon
for your bacon jammer.
Perfect combination.
It's a fantastic burger.
Not taking away anything from the pulled pork.
I would put the burger right now at number 1.
So, that would be the main choice,
if you're coming for the first time.
You wanna try the other one the second time, that's fine.
That's just my recommendation, okay.
So these are St. Louis style ribs.
Now these little fellas are jalapeno cornbread.
So, I was right, I asked now and it's cornbread.
let me just try that first.
A lot of cornbread and it's okay.
Maybe not in the top.
You know, of cornbreads that I've had.
I'm a cornbread cornasaurus. So, I love cornbread.
but we're not here for the cornbread,
for the little biscuits.
So, let's try now,
let's go to the rib.
Let's go to the actual superstar of this thing.
Oh boy.
This is very good, hmm.
♪ I want my baby back ♪
Forgive me if I'm not an expert, rib eater.
I don't know if I'm messing up, for you out there, who are,
but the me just pulls off.
So tender, so juicy.
Oh there's barbecue sauce, perfect.
I will buy it from the store.
I need to ask him if he makes with the barbecue sauce.
How'd I do, send me emails.
Tell me if I need a better technique
or if I did okay.
If you like super sweet barbecue sauce,
I guess this will not be the place.
I love the balance.
It's not overbearing, sometimes it's just so...
You know, it's almost like you're eating the dessert.
Not this one.
Just sweet enough, delicious.
Another culinary adventure fulfilled to satisfaction,
with some delicious ribs and its own patented
barbecue sauce.
Okay, lastly, now you guys know how much I like desserts.
He brought me this Walnut chocolate-chip cookie
with a European style of making, where it just fluffs up.
I mean look at it.
Okay, let's open it up.
Check it out, Oh my goodness.
Look at that, doing this.
I'm gonna enjoy this.
It's fantastic.
(Jorge chuckles)
It's phenomenal.
Thank you so much to whoever made this.