Yes, you read that right. There is good mexican food in San Sebastián.

One hitch, though. It's made by a friend in her family's home on the outskirts of town.

I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I was treated recently to a fullblown Mexican feast by friends David and Cindy. We arrived to the smell of chicken and chilis, and the girls promptly ran off together while I watch Cindy prepare our meal. Ceviche, flautas, salsas, homemade chips, guacamole, quesadillas, lime-macerated red onion...

What a pleasure to watch a good cook doing what she knows best. I picked up countless pointers, small things that I'd never thought of or never consciously paid attention to. I fell in love with classic guacamole again. I learned how delicious a boiled chicken can be. I at once faced and permanently dismissed whatever fear I had of deep frying a stuffed, loosely wrapped tortilla until grease permeates every crevice.

My first image of the day, when I walked in on Cindy, was her hands covered in frozen fish, shredding furiously. Dubious. But one bite of that ceviche, and now I'm buying frozen fillets from the super.

And I'm not even going to get into the margaritas. That's for another post....