A (Sting) Ray of Culinary Light
Spend a few minutes with Raúl Soto, and grounded is a term that will surely come to mind. The executive chef at Esperanza, Auberge Collection has a commanding presence in his kitchen at the resort’s signature restaurant, Cocina del Mar, yet his affinity for nature is what perhaps plays the greatest role in his culinary success.
Growing up in the rural mountainous region of Los Mochis, Mexico, Soto developed an early love of foraging, fishing, and otherwise connecting with the native ingredients of his home. Those nascent experiences were the building blocks of a culinary philosophy that today relies on local ingredients: purslane, nopal, chiltepín chile, and pitaya (dragon fruit) to name a few—all of which he gathers from local farms and the wild backcountry for Esperanza’s menus, then cooks using heritage techniques.
Since coming to Los Cabos, the chef has also extended his foraging philosophy to the sea, focusing especially on the local stingray. Posing a unique ecological opportunity, the stingray is hardly endangered; in fact, it is exceedingly prolific in the Sea of Cortez—so much so that fishermen often discard them while sorting their daily catches. But for generations, the many species of stingray native to this region have been a delicious culinary staple. And for Soto, discarding it is anathema to the art of local sourcing. Thus, he has made the stingray a touchstone dish at Cocina del Mar.
Surf fishing off the beach boulders in the Sea of Cortez.
Esperanza, Auberge Collection’s executive chef Raúl Soto blends his love for foraging with the stunning variety of seafood available in Los Cabos.
Soto catches a flag cabrilla, a plentiful local fish and a member of the grouper family.
To do so, the chef boils and slow roasts the stingray meat, then shreds it in the style of another beloved Mexican dish, carnitas. Next, he seasons: bay leaves, garlic, Mexican allspice, chile verde, dates, and wild oregano—all of which he forages himself after the rainy season. Finally, he stuffs the melt-in-your-mouth meat into rich dough to bake buttery, golden empanadas. The dish is presented in a carved wooden box with toreado salsa, another product of local sourcing, made with serrano chiles roasted over charcoal and emulsified with olive oil, lemon, and soy sauce.
Soto’s stingray empanadas are both sweet and savory, with the perfect balance of spicy and herbal qualities. And they bring together all of the chef’s passions for his homeland—its farmers, indigenous ingredients, and culinary heritage.
At Cocina del Mar, chef Soto prepares chunky filets of fresh-caught fish with a drizzle of olive oil before grilling them over charcoal.
Stingray empanadas are prepared with savory filling and rich dough, then presented in a carved wooden box with toreado salsa.
“We have so many stories around us that originate here from ingredients that are still available today,” he says. Telling the stories of his country’s inherent riches through his cooking is more than an opportunity to make gastronomic art; it’s a chance to bring guests closer to the land and sea. “We are blessed to be able to connect with that—not just as chefs, but as humans.”
Turning the Tide on Totoaba
“I’ve always had a connection to the sea,” says chef Yvan Mucharraz, Chileno Bay, Auberge Collection’s culinary experiences director. “But I was never fully conscious of it until I moved to Mexico City for culinary school.” The time away from his coastal home was intense, especially as he traveled farther afield for his craft, rising through the ranks of the global culinary scene in the kitchens of luminaries like Joël Robuchon and Thomas Keller.
In 2016, when Mucharraz returned to the Mexican coast to helm Chileno Bay’s Comal restaurant, he experienced a personal and professional awakening. “In fine dining, it was always like ‘go, go go!’ and I didn’t want to change my lifestyle,” he recalls of the pivotal moment. “But if I have just 15 or 30 minutes of peace and calm by the ocean, there’s a natural rhythm that’s reset.”
Mucharraz deepened that reset through scuba diving, a sport that doubles as meditation for the chef. “The more you are mindful of your breath, the better a scuba diver you become,” he says. “You have to be in the present and be respectful of the environment—because you are the stranger stepping into the house of someone you don’t know.”
That dovetailed with Mucharraz’s culinary ethos, inspiring an oceanic evolution of the farm-to-table concepts he had mastered while working under Keller at Napa Valley’s The French Laundry.
The philosophy is especially poignant when it comes to one very special species, the endemic totoaba. Once abundant in these waters, the long, silver drum fish has been on the endangered species list since 1979 due to rampant overfishing. For Mucharraz, it’s a tragedy of multitudes: Considered a local delicacy, the totoaba’s scarcity could lead to the end of a beloved culinary tradition that has endured for generations.
But through concentrated efforts, the totoaba population is growing again. Mucharraz sources totoaba in nearby La Paz from Earth Ocean Farms, a leading regenerative aquaculture company that is one of several organizations working with Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources and National Commission of Aquaculture and Fishing to repopulate the species. By sustainably farming totoaba in a controlled environment, then releasing the largest fish back into the wild, Earth Ocean Farms has effectively reintroduced the species back into its natural habitat. The smaller fish, meanwhile, are consumed—with the proceeds going back into the farm’s efforts.
On an early-morning scuba outing among the stony cliffs of the Arch, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez.
Known as “the aquarium of the world,” the Sea of Cortez’s turquoise waters are endlessly inviting for Mucharraz.
Sustainable sourcing that supports population growth is a vital part of cooking the endemic totoaba, a delicacy Mucharraz serves roasted with parsnip purée, roasted cauliflower, and toasted Marcona almonds.
Back at Comal, Mucharraz’s respect for the totoaba is evident in the careful, almost sacred, methods he uses to prepare it. Chiefly, that means using as much of each fish as possible. Totoaba ceviche and roasted filets over parsnip purée and roasted cauliflower are just the beginning: Trimmings are utilized to craft totoaba mousseline, and even the bones, simmered into a broth then strained, ultimately make their way into other dishes, adding a mild, buttery flavor.
Each dish is a triumph for the chef and the fish itself—evidence of a new chapter for a once-again-growing totoaba population, and the resurgence of a beloved gastronomic tradition in Los Cabos.
