Normally I don’t devote an entire blog to an individual, but Abel Garcia is the exception, as he is exceptional.
Let me start at the beginning, about 1988 Abel showed up at Hudson’s and I hired him to wash dishes. He was an illegal immigrant with a fake social security number and a Texas driver’s license all purchased at a local flea market. Back in the dark ages of the 20th century, employers were not held responsible to check on the validity of the social security or driver’s license credentials. If all documentation looked valid, we photo copied the ID cards, had the new hire fill out a W-4 and put it all away in their employment file. Thirty-one years later, Abel is now an American citizen, a multiple homeowner (2 homes in Mexico and 1 in the U.S.) all three paid for in full…amazing for a minimum wage-earning dishwasher.
It has been said by all that know me that I am but half a man when Abel is in Mexico because I am constantly dreaming up fabulously creatively outlandish ideas that are just that, ideas without Abel’s renaissance man skills.
Looking back to the day that Abel appeared in my life I am very humbled and I let it be known that from that day forward, I do believe in fairies. Little did I know how very blessed I was to become, I have been fortunate enough to work with Abel for 31 years and much of Hudson’s was still standing and expanded and rusticated because of Abel’s handiwork. He can do damn near anything, from keeping Hudson’s running and up to code for all officials, to helping me cater, rewire expansions, plumbing rehab old and new, remodeling, finish carpentry, paint, he was the master gardener in charge of our herb gardens at the restaurant, stonework to carpentry Abel could do it all and the list of his accomplishments is as long as the day.
I knew he was gifted when I noticed him staring at the broken ice machine one day and I almost yelled at him to get back to work, but something told me to let him do his thing; after all I had already called the repair company and they could patch-up any damage done by Abel. Abel studied the cycle where the water turns into ice cubes and then they drop in the ice bin. He then grabbed a screwdriver and a set of vice grips, proceeded to make a few twists and turns and voila, the ice machine began to produce cubes again. I was quietly chopping onions while watching Abel fix the Japanese ice machine. Not a word was said between us as Abel went back to the dishwashing room. The repairman arrived and scratched his head as he found nothing wrong with the machine, but gave me a service call bill of $75.00. I gladly OK’d and paid the bill knowing I had just witnessed Abel’s ability. I also learned an important lesson—let Abel think and observe. Abel soon became the only R&M man Hudson’s ever knew.
I will try not to get political, but this entire nation was built from the front door to the back door and all rooms in between by entry level immigrants and slaves. We don’t need a wall but what we need is a system that fixes immigration. When the Irish or Polish etc. came into this country in waves we found acceptance but when folks with deeper colored skin came in, we felt threatened. Restaurants and the entire nation need immigrants. I don’t pretend to know the answers, but it needs to fixed by Washington. Fix it now. All chefs know the best cooks come from Mexico.
The years have passed and Abel continues to do his magic, a little magic can take you a long way. I continued to buy Abel equipment to assist his work, a table saw, welder, complete tool set, power planer, whatever he needed, the equipment always paid for itself in the end product. Many times, I would take it upon myself to do some of this handiwork at the restaurant only to later find Abel taking apart my work and re doing it better.
I was the general contractor when I built our house and obviously Abel and his friend did the finish carpentry, stucco, tile, dry wall, the list goes on and on. Abel wanted a smooth, straight look but I was looking for a feel that was a cross between San Miguel and Santa Fe so once he understood the look I desired, it never had to be talked about again.
I spent a lot of time and money getting this look of rustico, we drove into Mexico to acquire rustic exterior and interior décor. I found a rusted cast iron 1860 coal burning stove at a garage sale in south Austin and as Abel took it apart l measured the burner ports and decided what would be enameled and what would be chromed. After measuring I discovered that Wolf Stovetop replacement parts would fit so I ordered the parts. As I was leaving the chrome shop with the parts poking out of the box in random order, I passed a burly group of Harley riders headed into the shop. They said, “What you got there?” and I sheepishly replied, “It’s my stove”. Not another word was spoken. Abel did some fabrication and hooked the re enameled re chromed stove up to the propane line. 20 years later it’s working great.
With all of my finds at San Miguel and Dolores Hidalgo I loaded up my little 4X8 trailer chock full of one of a kind décor. Of course, after Abel re loaded the trailer and did it mas fuerte we headed home with Abel behind the wheel.
The way that Abel would pass the slower cars on the road was more exciting than a carnival ride. He would pull the suburban and trailer into the oncoming lane, pass the slower vehicle in front of us, with the oncoming vehicles driving off the pavement and onto the dirt shoulder of the road. All the time I was screaming and pounding my feet on the dash bracing for impact. Everyone on the road played along, thank God. By the 4th time he pulled this sequence of driving mastery, I had let go and let God and I had quit screaming. We arrived home safely with a short inspection at the border.
Abel would cook lunch for the staff at Hudson’s. His rustic lunch tacos became famous. The linen delivery guy, repair men, the milkman, employees that were not scheduled would show up along with Abel’s family and friends. His most popular lunch was smoked prime rib sautéed with veggies and rich stock, all cooked into taco filling. When Abel was out of town there were sad faces at lunch time.
When I built out Ocotillo, our restaurant on the border in Lajitas, Abel was a natural to be involved. While he was in Lajitas helping me, he hurt his back by improperly picking up a heavy box. He was laid up and I sent him home to heal with a big workman’s comp check in his hand. What would he do with the extra time and money? Abel’s home is 3 hours west of Morelia in the sub-tropical mountains of Michoacán. It is gorgeous and has a perfect growing climate. In fact, it’s where the monarch butterflies go to winter because of the cool mornings and mild warm afternoons, even in the summers. Abel’s father was given a large chunk of land by Pancho Villa, the famous revolutionary, and this land was passed on to Abel. Abel invested his workmen’s comp money in avocado trees and planted this land with the trees that to this day continue to produce avocados twice a year. This accidental endeavor employs his sleepy village and has made him king of the region. All of his avocados 🥑 are shipped to Japan.
Sara and I made the journey to his home. We flew into Mexico City then caught a flight into Morelia where he was waiting to pick us up and wrap up the journey with a 3-hour road trip to his village. On the hill overlooking his village Abel built a very conventional home with indoor plumbing and complete with all the modern conveniences, however we noticed that his family still uses outdoor fires to cook, the al fresca pantry from the days of old and an outdoor dish washing station…old habits are hard to let go of.
When we sold the restaurant, Abel stayed on and still works with us keeping our personal property in tip top shape and continues to make all of my wildest daily dreams come true. Abel is family. It will be a sad day when he retires in Mexico. Who knows we may move there?
The recipe below is shrimp quesadillas, Abel’s favorite. We had agreed to film a BBC food show “Floyd’s American Pie”. The film crew was scheduled to arrive by 3:00pm, after all it was a busy Saturday and we hoped to have them gone before our dinner rush kicked in. The crew arrived at 6:00pm and it was 7:00pm by the time they were set up and ready to film and of course by this time we were very busy with what we do on a Saturday night. The film crew was like an extra piece of shrapnel in the exploding hand grenade of a restaurant rush. As we were putting out the food it became obvious that they had planned to arrive at our busiest time to film and capture the drama and real experience of a Saturday night behind the scenes. We started to prepare the shrimp quesadilla. When I was slicing the avocado 🥑 a small sliver flew onto a 1000-watt light bulb. The light bulb exploded making everyone jump. The glass from the exploding bulb went all over the food preparation area. When I saw shards of glass in our steam table, I knew we had to throw everything out and start fresh. All of a sudden, the free PR got really expensive. Ahh Hollywood.
Shrimp Quesadillas
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 flour tortillas
1 avocado cut into quarters. Slice each quarter into 3 slices.
12 shrimp —cooked—3 shrimp per tortilla
4 ounces of goat cheese
¼ cups-grated Monterey Jack cheese.
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced blended herbs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sea salt
Method
Combine goat cheese, garlic, jack cheese, sea salt and sour cream into a bowl over lightly simmering water, as cheese begins to melt blend the ingredients together.
Slather the cheese blend onto the tortillas.
Place 3 slices of avocado onto each tortilla. Place them on the lower ½ of the tortillas so it can be folded in ½.
Place 3 shrimp onto each tortilla. Place them on the lower ½ of the tortillas so it can be folded in ½.
Fold all the stuffed tortillas in half.
In a large skillet heat the olive oil to the smoking point over medium high heat.
Place all tortillas in the heated oil and cook for 2 minutes.
Flip tortillas and cook the other side for 2 more minutes.
Remove from skillet.
Cut each tortilla into 3 wedges. Making sure that each wedge has shrimp and avocado.
At Hudson’s we topped with mango salsa or cotija cheese. Add your own topping to make it yours.Serve warm-enjoy