CHILE HEATS THE TUNDRA - Sunny reviews the book Tacos on the Tundra. Written by Lyn Kidder of Ruidoso, NM, the book profiles Barrow, Alaska resident Fran Tate, a "tough cookie" who fled New York to search for a new life at the top of the world. Tate's Mexican eatery, Pepe's North of the Border, draws 8,000 visitors annually.
Had I known that tacos were served on the tundra, I'd probably still be in Alaska. I lived in Fairbanks in the late 80s for two years, unaware that the best Mexican eatery in the North was in Barrow, a village today of about 4,000 located high above the Arctic Circle at 72º N Latitude. Located at Alaska's northern-most tip, Barrow is on the Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean, which remains frozen almost year round.
What keeps the villagers warm aren't just bunny boots and fir trimmed Parkas. It's also Pepe's North of the Border, a Mexican eatery run by a free-spirit from New York who "...didn't cook at home...My mom was a lousy cook...she'd burn everything..."
Fran Tate migrated to Barrow in 1970 at age 41, leaving behind a string of ex-husbands, including an ex-con, and a slew of jobs, everything from waitressing to motivational speaking, to engineering, and to corporate spying. Fran loves to work, the more hours the better. And furthermore, in whatever job she takes on, she excels.
Fran's first job in Barrow was that of a self-employed secretary, followed by more manly work, including an oil field roustabout and a truck driver. In 1974, she resolved to open a restaurant, and it had to be Mexican. No one ever bothered to ask her why. Fran does what Fran feels like doing and everyone leaves her alone to do it.
Fran took out loans, bounced a few checks and worked a series of loathsome but high paying jobs, including toilet cleaning, to help raise money for Pepe's grand opening two years later. "I cleaned humus toilets for a public housing unit and I charged $90 to clean them...when you went potty you turned the paddle and it mixed it up...all the liquid goes down to a drawer. I had to scoop it out and put it into a trash bag. It smelled horrible."
On Pepe's opening day, 70 frosty Alaskans waited in line in 20 below temperatures to feast on the chill-busting Mexican goodies - enchiladas draped in cheese, burritos and, tacos. The one-story, three-room building, perched on 7-foot pilings, is festooned with colorful piñatas, bullhorns, and whalebones.
Over the years, the restaurant has become a hot spot for tourists, who travel across the world to literally visit a Mexican restaurant in an unlikely place like Barrow.
In 1984, Johnny Carson got wind of Fran and invited her on his show. She surprised Johnny with a Barrow souvenir - an oosik, a 3-foot long bone from a walrus penis. "Somewhere, there's one unhappy walrus!" Johnny proclaimed.
The story about Fran's lively and, at times, incredulous escapades, as well as everyday life in the North, is successfully captured in the 165 page book, Tacos on the Tundra: The Story of Pepe's North of the Border [Bonaparte Books, 1996]. The chile red and sun-bright yellow cover sports a photograph of a pretty blonde, blue eyed woman [Fran] donned in a sequined sombrero, standing before the icy Arctic Ocean. Clasped in her hands are two inviting, piled-high tacos lavished with red salsa.
Wordsmith Lyn Kidder of Ruidoso penned the entertaining, and oft-times, humorous book. Lyn also authored "Barrow, Alaska from A to Z [Bonaparte Books, 1997]. She and husband Frederic Moras, a photographer, contribute to New Mexico Magazine, New Mexico Business Journal, Alaska Magazine, among others. Lyn explained how she came to write the story about Fran.
In 1991, the author and her husband "packed some things in our van and left Pennsylvania. We didn't really know where we were going or what we meant to do. We were hoping that we could combine working with seeing the world." Eventually the duo found themselves in Barrow. Lyn managed a hospital lab and wrote for The Barrow Sun, the local weekly newspaper. Frederic was her photographer and worked between assignments as a waiter at Pepe's North of the Border. "One day," said Lyn, "Frederic came home and said, 'You know, someone ought to write a book about Fran'."
If a book were to be written, Lyn was the one to do it. "The thing about living in a place like Barrow is that there aren't a lot people doing the same thing you're doing," she said. "Everyone is unique...I had never written a book, but I'd written articles, and it looked like a book was just a big article, or a lot of articles called "chapters" so I got started. Ignorance is bliss."
Lyn said the toughest part was "getting Fran to stand still long enough to talk to me. She works harder than anyone I've every known and is always busy. But I would just hang around the restaurant with my notebook and tape recorder and just listen in. Everyone in town comes to Pepe's (unless they're on Fran's blacklist)."
Bot the restaurant and Fran, now 70, are "still going strong," Lyn says. Thousands of tourists visit Pepe's annually, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in October. Fran invites all visitors to sign a guest book and each Christmas she sends a card. "And if they send HER a card, then they go on the list for next year," says Lyn. "There are more than 5,000 names on the roster now, and she and the employees hand address each...no computers!"
Hmm. I wonder if the Sun-News would fly me to Barrow to experience tacos on the tundra first-hand.
Tacos on the Tundra [$14.95] is available locally at the Hastings book store on Lohman and in El Paso at the Barnes & Noble stores. Lyn will sign books on July 11 from 1- 3 p.m. at Barnes & Noble on Viscount and, on the same date, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Sunland Park Barnes & Noble.
NOTE: The book is a good read, especially while downing one of Lyn's chicken tacos, shared below. Each moist and soft taco is caressed in lip-smacking olive oil spirited with the pungent cilantro.
CHICKEN TACOS (serves 4)
2 chicken breasts, marinated (recipe below)
4 corn tortillas
8oz shredded cheese (Cheddar and Monterrey)
one bunch of cilantro (use 1/2 for the marinade and 1/2 half for the tacos)
1 avocado
2 chopped Roma tomatoes
8 oz of shredded lettuce
Marinade
1/4 cup lime juice
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 jalapeno
Salt and pepper, to taste
Marinade chicken breasts for 4 hours in refrigerator. Grill chicken breasts. Cut into bite size pieces. Top each warmed corn tortilla with chicken pieces and remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.
