A t the top of coastal California, so far north it’s almost Oregon, few people envision a hot spot for Mexican food and culture, but a little slice of it exists in Humboldt County. Humboldt is known for its greenery (of all kinds), its oysters, and for being a college town, but what many don’t know about is its growing hispanic population (this writer included). The former Humboldt State University – now dubbed Cal Poly Humboldt – has been a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution since 2013, with a 33% Latinx student body enrolled in 2022, many of whom come from Southern California where our culture is richly infused in our communities. When you’re so far away from home, sometimes food is the greatest comfort to quell the longing. With over 35 Mexican restaurants in Humboldt, we’re spoiled for choice in a search for the flavor that most reminds us of home. After nine years here, I’ve found the best Mexican food I’ve ever eaten in my life – and that includes from anywhere back in SoCal (sorry, grandma).
Marisela Carrillo, owner and chef at Cocina Mariposa, is a first generation Californian cooking up traditional recipes her parents passed down to her. Her parents emigrated from Michoacan, often referred to as the Carnitas Capital of the World and as the Soul of Mexico, and to taste their traditions as created by their daughter is truly to taste a little piece of Mexico’s soul. Chef Carrillo honors some Americanized favorites – like her California and surf and turf burritos – but her authentic recipes are what keep some of us coming back for more. With the goal of dispelling the idea that all Mexican food is the same, Chef Carrillo invites you in to try a taste of Michoacan in Humboldt. “There’s a lot to try,” she says, “don’t settle just on tacos, there are so many flavors that each state has to offer.”
And those flavors burst forth in her exquisitely cooked carnitas and al pastor. Her chiles rellenos are cooked from mom’s recipe, with cotija and a tomato-based sauce that’s so rich with color and flavor, most people think it’s a mole; she closely guards the recipe so inquiring minds will likely never know the magic that comprises the sauce. Her birria de res is so sought after, she once sold out 100 lbs-worth 30 minutes after opening for the day; her phone stopped working due to rabid gourmands panic-dialing to ensure they could order a taste.
Chef Carillo’s persona while reminiscing immediately strikes you as sweet, bubbly, funny; but the more you talk to her, the more you see her confidence in her cooking juxtaposed against her humility. Before opening her restaurant in Eureka, Cocina Mariposa gained a fast following when Carillo served tacos at a weekly taco night at a golf club 25 minutes north. Eureka’s City Manager urged her to open a restaurant – he believed her food was that good, but Carrillo shrugged it off thinking it could never happen. He persisted, and soon, Carrillo walked into an empty kitchen space at the Eureka Golf Course, the place that would become Cocina Mariposa’s new home. In that kitchen, she was overwhelmed with the space’s energy and the emotion of all the possibilities for her future, possibilities which came true immediately after opening her new doors. During our interview, her eyes brimmed with tears of gratitude for the community who believed in her and supported her during COVID and all the unknowns the pandemic brought with it.
The food at Cocina Mariposa is infused with all Chef Carrillo’s soulfulness, and you can taste it in the details. It’s the traditional ingredients, locally sourced from Humboldt farms and College of the Redwoods, when possible. It’s the chunky guacamole with the exact right amount of lime, the perfected fry on her flautas that makes them somehow feel light. The heat in her bean dip that’s turned up to exactly the right volume. The pops of color accenting her salsas, her sauces, her agua frescas – the way Mexican food should be, a bright celebration of fresh ingredients prepared with love. The food is only made better by the hands and heart you know created it, and it makes Humboldt feel more like home for those of us missing the traditional flavors of our heritage. From me to you: it doesn’t get any better than this.
