A Flavorful Floral Journey: Vallarta Botanical Gardens

by Lisa Houck

A day in the garden with scrumptious food—what more could a girl want? Now that we are settling into our hacienda for the coming year, we have decided to start exploring. I had heard about the award-winning gardens from fellow expats, so we loaded up the car and started the hour-long drive through Puerto Vallarta into the mountains. The gardens are about 20 km south of the city.

Driving in Puerta Vallarta is an experience.  Most road signs are optional. Most of the neighborhood roads are cobblestone. And all the roads have speed bumps, some better marked than others… I feel like all my years of playing Frogger as a teen helped prepare me for this challenge.

After many curves, bumps, and stops for animals (cows, chickens, goats, dogs), we finally made it there. (Whew!) But, oh, the views of Banderas Bay!! Breathtaking, the smell of the ocean, the crash of the waves on the rocks below, whales jumping in the water…but I digress.

They allowed us to drive into the gardens and park by the restaurant to accommodate our handicapped parking. We chose to have lunch before exploring the gardens.

The restaurant and bar named “Hacienda de Oro” (English translation: Gold Estate) is a beautiful 2-story restaurant attached to the gift shop. Greg and I ate on the ground floor since it had a ramp and was easily accessible. The upper floor overlooks the gardens and the river below, where guests can swim. The restaurant is filled with orchids that they propagate, grow, and sell.  I came home with this one. She smells amazing!

Hacienda de Oro features local ingredients with the authentic flavors of western Mexico. The food was some of the best we have had since our move.

Greg had the “Mexican pork burrito,” A flour tortilla stuffed with shredded pork, gouda cheese, beans and rice, baked in their brick oven; served with refried black beans, and chismole salsa.

I had the “Chicken Enchiladas Banderas,” Three fresh corn enchiladas, each topped with a different sauce. Stuffed with gouda cheese, sauteed peppers and oyster mushrooms; served with black beans. 

Which one would you try if you were here?

I also had one of their signature cocktails, the Mojito de Vainilla (Frozen Vanilla Mojito). It contains white rum with fresh vanilla, mint, and lemon juice. I cannot stop thinking about this drink.  The flavors were so complex from such simple ingredients. Fresh, did I mention fresh? They harvest the mint from the gardens. They grow and harvest their vanilla beans in their vanilla bean orchard!

Greg asked if they had any mezcal. They brought out the local liquors and let us sample them. They told us this was their version of moonshine. The local agave-based drink is called Raicilla. It is made from Agave Lechugilla, which grows in the mountains around PV.  We came home with 2 bottles of local liquor.

The first bottle is “El Artista” (The Artist). This is a smoky tequila like mezcal, but we liked it more. 950 pesos or $45 US.

The other is “Raicilla Maracuya” (Raicilla with Passion Fruit). We were told this is made in small batches by the local women.  They go into the hills around their homes, pick the ingredients, then it all goes in a big bowl and is pulverised then allowed to ferment. The bottle says it is 28% alcohol, but we were told it could vary from batch to batch, so they never truly know how much alcohol is in it. Let me say, I tasted it, and I think this bottle has a much higher alcohol volume.  (hiccup) 😉This one was 1000 pesos or $50 US.

I love supporting the incredible native people. The culture is so very warm and welcoming, and I feel like this is a way to give back. Have you ever had an artisanal liquor?

After lunch, we headed into the gardens. Greg had his power assist on the chair and was able to navigate everything fairly well. Here are some pictures of the gardens.

The garden also boasts the most visited orchid garden in the country. Here are some pictures of the orchids in the conservatory. The gift shop sells the vanilla beans harvested from the vanilla orchids in their orchard. They also make and sell 2 sizes of vanilla extract.

The gardens also have numerous hiking trails, including one that takes you to a waterfall.  Of course, these are not wheelchair friendly, so I will check them out another time. But I give the staff kudos for offering to carry Greg in his wheelchair down to the river.

In future posts, I will make my version of the dishes we had and share some drink recipes made with the two types of Raicilla.  What would you like to see featured first?

Do you have a favorite garden? Please leave me a comment below.

Happy Cooking!

-Lisa-

Website: Vallarta Botanical Gardens: https://www.vbgardens.org/

Check out our introductory post here: https://culinarypreserve.com/welcome-to-my-world-of-culinary-exploration-and-preservation/