Fall is a special time in the Bay Area–if you live here, you know. As if an extended summer, we get a few more days of perfect weather before a moderately cold and (hopefully) wet winter has us turning for warmer foods slowly cooked in hot ovens. 

Today we're sharing a recipe by Isa and Kenzie, owners of Yo Tambien! Cantina in San Francisco so I'll let them take it from here...

This recipe is a great representation of the type of food we make. People often ask "What type of cuisine is this? or "Is it Mexican food?" and the answer is, no -not Mexican or traditional latin food by any means, but a crazy mix of many things. It is the food we crave and the food we want to eat (and we do! Every day). We have come up with the term "tropical-local" to describe our food and we truly stand behind what that means to us. We are inspired by tropical flavors and family recipes, and also deeply influenced by seasonality and local produce in California. Our culinary journey reached a milestone while we both worked at Full Belly Farm in The Capay Valley and got to cook and experiment with the most amazing produce we have ever had in our lives. Working there also made us think about sustainability and seasonality, the importance of where things come from, the amount of work and effort that takes for us to have access to all this, and how we wanted to move forward with making food and sharing food. Up until today, we go to the Berkeley Farmers Market every week and source most of our produce from Full Belly and other incredible farms that have stands there. 

This recipe in particular is an ode to summertime. Stone fruit = hot days. Nothing like the first plum or peach or apricot (Heh, we could go on!) of the season. Still a bit crunchy, with the right amount of sweetness. Also, local jalapeños become available in the summertime and grilling, well that's universal. We wanted to make something refreshing and packed with flavor. Something reminiscing of a chunky salsa but with a different twist. We love sesame for its nuttiness and texture and using it here also reminded us of fresh Asian salad recipes. Somehow, it all works together. 

Plum & Jalapeño Relish Recipe

"BFF TO YOUR HOT DAWG, GRILLED FISH OR TORTILLA CHIPS"

Ingredients

4 firm plums (we love the Elephant Heart variety) or pluots, pitted and minced into small cubes
1 or 2 jalapeños chopped into small cubes
1/2 bunch of finely chopped cilantro
1/2 bunch of finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
juice of 2 limes
toasted sesame seeds
salt & pepper

Preparation

Whisk together olive oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar and lime juice in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Combine plums, jalapeños and chopped herbs into the bowl, coating the fruit well with the vinaigrette. Taste for salt/acidity again. The flavor should be salty, sweet, tangy, slightly spicy and delicious.
Add toasted sesame seeds before serving.

Use as a topping or scoop with your favorite chips straight into your mouth.

Cheers!

Visit The Cantina in person at 205 Hugo Street in San Francisco or on Instagram at @yotambiencantina. And don't forget to check out their wine club.