So, in the new place. And no longer embarrassed by where we live. (Both of us, that is.)

Let’s throw a SoCal Christmas-themed party!

And what that requires, first and foremost?

Margaritas!

And tamales!

Both of which are nearly impossible to get in the UAE. Not quite impossible. Nearly.

Margaritas are alcoholic, of course, and impossible to buy in Abu Dhabi, outside the semi-Mexican restaurant in the Sheraton Hotel downtown. (Other hotels will make you a margarita, but do they know anything about it? From what we have seen … no.)

And then where to find tamales? And a suite of Mexican food for Yanks jonesing for the cuisine at a “traditional” SoCal Christmas?

You pay attention. You ask around. You listen to the grapevine.

About six months ago, Leah heard tell of a place here in Abu Dhabi named “Maria’s Kitchen.” The sort of thing expat Yanks tell each other at the occasional party. (“Hey! I found someone who sells tamales!”)

Maria’s Kitchen is run by a Mexican-American from Juarez/El Paso, who married an Emirati and lives in Abu Dhabi. She makes and sells, out of her house, tamales, burritos, enchiladas (at least two varieties of each) and a really nice salsa. And she has access to some excellent corn chips and tortillas, too.

All thing really difficult to get here.

We spent a bit of money at Maria’s Kitchen, and the little tamales in particular (with real corn-husk wrapping) were very nice.

(The odd thing about Maria’s Kitchen; Maria says she didn’t really learn to cook Mexican cuisine until after she arrived in the UAE. And then taught herself. May be no coincidence that she lives near an American school and, presumably, has ready customers on her block five days a week.)

We also decided to make both red and green chili. The latter requires pork, and that involved a run to one of the English-run grocers (Spinneys) the store with the semi-secret pork room behind the curtain in the far corner. (Pork being haram — forbidden — in Islam. As is alcohol, of course.)

Green chili also requires green sauce — which generally involves tomatillos. Also pretty much not available here. We got around that by asking a colleague who was on vacation in the States to make a Trader Joe’s run, and he did (thanks, again), purchasing four jars of green sauce, which he then humped all the way back to the Middle East. He wondered if he would be stopped at customs for carrying a suspicious liquid.

(Another Yank, seeing the remaining bottle of TJ’s green sauce in the cupboard, seemed tempted to snatch it away. “Where did you get that?!?”)

And eventually there were 10 of us, and a gallon of margaritas, and the two kinds of chili (the green was particularly nice), and tamales and also cervesa (though a Dutch brand, not Mexican).

And everyone seemed happy. Margaritas help with that. Chips and salsa and tamales? That puts most of us over the top.

It went well, with nearly everyone out on the Big Balcony the whole of the night, because the view was so nice and the weather nearly perfect, and that’s also where we had strung the two lines of Christmas lights and where two of the pointsettias were parked.

We may try this again next year. Especially if we can get someone to carry back more green sauce from North America.