John Gilchrist, The Calgary Herald
Sunday, October 8, 2006

At last, we have an answer to one of the great Calgary culinary questions: Where can you get a good sugar skull kit? The answer? Boca Loca 777 Northmount Dr. N.W. (289-2202)

While those of you who know what a sugar skull kit is are jumping for joy, I'll explain it to everyone else.Sugar skulls are a key component in the Mexican festival known as the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Nov. 1, All Saints Day, and Nov. 2, All Souls Day, are national holidays in Mexico, days used to celebrate and honour the dead. Along with chocolate coffins, candied pumpkin and pan de muerto (bread of the dead), brightly decorated sugar skulls are the treat of the day.So a sugar skull kit is a package of skull moulds that are to be filled with liquefied sugar. The skulls are solidified and decorated and then eaten. Directions for solidifying and decorating the skulls are included.

But the kits are just one aspect of Renette Kurz's new Boca Loca. Open for just over a year, it has quickly become a stop-and-shop cornerstone for northwest Calgary residents looking for south-of-the-border flavours. It's an off-shoot of Kurz's Beltline Boca Loca and the larger of the two. Kurz opened the second location because it offered a much bigger kitchen for her expanding catering business. She has a raft of corporate clients -- many of them from American-affiliated oil companies -- who need a good fix of Mexican food on a regular basis. But the new Boca Loca is also in close proximity to two of Calgary's Spanish immersion schools, providing easy access for her children and a built-in market for her products.