Saturday, January 17, 2009

Merida-Progreso

From Mexico city, I flew to Merida where the still wonderful (yes gorgeous) Jeremiah Tower had found me a casita on the Gulf beach. The house was modern and lovely and even had a good kitchen. There was a constant breeze from the Gulf and we never put on the air conditioning. The house was about fifteen minutes from Progreso which always oade me feel that I was staying in a vat of pasta sauce.
The best restaurant in Progreso is Flamingo--good but not up to Mexico city standards. The best dish was a fish wrapped in banana leaves with an assortment of veg.
One thing that struck me in all the Mexican restaurants was that there was no salt on the table, but wedges of lime. They did very well. It was sometimes hard to tell the limes from the lemons as both were often green with the lemons being larger. There was another fruit that Jeremiah brought me, a cross between a lime and a lemon...also green, but knobbly on the outside. Good.
The best foods were fish. I was lucky in that the couple who looked after the house were delightful--two nice children and a fuzzy, enthusiastic dog called "happy." No Happy pronounced in Mexican fashion. Oswaldo, the man of the family, netted corvina daily and Claudia, the lady was a good cook.
We went shopping at the Walmart which was--sadly--better than the little in town shops. Among other things we found and aged Centenario tequila. You had to pull the empty box off the shelf and take it to the counter to get some.
If buying be wary. For some reason avocados and bananas goo from firm to over ripe over night; but oh what wonderful guacamole Claudia made...Ingredients do make the difference.
There was rice with everything, some potatoes and cardboard bread' but a varying quality to corn tortillas. They were better in toen'
Given a kitchen and new ingredients I do seem to start cooking. More tomorrow.
Give me a kitchen and I seem to start cooking.

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