Cooking in Cancun

I haven’t written in a while because, guess why, there is not a lot of travel happening especially since so many counties will not allow Americans to visit.  When the weather was better I did travel within New York State. But, when I came to the realization that the United States was the least safe place covid-wise I decided to take a trip.  A little research led me to feel that Cancun was doing a great job in mitigating the spread of Covid so I booked a trip to Cancun staying at the InterContinental Presidente.  I was impressed.  Everyone was wearing masks, there was hand sanitizer in many, many places, when a guest left the hotel the room was cleaned and not occupied for another 72 hours, and articles like towels and silverware were sanitized and wrapped. 

I contacted Yum Cooking Workshop, (www.yumcancun.com, yumcancun@hotmail.com, 52  99 8460 7371, Calle tres palos # 10, Supermanzana 30, Cancún, México. C.P. 77509) to see about a cooking demonstration. The usual class starts with Mayan coffee, traditional bread called plaque, and learning about preHispanic and colonial cuisine including trying some local fruits.  Visitors then move to the tasting room where the sommelier explains the types of tequila and mescal and how to taste them. Participants prepare and enjoy a six-course authentic Mayan meal that is paired with Mexican wines.

The class was more than I was interested in and told him I was only interested in one traditional recipe. I quickly accepted chef, Andres Tejeida Vilches, offer to show me how to make a Mayan fish recipe.  He used a local sour orange, Naranja Agria, which was very juicy but said getting it may be difficult for many but said adding one-half cup of lime juice to

one cup of orange juice makes a perfect substitute. Achiote comes in paste and liquid form but Chef Andres said the paste provide a better flavor. Banana leaves are often brittle so Chef Andres suggest passing the leaves over the heat for a few seconds and it will become soft. If banana leaves are not easy to come by then aluminum foil can be used.  When I was in Sri Lanka banana leaves were used as plates.  Dollops of food were placed on different part of the leaf.  Made for easy cleanup and eco-friendly. Chef Andres demonstrated how to make Tikin’xic Fish.

TIKIN'XIC FISH

½ (one-half) cup achiote paste

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1tsp dry oregano

1 cup orange juice

½ (one-half) cup lime juice

1 pd grouper or snapper filet

½ (one-half) cup fresh cilantro, diced

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced

1 bell pepper, Julianne

½ (one-half) red onion, sliced

2 banana leaves, remove spine creating two pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper – to taste

In a blender add achiote paste, garlic, oregano, orange juice, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon of salt to create a marinade. Blend for at least 1.5 minutes so the paste is completely dissolved. Put fish in a bowl. Pour the marinade over the fish. Add the cilantro.  Let the fish sit for at least 1 hour. It will be red.  Place the fish on the banana leaves. On top of the fish place the sliced tomatoes, bell peppers and red onions, season with salt and pepper. Wrap the fish. Bake for 10 minutes 350° F. Serve with rice and fried plantain.  

 

Enjoying San Felipe, Mexico

 In the early 90s, shortly after my son, John, moved to Las Vegas

we made a road trip to San Felipe, Mexico never imagining the decades later he and his wife would buy a beach house there.  It was a can’t-pass-up deal mainly because housing prices plummeted when the housing market went south so there were great deals to be had. They bought a stone place on the beach that sleeps 10 and

came with all the furniture plus a run-about vehicle. The only problem is getting because there is no air service.  I flew to LAX and took Mokulele Airline to El Centro near the California-Mexican border and John picked me up on his way down from Las Vegas.  The Mokulele fight was great… new airplane, great service, and awesome views.  The world is so easy to get around.

San Felipe is 2.5 hours south of the border on the east side of the Baja Peninsula with nothing along the way but desert. It was Holy Week so the town was all abuzz with vacationing families many of whom were camping on the beach.  

The sunrise on the Bay of Cortez was awe inspiring and worth getting up for. The tides are extreme so when it is high it is beach time. Time to walk the beach, sit in the sun, fish from the shore, go kayaking, and wait for the pina colada man to come along.  When the tide goes out it

is time to go clamming for dinner, splash through the warm water pools, and walk the beach and sand bars.  Life if good. 


One afternoon we took a ride to the Valley of the Giants.  Giant Saguaros, that is.  The Giant Saguaros only grow in a limited area in Arizona, California, and

the Baja.  They can grow to more than 40 feet tall and live 150 years or more. They are able to absorb and store water which allows them to survive in the harshest climate. From the car they look tall but it only with someone standing next to them is it possible to appreciate just how tall they really are.  

The food in the San Felipe area is awesome.  They sell giant shrimp along the road, John and Kim going clamming in front of the house, and there is a

place in the village where they go to buy fresh-made tortillas – so fresh we waited for them to be made.  We went to a local restaurant for dinner one night. Dinner is a family affair.  It is time to sit and talk because all the meals are freshly prepared so nothing is fast.  In fact, a large family group came in and they had to shut the door because they could not cook fast enough to serve any more people at that time.  And the margaritas were great while we waited. 

Only problem was John and Kim had to drive me 2.5 hours back to the airport because I wasn’t staying the week.  Driving through the border on the way down was a non-event while the wait on the way back was one hour and a bit more.  BTW, we have crossed the border in Tijuana, Calexico, and Yuma and there is a significant wall in all those places and it has been there.  I don’t know how much of the border already has a wall but there is already a lot of wall – and it hasn’t stopped illegals – they go over, under and around. 

Carnival Cruise to Catalina and Ensenada

We were in Las Vegas for our granddaughter’s high school graduation. It was special because her father, our son, was an administrator at the school so he personally presented her with her diploma.  A cruise was her gift from her parents and our son wanted all of us to go along making it a family cruise. The Carnival Cruise sailed from Long Beach, CA, to Catalina Island then to Ensenada. John and I are newbies when it comes to big ship cruising.  We have done many river cruises but they have been all-inclusive and never more than 30 people.  

We flew from Las Vegas to Long Beach and stayed at the Best Western because they offered free transport to/from the airport and cruise pier. They also have a package for those who want to leave their vehicle. In the morning the hotel transported us to the cruise ship where a porter was waiting to tag our luggage and transport it to our room.  We were early so the line was not long and check-in was better organized than the only other big ship cruise we went on.  Being early meant avoiding the

lines and having time to explore the ship. Once everyone else arrived there was the compulsory safety drill which was done in the theater and more civilized than the cruise we took in January. 

We enjoyed the cruise more than we thought because we loved how the grandchildren participated in so many events and got

to bond together. They would check the daily schedule and make their plans but we all met for dinner. Besides celebrating a graduation we celebrated two birthdays.

When we arrived in Catalina John, the younger, and his wife went scuba diving and declared it wonderful.  Most of the other family members went into Avalon, the main city on the island, and wandered around.  John

and I stayed on board because we had visited Catalina previously. With so many people off the ship it was a great time to relax in the sun. 

In Ensenada most of the family went horseback riding which they said was awesome as they followed a trail up into the mountains.  Two others went on a wine tour.  We didn’t see

anything that interested us so once again we stayed on board and relaxed in the lounge chairs.  However, I learned later that there were a couple of activities we would have enjoyed but I didn’t see them on the web site.  The next time I will make sure I check with the onboard tour desk. 

John signed up for the onboard tour of the ship which turned out to

be so much more than he expected… and longer.  It started with coffee and donuts at 9 a.m. and then toured the entire ship, returning to the lounge about noon where there were more refreshments.  He

didn’t get to drive the ship but thoroughly enjoyed the tour. He learned that for one week the ship, which carries 2000 passengers, serves 1,400 lbs. of prime rib, 45,000 eggs, and 12,500 cans of soda. He was impressed with their effort to recycle. The leftover food is liquefied and fed to the fish.

We enjoyed all the evening activities (I was one number away from wining the big bingo jackpot) and our grandson came in second in the paper airplane contest. We will do it again…soon, I hope.

Seven Seas Soup ala San Felipe, Mexico

Several members of our family decided to spend Christmas in San Felipe, where our oldest son has a vacation house. San Felipe is a small, sleepy fishing village on the east coast of the Baja Peninsula, 125 miles south of Calexico. The area had changed from the one and only other time

my husband, John, and I had visited, 20 years earlier. At that time, we stayed at the only motel in the area. (Interestingly, there was a sign in our room that said, “Do not build a fire on the floor.” I guess someone must have tried that or there would have been no need for the sign.) It was obvious that in the intervening 20 years, there had been the beginning of a building boom, but all that changed when the housing bubble burst, as evidenced by the unfinished buildings. Vacation homes in San Felipe are now reasonably priced. 

As for things to do in the area, besides enjoying fishing and water

activities, travelers can visit the Valley of the Giants, where there is a forest of cardón (Pachycereus pringlei), the tallest cacti in the world, found only in the Baja California and Sonoran deserts. The slow-growing plants can reach a height of 60 feet or more and weigh up to 25 tons. When the tide was out in front of our son's vacation home where we were staying, family members went out on the sand to gather clams for dinner. The clams, while small, made an excellent meal.

At one point, we went into the village to a restaurant for dinner, where we had what my son said was his favorite meal while in San Felipe. The dish (about $6) was the Seven Seas Soup served at Chuy’s, a small, restaurant owned by Jesus Lozana and Maria Luisa Guzman. One of their three sons, Gabriel Lozano, is the chef, another one waits on tables, and the other is the bookkeeper.  We were welcomed in the kitchen to watch the soup being prepared. Maria Luisa Guzman also explained how to make the fish balls that go into the soup.

Fish balls 

2 cups boneless white fish, cooked and flaked
2 cups cooked rice
2 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tbsp water
1 tsp diced cilantro
1 beaten egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Form into 1-inch balls. Set aside.

Seven Seas Soup

1 tbsp butter or cooking oil
½ cup tomato, diced
½ cup onion, diced
½ cup celery, diced
½ green pepper, diced
½ cup carrot, sliced
8 cups fish or chicken broth
1 Tsp garlic
1 Tsp cilantro (save a little for garnish)
Chili pepper, minced, to taste
2 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
1 cup baby octopus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup squid, sliced
2 lbs white fish, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 clams
2 medium crabs, cut in half 
6 fish balls 
4 or 5 large shrimp

In a deep pan, heat butter or oil and sauté tomato, onion, celery, pepper and carrots for about one minute. Add broth, garlic, cilantro, chili pepper, lemon juice, oyster sauce and salt. Bring to a boil, then add all seafood except shrimp and cook for about 10 minutes. Add shrimp, and cook until shrimp is pink. To serve, remove seafood with a slotted spoon and place in bowls. Pour broth with veggies over it. Garnish with reserved cilantro and serve.

Visiting San Felipe, Mexico

San Felipe is a small fishing village on the east side of the Baja Peninsula.  In the early 90s John and I, with our two sons, drove to San Felipe from Las Vegas.  We stayed at the only motel/hotel – El Cortez.  There was a notice on the wall of our room “Do not build a fire on the

floor.”  Good idea but why did they find that necessary?  One day we went out on a fishing boat to a place where there were many seals located on a large rock. As the tide came in it was interesting watching the Alpha seals make the younger ones get off the rock so they would have room.  There was a lot of barking.  

This year San Felipe was our Christmas get together with our sons

and their families. Crossing the border into Mexico at Yuma was a non-event.  On the Mexico side there were many dentists and other medical people advertising their business.  Evidently it is less expensive than in the USA. In the 20+ years since our first trip the town had grown and it looked like it went through a boom period.  At one time there were scheduled flights to San Felipe from Los Angles.  Currently, the

area seems to be in a dormant stage.  There are many unfinished buildings and developments making it a good time to buy.  The house our son bought is made of earth-colored bricks and is one of several such houses in a gated area.  There is a break wall between the beach and the houses for the entire stretch of the development to protect it from the sea, but all while we were there the sea was very calm. The large two-bedroom

house (with other sleeping areas and a loft) came with all the furniture and a Mitsubishi Montero. The property looks like a good investment… only problem is there is no internet but they do have good TV reception.  Internet is possible but expensive and not really necessary for short stays.

The male contingent of our group went on a successful fishing trip but food was available in front of the house.  At low tide we all went out and scooped up clams for dinner. The place was very quiet and peaceful with beautiful sunsets at the rear of the house and great sunrises from the front. 

Christmas Eve we went to mass in San Felipe.  We picked a mass in Spanish which was very nice and there was an interesting aspect to the mass.  Many ladies had infant Jesus statues with them.  At the end of the mass they went up and the priest blessed the statues.  I assume they had nativity scenes in their homes. Christmas night we made a

wish and set off Chinese lanterns.  A beautiful sight to behold.

My son and his wife said their favorite meal in San Felipe was Seven Seas Soup at a restaurant called Chuy’s.  While we were there Chuy showed us how to make the soup which everyone enjoyed plus, as usual, he included a plate of clams. 

Getting back across the border took a lot longer.  We waited in line

for nearly two hours.  We had to get back to Phoenix so we could go the Fiesta Bowl.  The game started out good and then got bit tense in the fourth quarter but Penn State won!  A great Christmas getaway.  I can imagine spending days at the San Felipe house – very restful.