Savoring una michelada in Cancun
Please forgive me for my lack of recent postings. I have been tucked away in Tulum, a remote hamlet two and a half hours south of Cancun, Mexico. There are no power lines in Tulum. Everybody has generators and you would never, ever want to flush your toilet paper, because it will surely clog the area's delicate septic system. I'm told that a refrigerator is a luxury. In exchange for relinquishing my death-like grip on these worldly comforts, I have been rewarded with a stretch of the most spectacular beach ever to be found. The sand is white and sticky like pure Domino sugar. The water is green, crystal clear and as warm as a bathtub. But please, let's keep this all to ourselves, okay? It's our little secret.
Cancun, on the other hand, is not a secret. It's mainly a secret to me why anybody would go there when there is so much beauty to be had in other places in the Yucatan, but so be it. I passed through Cancun on my way to Isla Mujeres today, and indulged in a massive Mexican buffet near the bus station at a place called La Parrilla. We were the only gringos present, which is a good sign, except for the slight possibility that the restaurant's lack of appeal to gringos may indicate that a bout of intestinal distress is in our future.
I attempted to destroy any food-borne bacteria by drinking large quantities of alcohol. My final drink was actually something called a michelada, which I believe to be beer combined with lemon juice, worchestershire sauce and hot sauce, and is served in a salted glass with ice. It was muy sabrosa and very refreshing. During the course of this massive Mexican buffet we ate the following things (forgive any wretched Spanish mistakes, please):
Quesadillas with freshly made tortillas
Sopa de frijoles charros con chorizo
Some kind of delicious stewed chicken with pickled onions on top
Charred, extremely fiery jalapenos
Barbequed ribs
Carne asada
Mini tortas with chorizo and chihuahua cheese
Mixed salad
Another sort of stewed chicken
Vegetable and chicken kabobs
Many salsas
Overall, the food on this trip has been excellent, and we report no illnesses. I have fallen in love with sopa de lima, a delicious Yucatecan specialty that I need to learn how to make. Perhaps that will be tomorrow's work ...begging some hapless restaurant owner to give me his secret recipe. Anybody know a cook in the Yucatan?
Cancun, on the other hand, is not a secret. It's mainly a secret to me why anybody would go there when there is so much beauty to be had in other places in the Yucatan, but so be it. I passed through Cancun on my way to Isla Mujeres today, and indulged in a massive Mexican buffet near the bus station at a place called La Parrilla. We were the only gringos present, which is a good sign, except for the slight possibility that the restaurant's lack of appeal to gringos may indicate that a bout of intestinal distress is in our future.
I attempted to destroy any food-borne bacteria by drinking large quantities of alcohol. My final drink was actually something called a michelada, which I believe to be beer combined with lemon juice, worchestershire sauce and hot sauce, and is served in a salted glass with ice. It was muy sabrosa and very refreshing. During the course of this massive Mexican buffet we ate the following things (forgive any wretched Spanish mistakes, please):
Quesadillas with freshly made tortillas
Sopa de frijoles charros con chorizo
Some kind of delicious stewed chicken with pickled onions on top
Charred, extremely fiery jalapenos
Barbequed ribs
Carne asada
Mini tortas with chorizo and chihuahua cheese
Mixed salad
Another sort of stewed chicken
Vegetable and chicken kabobs
Many salsas
Overall, the food on this trip has been excellent, and we report no illnesses. I have fallen in love with sopa de lima, a delicious Yucatecan specialty that I need to learn how to make. Perhaps that will be tomorrow's work ...begging some hapless restaurant owner to give me his secret recipe. Anybody know a cook in the Yucatan?
posted by cindym at 5:16 PM
4 Comments:
Ugg. Utter jealousy. There is something about authentic Mexican that bowls me over. I'm thinking of converting.
Sopa de lima sounds delish. A quick search produced this recipe:http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/02/rec0272.html
But I'll be very interested in your recreations.
Ooh, thanks for the recipe. I will check it out. I have noticed lots of variations in sopa de lima down here. Some seem much smokier than others, some have piles of onions and others are very minimalist. I will investigate further.
funny. we just got back from there and i was googling "michelada" to make later today and this site was one of the hits. i'm also planning to make the sopa this week in remembrance of out trip. i checked out the link post in the comments, but that's a moosewood recipie and therefore vegetarian. didn't most of the ones down there have pollo?
yep, all the sopa de limas i tried had chicken. but if you're veggie, there's no reason why you can't veer off the beaten pollo path...
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