Mexico's markets offer the best dried beans in the greatest variety of anywhere in the galaxy. My personal favorite are the Peruanos. They're sold mostly along the Pacific side of Mexico including the interior mainland, and you can get them in practically any size market. In dried form – in bag or bulk – they…
Downtown La Libertad, Ecuador, has the most extensive fish market open to the regular fish-buying public that we've seen since Ensenada, Mexico. Whatever's running offshore, will quickly find its way into the fishing fleet's nets and thence to the Mercado de Mariscos. Any local taxicab can take you there, no problemo. Have you ever been to…
In Mexico duck is called pato. You only find it at European style restaurants. It is also very expensive. In La Paz or La Cruz we pay about 240 peso, about $18-20 usd, for an imported duck. I have not seen any Mexican ducks in any of the markets. Probably because I only shop for…
its been along time since I wrote anything on the blog. A lot of things have happened in 2009, including: Marianne’s Mom dieing – which caused me to spend the month of April alone in Guaymas. I delivered a Bayliner 40 with George from Mazatlan to Oxnard. This delivery was so fraught with calamities, breakdowns,…
If you go fishing in the Sea of Cortez – whether by dinghy, snorkeling with a speargun,or via the mother ship, chances are you will catch some kind of critter and it'll most likely be yummy. Here's how GB typically processes his catch, using the broad flat space of our forward bow. We have for…
We have been in the Sea of Cortez since November 1, enjoying the fine winter weather. It had been a great cruse, and we met some real interesting people. The problem was the bottom kept getting foul. I was cleaning it every six weeks, then every four, and now every three. It was a mess…
You can’t get tomato paste in Mexico – or at least the parts of Mexico I have been to. There are a lot of tomato products in the store, but they all seem to be “puree of tomato with a lot of salt added”. You can get canned tomatoes, but they are very expensive –…
While GB collects his thoughts for ever-so-many posts, here's The Iron Palate with a swell discovery of a new-to-us tropical fruit: the fabulous chicozapote. I finally took a flyer on these fuzzy-skinned, oblong, brown fruit objects I’ve been seeing in the sooper mart for a while. I had no clue what they were or how…
GB and Cap'n George returned home to Mazatlan yesterday evening, after a successful sailboat delivery. All is well, and I'm eating meals again that include sauces, and more than two ingredients. Heh. m
I deviate somewhat from my typical chronological posting pattern* to address the issue of how I eat when The Propane Chef is not on site. (At present he is crew on a 40-foot boat he and a professional delivery captain are taking back up Baja to the Los Angeles area. More on that, later.) The Propane Chef…