gulfporter

Most ovens in Mexico have no thermostat. The "ideal stove control" is a wooden spoon inserted in the oven door jamb when the oven overheats.

I hate my corner cabinet too. To it, I relegate kitchen purchases that I regret, but won't admit to my DH. It's my Black Hole of Calcutta.

I started the topic because we also own a home in FL where we've also had plenty of local contractors working over the years. I never heard them talk about food. Here is what our FL contractors talk about. Fishing Sports Traffic Fishing TV Shows Fishing Current Weather Past Storms/Hurricanes Fishing

It's not that my Spanish has improved all that much, but for the past 4 months I have focused on listening. Over the years my vocabulary increased, but my ability to understand a fast-talking local remained almost impossible. Currently I'm using online sites that don't cut me any slack....they speak as fast as most Mexicans do. Last week, we had crews at the house doing maintenance and a few repairs and I was able to eavesdrop fairly effectively. I quickly discovered that all they talk about is food! One would mention a place with the "best" tacos de pulpo (octopus) and it would set off a round-robin of comments from the other workers on their food finds. It went on literally non-stop all day; even when the maestro (boss) showed up, he'd join in with his recommendations. At times there were some heated exchanges over the "best" this or that. I asked a few guys about some spots. Alas, their highly recommended taco stands open after 9PM, most not until 10PM. A few open at 7AM for breakfast for workers heading out, closing by 9AM. I may make it to a breakfast stand that they told me is only a block away, set up early in front of a family's house....I walk by that house daily (but always after 9AM) and there is no indication it sells tacos.

Our French Canadian friends brought these to us. We had never had them, or heard of them. They are insanely good. The outside crunch and chew, and the soft and wet interior.....ooh la la.

Last week at our tianguis (open air market), I asked Denis (a Frenchman now living in Guadalajara) who makes and sells his own pate', quiche, duck confit at the market, if he could get me duck breasts as my local Mexican butcher has been unable to locate any. I got them today, two frozen together. The price was 380 pesos per kilo. At today's exchange rate, that would be $9 USD per pound which seems reasonable given it is considered a delicacy of sorts here. One of them my DH will make into duck prosciutto. The other will meet the fry pan soon enough.

Have always been fascinated by this aspect of the food industry; looking fwd to the release. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/dining/catering-new-york-city-hotbox-lee-brothers.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

I grew up in a family that observed meatless Fridays year-round. We often had potato pancakes served with both sour cream and cottage cheese (not mixed together). This conversation has made me nostalgic for that meal. I haven't bought cottage cheese in decades; not sure if it is available here in MEX. If not I will look forward to this meal next trip north.

I gave up a long time ago on finding my taste bud doppelganger. For outside the US travels, I like Culture Trip. Not in-depth reviews by any stretch, but they list the dish(es) that epitomize the eatery, have a corresponding map on each page that highlights the restaurant you are reading about. They break down Food and Drink to several categories making it more manageable for me. Many of the categories are by neighborhood, always a help when arriving in a new city. We will be in Lisbon next month and here is Culture Trip Lisbon Food and Drink Page. I link to and then read the sub-categories that most interest us. https://theculturetrip.com/europe/portugal/lisbon/food-and-drinks/

Today is 3.14 so go grab a piece of pie! Pie is not a common menu item in MEX. But there is a fine French patisserie on our street and we scored a few mini-quiches for lunch.

New flavors of Peeps coming this Easter. https://www.wthr.com/article/peeps-debuts-new-flavors-just-time-easter

Only drinking ice tea here now that it is 80+ daily. Dried hibiscus flowers are sold as "jamaica." It is pungent and I need to add some sweetener (which I never add to US ice tea).

@Nancy in Pátzcuaro Thanks , yes I have had more sour and thick cremas on trips to other areas within MEX. We do have a cheese truck that happens by every so often and will see if he sells crema, but he is an oddly quiet vendor....no bells or loudspeaker so it's catch-as-catch can. @Dave the Cook I think I will chance it with either the Fage (if it is indeed full fat...need to read the label) or another full fat yogurt, as I know where to find it.

Curious.... what are you paying for avocados in the US these days?

Our neighbor's avocado tree overhangs our yard; yes we fight the squirrels for first dibs. These are not Haas avocados, they are quite large (usually 3x the size of a Haas), yellow-green interior (more yellow than green) and very mild. I adjust my usual guacamole recipe so the heat and chopped veggies do not overpower them I have never seen cooked avocados in Mexico, but avocado ice cream is not uncommon. The Haas avocados are common in stores here...right now there must be a fresh crop as I have seen many more wheelbarrows selling them around town in the past week. Michoacan adjoins our state of Jalisco and is main growing area for Haas. Produce hawked from trucks or in the streets often reflect a fresh harvest.

For almost 20 years, I have successfully made a Bon Appetit recipe for a blueberry sour cream pie. It has always been a hit. Just In the last few years, we can buy blueberries here in our MXN village. Alas, there is no sour cream here. The locally available cremas are loose and a bit runny (and not sour at all) and doubtful they would work as a substitute. Have seen thicker cremas in other parts of MX, but not here and I've tried all the brands. I can and do buy Fage plain Greek yogurt....it is as thick as thieves with a great tang. Can I substitute this for the sour cream without any other changes to the recipe? Or do I need to add/subtract the amounts of sugar and/or flour? The pie bakes for about 35 minutes at 400 degrees and wonder how the time and temperature will affect the yogurt. I am more worried about viscosity as when I make the recipe with sour cream it sets up perfectly with nice solid slices. The pie's recipe is posted publically on epicurious.com and the filling part is as follows: FILLING 1 cup sour cream 3/4 cup sugar 2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour 1 egg, beaten to blend 3/4 teaspoon almond extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

A few of our local restaurants here in Mexico have attempted to monetize their "down times" and two have been successful. One hosts a farmer's market of sorts for 3 hours, pre-opening hours from 9 till 12 (like many restaurants they do not serve lunch until 1 or 2). They charge the vendors a fee to set up. The other eatery hosts a weekly afternoon trivia contest run by and for a non-profit; the kitchen stays open but mostly profits are from drinking 🍹 🍺

Prefer casual over formal. Tapas are fine, lighter fare generally. We are staying in Barrio Alto.

I feel the opposite....foraging by chefs is relatively new and many of the chefs are young and from non-agrarian backgrounds. The guy selling out of his car may (and I say, may) be a seasoned mushroom picker for decades and more knowledgeable than a recent culinary school grad. As kids we were sent to the nearby hills and culm dumps (coal mine leavings) to pick mushrooms. Before going home with them we always stopped at a neighbor's house where "Aunt Annie" would inspect them. While she rarely found a reject, it was part of our routine. Only exception was if my Dad was with us as he was also well-versed in mushroom identification. They didn't refer to any books to ID, they just knew. No mushroom-related deaths in our family 😄

I ordered these as they had the lowest shipping cost to Mexico in the fastest timeframe. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HC8X512/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks all. @liuzhou the size and bulkiness of your tweezers look down-the-drain proof. Will look for similar product.

I bought new standard tweezers to pluck errant bones out of raw salmon before cooking. Worked like a charm! I normally throw my prep utensils, pots, pans, etc. into the sink as I go along; my DH is the dishwasher if I cook. I threw the tweezers into the sink out of habit but quickly realized they were destined to fall into drain and cause some sort of plumbing issue. Before I decided to use standard "eyebrow" tweezers, I looked at longer kitchen tweezers on-line and decided they might not have the torque (is that the right term??) to pull out salmon bones (these bones need more than a standard "pull"). It seemed the grip area was too far removed from the end of the tweezers. Am trying to think of what I might attach to the small tweezers so they won't get lost in the sink with a boatload of other items.

Mexican cheeses are too mild for us. Sharper cheeses are imports and can be pricey. However, goats abound in Mexico and goat cheese is cheap, local and varied by both aging and flavorings. I am cooking more with goat cheese than I thought possible. My go-to quesadillas include chicken al carbon from a local stand with the accompanying onions and peppers and whatever goat cheese is in my fridge. I toast the filled flour tortillas on my gas grill until the goat cheese is warm and soft....that's lonche! While I am usually firmly in the camp of 'no cheese with seafood,' goat cheese on top of grilled shrimp served over fresh pasta with just a drizzle of olive oil and blistered cherry tomatoes and fresh basil, works for us.

We are doing a moveable feast in the neighborhood. I am doing the main course and plan to make paella. My recipe is not authentic, but it is one that always pleases the masses; it is Pierre Franey's recipe from one of his 60 Minute Gourmet Cookbooks. The recipe is basically: Saute skin-on bone-in thighs and sausage chunks separately, then add onions/sweet peppers and saute as well. Then these items are added to a large pot with raw rice, stock, canned tomatoes and seasonings. It is cooked stovetop, covered for 20-30 minutes until the rice is tender and chicken cooked through. Then the raw shrimps are added with frozen peas and simmered for 8-10 minutes covered until the shrimps are done. I turn up the heat when I add the shrimp to form a socarrat. We will start the meal at a nearby neighbors for drinks and appetizers and I neither want to leave the group too early, nor make the guests wait too long at my house before being served the paella. There are 2 other houses after mine (one for dessert and another for digestivos/coffee). I don't want to slow down the feast; we have done others where they have lasted too long since there is some walking in-between each home in addition to the eating time for each course. My plan is to make the paella up to the cooking of the rice then park it until the group comes to our home to eat. At that time I will blast the heat under the paella, then add the shrimps and peas for the 8-10 minutes final cooking and hopefully develop a socarrat. Will that work??? Cautions??? Will the rice get overcooked...should I undercook it a bit before the rest period?? Should I park it tightly covered, or lid ajar? I think the chicken will benefit from the rest period when we are elsewhere eating an appetizer (est. 20-30 minutes), but am a little worried about the rice. I don't cook rice very often.

It's been 8 years since our last visit and we were delighted with the restaurant scene back then. We will be there all of next week. Anyone been recently?