Venezuela Arepas - Curacao

Monday, September 17, 2018

Our boat yard neighbor here in Curacao is Oscar and he is from Venezuela.  We met at the Friday happy hour at the marina tiki hut.  I mentioned that we had Venezuelan arepas once before in Bonaire – see here.  They were yummy.   He said “Oh, there is a really good place here.  Daily Arepas.  It is so good.  You must go.  We go all the time. ”  His fellow crew member Aussie Tom said “Awe yeahhhhh, (no really, he did say that), we go all the time.  I just love that place.”  I got Tom’s attention and had Oscar repeat it.  “Kewl, we are there” said Tom.  That evening I said to Tom, “We should tell Oscar we want to tag along next time they go.  That way we can learn all about arepas directly from a Venezuelan” 

Saturday morning came and I saw Oscar a couple of times but missed the opportunity to ask him.  Then I over heard them after lunch……they had gone for arepas that day for lunch.  Darn!  Oh well.  “Hey Oscar.  We would like to tag along next time you go for arepas.”  “Okay.  We went today for lunch.  When do you want to go?  They are not open tomorrow.”  Tom said “How about lunch Monday?” Oscar said OK.   I asked again “What is the name of the place?”  Oscar said “Daily Arepas” in his Venezuelan accent – but excellent English.   I invited our new Aussie Swiss friends on sv Perigee (David and Leanne) to tag along.

12:30’ish  Monday we all piled into 2 hire cars.  It was a short drive – 8 mins to…….DELI Arepas.  NOT Daily arepas!  It was a small place, similar to a small Subway in the US with a long deli counter on one side and 3 high top tables along the opposite wall.  Mucho take away business here.  

Oscar explained the dough is a simple cornmeal base that is grilled/fried up on a flat griddle.  This is their daily bread like tortillas are in Mexican culture and well, bread is in the French culture.  Once this cornmeal base is cooked, there is any number of fillings.  Deli arepas had many, many options.  I got the shredded chicken and white cheese.  Tom got the ground beef and yellow cheese.  Yes, that is what they ask – “Cheese?”  “Yes, please.”  White or yellow cheese?”  And a white garlic sauce that Oscar says is standard.  He has a traditional arepas Rellenos with shredded meat, black beans, yellow cheese, a touch of rice and garlic sauce. 

Leanne asked if this had Spanish origin.  No.  Arepas are tradition Venezuelan food, invented in Venezuela.  Oscar told Tom and I about a very specific arepa called the Reina with an interesting tale.  It seems beauty pageants are a really big thing in Venezuela.  “Huge!”  Back in the 1950’s a Venezuelan woman won some big beauty pageant.  I don’t know if there was a Ms Universe at that time, but I got the impression that it was something along that level.  Oscar said all of Venezuela was so proud and excited at the win.  One specific arepas shop invited and named an arepa after this pageant winner.  Reina translated sort of means dress of polka dot queen or dress of the queen.  See the winner had on a dress with polka dots.  It became a famous dress.  The arepas is chicken salad with peas…..the polka dots…..get it?  Oscar even pulled it up on his phone to show us.  

We all finished our yummy arepas and headed out for Budget Marine (of course and the grocery store), tummies full and happy and a fun story to boot.  

It turns out the real story is slightly different than Oscar told us but who cares!  It's a good story either way.
Reina Pepiada

Bonaire Food - Venezuelan Food

May June 2018

Yhanni and Roberta

sv Celilo suggested we go have Venezuelan food, specifically Arepas.  We said....okay.

Yhanni checking on the gang

Yhanni makes them in a stand next to a big beach bar.  The bar actually serves it's own food but they don't care because people like us come for Yhanni's food and buy drinks from the bar.  Still a win.

sv Celilo (Roberta and Mike) and visiting son Phillip

Waiting for the arepas.  They are hand made to order so they take a bit of time.

The pink girls

Waiting - adult beverages helped the wait.

Tom's first taste.

UMMMM - tasting the various flavors.

A winner!  We like arepas!!

Call of Fish or Tourist Sunset Horn

When you were someplace tropical on holiday, did you ever do a touristy thing where they blow the conch horn (shell)?  Perhaps a few places in the Bahama's or The Full Moon Party at Trellis Bay BVI?  Somehow this has become a sunset tradition with tourist.  Many a tourist has tried to learn to blow the conch horn over a rum drink or two.  A few cruisers have carried on with the tradition.  There is a cruiser that does it in Grenada each night.

More importantly, did you know that the blowing of the conch horn is an island tradition that goes back many, many years.  It has important meaning.  You can hear it anytime of day and hopefully multiple times during the day.  On the islands of the Caribbean, the blowing of the conch horn is a signal that the local fishermen are back and they have fish.  The horn lets the entire village know to come down to the water to buy fish now.

It actually took us well into the second season of cruising to figure this out.  Despite the fancy Japanese built and gifted (roll eyes) fish sorting houses up and down the island chain, most local fish are sold sea side in simple covered stands, shacks or even a tent.  Nothing fancy.  They pull in, blow the conch horn and set up business.  Each place having its own processes and methods of operation to clean, weigh, and sell the fish.

So next time you are in the islands, keep an ear open throughout the day for the "real" conch horn.  We have purchased some delicious fresh fish because the conch horn was blowing.  Oh.....there it is now - Fish In. 

Grenada Hot Pockets - NOT

January 2018

There is a cruiser name Jean.  She is a South African but cooks like she is French.  I first tasted her cooking when she offered seafood and fresh, boatmade pasta on Hog Island.  Friends had enjoyed that before and raved about it.  Boatmade pasta?  Yes please!  I joined them the next time this came up.  However, she didn't have the boatmade pasta.  "It was just too hot."  So she made rice.  It was wonderful.  The seafood was in a creamy type sauce.  It was a measly $15 EC.

I got on her email list right after that.  She would then email a small group of us to let us know when she was cooking and what.  Boatmade pies were the norm.  By pies, I mean savory pastry like pies, like Jamaican pasties, but way better.  These are light, flaky pastries surrounding wonderfully rich fillings.  She offers pepper steak, beef, chicken and mushroom and vegetarian.  We ordered from her several times.  She cooks and bakes all day and then hails you on VHF radio...."Love, your pies are ready."    We dinghy over to Hog Island anchorage and pick up our still warm pies.  YUM.  $10 EC.
She offers other items as well and passage ready food.  We ordered four pies for our passage out of Grenada.  Only two made the passage as we just couldn't wait and ate the other two right after we picked them up.

Big Thyme

Jan 2018

While spending time with local maxi driver extraordinaire Shademan aka Patrick yesterday, we learned about Big Thyme.  He pulled up near a big rock wall along the road that was covered in green.  He plucked a handful of green and gave it to Tom in the front seat to pass around.  “You know what this is?”  We did not.  “It’s called BIG thyme.  You put it in with meat and such to flavor the meat.” 

It is very hardy and a tiny bit fuzzy and looks NOTHING like the thyme we know.  However, it smells exactly like thyme.  “You take this home and you can cook with it or put it in water to grow.”  I did just that.  We shall see.  

Update - It did taste just like thyme but a bit thicker, sort of tough and woody.

Moringa

January  2018

I first heard of Moringa in Trinidad from our local dock neighbors Wayne and Alicia.  They said it was really good for you and cured all sorts of ills.  Alicia was not really a believer until she had a terrible cough that she couldn’t get rid of.   Local Graham gave her some Moringa leaves to chew and her cough went away.   Fellow cruiser Susie (sv Spirited Lady) has tea each morning with Moringa and Tumeric.  

Right before leaving Trini, we had a little dock lime and once again we started talking about Moringa.  Graham was there and swears by it.  He has a tree and dries his own.  He brought a big bag for Alicia and she shared some with me. It looks like dried oregano.  It smells like a simple, dried herb.  Nothing too strong.  “What do I do with it?” I asked.  “Make a bush tea – steep in hot water.  Or sprinkle on top of food.  Or put in food to cook.”  “I just eat it as is” and with that, Graham took a big palm full of the dried leaves and popped them in his mouth.  That didn’t really appeal to me but the rest was intriguing.  

We are not health food nuts but I have taken an interest in bush herbs and medicine since being down here in the Caribbean.  I have been using the Moringa since leaving Trini.  A spoonful on top my yogurt, granola, nutmeg breakfast.  A spoonful in the pasta sauce.  A spoonful over the top of the rice.  A spoonful in the callaloo.  But I wanted to see what the actual tree looked like.  

Yesterday with Shademan (Patrick) we were in luck.  “Moringa.  That is what this tree is.” he said as he and I looked out the back window of the rum bar we were in.  The hillside fell away but there was a tall tree with branches close to the window.  The leaves are smallish and tender.  Tom came over and Shademan asked him to reach out and pull a big branch in.  He then grabbed several branches for himself to take him.  “It’s good for you.  Fix all sorts of ails.”  I grabbed a few tiny branches for us.  Tom did as well.  I tasted the tender leaves, mild and green flavored.   Soon the other cruisers were interested and asking.  I think half of us took some home to try. 

Here is the Wikipedia info Moringa

   

Grenada Street Meat 2018 - Ultimate Food Van

Burger van

January 2018

Sides and back cut and hinged

We love street meat.  We eat it anywhere we can.  We eat it as often as we can.  We have NEVER gotten sick from street meat / food vendors.  

The set up

We were hungry after the mini music fest.  This guy was parked off to the side of a busy intersection in Grenada.  We immediately dug his set up.  So very kewl.  Everything there within reach as he sat perched on a small, swivel stool.  Simple menu of burgers with various toppings.  A fan keeping him cool on one side and a small DVD player on the other side cranking out some YouTube tunes.  A hot griddle frying up some yummy chow.

Everything within reach

Besides the way kewl van, the burgers were good.  The guy is from Italy.  He cooks what he has and then he heads home.  It seemed like he really enjoyed cooking out of his awesome van.

Enjoying his work

I think Tom wants a burger van now.  

My Favorite Market Lady

Meet Sheri.  She is my favorite market lady in Trinidad.  I have learned so much from her.  Even though she is on the busy walkway between buildings with a constant stream of customers, she always makes the time to explain what stuff is and how to make it. "Sheri, what is that green bundle?"  "Oh!  You don't know what bhaji is?  Ok.  Take this bundle.  Chop it up - all of it.  Fry it up in some oil (I prefer saute) with garlic and salt.  So good.  Here, take this bundle.  You got it?  You know what to do?"  "Okay Sheri.  How much?"  "No, no, no.  You take and try and then you come back and tell me."  She did this repeatedly with so many things.  I would come back and report.  Then I would buy more of whatever and it became part of the galley offering on sv Honey Ryder.  Bhaji, calaloo, pumpkin soup, same beans, etc.....She was always tossing in extra as we chatted.  Last year she was shocked when I knew about Diwali.  "You know about Diwali?"  Then she reached below and pulled out a bag of traditional Diwali sweets and gave it to me. The next time I saw her, I bought her no-bake cookies.  She looked suspicious but graciously took the bag of melted no-bake cookies.  *BTW - no bake are great because you don't need an oven.  However, in the tropics, they melt a bit after cooking.

I have introduced her to numerous cruisers who have in turned learned from her and hopefully will keep buying from her.

I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would like.  Maybe someday we can hang out and lime.  In the mean time, if you are ever in Trinidad at the local POS fresh market, go see Sheri. 

New Favorite Place in Trinidad

Westside Cuisine.  We had been there before on our Taste of Trini Tour with Jesse.  We tried to go another time that season but found it closed.  We went again but too late for Aloo pie so we settled for doubles.

This season we hit it just right.  Oh man, did we ever!  We took a maxi from Coral Cove with Stu, newly arrived from South Africa.  Walking up to this outdoor place we found Leo, one of Jesse's drivers and his wife and grandbaby.  "Leo, what are you doing here?"  "Oh man.  Hi.  I just live up the street.  We come here all the time."

There was a bit of a line so we waited our turn and watched.  Hoo....mon.....the food is fresh made on the spot.  You cannot get any fresher.

I opted for the Saltfish bake.  It was HUGE!  The bake is actually fried bread.  Who cares!  It is a golden circle of puffy pastry like a big soapia the size of a teacup saucer.  It is hot out of the oil and then sliced into.  Inside a big serving of saltfish (combined with finely chopped boch choy and seasoning) along with lettuce, tomato, onion and sauces ( it is Trinidad after all and Trini's love their sauces).  A full serving or even two of veggies.  "Baby you want it with everything?"  I had just seen one served up this way....."Hell ye.....er....I mean Yes mama."  The favors were amazing.  The saltfish was not too salty.  The seasonings and sauces were just right.   Tom and Stu had an aloo pie (potato pie) each.  Aloo pie is big, golden oblong fried bread with potato inside and yet light somehow.  Watching while we waited in line, they HAD to have a double each as well.  Tom said not only was it hot as in "peppa" but hot to hold since the doubles skins were being fried up right there on the spot vs pulled out of a cooler only room temp.

Amazing!

Pizz Boat - Martinique

Pizz Boat lady

There is a new boat in Cul de sac du Marin called Pizz Boat (their spelling).  It is a catamaran with a commercial pizza oven on the back. They are in le Marin anchorage Monday - Thursday and Sainte Anne Friday and Saturday.  They have very reasonable prices and yummy pizza.  Delivery is $2EU.

Bruce and Tom

We first tried Pizz Boat on Valentines day for lunch.  I call them via phone.  Despite their limited English and my non-existent French, I got the order placed.  20 mins later, it was delivered.  YUMMY!

Annika and Stephan

A couple of weeks ago when the wind was up, we decided a Friday pizza party was in order.  Sy Tango and sv Wild Matilda were onboard as well.  They all came over to our boat and we figured out our order. Tom and Stephan hopped in a dinghy and buzzed over to place the order in person.  20 mins later, the Pizz Boat lady arrived with three pizza's.  Squalls came and went but it never dashed our pizza party that ended up running into evening.  Good times!  

Pizz Boat

Off The Charts In Guyana - Thanksgiving 2016

Fresh pumpkin

11-24-16

I was up and had the pumpkin in the pressure cooker by 7:30AM.  Next came the crust for the Pumpkin Pie Dessert or Harvest Dessert as I have renamed it.  Then the steamed pumpkin was cooled and draining.  I have learned that fresh pumpkin has quite a bit of water in it.  This time I used the small, mesh basket I use to rinse quinoa to strain the water out.  However, straining through a cheese cloth would actually be best if you are trying to get the consistency of a can of pumpkin. 

Straining the cooked pumpkin

The propane tank promptly ran out.  Tom switched over to the other one.  It was overfilled which caused a slight scare of high pressure but it turned out ok.  Whew.  Harvest Dessert in the oven, next step was the béchamel sauce for the green bean casserole.  Then make the stuffing.  I used a box mix I found in town.  Big mistake.  It had been sitting on the shelf for quite some time.  The dehydrated breadcrumbs were stale.  I covered it with sautéed onions and callaloo, veggie broth and a generous amount of grated nutmeg.  The stuff was turned into stuffing muffins in the oven. 

Bodi beans

The green beans found in Guyana are similar to the bodi beans found in Trinidad.  They are about 12” long but these are very thin, thin enough to fit between the tines of a fork, SO….I bought a huge bunch.  The homemade béchamel sauce worked just fine as did the farina topping. 

Farina

Tom helped by digging out ingredients needed from their various hiding spots in the port settee, opening cans, lighting the oven, washing pots, mixing bowls and such as we went and finally holding the broiler button on twice to brown the tops of the Harvest Dessert and Green Bean Casserole.  Our broiler is acting up and won’t stay lit. 

Harvest dessert

13:00 I got dressed and we started gathering things up.  We missed the weather window by 3 mins.  A rain shower passed over, just enough to put 2” of water in the bottom of the dinghy and soak the dinghy chaps – aka wet butts and tote bags. 

The spread

Baganara Resort had agreed to let us use a couple of tables for our Thanksgiving.  The staff greeted us immediately “Good day.  Happy Thanksgiving to you.”  I brought appetizers of smoked eggplant and pineapple chow with crackers.  The Thanksgiving feast itself was a wonderful assortment of yummy food.  We shared with Cindy, Racquel and her kitchen staff, inviting them to take a plate to try. 

It was a good day.   

Off The Charts In Guyana - Thanksgiving Provisioning

11-23-16

There are four boats left in the anchorage off Baganara Resort – 5 Americans and two East German Canadians.  Perfect number for a Thanksgiving potluck.  We decided on a rough menu but we knew we would need to wing it a bit – cranberries don’t exist in the Caribbean, turkey- forget it.  However, I had brought a frozen turkey breast from Trinidad.  We would just have to see what else we could come up with.

Bruce volunteered to take sv Wild Matilda back down the river to Bartica so we could all go shopping.  After the morning SSB Coconut Net the tide had turned so we weighed anchor and headed out, towing two dinghies behind so we could all get ashore. 

First stop was a food stand for morning snacks – egg rolls (hard boiled eggs surrounded by mashed cassava and fried up golden – yum) and chicken balls (same but with minced chicken inside).  Then we headed to the halal meat shop to get chickens and check on our meat order.  This place has fantastic beef tenderloin for $600 a pound - $3US.  Last week I ordered 4 pounds cut into 1 pound pieces.  Then we headed to the bank and then across the street to the local grocery store – small, crowded shop with an ok selection of canned and dried goods.  We had to hurry a bit because this little shop and many others close between noon and three because of the heat of the day.

One of the grocery stores

Soon we split up to get whatever was needed for our specific dishes.  I couldn’t find yellow cake mix so I substituted with the one white cake mix I found.  There was NO Campbell’s cream if whatever available anywhere for green bean casserole…..as I suspected, so I ended up making a béchamel sauce from scratch.  Same was true for the French’s Crispy Onions used to top this casserole.  I decided to try Brazilian Farina.  It’s dried cassava that is the texture of course cornmeal.  It is used as a coating, topping or mixed with water or milk to make a porridge.  “It expands in your stomach and fills you up.” Said the guy at the grocery store when explaining to me what it was and how to use it. 

Farina or Fariha in Portuguese

When we got to the fresh market, one door was closed.   Hum?  We were able to get in the other door but many of the vendor booths were closed up.  Hum?  However, enough were open that we were able to get the fresh stuff we needed.  “What’s up?  Why are some of the booths closed down?” I asked the lady I was buying from.  “Every other Wednesday the market closes at noon.”  It was now 12:30 or so!  “But don’t worry, you will be able to get out.”  I am not sure how we have been in country this long and not know this but we were lucky to be able to get our ingredients.  It would have been a sad little Thanksgiving had we been shut out of the fresh market. 

We all met back up at Kenny Rogers.  Kathy and I enjoyed a cold beer and conversation with the locals while the guys took all the stuff out to the boat.  They came right back and we went in search of lunch.  The streets were pretty empty (except an odd cow wondering the main drag) in the heat of the day.  Tummies filled, we headed back to the boat.  Despite threatening skies, the guys did two fuel runs.  We had light sprinkles but managed to dodge two major deluges.  Back on our boats, we all collapsed from a busy and hot day of shopping.   

Off The Charts In Guyana - The Food

Plantains, pumpkin and beans, pepperpot and breadfruit salad

Guyana is considered part of the Caribbean.  It is one of the Caricom nations. 

The food is similar to typical Caribbean food with some additions.  Rice, peas, beans, lentils, ground provisions (minus breadfruit – I have seen very few of those trees and none in the market), pineapple, bananas, watermelon, ect….  

Typcial Caribbean produce

Pasties – like Jamaican meat pies with the standard minced beef and chicken but lighter like French pastries and filled with more choices like ham and cheese or straight cheese.

Ham and cheese, beef, egg roll and cheese 

Egg rolls are a popular street food.  These are literally a hard boiled egg surrounded by mashed cassava and then breaded and deep fat fried.  Think Scotch Egg without the sausage. 

One of our favorites for egg rolls

Another favorite

Cassava meatballs - seasoned minced meat surround by mashed cassava and then fried.  YUM!

Cassava meatballs and sour sauce

Minced chicken filled cassava meatballs and sour sauce

With sour sauce- green mangos, garlic, hot pepper, salt, water

Ingredients for sour sauce

My first attempt at sour sauce - not bad, in fact yummy

 Brazilian influence –

Our favorite Brazilian bakery

Mother and son - I think

Brazilian bakery also did killer pizza

Braziliana Farina - like cornmeal

A large percentage of Guyanese have Indian heritage.  As I mentioned before, their ancestors were brought over from India as indentured servants (another word for slave IMHO).  Therefore, Guyanese food has a strong Indian influence with a Caribbean twist much like Trinidad. Curries, Roti, channa, polourie, etc… 

A favorite lunch place - local food, cheap prices, big portions

Another lunch favorite

Pepperpot

Pepperpot is supposedly the national dish of Guyana but we didn't see it much.  We only ate it at Iwokrama.  I think it must be for special occasions and holidays.

We love street food.  In our humble opinions, some of the best food in the Caribbean is street food made by auntie whoever.  Or Uncle Rasta.  And good value as it is usually cheap and plentiful.

Rasta man cooking up lunch

Homemade juices served in plastic bags

All fresh from his garden and home

Yah mon - serious food

If packing take away containers was an olympic sport, no doubt the women of the Caribbean would take the gold.  OMG - they PACK the containers!  You get your $ worth.  What really cracks me up is no matter where you go in the Caribbean, food vendor always have a table that is just big enough to hold all the pots - NO room for working / filling the orders.  Thus they take the lid off this one and put it on top of that one and then scoop out the rice and peas.  Then they put the lid back on and take another lid off and set if over on top of the rice and peas and scoop out the potato salad and so on and so forth.  Occationally,  you are asked to help hold a lid or take away container but not often.  

Piled high - Gold Medal

We got our money's worth

Street food cart

Simple construction

Fresh Market 

Fruits, veg and much more

One of my favorite market ladies

Another favorite

My favorite market guy

He looks as happy as the fish

Street vendors with fresh fruits and veg could be found on the main street and a few sides streets as well.

Best garlic sauce we have had in the Caribbean - made in Guyana

Meat day – There are several butcher shops in Bartica but for some reason the cruisers that arrived before us decided one particular halal butcher was their butcher.  Okay.  Beef tenderloin was the choice cut.  We followed the rest and started ordering whole tenderlions.  They are as big as back in the USA ( about 4 lbs worth) but they were tender.  $5US a pound was hard to beat so we stocked the freezer.  The chicken were good too.  We often saw cow roaming around Bartica.     

Ice cream shop