Saturday in Paradiso

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A Note on American Tourists

When Jerry and I travel we do everything we can to not only learn the customs, traditions and history of our host country, but we also go out of our way to be repectful of the locals and other travelers. I previously mentioned that there was a wedding party staying in the unit next to us. Friday night they had there rehearsal dinner. As a result, to make it easier on Miguel we opted to have what ever they were having for our dinner. (I will get to what we had later as that is not the point of this entry). The point is, Miguel spent all day cooking for this rehearsal dinner with an anticipated start time of 6 pm. He grilled several different meats, and in order for it to turn out that requires timing. The group also stated that they were not much for drinking so they would not required that much in the way of Margaritas. Guess, what they put the liqour back with the best of us, and ended up wanting more, which he did not have, as he shops everyday specifcially for that day. He did end up using Tequilla that was top shelf and given to him as a gift. The worst part for Miguel was that they kept changing the dinner time, form 6 to 7 from 7 to 8. Needless to say, he was not happy, as the meat ended up being over cooked. I know from my own little catering gigs, that timing is everything, so the group should have been much more communicative in advance of when they really wanted to eat.

You may be asking why do I even know this? Well Miguel has gotten in the habit of coming over after breakfast to check on us and see if there is any thing special we want for that evenings meal. This morning, he just relayed the previous nights frustration to us. He also told us how to make the pork we had last night.

Cochinita Pibil

We had a Mayan specialty last night for diner. Cochinita Pibil is pork seasoned with Achoide (a Mayan red seasoning), then wrapped in banana leaves and roasted in sour orange juice (Seville Oranges if you can find them) for about 12 hours. Other seasonings used are garlic, salt, a little cummin. It was incredible. Cooked similar to Hawaiian Khula Pork and served like a pulled pork. It was some of the best pork I have ever had.

He also served a shrimp pasta, in alfredo sauce (yes I know not Mexican) but it was part of the rehearsal dinner. When discussing last night with Miguel, he informed us that becasue of all the timing changes for the dinner next door, it affected what he was going to do for us. Regardless the pork alone was good enough.

Return to Basics

This mornings breakfast was huevos Ranceros, this time with a more spicy lighter sauce than the first morning. It was very tasty, the eggs perfect (again even after being in the oven for about 20 minutes)

After breakfast was pool time. Then we went to the sea and swam all the way down to the resort at the end of the beach. We checked on the prices for Parasailing and Catamarans. The prcies were reasonable and we may do this on Sunday our last day.

Now I am just blogging Jerry is working on finishing touches for school projects. Dinner tongiht is again Mayan themed, with more of the Cochinita Pibil and CHile Rellenos.

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