Tamales

I used to spend Christmas holidays in Costa Rica and I have great memories of being invited to friends’ homes to share tamales on Christmas eve. Tamales are rarely eaten throughout the rest of the year, but are a Christmas eve tradition and every year my friend Jose Maria’s mother (and sister and aunts and friends) would get together and make around 250 of them and then trade with other friends and relatives who had made them with different kinds of fillings. It’s sort of like a cookie exchange - but with tamales.

I got to help on a couple of occasions and it was really a fun and festive time – all the more fun and festive because I didn’t have to make the corn dough that JM’s mother prepared from scratch. By the time I arrived it was a matter of assembling the tamales – chopping and mincing ingredients for the filling, cutting the plantain leaves and string to wrap the tamales, then wrapping them and boiling them. With a little music, a little wine, lots of talking.

One year when we didn’t get to CR, I made them for friends here and this year I decided to try them again. They aren’t exactly Costa Rican tamales because by the time I got around to buying my ingredients there weren’t any plantain leaves left and I bought corn husks instead. Corn husks are used for Mexican tamales and are steamed rather than boiled.

I used Maseca instant corn masa flour, which is very easy to make following directions on the package and I made two fillings - chicken and picadillo (ground beef). I lined each corn husk with the corn flour dough, then added a spoon of filling and wrapped and tied each tamale, then filled my steamers - a double boiler, a Oster steamer and a Chinese bamboo steamer.

I didn’t make 250 of them – because I don’t have anyone to trade with and I didn’t have friends over to share the tasks, but I will follow the tradition of having friends over on Christmas eve to share them.

Picadillo
1 Tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 lbs minced beef
2 Tbsp tomato puree
1 green chili, seeded and finely chopped
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chopped oregano
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 large potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

1) heat the oi8l in large pan and add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
2) Add minced beef in batches and cook, stirring constantly with a fork to break up any lumps.
3) Stir in tomato puree, chili, chopped tomatoes, cumin, oregano and half the parsley. Season to taste, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, covered for 20 minutes.
4) Add potato and cook, uncovered for another 20 minutes or until the potato is tender. Mix in remaining parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5) Serve hot or use to fill empanadas, tamales, pies, etc.

What's a 14 course meal without an appetite, and a camera?

When I was invited to experience a 14-course dinner, my first thought was YES! But after I accepted, I couldn't help but wonder - could I really eat 14 different dishes? Not one to shy away from a challenge, I filed that thought way in the back of my head. However on the day of the dinner, it found it's way to the front again, and I couldn't help to try and save my appetite by only eating little bits here and there.

Click on the image to see all 14 courses.

Any sacrifices I made that day were well worthwhile, but thankfully, all of the food was perfectly portioned so that a normal human being could make room for all of it. The restaurant where I dined, Le Chique at the Azul Sensatori Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico, explains the concept like this:

"Our theory of small portions, just as the diversity of products and techniques is what makes a 14 courses menu into a real culinary experience in the Mayan Riviera.

Foams, bubbles, spheres, fake caviar, balloons, inverse Ravioli, cooking with Liquid Nitrogen…these are some of the forefront culinary techniques used at Le Chique through our 14 unique creations."

Intrigued? Then come along with me, bite by bite, as I show you what my taste buds experienced and my camera captured. Click here to start.

My weakness for junk food knows no borders

Every foodie has a guilty pleasure. Mine is junk food. When I’m at home, I do a good job of eating it sparingly, but when I travel, curiosity gets the best of me, and I end up in convenience stores checking out what the locals snack on when they get the munchies.

And that’s how I found myself at Wal-Mart in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Well, no, that’s a lie. I was told that it was the place to go to find good deals on a variety of tequilas, but while I was there, I was determined to find Mexican junk food.

So after picking out a $15 bottle of tequila (sadly, the $2 bottles were all sold out) and laughing at the strategically placed clip of Advil in the tequila aisle (yes, an entire aisle), I went on a junk food shopping spree.

The junk food at a Mexican Wal-Mart is not all that different from what you find in a Canadian Wal-Mart, and I won’t pretend that it’s a genuine cultural experience, but it was fun nonetheless. We have Tostitos in Canada. But do we have Flamin’ Hot Tostitos? And even if we do, surely, Flamin’ Hot must mean something different in Mexico than it does at home. And although I wouldn’t get to try it out until I got home, I couldn’t resist buying a variety of flavoured microwave popcorn packages. Even plain old popcorn sounds like an exotic treat; Mantequilla just means butter in Spanish, but it really does make it seem a lot more interesting.

Back at the hotel room, I begin indulging in my treats. Turns out the Flamin’ Hot Tostitos are appropriately named and tasty, and I’m glad to have a bottle of water nearby. The gum is really just Bubblelicious, but when you rename it Bubbaloo, it lends a whole new dimension of fun to the pink chewing gum. And my Bubu Lubu treat, which is really like a Viva Puff cookie with the marshmallow center and chocolate coating, brings a smile to my face when I look at the cute cartoon man on the packaging.

So tonight, in the comfort of my living room and thanks to the convenience of my microwave, I’ll be getting a taste of Mexico in the form of popcorn. Guilty pleasure? Yes. A little embarrassing for a food blog writer? Kind of. Tasty? You bet!

Good Morning, Gourmet

I did a really typical Canadian thing earlier this month – I went on an all-inclusive vacation to Mexico. Normally, us Canucks tend to head south for the sun, not the food, but this trip was a most pleasant exception to that rule.

Known as a “Gourmet Inclusive” resort, the El Dorado Casitas Royale by Karisma Hotels & Resorts where I stayed boasts decadent cuisine and all the inclusions that any foodie could dream of. Having drooled over the brochure for weeks in anticipation before my trip, I’m very happy to say that they didn’t disappoint!

Cheese-lover's dream come true: the spread I found in my room every afternoon.

After waiting in line for hours in various airports on the day of my arrival, it was almost surreal to step into the hotel's gorgeous lobby, be handed a glass of champagne and have my bags taken off my hands - now that’s what I call making a very tired, travelling girl feel special! And imagine how excited this Frenchie was to find an elaborate cheese plate waiting in the room. But it didn’t stop there. About an hour before dinner, a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, mini-cheesecakes, truffles and other sweet treats were delivered to my room. And then there was the room service menu.

If you're going to snack before dinner, snack well!

Pooped from my day of travel, I decided to skip the resto and order room service, which is included as part of the Gourmet Inclusive concept. I was intrigued when 20 minutes later, a delicious dinner arrived to my room. It was literally food for thought; my brain really couldn’t come up with a pressing reason to get out of bed for breakfast the next day when I could get fabulous food delivered to me. And so, the next morning, I woke up to a knock on the door, a smiling waiter, and a spread of French toast, waffles, eggs, bacon, coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice… Ok, so maybe I overdid it a little.

In-room breakfast for two. Or heaven. Haven't quite decided yet.

The next morning, (and the one after that, and after that one), started off in a similar way, only my request was more reasonable: coffee, fresh fruit and French toast, which I had quickly deemed to be my favourite. But how could I even try to resist it; a mixture of cream cheese and sliced almonds sandwiched between two slices of lightly battered bread, toasted to perfection and of course, syrup!

One morning though, I made it a special point not to indulge in room service and to save my appetite for the resort’s Kampai restaurant, where I was meeting Jeroen Hanlo, Karisma's Vice President Food & Beverage Operations for a Q&A. When I get there, he asks if he can make a recommendation – Chilaquiles. They were delish, and traditional, which is nice to see at an all-inclusive resort, where most serve up American type breakfasts that we can easily find in our own fridges.

I learn some interesting stuff from Jeroen – although his staff make it look effortless, a lot goes into preparing the food that they deem deserving of the Gourmet Inclusive label. They cook with only the freshest ingredients and even have an herb garden on the resort. And their staff must all have a passion for food. Their chefs all have impressive culinary backgrounds, and each member of the wait staff undergoes several days of in-class and in-restaurant training to ensure they provide impeccable service. And is it all worthwhile? Judging by my waiter Leo’s attentive service, his genuine smile and my plated of polished off Chilaquiles, I would say so.

Want to spice things up? Visit a market!

If variety is the spice of life, then spice is what gives our everyday existence meaning and purpose.

As a chef or a home cook, there a few things more powerful or versatile in our arsenal as a good spice cupboard. Take cumin for example. Its pungent flavour will add depth to a chili, or a familiar earthy tone to a curry. The seeds can be whole, toasted, or ground, and are a staple in every cuisine from Mexico to the Middle East, to India and even Portugal.

Or how about another familiar spice: cinnamon. It’s the smell that reminds of sticky buns hot out of the oven, or a sprinkle on your latte. But it’s also a great addition to game meat or a pot of slow-braised beef short ribs.

Reading about my fellow blogger Lindan’s trip to the Istanbul Spice Market has me a little envious, since it’s one of the oldest known spice markets in the world. After all, my own collection of spice-filled mason jars, probably far exceeds the traditional spice rack one would expect, filled with such treats as star anise, ajwain seeds for Indian cooking, and cardamom seeds for my family’s Pulla recipe.

But what other vacation spots have noteworthy markets? How about Marrakech Bazaar, in Marrakech, Morocco, where you’ll find carts overflowing with spices and dried fruit, among vendors of kebabs and kafta.

Or if you’re in Mexico head to Oaxaca’s market where you’ll not only find fine Mexican chocolate (the bitter kind, not the candy), but an interesting variety of munchies. Dried grasshoppers anyone?

It seems like no matter where you go, markets seem to be a place that reflect local culture better than anywhere else. They’re a way of life for the locals, but for tourists they open the doors to wonders. Even here in Canada, the Granville Market in Vancouver which has a heavy Asian influence (I actually found whole turmeric root there) and where you can get your Dungeness crab steamed and ready to eat, or Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, a mainstay since the days of seaway imports via Lake Ontario, show who we are, the cultures we share and where we came from.

Markets may lead you to spices, but they are the roots of any culture.

Tequila!

Tequila has inspired many great things... The 1958 one-hit-wonder by The Champs, which I will always fondly remember as the song Pee-Wee Herman danced to in hopes of saving himself from bikers in the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (and I don't want to ruin the ending, but Pee-Wee rocked the dance). I'm sure it may have inspired quite a few people to get up in a Karaoke bar to sing that same song (which by the way, is an excellent pick for a reluctant signer since the only word in the song is "tequila", unless you sing dadada-da-da's to the trumpet like I do, and well, then, you're probably not so reluctant after all). But I digress.

Tequila is the word of the day here around the office though, which I must say is a bit unusual for a Thursday afternoon. It started when I finally logged on to my Twitter account, after a long outage of the site that served to point out that I am indeed starting to develop a bit of a dependence on tweeting. I couldn't help but wish I was in Mexico when I read Karisma Hotels' tweet about the Agavero Tequila Lounge at their Azul Beach Hotel. Not only does this bar offer 30 different types of tequila, but the bar top is frozen. Now how cool is that?

The Agavero Tequila Lounge at the Azul Beach Hotel, featuring a frozen bar top

Karisma Hotels offers up these tips to sip tequila like a pro:

The traditional way is to use a tall, narrow shot glass called caballito (little horse or pony). The caballito, with its narrow base and wider mouth, is said to be modeled after the original bull’s horn, from which tequila was drunk. The bottom was so it could rest on a table. It’s a perfect size and shape. Sip it so you appreciate the full bouquet and body, then eschew the lime and the salt, or drink a chaser of Sangrita, a popular non alcoholic and spicy drink made of orange and tomato juices, and keep sipping!

Since tequila wasn't on the menu for me this afternoon, I settled for the next best thing - coffee (well, in my world anyways!). But it's not really a coffee break unless you poke your head into someone's office for a quick chat. So I stopped by our editor's desk to take a peek at what is coming up in the Fall 2009 issue of Ensemble Vacations magazine. I sooooo love sneak previews! And I really hate people who don't share, so I'll let you in on one of the article topics. You guessed it - tequila! Turns out that there is quite a bit to know, and thanks to my nosiness today, I'm starting to be a bit of a connoisseur now. But I think I still need a taste test to make it official. Perhaps a little trip to Mexico is in order? And I know just the song to load on my iPod for the flight.