Another year (or yere, as the Middle English text made famous by Benjamin Britten would have it), another chance to reflect ruefully on my failure to blog as much as I'd like... Despite my resolution of last year to achieve one new food-related experience and one blog post each week, in 2013 I managed just 18 posts. But at least I can say with certainty that this wasn't due to a lack of new experiences; rather, I was too busy having the experiences to blog about them! Where things really went to pot (cooking pun slightly intended) was in May, when fairly massive work commitments came to an absolute crunch (why is crunch such a savoury, delightful description for food but such a horrible term in the context of crunch-time? Personally I think crunch-time ought to refer to that blessed hour of the day when it is acceptable to break out the wine and crisps) and I barely got everything done the day before heading off to Ecuador for two months.
Ecuador was full of memorable and interesting food experiences -- some for better reasons than others: Chef Olga's fried dough balls will stay with me for a long time, in fact I think I can still feel them sitting in my stomach now. And though her arroz con menestra was quite tasty, there's only so much rice and beans one can eat before it becomes tedious. Then there were the chuntacurrus: marinated, deep-fried grubs with a horny head, a tough leathery skin and squooshy innards. Although not terrible, they still fall into the category of 'things I can say I've eaten' rather than 'things I'm glad I ate'.
On the other hand: I had some truly superb seafood while staying in Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos, including a fabulous juicy, sweet and tender grilled lobster with accompaniments for $25; a very tasty encocado de camaron in a lush coconut sauce; a great mixed seafood grill; and an utterly delicious dish of sea snail in garlic sauce, all from the seafood shacks along Charles Binford Avenue. There was also the freshest of fish straight off the boats, filleted and cooked right at the dock (with sea lions and pelicans waiting to snatch up the scraps); and the enticingly fragrant caldo de bolas de verde, too hearty to be a mere soup, rich with peanuts and spices, spiked with lime and with a generously sized tender plaintain dumpling stuffed with meltingly stewed goat in savoury sauce. And I became quite a fan of the $4 almuerzos and meriendas, including a soup, juice and choice of daily dishes -- not gourmet but good homely fare, and both cheap and comforting in my temporary home. The Ecuadorian range of hot sauces also has to be seen (or perhaps tasted) to be believed! I was in heaven at the supermarket and tried to buy one of everything; after two weeks of thirty people sprinkling them lavishly over Olga's rice and beans, we had just about exhausted the supply.
Anyway, once I got back it was off for September's pre-semester conference round and then straight back into being buried in work. Leisure to blog was hard to come by and with so many weeks of posts unposted, it seemed in vain to try to catch up. I do have quite an archive of notes and photos awaiting write-up, though, so I haven't been entirely stagnant in the fooding aspect of my life. Maybe 2014 will be a chance to get more of my thoughts and ideas and memories down in blog form. Here's hoping!
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