Rose and Ginger

 It always takes me back to my memories of when I had a flower shop . A constant flow of mostly men coming in to buy flowers and orders going out faster than we could make them .My store was tiny by comparison of many in my area but the last year before selling my business left the store on Valentines Day, at least 5,000 rosas as well as mixed flower arrangements and bunches of cut flowers..It was hectic! But I did love the flower business and arranging was my forte.

 Like last year, I bought roses for each one of the staff so that they could take it home to their wives.Why I started this was because they were all so busy working that they would not have time to travel to Ticul to buy that special something for their loved ones. Also because it is a new concept for them too! They really appreciated this gesture and of course a lot of jokes were flying around especially as the wife of Zacaria is called Rosa(she makes the handmade tortillas) When I gave the rose to Zacaria he immediately went over to give it to his wife.

 Cuantos besos ? I asked him.Uno ? No ! Valeria, dos! Ay que bueno! All started to laugh and I said ,¡hay muchas van hacer loch hoy! Loch is a mayan word for a tender hug and to hacer loch is to hug. If you are interested in learning more Yucatan phrases you can check out William Lawsons blog page where you can buy his book.

 I joked with them all, saying , if there are newborn babies in 9 months time its not my fault… Si si Valeria you can be the padrina……………………. Oh no, thank you. I retorted with  a giggle. Maria, the camarera ,doesn’t have a boyfriend so I thought it only fitting that she too should have one.

 All this made for a fun morning, whilst creating another chapter in the life of the Yucatan ,and a new tradition at The Pickled Onion .

I felt compelled to write this to inform people of the difference between Pollo in Achiote (or as some know it as Pollo Yucatecan) and Pollo Pibil.

The reason you may ask is why is she doing this ? Well one reason is so that when one comes to Yucatan you will know the difference between dishes and the other is because the chicken that we cook here Pollo pibil was condemned by a reviewer on the internet.

Unfortunately I could not respond, as it was not written on my site,  of a well-known travel page . So I thought I would introduce to you readers of my blog page the difference

Pollo pibil is cooked in banana leaves baked in the oven with achiote,sour orange,garlic,onions,green peppers,tomatoes oregano salt and pepper oh and a few leaves of epazote a herb that is grown here and is readily available. I actually have it growing in my garden.

But to continue as I mentioned all the ingredients are placed in a baking dish and also topped off with banana leaves and roasted slowly in the oven.

Presentation of the pollo pibil at the pickled onion

Pollo Pibil

Pollo in Achiote  You take chicken legs and boil them  in a  pot for a short time with (well here anyway when I make it for the staff)spices, onion,green pepper,garlic and pepper

Once cooked take from the pot and let cool then adding them to a mixture of achiote and sour orange. Once marinated they are then deep fried in lots of oil until brown and crispy .This is usually accompanied with red marinated onions on top and rice and usually a small salad and of course beans.

Pollo in ahciote that the people raved about in another local restaurant !

Pollo Yucatecan

I used the traveller’s photo as it is not copywrited.

So two dishes with a completely different taste, each one touching different senses …. I was quite surprised by the comment that was made and wondered how one can distinguish between such two different dishes.

As for the commentators I really hope they read this and maybe they will have a better perspective of Yucatan food.

The service regained its strength by the evening but alas work does not permit that I sit by the computer and if I did I am sure there would be some disgruntled clients, who wanted to chat and ask questions about areas to visit  .

So work always wins out over pleasurable things to do…. Oh don’t get me wrong it is a pleasure having people here and listening about their wanderings where they have been and where they are going and from what part of the world do they come from.etc

Today I am going to make an effort I told myself

This is the time of the St Elena fair (this weekend being the last days of celebrations)

It’s been two weeks of evenings of burning the bull in el centro in front of the church.

The Bull effergie

Firecrackers shooting off into the stars, in all directions .Squeals of delight from the crowd nearly drowned out the sound of the firecrackers. The party bus busy running up and down the tiny village again with squeals of delight from the youngsters and of course loud music which is the norm here .

Preparing the fireworks ready to mount on the bull efferige

The coming out of the church, the statue of Jesus Christ to spend a night in the home of a family only to return to the church the following morning to sounds of firecrackers and an unmelodious band playing  at 4 am .Maybe it was too early for the players too !

The family that hosts Jesus takes on a mountain of responsibilities, cooking special foods for three consecutive days .The first evening consists of coffee for everyone who cares to drop by the house and visit with the family

The second day could be a kind of botanas like chicharro .This is made from the deep fried skin of a pig until you get a nice a crispy consistency along with some of the innards .Cut up small and added tomatoes ,onions,chile,cilatntro and limon  then eaten with fresh tortillas

The next day came the infamous relleno negro .One of my staff Mauricio and his family did their turn this year and he told me they cooked one pig and 24 turkeys for this event and he was kind enough to bring me a sampling along with pepsi to drink and fresh tortillas

He told me the next day at work that  ALL the food was chupe(finished) so one can imagine how many people came to eat or brought their vessels for take away.

Actually it was the best relleno negro I had tasted as usually I just poke at it and say thank you But this had great taste and I walloped it down with 4 tortillas( I normally only eat 2 tortillas)

Like all years the last Saturday is the baile de cochinta or dance of the pig.One gets used to the music they play and I now know when to start walking with the crowd and when the music changes its time for the dance

Its fun times for all but time as well as the serious religious side of it.

To add more excitement to the event apparently according to stories told in the village the statue of the Virgin Mary was shedding tears in the church .Maria, one of my cleaning ladies, was so excited to show me photos she had taken of the Virgin,  with her cell phone .It certainly looked like she was crying and Maria assured me she saw the tear falling.

This will now be talked about every year at this time and  some hoping it will happen again and again .

The father of the birthday girl is a local business owner. Louis spent sometime in the states many years ago and when he returned home he opened the only mini super in the village.He also owns a smaller place on the other side of the village. His wife is a taileress  and sews amazing costumes for the celebrations and parades held in St Elena. She is very artistic

Next to their mini super,  his wife also has a clothing business and haberdashery .Upstairs Louise likes to work out and has installed quite a few workout  machines. You sometimes see him running in the evenings.Now his wife has started an arobics class three time a week ……………. i just may pop over to participate one of these days!

They used to have a cyber café too but then the cost of running it  was just too much and the service was not always reliable. I can understand this situation as I have the same problem here too.

Nothing was spared for this event even to the extent of remodeling and painting their home.

As  aforementioned, I was able to sneak out of the restaurant/hotel around 10.30 in the evening to attend. I only stayed a couple of hours but was served with piña coladas which had been added a blue colouring to match the décor of the place and Arleias dress

It was all thought out beautifully and expertly done  even  down to the stage setting and dance routines to entertain the guests

I,m sure it was a great success and a proud moment for the parents .

We eat traditional local fare most of the time like potaje de lentaje (lentil soup) en tomatillo ( pork cooked with tomatoes) pork ribs with ibes. Ibes are fresh beans that are quite soft whitish green but very tasty.

Breaded fish is another favourite for me and the employees ,poc chuc also another favourite.One of my jobs is to figure out what we are going to eat that day .Odd times I will cook for all of us or depends on the  time I have, if not, then Mauricio will do the cooking.

I get a little more creative and they always ask what is the name of this ,Valerie ‘ Mmm I don’t know but is it O:K . it doesn’t matter what you cook Valeria it is always   muy rico ( very good). I think they say that just so that they dont have to cook Ha !Ha !

Every Yucatan dish always comes with a name so we then try to put a name to the food I cook.

Saturdays though traditional food goes out the window LOL as its known here as Happy Saturday due to the fact that its pay day.So what do we eat on happy Saturdays? Here are some of their favourites.

Can you believe :

They love hamburgers!! We make our own here with lean beef and no additives which make for a delicious taste.  They are cooked on the grill with all the condiments added along with  French fries and of course the infamous bottle of Coca Cola. I just have to mention here though that they do make hamburgers in the village in the small stalls in the evenings .BUT they deep fry them Yuck! more fat for the diet .

The next choice would be pizza which I normally prepare . Valerie ,they say, you should open a pizza place yours are much better than the pizza place here in the village……. Oh I don’t think so I have enough to do with the running of the restaurant and hotel without added work…. Laughing.

Well now they have another favourite . I,m beginning to  think they are only favourites because I cook them!

Last Saturday I decided I would cook chinese  by way of a change…….We can get soy sauce here so that’s a blessing.I followed the northern English style of batter ( you know we are famous for fish and chips lol) which turns out crispy( no I wont give you the secret lol) under close scrutiny of the kitchen staff.I added garlic and sesame seeds to the mixture for added texture and taste.

I cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces and threw then  into the batter mixture.The veggies where cut Julian style cooked on the grill  and then  fried rice, with eggs.

For the chicken sweet sauce I grabbed sour oranges added a little sugar and thickened it.

Wow ! it was a great success ! They loved it (but of course no dish is complete here without chile)It was wolfed down in mins .All of us were more than stuffed!

Home cooked chinese

The plates in the photos filled four stomachs so that’s how much we ate.Again they said, Valerie why don’t you open a chinese? It would be  success with the village people.. Maurico with his expertize of Italian foods having worked in an upscale Italian restaurant in San Fransico ,me with pizzas and chinese and hamburgers… we laughed and talked about this for some time…. Oh yes I said I  and on the side we can cook Salbutes and Panuchos .

Buen negocio! they exclaimed…………. Si todo es posible pero de donde  encontro el tiempo yo!

Eating together makes for a happy place to work with lots of jokes and laughter flying around in the kitchen…………… I love it!

One never knows who is going to drop by for a bite to eat these days.

Yesterday I had a really surprise visitor, with a friend, to the restaurant.

He was charming to say the least and had a wonderful presence about him , I thought..I didn’t recognize him but we had a nice chat with him asking how I came to be here so far out in St Elena and from england, to which I said its better if you read my little leaflet .

A leaflet or little blurb if you like, of how I came to be here in St Elena.So many people ask me and as I was tired of hearing my voice tell the story I decided to write it down and when I remember display it on the tables(now I have it french,spanish and am looking for a german and italian translation……….. any takers?)for people to read whilst we are preparing their food order.It does make interesting conversation to which my surprise guest seemed to be enjoying.

Whilst talking with him and his friend my intuition kicked in and films came to mind but for some reason did not mention anything to him, like I normally do (wish I had now ).

My friend Dr Jorge and his wife Anita were staying with me at time and Dr Jorge came quietly to the kitchen and said in a low voice.Valerie I think that man is in the movies. Oh! I don’t know Jorge but I will go and ask.

Feeling comfortable because the gentleman was from close to the  area of england where I was born, I walked over to my eating guests and asked if I may ask a question.Certainly you can, I have asked you many ,he said.

Please tell me are you an actor because my friend Dr Jorge seems to recognize you ? Yes I am, said he with a radiant smile .Then he went on to explain the movies that he had appeared in.Star Trek X-men and other notable titles.

But in truth I still didn’t know who he was as these are movies I have never seen.But I called over Dr Jorge to be introduced who was beaming from ear to ear.

I apologized for not recognizing him and he was delighted at the fact that I didnt know him.His friend said it was so refreshing not to have people recognizing who his companion might be .

I became quite overwhelmed and asked how did he come to be here in this tiny restaurant. He said my friend organized this trip and did a bang up job and your place was one of our destination points on our last day in Mexico .My friend had read up on trip advisor and liked the comments, so here we are .

He enjoyed the Pollo Alcapparado that is a favourite on the menu and his friend ate the Fajitas de Res and they were   impressed.

We said our goodbyes and upon leaving Samuel one of my staff said Valerie why don’t you take a photo? I had,nt  thought, so we ran out to the parking lot just before they drove away.Quite funny really as his friend said, we wondered why you didn’t ask for a photo.but  the actor didn’t hesitate to get out of the car and very willingly had photos taken with us.

Myself with Patrick Stewart

He is  a very charming, charismatic human being gentle, down to earth person with an aura that shone brightly.I felt so honoured that he visited my place and it will be one of those memories that one keeps for a lifetime.Again I apologized for imposing on him whilst taking photos and he just smiled and said that it was O K .

Fame does come with a price and for well-known actors that want to travel without drawing attention to themselves it must be very difficult to be incognito whilst wanting to see amazing places like Uxmal .

When they left he created excitement in the air and lots of chatter

I went to the computer and looked his name up on Wikipedia and I  was stunned by his achievements . I’m sure I had my mouth open the  whole time I was reading his information .Check it out.

El chef and Patrick Stewart

Oh! you want to know who it was? Sir Patrick Stewart.

Daniel is turning 3 years old……… a very bright young lad and if he continues there is a brighter future for him.I know his father spends lots of time with him teaching,reading and learning a few english words.

When I see him in town there is always a cheery VALERIA .The last time I saw him he was on his way to Ticul with his grandparents. I asked him if he was going shopping and if he had some money in his pocket…………He resounded back. Oh Valeria I dont need money I m going with mis abuelas(my grandparents) We all laughed at his quick wit. I must say here though the wit of the local people really reminds me of my birthland England. So quick are we to retort a comment.

When Samuel came last week with the invitation I asked would it be on time or Mexican time.Samuel responded oh mexican time of course….. Well I ALWAYS show up on time or sometimes a little before to find nothing is ready or very well organized.

But on this day I thought I would arrive a little later than normal.

So I did a few things that needed to be done around here thinking I would arrive an hour late……….Well this time I was the one not punctual and would nt you know it! It started on time………but no hard feelings they were just happy I showed up.

Samuel father did the honours of barbecuing . He works at one of the bigger hotels near Uxmal as a chefs helper.I joked with him whilst taking a photo ……….. tocas el carne…. I said to  which he promptly picked up his utensil to poke around the meat and everyone around started to laugh.

I didnt stay too long just long enough to eat a little take a few photos and then head off for the Ticul shoe fair. Ticul is famous not only for its pottery but shoes too………. On every street you will see shoe shops or workshops and people come from all over Mexico to buy.They are not really my style of shoes but at least I thought I maybe able to find some leather sandels.

Its not often I get to go to the fairs but this time I had a chance and not only that I needed some new shoes.Im not sure how many shoe fairs they have in a year but it seems like hundreds…………a bit exaggerated but still its  a lot.

I was surprised how quiet it was in the afternoon not many  people wandering around. Maybe because the clocks were changed the night before and everyone was adjusting to the new time.

I did a quick shuttle around til I found only one place that were selling leather shoes……….. I bought two pairs………..

Then the next booth I really fell in love with some shoes there ,that were made out of jute……….. these will be good for those special outings(guess Ill have these for years to come LOL) and they are actually made in Ticul. I asked for his card so that I can go and by from him direct.The prices are very reasonable each pair costing me equivilant to 10 U S dollars……….MMmmmm cant beat that price.

traditional altar

It would seem such a shame to loose this tradition for the modern.Soon there will be no distinction between old cultures and the ones that are known all over the world and becomes all the same.I feel like in life we are all the same but individuals which sets one country from another with their customs.

photo google images

Hannal Pixan will just become a thing for the tourists only unless they work hard to keep it going.

Not only that it must be a little confusing for the children as well as the older people but I suppose this is progress but sometimes progress is not always for the best.

traditional Maya ceromany (photo google images)

In Ticul the pottery makers were busy for sometime making ceramics of Pumpkins with less sales of the more traditional pottery .Its good that there is work for them and it may increase their sales for awhile with people wanting the more modern halloween stuff.

You can walk around the stores that are full of Halloween costumes candy and the like.

Maybe next year there will be Halloween dances in the little pueblo of St Elena .The school do try to keep the tradition with exhibitions of altars for one night ,made by the children and older students.But then they used to make an altar in their own homes.

I asked all my staff ….. did you make an altar this year ? and all replied no! Maria the young girl that cleans the rooms did say her aunt and made one in her home. I know her aunt and she is a very tradionalist ,having always an altar set up in her home.

Let me know your thoughts on this too I would love to hear them.