Root Canal! NOooooooo!

I've had this filling in my tooth for about 20 years. About 8 years ago, my dentist told me it had a crack in it, and should be re-done.

Fiddle-dee-dee, said I... I worry not about such things!

Fast forward to today, and me sitting in a dentist chair with what felt like 4 hands and 42 drills, nozzles and tubes stuck in my mouth, and a long drill penetrating down to my jawbone... and I realize I probably should have listened back then.

'We might be able to save this tooth' says the dentist. 'We'll do a root canal, and see how it goes. If it still hurts, we'll just take it out'.

Great.

So the root canal is done, we'll see how long it takes for the anesthesia to wear off, and let me know if this thing is gonna stay or gonna go.

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The House is Sold!

Only a week after posting the ad in El Comercio, our little house has been sold to a lovely young couple. And we are out of credit card debt, just like that.

But more exciting, we get to buy a car! A car that my husband can use as a taxi! He's very excited about having an opportunity to really make some money. He loves the drywall business, but it's just not a sustainable career here in Peru. There isn't enough demand and there's far too much supply - so when he does get a job, he rarely makes more than S/.60 (60 soles) a day - that's about $20. Not good for the household budget - if he worked every day, he'd barely make enough to feed us and pay for his own transportation. And unfortunately, he doesn't work every day - we're lucky if he has work for half the month.

So - we're doing what it seems that most Limeños with a car do... they start driving a taxi. My nephew has been driving a taxi for about 4 months now, and is making more than double in a day what my husband was making in drywall. Even when you factor in gas and insurance, it comes out to very decent money, by Peruvian standards.

So - advice to anyone who wants to move to Peru: Yes, the cost of living in Lima, Peru is very low. But the wages in Peru are very low in comparison to the cost of living - one of the lowest rations of income to cost of living in S. America. It's important that you have money from somewhere else - for instance, I have my house rental in the US - in order to make it. Or, be ready to invest in a business and work hard! I've seen a lot of people come to Peru thinking they'll teach English and live large... well, teaching English isn't as easy in Peru as you might think it is. Although it can be enough to live on, it takes a lot of work, long hours and putting up with a lot of crap.

But don't let that throw you off of choosing Peru! It IS possible to have a decent life here on the cheap - I do! I just want to make sure that people understand it's not going to be easy if you don't have a backup income.

Next post, I promise to talk about more food!

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No More KFC!

Image by viZZZual.com via Flickr

Well, not delivery, anyway.

I know, we shouldn't be eating Kentucky Fried Chicken at all - it's bad for your health and of course there are signs that they aren't very nice to the chickens - I mean, even before they bread and deep fry them. We don't eat it all that much, I usually cook - but sometimes, we just want something a little more... fattening? Crispy? Whatever it is that its got, we want it.

But last night, I called and ordered an 8 piece chicken dinner, with cole slaw, french fries etc. When they brought it to the house,I looked in the box, and there were three legs, three wings, one breast and one piece that looked like it might have been part of the back! So we called them up and raised hell. I expect an 8 piece chicken dinner to have 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 2 breasts... the whole chicken, right? I don't think that's out of line! Imagine going to Roky's and ordering a whole pollo a la brasa and getting home to find a bunch of legs in the bag!

So... 20 minutes later, the delivery guy shows up with a new box of chicken. We go to exchange it, and my husband tells me to check it out before the guy leaves. SAME PARTS OF CHICKEN - except in place of one wing, there's now another one of these little pieces that looks like the chicken's back. Seriously, it was like one bite of chicken on that thing. I put them on a plate and showed the delivery guy... do you see this? What chicken has 3 legs? This is not what the order is supposed to be! So - he says... um, well, just keep it all, we'd just have to throw it out anyway.

Moral of the story - Don't order KFC delivery - to paraphrase Joe Pesci, 'they screw ya in the delivery'. Also, if you aren't happy with your order - COMPLAIN. Peruvians get nervous when gringos complain. Maybe it's my bad Spanish and they just want to shut me up? :D But seriously - don't take bad service lying down. Make your complaints known!

And for KFC... I've already quit McDonald's and Burger King... Maybe KFC will be next.

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Peru...

Image via Wikipedia

But didn't know where to ask...!

the Ultimate Peru List is the place to go.

Completely written and maintained by my friend Sharon de Hinojosa, the UPL is the best place I know of to go when you need any information about Peru. She has page after page of anything you could think of needing to know - from immigration issues to settling in to what to do in your free time.

I really recommend it to anyone that is planning on living in Peru, or even if you just plan a long term visit. I bet you'll find something to help you out, and plenty of things you never would have thought to ask.


Learn Spanish! Click Here!

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Could it be??

Is the little house really going to be sold this easily? It's almost impossible to believe, but we had over 40 calls the first day the ad was in the newspaper! Today is the last day we'll be showing it, (fingers x'd) because it seems there's a gentleman who is ready to buy it and eager to give us his money.

What does this mean for the Borda family? Well, besides celebration (whoo hoo! , just like Kool and the Gang), it means we can finally buy a car, which will give us some steady income. We'll be able to pay off all our credit card debt, which will considerably lower out monthly expenditures. And we'll all be able to go to the dentist and get our eyes checked! Yay.. new glasses for me! And I know JUST the one's I want!

Now, I know I shouldn't be counting the chickies before the eggs have hatched... but really, I think I hear them peeping and pecking in there.. it's just a matter of time before they fight their way out!

Scalloped Potatoes ROCK the House

Image by tofutti break via Flickr

I roasted a chicken today, which always gets rave reviews. Unfortunately, I used my last envelope of onion soup mix, so next time I'm going to have to find a new way to season it. But the real jewel of the meal today was the scalloped potatoes. I made them once, a LONG time ago... back when we still lived in the casita, so at least 4 years past. I'm not sure why I waited so long to make them again. The Peruvian papas rosada (pink potato) are perfect - they cook well, and have a soft, creamy texture that goes well with the sauce. Here's how I made it.

5-6 large potatoes - enough to fill a 2 liter (2 quart) casserole
1 small onion
50 grams (about 3 tbsp) butter
30 grams (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
350 ml (about 1-1/2 cups) chicken broth
30 ml (about 2 tbsp) mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Peel and slice the potatoes in very thin slices - helps if you have a mandolin slicer. Cut the onion in half, peel and also cut in very thin slices - as thin as you can get them.

Grease your casserole dish and layer the potato and onion slices with salt and pepper. Don't be shy with the salt and pepper.

In a saucepan, melt the butter.

Add the flour, and stir until it's a smooth paste.

Add the broth, and whisk, whisk, whisk!!! You want it smooth with no lumps.

Add the mayonnaise, and keep whisking until it gets thick and just starts to bubble.

Pour the mixture over the potatoes. Cover, and put it all in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. (175 Celsius) Let it cook for about 1-1/2 hours.

This is SO good. I'm a dolt for not taking a picture, to show you how delicious this looked. I sprinkled some paprika on top. You might try adding some chives, or maybe some chopped ham layered in with the potatoes and onions. Or sprinkle some cheddar in there.

I bet it wouldn't be hard to make this vegan, either.

This is easy and really filling. Give it a try, your family will love you.

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Selling the Little House, Take 2

I figured, hey! I've got this blog, why not post pics of the house here? Sometimes I'm just a little slow on the uptake, folks. ;)

The house is just a smidge under 30m2, with unfinished concrete flooring. It has a living/dining area, a bedroom, and a kitchen with a very small bathroom. The bathroom has a shower, no tub - but it does have a decent electric on-demand therma - not a widow-maker.

This first shot is standing in the kitchen, looking towards the bathroom. The shelving and cabinet will stay in the house. The pipe up by the roof is something I put in for hanging clothes to dry - up nice and high, out of the way, in the warmest part of the house.

This is in the bedroom, looking towards the door from the living room.

Second shot in bedroom, looking towards the door into the kitchen.

A better look at the ceiling in the bedroom - it's made of finished drywall, and that is a window in the top. It is hinged for opening and closing to let in fresh air or keep out dampness.

In the living room, looking towards the door into the bedroom. Bicycle not included. ;)

This is in the living room, looking towards the front of the house, with window and entrance. Ceiling here, as in the rest of the house is finished drywall.




View Larger Map

Here's a map of the area - In the middle of the map, you'll see the Parque Paul Harris - the street running down the west side of the park is San Pedro. The casita is located right about where the 'P' is in Pedro.

Getting some work done

Image via Wikipedia

It was a busy day around the house here. We've been having some problems with black mold in the bathrooms. Our upstairs neighbor (not the good neighbor, the other one!) left a pipe leaking while she was out of town a few months back, and it flooded her place. And soaked through the floor. Which is the ceiling of both our bathrooms and the boy's room. Just another reason why I don't think I'll ever buy this house. (Sorry, good neighbor - you rock and I like having you upstairs!)

So, we spent most of this afternoon scraping the paint off, bleaching the mold, and then re-painting with a fungicide paint. I didn't even know such a thing existed, but it's on my bathroom ceilings now. Looks much better than it did before, I'll tell you that much.

We also got the drying room (that's the room where I hang clothes to dry) painted and the outside wall of the garden room painted with fungicide paint too.

It's always nice to get work done. And bills paid! I paid all the credit card and telephone bills. So (she said, wiping the dust off her hands), nothing left to do but wash the dishes and do some writing.

Sorry I don't have anything to tell y'all about cooking today - We got take out from the criollo restaurant down the street. Grilled chicken, fried potatoes, rice, salad, and soup. Yum.

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Bye-bye, Bougainvillea

Image by pablo_caceres_c via Flickr

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, it's been a stressful one.

My mom Betty and my nephew Nick left after a 3 month visit. The house is very quiet without them, and we all miss them a lot. My mom has been a huge help around the house, and it's taken me a bit to get back on a schedule where I'm having to do all the housecleaning myself again.

Then, Thursday, we had a gardening crew come to 'trim' the bougainvillea in our back yard. A little background - we have a 2-story wall around our yard, and the bougainvillea grows up the very back wall. This plant had been growing untethered for several years, and was gorgeous, but out of control at a good 30 feet high (10 meters). It was also growing well forward of the wall, and was in danger of falling forward onto the house. The only recourse was to have it cut way back.

The bad news is that the plant was just full of bird nests, mostly doves. It really broke my heart to drive all these birds out of their home, but it just couldn't be helped. And I can't stand to think of how many little eggs may have been destroyed. Fortunately, it's early enough in the spring that I don't think there were too many actual fledglings, although I'm sure there were a few. There were doves flying all over my back yard yesterday, cooing and crying, in a panic, looking for their nests and offspring. I shed quite a few tears.

The good news is that these birds are resilient. I'm amazed to see them out here today, searching the yard for sticks and twigs, looking for materials to start all over again. I can already see one completed nest, down in the lower branches of the bougainvillea. I've also seen quite a few of them up on the upper branches, doing what it is that birds do to make baby birds. It's a good lesson for us humans. To see these birds that have lost everything - their home, their families, everything - bounce back; to get up the next day and just do what needs to be done to succeed, to thrive. They aren't quitters, they don't give up. They aren't looking for revenge, they aren't looking for someone to blame, and they didn't sit around waiting for a handout. They just got a good night's sleep and got up and started over.

And I think that's a good lesson for all of us, especially on this day.

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Happy Labor Day

Wishing a Happy Labor Day to all my American readers. If you're looking for a yummy, fun beverage for your cookout, you can't go wrong with sparkling sangria, click here for the recipe!

I miss being in the US for some holidays, especially the long weekends and the cook-outs. But we did get a little unexpected holiday spirit last night. A lot of Lima's July Independence Day festivities had been postponed because of the swine flu. Yesterday, they had the rescheduled parade and party in Miraflores, and when it got dark, we were treated to fireworks. They were easy to see at the end of my street, and almost took my mind off the cold, damp weather of late. It was a real unexpected treat.

Selling the Little House

When I first came to Peru five years ago, my husband was the proud owner of a tiny little house. How tiny? Just under 30 square meters tiny. It had bare concrete floors, woven rattan roofing, and sheets of cardboard stapled to the beams for a ceiling. No hot water. One bunk bed, that we shared with our two sons.

Since we moved out, we've been renting it, but the renters aren't really dependable - sometimes they pay late, other times they don't pay at all. And we were renting it for $90/month. The income just wasn't worth the hassle.

So, we've got it up for sale. It's the only house my husband ever lived in before he met me, and it's breaking his heart just a little to let it go. We put quite a bit of work into it - a pretty ceiling made of drywall, hot water, fixed up the walls and painted, and it's a cute little place now... but it's still little. But there are so many memories there! It's hard to let it go, but we're going to use the money to buy a car. We've been spending about $300 a month on transportation, so in the long run, it works out for us to trade the money pit in for something that can save us a little cash.

Chau, mi casita!

Spring is in the Air

Image by ginnerobot via Flickr

This week has been lovely - the first signs of spring in the air. The sun has been out for a few hours every midday, which is a welcome change from the constant grey skies that are typical of Lima winters. The birds have been going crazy out in the huge bougainvillea behind my house - it's full of all kinds of little flying things. Lots of flowers blooming, too - my hibiscus has the prettiest triple yellow blooms.

Still cool in the evenings, though, so I'm still cooking food that's comforting and warming. Last night, I made a pork/broccoli/cauliflower stir fry. I started with the biggest stock pot I have, and the water on to boil because I was going to be cooking a pound and a half of spaghetti. I put about 2 tbsps of salt in the water, and a glug of oil. I'm not going to get into the discussion of whether salt or oil is necessary when boiling pasta... but I use both. ;)

While I waited for the water to boil, I took my pork tenderloin out and started cutting it up into very small cubes - no bigger than 1". Then, same thing for a half a head of broccoli and a half a head of cauliflower - small, bite-sized florets.

By the time I got all that good stuff chopped up, my water was boiling and I added my spaghetti. I took out my big old saute pan, added some oil, and started searing the pork. I sprinkled some Aji-no-Moto on - that's MSG - and a little bit of salt. Once the pork was seared, I dropped in the cauliflower. About 2 minutes later, I added the broccoli. I sprinkled on some powdered ginger - about a teaspoon. Then I added about a cup of soy sauce and a tablespoon of white vinegar, stirred it all up, turned off the heat and covered.

Now, the spaghetti was done, so I drained it in the colander. Then, last step! I dumped all that pasta on top of the meat and veggies and stirred it all together with a bamboo spoon. Taste it and adjust what you think needs adjusting - a little more soy sauce? salt? ginger? Maybe a little chinese five-spice, or some red pepper if you like it spicier. It's all up to you.

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Dogs and Boys

As I mentioned on my earlier post, we have 3 dogs now. The first two, Reina and Bisou are both females. Female dogs - in general - have a tendency to be more of a one person dog, and that has really been the case with my two girls. They play fetch with the boys, and like to wrestle around some with them, but generally, you'll find them by my side.

Now, my mom has brought Chance the Sheltie down to stay with us. He's just awesome, and has fallen in love with my oldest son David. I'm so happy about it. Chance is a bit of an old man, going on 8 years now. I bought him with my grandfather, back in the days long ago when I lived with my grandfolks. Grandpa Bill and Chance (or Champ, as he was called back then) were a pair, and my grandmother and Chance were both devastated when Grandpa died 3 years ago. Grandma and Chance couldn't stay alone, so they both went off to live with my dad. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very happy time for Chance - they had a bunch of other dogs that treated him mean, and some of the people living there didn't treat him too well either.

Well, it was only about a year and a half later that my grandmother followed my grandfather, and poor old Chance was left alone in a family of strangers. My mom caught one look of him when we all came down for my grandmother's funeral, and it just about broke her heart - his hair had been cut down to about 1 inch long, he was very overweight, and covered with flea bite dermatitis. So, my mom told my dad, 'Gee, you've got so many dogs... would you like me to take him off your hands for you?' She took him back to Gainesville (Florida) with her, and that's where he's spent the last two years. She renamed him, from Champ to Chance - a new start, and a new opportunity at a good life.

This past June, she came down with my nephew, Nick, to stay for a few months, and decided to bring Chance down to stay with me. It's taken most of the 3 months for the 2 brats (Reina and Bisou, not the boys!!) to accept having this new dog in the house, but things are going pretty well now. And the best part is, he and my 12 year old David have taken to each other the way a boy and a dog should. Chance follows him around, plays chase in the yard, and sleeps at the foot of his bed at night. David is so thrilled to have a dog that loves him.

Win win and win for everybody.

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Being Poor Sucks. Discuss Amongst Yourselves.

I'm really tired of being poor. We're trying everything we can to dig out of it, though! I'm publishing more articles all the time, and Johnny's doing everything he can to get more work. Things won't be so bad once I get my house rental back on track. I've gone almost 2 years without making anything on it - every time one thing gets paid off, something else comes up. The only thing left to go wrong is the roof, but I think that's still got a few years left on it. Knock on wood!

Anyone with more advice on making money on the internet, I'm all ears. I'm trying to get more people reading this blog, and reading my articles, and I've also done some freelance writing that helped some. I know I need to get a real blog on my own site started, Blogger's great, but it's not really enough for what I want to do. I'd like to have a site where I can do a lot more travel Peru type articles, and sell some Peruvian jewelry. Maybe put some affiliate ads on there, and try to get some money rolling in! The kids need to eat, y'all.

Speaking of eating, we had grilled chorizos, rice and black eyed peas today. Super yummy.

Black eyed peas -

Chop up an onion, very fine. Get your stock pot out and put enough oil in the bottom to start sauteing your onions. As they cook, drop in a bay leaf, some basil(tsp) and garlic(another tspof the powder, or a minced clove). Let it all simmer together a couple minutes, then drop in two Maggi Bacon bouillon cubes. (Chicken or beef will do if you don't have bacon, but tsk, tsk) Add a couple tablespoons of water, and stir it all together with a wooden spoon until it's all dissolved. Dump in 500 gms of black-eyed peas and 3 liters of water (16 ozs of beans, 3 quarts of water). Cover and bring to a boil, then cut it down to simmer... Let it cook about 3 hours, checking that the water doesn't get too low - add a little more if you need to. THEN - add a couple tablespoons of tomato paste, stir it in and THEN taste - maybe you'll need more salt. And some black pepper.

Vegetarians can use vegetable bouillon cubes in place of meaty ones.

Serve with alongside meat and rice, and optionally top it with some chopped raw onion or Louisiana hot sauce. Or if you're my mom... ketchup. Anyway you like, it's good - Eat it up!

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Seco de Pollo - Peruvian Chicken Stew

Image by AIBakker via Flickr

Like a lot of people, we've been having to pull our belts tight lately. And eating cheap means eating a lot of chicken. I mentioned in the last post that I can usually get three meals out of one chicken. The first meal is usually something that uses chicken parts - typically the legs and thighs. Today, I cooked one of those meals, a delicious Peruvian dish called seco de pollo. "Seco" literally means 'dry', and signifies a stew, as opposed to 'aguadito' (meaning watery) for soup (that's aguadito in the picture).

I start with a whole chicken, which I wash thoroughly, pat dry with paper towels, then cut up into parts. I cut up into quarters, then separate the legs from the thighs, and use those 4 pieces for this meal. Finely chop up an onion. Take a bunch of fresh cilantro and stick it in the blender with enough chicken broth to make it paste-y, maybe 1/4 to a half a cup. Clean the cilantro first - make sure it doesn't have any large stems or icky pieces in it. I don't know if it's available in the US, but here in Peru you can buy cilantro in a jar, already pureed. If you can find it - maybe try a Latin market? - that takes some of the work and clean up out of the recipe.

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a little oil, then drop the chicken in to brown. You don't want to cook it through, just lightly brown it on both sides. While the chicken is browning, I get my peas ready - a large handful of pods. By the time I'm done cutting up the carrots, the chicken should be done browning. Take the chicken out, set it to the side, and put the onion in the pot. Add in a couple or three cloves worth of minced garlic, and if you want, some aji amarillo, and saute it all together for a couple minutes. Aji amarillo is a Peruvian chili pepper, which you should be able to find at the Latin market - if not, use a little finely minced jalepeno or similar pepper.

When the onions start to turn translucent, add in the cilantro mix and about 4 cups of chicken stock. Add in the peas and carrots. Peel 4 medium to large potatoes, cut into quarters and add them to the stew. Put the chicken parts back in, and cover and let it cook until all the vegetables are soft and the chicken is cooked through.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a big pile of white rice.

Sit back and enjoy the compliments. ;)

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Making Chicken Soup

Image via Wikipedia

Last night, I made chicken soup for dinner. When it's just the four of us, I can get 3 meals out of a good sized chicken. The first night, I'll use the legs (for the boys) and thighs (for the grownups!) in something that calls for parts - fried, or in Peruvian chicken stew. Or, I'll roast the whole thing and just eat the leg quarters the first night. Moving on, I separate the wings from the breast, leaving a good amount of meat at the joint of the wing. I'll use the breast for something that calls for cut up or shredded chicken. Aji de gallina or maybe a stir-fry. Finally, I'll use the wings, feet, neck and liver to make soup.

Yeah, you heard me. Feet.

Don't you judge me!

So - long intro later, with my mom and Nicky visiting, I can only get 2 nights out of a chicken. We had fried chicken Wednesday night, and last night I made chicken soup. This is how I did it.

I had a half breast and a wing left over from frying, plus the feet and neck. I put all of that in my stock pot with a whole onion and a whole carrot and a 4 finger pinch of salt. (That's where you use your thumb and and three fingers to grab salt out of the bag - it's about a tablespoon in my case) Covered it with water, and brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for about an hour.

Once the chicken was done, I ran it through a strainer into my OTHER stock pot. You can use a large bowl or whatever you've got - the point is to get the stock clear and clean. I don't like little bits of unknown chicken parts and skin and stuff floating in my soup. Toss out the onion, cut up the carrot. Put your broth back on the stove. Now at this part, I do what some people might consider cheating - I toss in a couple of bouillon cubes. I like my soup really chicken-y. I also added about a teaspoon of poultry seasoning(I used a spicy one), 2 minced garlic cloves and a bay leaf.

This is when I added another chopped up raw carrot to the broth and let it start cooking. Save the already cooked carrot to drop in at the end - you don't want it over cooked. I also cut up a couple potatoes in bite size pieces and put that in. While the veggies are cooking, I worked on getting all the meat off the chicken carcass. I set the feet aside -- if you cook them too long, they start falling apart, and I know not everyone wants pieces of chicken feet in their soup. But my boys love them, so I saved it aside for them. Dump the meat into the soup. Let the veggies cook for about 20 minutes, and then add the other cooked carrot from earlier AND about 150 grams of spaghetti. Well, that's what I usually add - last night I used up a pack of alphabet noodles that I had hanging around. Let it cook until the noodles are soft, then give it a taste. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Yum.

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Since my mom's here, we've started taking the dogs for a walk every day when the boy's leave for school. Now that we're living in this nice new neighborhood, I can take them out without being threatened by a bunch of strays. So, here we are, me with Reina and Bisou, and my mom walking Chance. Oh, the stares we get! Poor Reina.. no one pays much attention to her - but people are nuts about Bisou and Chance. Bisou of course, just so tiny and dainty; and then Chance, with his gorgeous coat and the elegant way of walking. People yell out 'Lassie! Es Lassie!!' when we pass. He really does look like a very short Lassie.

In other news, I've been publishing as fast as I can on AC, and doing some work for Expat Peru. I suddenly went from having no job, to having more work than I can do in a day! But all this writing is good for me.. and it brought me back to my blog, right?

If you get the time, check out my newest post on AC - it's about the newest items available in Pet Society - the big craze on Facebook.
Facebook Pet Society - New Items

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A Recent Article

I've started doing some writing over at Associated Content, and thought it might be a groovy idea to link my articles there with my shtuff over here on the blog. I know! There hasn't been anything new on the blog in months - I'm a very bad person, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if no one was paying attention anymore. But I'm really going to work on changing that, so I hope maybe one or two of you have stuck around to call back the rest. ;)

Desperate to Lose Weight? Don't Try This!
Tips for Step Parents: One Stepmom's Advice

And I'm Back!

Sorry about the looooong absence. I had family visiting from the US, as I said below. Then - my keyboard stopped working. I can't begin to tell you how annoying it was to not have a U, I, O or P on the computer. Nearly impossible to type, unless 1 wanted everyth1ng t0 l00k l1ke th1s. (that's ones and zeroes thrown in - and there's NOTHING that substitutes for P!) So anyway... On with the eats!

I haven't been cooking much lately, as the boys aren't spending a lot of time here at home during summer. But I have gone back over my small amount of archives, and been reminded of a few things I wanted to talk about. So today - let's talk about plantains.

Plantains are called platanos in Spanish, and that's how I'll be referring to them here. There are many different types of platano available in Peru from the small, silky bizcocho to the larger, orange-fleshed platano isla. Here, the typical American style of banana is called a platano de seda - silk plaintain. My favorite cooking platano is the platano isla - it's very sweet when ripe, and has a firm flesh that holds together well when frying.

There are many different cooking styles for plantains - boiling, frying, baking. If you've had fried plantains in a Cuban or Puerto Rican style restaurant, you probably had tostones which are green platanos sliced in rounds, and fried, then flattened and fried again and sprinkled with salt. What is more popular here in Peru is a style called platanos maduros which is a sweet dish made of very mature plantains. You can see them in my earlier post on Arroz a la cubana.

So... the how do you cook them? Well, nothing could be simpler! All it takes is a large skillet, oil and very ripe platanos. The riper, the better - some people let them get completely black-skinned. I prefer them at the stage where they're starting to get some large black spots - I find it makes them easier to handle while frying. I use soybean oil for most of my cooking, but I'd love to try peanut or sunflower oil for this sometime.

First, peel the platanos, and cut them length-wise in planks. If the fruit is very ripe, I'll just cut it once, in half. If it's a little firmer, I'll cut it in quarters. Add enough oil to your skillet to come halfway up the slices of platano. Get the oil very hot, but not smoking and carefully put your sliced platano in. When it starts to get a little brown around the edges, flip it over - I find it easiest to do with a fork. When both sides are brown and caramalized, take them out of the pan and drain on a paper towel.













That's it! They're delicious as a side dish, especially alongside rice. But I've also found they make a delicious desert, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some manjar*.

Tip - If your fruit is very long, you may want to cut the planks in half, so you have shorter pieces to work with - makes it easier to flip while cooking.

*What is manjar? It's a thick sauce made of cream and sugar - like a very cooked down version of sweetened condensed milk - with a slightly caramel flavor.

And that's what we're eating. :)

Hiatus

I'm on a short break (in case anyone missed me ;) for the next week as I have family visiting from the US. We have been ON THE GO! with absolutely no time to blog about all the delicious food we've been eating. But I'm taking notes and I'll be back soon!