Bimbo and Fud

I love writing about food because I love reading about food. 

Back in the glory days of Gourmet Magazine, they would write these incredible travel articles illuminating exotic destinations and cultures and indigenous recipes.

I would wait for the new issue every month and pour over the beautiful photographs, dreaming about all the places I wanted to see and all the flavors I wanted to try.

Really, for me, it does't get any better than this, traveling with my family, with my own little kitchen, exploring and tasting all the fabulousness there is in this world. 

Food is a universal IN...Food and Children. 

Go anywhere, and ask people about their kids -they light up.  

Ask them how they prepare, for their own family, that spiny lobster that they just caught, or what they make out of those unusual-looking cactus leaves at the market...and you end up making a friend.

People love their food. They love it if your interested. Imagine how it would feel if some exotic foreigner, in a turban, asked you where the best spot for milk shakes was in LA? Wouldn't you be stoked to tell them?

You would. They might ask you why everyone was lined up at Pinks and you would explain Chili Dogs to them and then you could ask where they were from and what the turban was all about, because now you're talking...

And you would smile at each other when you parted and there would be Peace on Earth.

Maybe not right away-but eventually. 

Eventually, it would happen. I think so.

Cooking aboard Pura Vida, with limited space and temperamental refridgeration, I am often faced with new challenges. 

My quest is to find a way to make everyday both exciting and yummy-if I can.  

It is how i approach this life. 

"Today we will find something and we will cook it with indigenous flavors and we might have to grow some sprouts in a jar in order to have something fresh-but we will make that fun, dammit!".

We share what we create with others. 

We bake cookies for Panga fisherman, we invite the rest of the anchorage for a pot luck and make Thai food out of local ingredients-and a few tidbits smuggled from the Thai market back in LA.

Here in the Sea, I'm often in short supply of just about everything-except maybe salt.

Simply scratching my t-shirt over a flat surface will produce great piles of the stuff. 

Other than that, though, we are usually temporarily out of something major. Eggs or butter, meat or chicken, fresh fruit and veg are rare and coveted treasures.  If one is lucky enough to find a pueblo, on market day, the freshest and juiciest things will only last about three days on a boat, especially in this heat-no matter how carefully or ingeniously you stow them. 

You just have to eat four avocados in one day but you will be glad you did, because you might not see them again for three weeks.

Reconstruction is a major skill in boat cooking. 

What is Risotto Milanese one day, becomes transformed the next day into Panko-encrusted risotto fritters with a fresh Salsa verde. 

Creativity is vital. 

There are currently eight thousand ways to make cabbage interesting. 

I am working on making that nine thousand, by the end of the summer.

Making it exciting and yummy and local, does not mean it always has to be grand or complicated or gourmet.

It's hard to beat a Bimbo PBJ - especially with a cup of strong, freshly ground, Mexican coffee.

Bimbo is the local brand of bread here. 

Occasionally, we splurge at a tienda and buy a loaf. We do this, despite the fact that we know store bought (as opposed to homemade which does not get refrigerated) bread takes up much of our tiny fridge's usable space. 

By "fridge" I mean, a forty-inch by twenty six-inch box, recessed into a waist high counter, which can only be accessed from a small ten-inch hole at the top. 

There is no light but there is a cold plate on one side that (supposedly) keeps this whole thing cool but alternately freezes everything over like it's Antartica in winter or thaws it to a Bayou-like swampiness. Anything that happens to touch the cold plate will instantly die of freezer burn. I'm actually not complaining. I am blessed in these matters. Most boats have much much less.  Many have NO fridge and still make AWESOME meals every day. 

Anyway, back to the Bimbo PBJ...

Bimbo- very white, sort of thick, soft and  sweet-not at all good for you but absolutely yummy.  Bimbo. What a good name for a bread.

Peanut butter and strawberry Jam.

Perfect.  

If, for some reason, you don't eat white starches like half the people I know, you will never be quite as happy as you could be with some Bimbo in your life.

OR.... 

There is the always popular, post-snorkle snack, FUD.

This is a Mexican brand of bologna. It is found anywhere you can buy beer and tortillas. In most of the places we have ventured on this odyssey, those are the ONLY things you can buy. I admit to being mighty suspicious of FUD at first. I was not previously hip with processed meat slices...

Until one day, after a three hour snorkel, when the children and I were collectively low-blood sugar crashing. 

I was thinking CARBOHYDRATES and FAST as I climbed, shaking, up the swim ladder. 

It was then, I remembered, the FUD. 

I had bought it weeks before and had forgotten about it. I suppose I dismissed it as something Jon might attempt  on a late night fridge raid but he hadn't touched it either. Yet, there it was, waiting patiently, unassuming and never- ever deteriorating, no mater how hot or cold it gets in the back of my fridge. 

I pulled it out, smelled it... and decided if Mexicans like it, I like it.

Before I even peeled off my wet suit, I had warmed several fresh tortillas over the open flame of the gas burner, tossed a little REAL Hellman's on it ( LIGHT does NOT taste the same-stop lying to yourself.) then added fresh sliced cucumber, tomatoes and a few pickled jalepenos. 

It was modest, I admit, but the result was nothing short of unbelievable.

I take no credit, that belongs entirely to the alchemy of delight that is smushed ham and salt and fat wrapped in a pliable dough cocoon. 

The kids ate theirs while guzzling (sorta) cold ice teas and Jon and I shared a ( cold-ish) Cervesa and it was better than anything you can imagine.

Because it was yummy and it was new and the day was really fun and we were all together.

Whenever people ask me what ingredients I can't live without, as corny as it is, I always say;

Time.

Family and friends.

Nature.

Love.

With those four things, whatever you pull together will be great but add a dash of Adventure... and suddenly you're really cooking.

Home is where the hot sauce is

Kai-speared fresh grouper cakes with spicy jalepeno and cucumber relish served with homegrown lentil and cabbage salad in a warm bacon and apple vinaigrette.