Colorful foods of Chiapas, Mexico

As we are heading out tomorrow from this Mayan world of Chiapas for San Miguel de Allende, I wanted to make sure to tell you about the various colorful and delicious treats we discovered during the last few months here in San Cristobal de las Casas. These tostadas are so colorful and tasty - different flavors such as beet, cilantro, black bean, other herbs, etc. Why eat them plan when there is such a choice?

Rambutan

And now, for some amazing fruits. First is a Rambutan - messy haired fruit with juicy white flesh. It is thought to be native to Malaysia and Indonesia but is also populat throughout Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese name is chôm chôm meaning "messy hair", a fitting description of the fuzzy outer layer. Inside the fruit is like a larger juicier version of a lychee, with soft white flesh and an inedible seed. It is only available in Mexico for a short period of time, but we were lucky enough to enjoy it.

Caimito Fruit

The following week at the farmers market we encountered a caimito which has numerous common names, including cainito, caimito, star apple, golden leaf tree, abiaba, pomme de lait, estrella, milk fruit and aguay. It is beautiful inside with a purple star and sweet taste.

Annona (Custard apple)

Annona inside

Another fruit is the Annona is also called the Custard apple and the fruit is sweet and pleasant. One can eat the whole inside but it is necessary to remove all the small pits. It is similar to the cherimoya which I have written about in the past.

Granada china

And lastly, the granada china. Sometimes incorrectly translated as "passion fruit" because it is related, the granada china does not taste much like a true passion fruit, although its unique flavor and consistency are much prized by aficionados, who call it the "caviar of fruits." An egg-shaped fruit with a hard yellow-orange shell is cut open to reveal a soft grayish pulp, which is eaten right out of the shell with a spoon. Granada china can be tested for ripeness by shaking it for the sound of the ripe flesh moving inside. (Information taken from this website: http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2133-exotic-summer-refreshment-a-guide-to-mexico-s-tropical-fruit)

Back in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

Saturday's farmers market

We returned to one of our favorite spots in the world in March after our long European adventure. It is nice to be staying in the same place for an extended period (until June). While I wrote about favorite restaurants and food adventures last year, I find that there are always new and different ideas that come my way, especially with regards to our plant based lifestyle. Here I will share with you some new foods, recipes and random pictures and thoughts.

Our weekly organic "Tiangus" or market is a full of delicious veggies and fruits and the prices are amazing. Each week I go with about 100-150 pesos ($7-$10 US) of change and usually do not spend it all. This bounty, including bread was under ten dollars. 

Granada China

One of the first new fruits that I encountered was a "Granada China" or "Chinese Pomegranate". The inside is a gelatinous sack of seeds and once the fruit is cut in half, you just eat all the insides with a spoon. Though it did not look appetizing to me at first, the taste was delicious.  From the internet I found this picture and information of the various nutrients that it contains. (For more information ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_ligularis).

Caimito or Cayumito

Today at the farmers market I encountered another new fruit - the Caimito which is a beautiful purple and white fruit with a delicious taste. If it is cut correctly a star of purple shows....you can see half of this star in several of these pieces. Here also is information from wikipedia..."The fruit is purple and green and usually with is a star pattern. The seeds are brown and hard. The fruits are delicious as a dessert - sweet. "We enjoyed trying this fruit together with our friends Erin and Philip at our weekly breakfast after the market. 

We have had a number of visitors and it gives us a great chance to visit different areas around San Cris. One visit was to the city of Comitan (about 2 hours from here). You may remember that we were there for 3 weeks volunteering several years ago. We happened into a beautiful restaurant in  "La Casa del Marquis de Camillas".  At first glance we did not find anything vegan on the menu but asked a few questions and the chef came and was thrilled to make me some special items. First a delicious vegetable soup and then an amazing salad of fruits and vegetables, presented so beautifully. We will surely return to this restaurant with a beautiful courtyard of flowers and artwork. I will remind you all that you can always ask for items not found on menus and usually, especially in areas with world travelers, the staff will accommodate a request for a totally plant based menu.

Several trips to the little textile village of Zinacantan brought us to this local family who prepared us home made tortillas and served them with a tasty powder of toasted pumpkin seeds. It was explained that animal protein was rare in this indigenous village and so rarely eaten. This is a very good option for getting protein. I was intrigued to try and make it myself which I did (see my recipe below). It is great served on warm tortillas, but also in salad, on stew or wherever.


Pumpkin seed topping (Polvo de pepita de calabaza)

Toast raw pumpkin seeds for 5-10 minutes
Process in food processor for a few minutes till powder
Add salt to taste (optional)

Amy and Sophie ... "Celebrating in San Francisco”

Celebrating in San Francisco

In early January 2016, Sophie and I took advantage of our recently won right to legally marry in North Carolina. We were headed to San Francisco for the Society for Classical Studies Conference where she was to be honored with a national teaching award. We decided to consider this trip a honeymoon of sorts for our sweet and low fanfare legal union. While in SF we ate and drank well. Here are some reflections on these culinary explorations.

San Francisco is home to a number of remarkable all vegan eateries. This visit I was able to visit just one of these, but I ate well and plant-based (though not always low-fat) throughout the 4-day trip. We stayed at a huge conference hotel just off Union Square.

Dinner day 1—Sophie and I were quite hungry by the time we arrived at our hotel in the early evening, so we explored our choices in a two-block area and decided to try an Indian restaurant called New Delhi (newdelhirestaurant.com). The interior was grand with high ceilings and elaborate decorations and as it was quite early California time (6ish) it was not too crowded yet. We started with a vegetarian platter of appetizers that included mint and tamarind chutney, a papadum, a samosa, two onion bhaji, and 4 pakora. The menu had a wide array of main dish vegetarian choices so we branched out a bit and tried two dishes which were unfamiliar. In my experience it is rare to find vegetables in the Tandoori section of an Indian restaurant menu. The dish was called Vegetable Shaslik. It was essentially grilled mushrooms, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, onions tossed in a hot aromatic mix of spices. Sophie chose an eggplant curry with tamarind. I learned for the first time that she is a fan of tamarind. It was sweet and tangy, with a lovely soft eggplant texture and delicious over pullao rice. We added yellow dahl to the order and together the 3 dishes complemented each other spectacularly well.

Breakfast day 2—We met my Dad and Barbar who came in from Washington State to celebrate with us around 9 AM and went in search of tea and a quick breakfast. We ended up at the hotel grab and go location and I had a very nice bowl of steel cut oats with raisins and walnuts that came in separate little dishes and the requisite cup of English Breakfast tea. Definitely SF hotel prices, but all 4 of us with different dietary priorities were able to find something suitable.

Lunch day 2—A requisite San Francisco experience! Sophie had never been on a cable car so the 4 of us walked to the end of the Hyde and Powell line to take the cable car to Ghirardelli Square and to visit the Buena Vista café—home of renowned Irish Coffees (thebuenavista.com). When we arrived at the start of the line we learned (courtesy of a person selling papers to raise money for people living without homes in the city) that line was not running due to some works problem. However, and here is the good part, if we just stood on a particular corner we would see a free shuttle bus that would take us to our destination at the other end of the cable car line. And, lo an’ behold about 20 minutes later after an interesting city tour we were dropped off in front of the Buena Vista.

I now know that a whipped cream-free Irish is called a “royale”. And when I asked the waitperson for help with finding a vegan lunch (after having difficulty finding something both meat and dairy free on the menu), she smartly suggested an avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich on whole-wheat toast (even their veggie burger had cheese in it), which came with a vegetable side. A perfectly nice lunch in great company at a table with a view of the San Francisco bay.

Dinner day 2—After watching the sun go down and the city light up at the bar on the 46^th floor of our hotel, we went in search of more delicious food. It had been thunder storming on and off all day so we were in again in search of something nearby. We landed at an Italian Restaurant called Puccini and Pinetti (pucciniandpinetti.com). With a few questions and a bit of negotiation, I found myself with an awesome warm spinach salad topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms and red peppers, decorated with candied walnuts (subbed for the gorgonzola cheese). The whole thing was well tossed with an appropriate amount of balsamic dressing. In addition, ordered a side of their special vegetable of the day: roasted Brussels sprouts and a side of truffle fries. The sprouts were cooked perfectly, but the fries were a bit disappointing—not particularly hot and topped with parmesan cheese. Maybe the universe was trying to remind me not to overconsume fat!

Fresh rolls at Old Siam

Breakfast day 3 (and 4)—We tried the Taylor Street Coffee Shop (taylorstreetcoffeeshop.com/) which we had passed up the day before because it was crowded and tiny (about 8 feet wide!) Barbar had read reviews of it on the Web and said it was highly rated. Walking across the street to it’s entrance we had to circumnavigate an huge wall of garbage cans and recycling piles, but once on the list we were seated in about 5 minutes and were treated to a fresh made delicious breakfast. Again, I had to work with the waitperson to find a vegan offering (other than cereal or toast), but they kindly worked with me to put together a delicious pile of hashbrowns topped with peppers, onions, and mushrooms, with sourdough toast and a side of avocado. The plate was garnished with sliced strawberry and orange. We liked our food so much we went back the next day. I had the same thing except I added side of greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Spicy eggplant with tofu and basil at Old Siam

Mango Fantasy

Lunch day 3—Sophie and I both love Thai food and enjoy trying it in new locations. In between her conference sessions we dined at The Old Siam Restaurant (201 Ellis Street, Union Squatre). I had tasty versions of my favorite dishes…fresh rolls (filled with salad and a bit of tofu) with a hoisin like dipping sauce and spicy eggplant with tofu and basil. Sophie tried a new to her dish on the lunch special which was tofu and vegetables over rice topped with peanut sauce and a beautiful drink called a “mango fantasy.” I had unsweetened Thai ice tea without the milk and it was quite good.

Dinner day 3—On this evening we had the great pleasure of dining with a dear friend, Claudia who is a very long time resident of the area. She met us at the hotel at about 7PM and took us on a walking tour of the city that landed us at one of her favorite vegan restaurants called Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant (www.enjoyveggie.com). We started with steamed hand made dumplings that were delicate and tasty and dipped them in a dark soy and vinegar sauce. The next course was an outstanding (egg free!) hot and sour soup with handmade wontons and big colorful slivers of vegetables. We then chose 3 entrees—a spinach-like greens dish not on the menu with a ginger and fermented sauce, braised spareribs with daikon and eggplant with spicy garlic sauce. The vegan spareribs dish was amazing-aromatic, tangy and a lovely blend of flavors. The textures of the dish were even more remarkable. I had never cooked daikon before and it was soft but still maintained a bit of the radish crunch, the napa cabbage in the dish was soft and luxurious, the shitake mushrooms slippery and the veggie sparerib was chewy and complexly flavored. It was all served up with delicious tea. The meal here was decidedly the culinary highlight of the trip.

Lunch day 4—Lunch the next day was at a Mediterranean takeout place called Oasis Grill. We had a falafel wrap in lavosh and sides of baba ganoush and tabouli. At this point, I dubbed this my eggplant tour of San Francisco. Good, fast, and reasonably priced.

Spicy eggplant at Lers Ros

Mango curry at Lers Ros

Dinner day 4—After celebrating Sophie’s award in the evening at the conference. We trekked a half mile into the tenderloin area of SF to find a highly rated Thai Restaurant called Lers Ros. Unfortunately, we got there quite late and there was a line out the door and a 30-plus-minute wait so we headed back towards the hotel and stopped at a different Thai restaurant that advertised a vegan and halal menu. Not surprisingly, I had spicy eggplant with basil again. This time with brown rice and Sophie had Mango Red Curry. It was filling and tasty…though not memorable enough to remember the restaurant name.

Even on our long trek home the next day we found healthy vegan food at SF airport and Houston airport. Kind of amazing. One has to look carefully sometimes, ask questions nicely sometimes, and do a bit of negotiating sometimes, but there is whole food plant-based meals in all sorts of unlikely places!

A Masterful Use of Spices and Flavors

I can count on one hand the vegetarian restaurants I know that I would plan a trip around—one of these, Am Spices of India, is in the city center of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I recently had the opportunity to visit this restaurant for the second, third and fourth times!

Sophie and I have gone to the Southwestern Popular Culture Association Conference held in Albuquerque in February for 2 years running. Last year, we discovered one of these favorite spots, Am Spices of India on our last night in town and were eager to get back.

Am Spices is a small colorful, friendly, but unassuming sort of place. The table tops sport bright flowery artsy images and a small buffet bar splits the seating area of the restaurant into 2 small rooms with about 3 tables each. The proprietor is very welcoming and was helpful in selecting the vegan items off the all vegetarian menu. Very few dishes contained dairy products—usually milk or yogurt, they use oil rather than ghee in the curries.  He seemed pleased that we returned daily for the three days we were in town.

Here’s why: the food was outstanding. The flavors of each dish and beverage were remarkable—well conceived and exceptionally well crafted. The food is fresh tasting, remarkably flavorful, attractive, and not overly oily. On the night we arrived in town, we started with a house made Masala iced tea served without milk. The flavor combination was unusual—ginger, cardamom, mint, lemon, and other spices—and memorable. Not too sweet, too spicy or too tangy.

Gobi Manchurian

We also shared a dish called, Gobi Manchurian, which is described on the menu as a “fusion cauliflower curry with Chinese influence cooked with a combination of vegetables and spicy sauces” served with white rice topped with fresh herbs. (see photo) Its rather intriguing but vague description belies its beautiful complexity.  Perfectly cooked chunks of breaded cauliflower were submerged in an undeciferable mix of spices and other flavors. At first taste, both of us stopped to carefully notice and savor it. We were not intentionally being mindful, but were pulled into a meditative food reverie by the delicious flavor and texture combination in our mouths.

Chaat Combo Platter

We also ordered the Chaat Combo which featured Idli Chaat, Samosa Chaat and Aloo Tikki Chaat. I had anticipated a plate with these different foods arranged on a platter with chutneys to dip into, instead it came served rather more like a filling appetizer salad with the Chaats cut into bite-sized pieces and topped with chickpea wafers and various vegetables and chutneys. (see photo) Each bite was a new flavor sensation. I could tell which were the samosa bites, but the other two were unfamiliar. It was a remarkable combination of flavors—sweet, fruity, spicy, green, allium, savory—and a delightful contrast of textures, warm creamy, cool crunchy, firm juicy, among others. 

Lunch buffet - with Dahl,
mixed vegetable curry,
pilau rice and an
eggplant and potato curry.

We returned the next day for lunch--we couldn’t wait to get back there--and tried the lunch buffet. We enjoyed dahl, mixed vegetable curry, another curry (ask Sophie), pilao rice, and fresh made Puri, a puffy bread to dip into the saucy curries.

On the 3^rd visit with returned to the Gobi Manchurian (just as amazing the second time around) and tried the Bombay Bhel, described as a “tasty mixture of puffed rice, crispy chickpea noodles, and wafers topped with diced vegetables and chutneys. And, tasty, it was. (see photo)

Bombay Bhel

All this to say, two things: one, sometimes one can find amazing and memorable food experiences in unlikely places and, two, I urge you to visit Am Spices of India (amspicesofindia.com) should you find ever find yourself in Albuquerque!

In case you are wondering, my other favorite restaurants (in my life so far) are the vegetarian oasis, Avocado in Athens, Greece, the startlingly beautiful Sublime in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and happily, the astonishingly creative Plant in Asheville, NC, which is my home town.

A month of eating in Portugal

Hot chocolate and Matcha tea with
vegan treats - Sintra

Having now spent nearly one month in Portugal I will say for sure that Portugal is a very vegetarian and in most places, vegan friendly country. Oh yes, they do have their specialties which are mostly animal based but many have converted them to veggie and if not traditional recipes - have many veggie options. We encountered several exclusively vegetarian and even a few vegan restaurants. Not only that - but many stores selling plant based products. Our adventure in each new city is to track down these places. Of course, we also like to eat in from time to time which makes it difficult in the places that have such great options for restaurants. One favorite was a vegan crepe with veggies (gluten free) at Princesa do Castelo in Lisbon. My friend Marcia told me to ask the owners for recipes when I liked the food so I did and added it below.

Evora Salad bar

I took loads of pictures in various restaurants and will list them by name when possible. My research to find them is usually Happy Cow website and often the tourist offices have information. There is a chain store in both Lisbon and Porto - Celerio which has a restaurant as well.

Raw "cheesecake" at Princesa do Costelo

In Sintra, again our Airbnb was next to a yoga studio with a little coffee shop with vegan hot chocolate and snacks - how does this happen to us in so many places. I feel like I am a magnet to these little special spots and am always grateful to find them.

In Lisbon we went twice more to our favorite vegan restaurant - Princesa do Castelo where we had a MOST delicious dessert - berry cheesecake. 

In Evora we found a great health food stores and Salsa Verde - with a buffet and salad bar - another favorite spot.

Fig, strawberry, nut and greens

Stuffed mushrooms in Coimbra

Eva singing Fado

Then we were off to Coimbra, a university town, again with many options for us. We enjoyed Maria's Portugese Tapas Restaurant, just up the street with Eva who not only cooked and served us but sang Fado during one of our meals. She aimed to please and made me special food to meet all my dietary likes. We had our all time favorite padron peppers (memories of the Camino de Santiago) at the little bar/restaurant Arcada which was right across the street from our apartment. (See recipe below.)

DaTerra buffet, Porto

DaTerra buffet, Porto

From Coimbra we headed to our last city for this trip - Porto, or Oporto. Here again are many options but we have already discovered a favorite - DaTerra which has an awesome buffet every day at lunch or dinner - we are usually going at 2:00 for a main meal.

Here you go with two recipes from this trip - Enjoy! 

The first one is from Princesa do Costelo in Lisbon.



Vegan Pancake - Okonomiyaki (gluten free)

1/2 cup Chickpea flour

Princesa do Castelo - vegan in
Lisbon - Pancake on the left

1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp black salt
a pinch of paprika or black pepper
water to make a smooth but not too runny batter
chopped cabbage
spinach
dill leaves
Note: you can add whatever veggies you wish.


Instructions

• In a pan well greased with oil use the batter to make a thick crepe and when cooking add chopped cabbage, spinach & dill leaves.
• cook well and using the spatula flip and cook for 1-2 minute till well cooked.
• Serve hot with a sauce of choice such as hot n sweet sauce

Fried Padron Peppers (typical tapas in Spain and Portugal)   

½ pound fresh Padron peppers

Virgin olive oil for frying

Coarse salt to taste
Instructions

• Wash the peppers thoroughly and pat dry.
• Pour a little oil in a pan and put it on medium heat.
• When the oil is hot, grab a handful of peppers and throw them into the oil. Use a lid as the oil will splash quite a lot. They should brown on both sides, but should not get too dark. Turn them over if necessary.



Padron peppers and salted mushrooms
at Arcada Restaurant

• When done, take them out with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with the salt. Serve immediately while piping hot.

Continuing in Andalusia

New Years Paella with a view

Rice cake sandwich with avocado,
 and tomato

Here we are in a new year. We celebrated the new year by going to the eastern point of southern Spain - Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata where we rented a home for a week and mostly ate in as this was a very small village in the winter which was not their high season. Every day we walked on the many walks along the beach and coastline packing a snack.

Las Negras beach - Tea and Tapas
our 25th anniversary. I have learned
to like olives on this trip.

Next we were on to Ronda which was great for food options. This time we stayed in a small hotel so had no facilities for cooking. We were next a wonderful little cafe for breakfast with gluten free bread and amazingly delicious tomato salsa - just tomatoes pureed in a blender. Seems to be one of the favorite breakfast items in many spots - healthy and delicious. Some serve it with olive oil and some not. Ronda had many options for us.

Bar Bodega San Francisco, Ronda
Tapas of mushrooms in
garlic (Richard's favorite)
and cold spiced cauliflower

Curry and Grill, Ronda

Then to Cadiz which was on the western side of Andalusia on the Atlantic ocean, an area known for seafood but we found it easy for our palates. We combined our time between eating in and out. There was a great market and we cooked a delicious meal with mushrooms from the market.

Our last stop of one month in Andalusia was Cordoba - a place we could certainly return to. Here we ate out most days - finding it confusing again with the time. Most restaurants were closed between 4-8 so we ate early and had a snack back in our hostal (Bed and Be) at night. There were many options in this beautiful and historic city. Please visit my travel blog for many more details about this trip. (mexicotravel-susan-ricardo.blogspot.com)

Mushrooms for breakfast
after early morning visit to  Mezquita

Mushrooms were spectacular in Cordoba with garlic and oil - we even had them for breakfast after the visit to the Mezquita early in the morning.

Grilled veggies at Rincon Andaluz, Cordoba

Memories from the Camino...
pimiento padron (which we ate several times in Santiago
de Compostella), habitas (like lima beans) and salmorejo

Olives in the market

Dietary information
in many restaurants

We were in olive country and ate them as a tapas in most restaurants. Before this trip I did not like them but the Spanish olives were delish.  I learned to like olives in Andalusia!!! We visited the town of Baena where much olive oil is produced. We were told that 60% of the olive oil of the world is produced in Spain.

Salmorejo is so famous in Andalusia,
especially Cordoba that it is mentioned
on the tile wall. (I have copied it here)

Interesting to note is that Spain, like many other places in the world, is mentioning dietary needs on menus and signs in restaurants. Here is an example....no need to worry in this part of the world - we can all eat easily and happily


Salmorejo

1 KG tomato
200 gr bread
100 gr extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
10 gr salt

Blend together. (It is often served with chopped eggs and ham but happily served without)


Since we had vegan paella in so many different places, I decided to look for a recipe to share with you for paella. I found one from Gwyneth Paltrow's book called Notes from My Kitchen Table. I have adjusted the measurements when possible using conversion tables. You can also feel free to add other vegetables to this recipe as you wish.

Vegetable Paella

1 L (4.25 cups) vegetable stock
Dried shiitake or porcini mushroom10 cloves garlic, 4 crushed and 6 finely choppedLarge pinch saffron
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large aubergine (eggplant) cut into 8mm thick slices, ends discarded
125 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 large tomato
2 red peppers, seeds and stem removed, cut into 2.5 cm pieces
400g (about 2 cups) Bomba (or Arborio) rice
8 small artichokes, trimmed and steamed for 20 minutes, cut in half and chokes discarded
150g (1 cup) frozen peas
3 lemons, 2 cut into wedges

½ teaspoon sweet pimenton (paprika)

Combine the stock with the mushrooms and the 4 cloves of crushed garlic in a large saucepan and boil over high heat for 10 minutes. Lower the heat, add the saffron and pimenton and simmer for an additional 10 minutes to thoroughly combine the flavours. Keep warm over a low heat.

Meanwhile, prepare the aubergine by sprinkling both sides of the slices with a bit of salt and laying them between sheets of kitchen towel for at least 15 minutes (Note: this will draw out the moisture and the bitterness from the aubergine). Cut the slices into 2.5 cm pieces. Heat half the olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium heat and cook 2 cloves of the chopped garlic until fragrant, about a minute. Add the pieces of aubergine to the pan and cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned and softened. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a 40-45 cm paella pan over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Turn the heat down to medium, add the onion and the 4 remaining cloves of chopped garlic, and cook, stirring, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Coarsely grate in the tomato, discarding the skin. Stir together and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the peppers and continue to cook the vegetables together until softened, another 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked aubergine.

When you’re ready to roll, place the paella pan with the vegetables over high heat and pour the rice into the pan. Add the broth and stir to combine everything. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Arrange the artichokes and peas on top and simmer until the rice is cooked through, about 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat source, cover with a large piece of foil and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. Squeeze the juice of the lemon paella. Serve with lemon wedges. Buen provecho!