Sailing and Grocery Stores

Pancakes and Guava Syrup

I don't remember where it was that I read about this, somebody talking about how they considered grocery stores a tourist attraction or something like that.  Up until then I thought I was the only one who really enjoyed spending time exploring grocery stores wherever I went.  In particular,  I enjoy the spices section, and being in Trinidad, West Indies, I have a blast; here I usually buy lots of condiments and spices for my indian dishes as well as west indian dishes which I have learned to cook from the years we have visited these destinations and from our multicultural friends and family members.  My husband and I share an internal joke where we say the price of rotisserie chicken is an indicator of the economy of the place where we are at.

On Saturday, we did our grocery shopping and as usual, I enjoyed looking at the different products you can find here in Trinidad.  Spices I found: curry, roasted geera, five spice powder, saffron, madras and chilli powder and of course the amazing scotch bonnet pepper hot sauce.  Now, understand that some of these spices you may find in the States, but unless you are buying from a gourmet store or indian market, the quality is not the same.  Even bay leaves are not the same.  Believe me. 

So now that I got myself into the topic of food, I shall start a section in this blog about boat recipes.  I have been collecting these recipes, for some time now, as well as techniques for cooking.  When I'm at the boat I use ingredients that I usually don't use like onion and garlic powder and canned vegetables and grains.

my husband

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Salmon Rice with Pesto and Vegetables

I discovered this vegetable cheese back in 2009 when we came back with Camila.  It is manufactured in New Zealand; the brand is Anchor and it is "vegetarian Cheddar Cheese".    I'm still trying to find out if it is trully vegetarian, but it's good; for the time being I'm only indulging with small quantities, I'm supposed not to be eating cheese at all.     I forgot to mention the "arroz con calamares" I cooked while we were at the dock.  My mother had mailed me these CUCA canned calamares; they come from Spain, and definitely I had not been able to find them in Florida.   It happens that just before we departed home my mother had mailed them, so I decided to squeeze them in between my luggage and bring them to the boat.   I just had to show my husband how good they were and this incredibly easy recipe a friend gave me many years ago. 

On other matters, today we did some sailing and I personally enjoyed being at the helm, feeling the wind and Apuej Bien majestically dancing with the wind pushed by her best friend, Mademoiselle Wind blowing from the beam at the starboard side.  Flying fish, dancing around, welcoming Apuej Bien back to these waters, I felt very much alive and grateful to the High Powers for allowing me to experience this again.  On our way back we grilled some salmon and I cooked rice and vegetables.  Buen Provecho!