what we ate...

this year in the field i was not able to find an affordable place to live that had all the amenities i needed, namely a yard i could lock up (for the boat), plenty of space for storing gear, a kitchen, sleeping area, and a kitchen. did i mention i wanted a kitchen? i settled for an affordable place where i could lock up the boat in a yard. so unfortunately we had to eat out alot. and i say unfortunately because i really enjoy cooking. but on occasion we would get fish from the filet guys and so i would make ceviche. this is me making ceviche on the patio outside of our hotel room.

now, i don't eat fish but i make a kickass ceviche. for those that don't know what ceviche is, it's a dish where the fish is "cooked" in lime juice. the acidity of the citrus denatures the protein, which is basically what you're doing when you cook on the stove or in an oven fish is you're denaturing the protein using heat instead of acid. you slice the fish into strips or chunks and then squeeze enough lime juice over it to cover it completely. then refrigerate until all the fish is opaque and not translucent at all in the center. drain the lime juice and then add diced onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. then you serve the happy people. it's usually eaten on tostadas or crackers with hot sauce.

other times we would bar-b-q. one particular time towards the end of the trip i paid a couple of the filet kids to get me clams (yes, i'll eat clams...). i gave them my snorkel gear and off they went. they came back with about 150 clams. when they brought them back to the table they started shucking them and eating them raw. (kinda dark photo)

the method for that is to open the clam, cut out the gonads, poo and gills and rinse them. then you put on lime juice, huichol (hot sauce), soy sauce and suck it off the shell. i was laughing and yelling at them (but of course not at all really mad) "hey dudes, i PAID for those!" (normally they just go out and get them every once in awhile and everyone just eats, but this time i wanted clams specifically to bbq) they would yell back "oh yeah we know we're just checking them for you!"

so, i finally got to take my clams home and shuck them (and trust me there were still plenty - so much so i ended up taking about 40 over to another friend's house for her to cook). i cut them open, took out the gonads, poo and gills and rinsed them. then i added lime, huichol, butter and cheese and put them on the grill.

some clams, a little carne asada arrachera, a little cerveza, i think i made some sort of vegetable too but frankly i don't remember it...
but it was all good