One thing that our tour group, Overseas Adventure Travel, always does is arrange for our small group to have lunch or dinner with a local family. They research the homes, provide needed kitchen supplies and utensils and help plan a typical local menu. Care is taken in preparation so that we won’t get sick, not that the food is bad, but we’re not used to eating the same bacteria that their stomachs are used to. It is always fun and a great learning experience and this day was no exception.
We arrived by boat, of course, and our guide went with us to interpret and introduce us to the family. This family had 9 children ranging in age from 21 years down to 6 months. The oldest boy was out of school and was a local artist. Four children were in school the day we visited and the others shared lunch with us.
Much preparation had gone into the meal. Not only had the father gone into the forest and shot a deer, but he had caught two different kinds of cat fish. The deer had been cut into strips and smoked. The mother’s hand showed in the cooking. The larger cat fish had been cut in hunks, seasoned, wrapped in banana leaves and charcoaled. It was delicious!!! The smaller cat fish had been grilled whole over charcoal. While it was interesting looking, there was very little meat inside to enjoy.
Also included in the meal were grilled plantains (a type of banana), balls of Uca, and a bowl of salsa made from the native yellow tomatoes and some of that very hot little pepper. For the drink there was a juice made from a dark purple corn which tasted much like weak grape juice. (Maybe it was the color that made us think of grape juice!!)
All this was served from the makeshift table….4 very large banana leaves spread on the floor. There was no silverware. We were invited to sit on the floor but opted for the benches that were beneath the blow dart guns displayed on the wall.
The house had been built entirely by the father and the older son. It was typical….built on stilts, open walls and thatched roof, but a bit larger than most that we had seen.
We had a very enjoyable time at lunch. Afterwards they took us to their local village craft market that had been set up for us to enjoy. To top off the experience, the only Macaw that we saw the whole trip teased us from tree to tree encouraging us to take his picture.
No comments:
Post a Comment