Missing those favorite foods

Some of those 'nice-to-haves' from San Pedro Sula

One of the things that immigrants worry about when moving to another country is whether they will be able to find their favorite foods.

When I first started grocery shopping here in La Ceiba, Honduras, El Jefe would drop me off and come back a couple of hours later and I'd still only be half-way through the store. There were so many new and strange things. Many had labels in Spanish and I'd struggle to read them and wonder how I would use it or whether I would like it. It was fun, though El Jefe thought I was nuts.

The meats were mostly unidentifiable with names that I didn't recognize, like mano de piedra (hand of rock? or was that mano de pierna - hand of leg?), and cuts that I still don't recognize. Trips to the store were often frustrating because I never seemed to accomplish the list even when visiting both of the large grocery stores. Oddly enough, sometimes both stores would be out of exotic items like sugar, flour, lemons, tea bags, or our Honduran brand of coffee.

But the surprising thing to me is that a lot of the things that I thought I would miss, I really don't. Maybe I did at first, I can't remember now. Some essential things, like good bread, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, and good yogurt, I now make my own or at least a close approximation.

Just as you can find Asian or Latino markets in much of the US, we have our own import stores here in La Ceiba. Fiesta and D'Todo carry a lot of gringo favorites Both stores have expanded recently so I guess there is a big market for that kind of thing. The shoppers are not only gringos, that's for sure.

Some of the missed things may surprise you

I'll sheepishly admit that I've always been a McDonald's quarter-pounder fan. La Ceiba doesn't have a McDonald's and I felt deprived. On the rare occasions that we went to San Pedro Sula, we HAD to go to McDonald's. Sadly, either Honduran McDonalds are not up-to-snuff or my tastes have changed. It was so disappointing that we don't even bother to go there any more.

Some of the things that I missed in the beginning are the strangest things − foods that most people would never think about missing. I never thought I would miss them but I did.

Tuna sandwiches and dill relish. Oh, we have tuna here but for the first 4 years all I could find was tuna mush packed in oil. I'm a tunafish snob and have to have solid white tuna packed in water. I tried to adapt and tried some of the cheaper ones. Yuck. I told El Jefe they looked like pre-chewed tuna.

After a few years, one of the gas stations started sporadically selling the 'good' tuna. We would feel like we'd struck gold and stock up buying 8 or 10 cans at a time. The price was like gold, too. Now, seven years later, good tuna can be found most of the time and I've lost interest. Don't need it anymore. Baleadas are the new tuna sandwiches for me.

Dill relish is a rarity in La Ceiba. A variety of brands of sweet relish can always be had. In the first 5 years, I found dill relish twice (an apparent ordering error on the part of the store owners) and foolishly did not stock up. Now it is a permanent entry on my San Pedro shopping list, where dill relish apparently is not outlawed. I don't use a lot of relish (tartar sauce, hot dogs, and tuna sandwiches), so 2 or 3 jars usually last a year.

When you finally find it

Since the CAFTA treaty was signed (whether this is a coincidence or not, I really don't know), we began seeing more US food products. That's nice, but sometimes they just seem so expensive that I don't buy them. Other times I'm happy to see whatever it is and buy it, but it isn't like I've been pining away for it.

But when you finally find something you missed − MmmMmmMmm − it is better than ever! You enjoy it all that much more.

We make the occasional trip to San Pedro Sula and Pricesmart where we are able to find tender steaks and a larger variety of spices. We've found a meat market in La Ceiba (Piara) which has better meat and will cut to order. We also occasionally ask a friend to bring some spices or other things that would be nice to have.

I'm sitting here trying to think of what food items I really, really miss and oddly, I can't think of anything right now.

Good Morning, Gringa

The following email cheered my day yesterday. Reprinted with permission.


Good morning, Gringa.

I really admire your comments about the social problems in Honduras. I find them so constructive. I find that when we ignore a bad situation, we tend to do nothing, yes, exactly that. NOTHING!

Reading the comment of that "typical honduran" I mean the ignorant honduran that is threatening you, instead of giving a intelligent response of an analysis of what you said, he resorts to the the only way most of Hondurans do: through intimidation and silencing the truth.

In relevance to this, I am going to cite what a reporter − American reporter − wrote about the freedom of speech in Honduras.

Journalism: When Truth is More Important Than Optimism
Arjuna G. Shmerendrique
Special to Honduras This Week,
Thursday, November 22, 2007

The following article was written at the invitation of HTW publisher, Mario Gutierrez, following a letter to the editor in which the author argues that this newspaper should tell readers not only what the editors choose to say but what readers need to know to form an accurate and useful impression of Honduras. Journalism is the first draft of history. On the printed page, on radio, and TV are seized, then frozen in time, indelible images of the human drama. Lucid and hard-nosed renderings discouraged revisionists from tampering with fact. Unfortunately, in an imperfect world, fact is calumny, reality is disgrace, and truth is scandal.

(This part reminded me that yesterday, President Zelaya said in the papers that the papers were being yellowish in their renderings, that Honduras was the most peaceful country in Central America, that there was not such violence that the papers were trying to portrait. I was really dumbfounded because I read La Prensa everyday, and what you see is bodies everywhere. Could be that the president don't read the paper or want to dismiss the truth?) continuation......

For those whose only loyalty is to the truth, it is a lonely world as well. The price for such devotion is often steep and those who are willing to pay it never lack enemies. To the enemies of truth, journalists make an especial appetizing prey. If our accounts lack focus or detail, we are dismissed as shallow or irrelevant. If our exposes or editorials are graphic, irreverent or too close for comfort, we are accused of needlessly giving readers palpitations. No matter what we report, journalists are sure to be reviled by someone along the way. Fortunately, most readers seek to be informed. Most possess the mental elasticity to judge an article on its merits. It is to them that scrupulous journalists devote their columns. Others see conspiracy in the truth. Others yet are so shocked by it that they want it suppressed, obliterated, reduced to ashes, along with the reporters who unearth it.

So gringa, you are not alone in this problem. People from abroad are also to but in this problem in Honduras with the intention to "HELP" not vent frustration, like the Honduran in New York said.

An applause to you Gringa.

I hope you like this excerpt from a Journalist who visited Honduras and gave this analysis.

Edgar

A tip to get your jolt during a power outage

Iced coffee − yum!

Power outages are pretty common in Central America. Generally, in La Ceiba we don't know in advance when it is going to happen or for how long. Last weekend we did have advance notice that almost the entire north coast of Honduras was going to have a power outage for the entire day on Sunday.

My name is La Gringa, I am a coffee addict

One thing that I really, really, really need is to have is my morning coffee. I can barely function until I have my jolt of caffeine. On those days when we have unexpected power outages, I tend to get really grouchy. Oh, sometimes we drag out the emergency gas cooktop, but my boiled coffee just doesn't cut it and it gets cold after the first cup, unless I continue to reheat it.

Since the Blogicito has so many Central American and Mexican-based readers who may have similar issues, I thought I would pass on my (very simple but) brilliant tip to you other caffeine addicts.

Brew yourself up a pot the night before, let it cool, and put it in the fridge. The next morning, you can have iced coffee! I added a little sugar to the hot pot since El Jefe likes his coffee sweet and even though I don't use sugar in regular, hot coffee, I do like a little sweetness in cold coffees.

El Jefe was a happy guy when I greeted him with a smile in the morning and asked if he would like an iced coffee.

Too bad it took me 7 1/2 years to figure this out.

I am such a caffeine addict that I'm thinking of freezing some coffee for those unplanned outages. Emergency coffee stash!