Tepache

Friend Jonna has made Tepache a number of times.
Tom and I have been invited to share in it with her a few times,   Uber Yummy!  She tends to make a quite alcoholic version that is best treated as a digestive.

Pineapples are incredibly cheap right now so I decided to try my hand at making Tepache!
I've also been noting quite a few trici-vendors with the big blue and orange striped barrels advertising Tepache; tis the season I guess!  

Tepache is a fermented, often alcoholic, drink made with pineapple; skin and all.  I am unclear in my memory of Jonna's recipe, and I thought she had blogged it....not being able to find a blog by Jonna on Tepache

I Googled, don't you just love Google, Tepache and came up with a number of plausible recipes of varying degree of alcohol content.  I decided that since it is killer hot right now something more refreshing than intoxicating was in order and selected the following recipe from Pati's Mexican Table:


INGREDIENTS 
1 ripe pineapple or about 3 cups
4 liters water or 16 cups
1 pound piloncillo or dark brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
1 cup lager beer

TO PREPARE - Using the traditional big eathenware jug (or a large pot), bring to a boil the 16 cups water along with the piloncillo, cinnamon stick, and whole cloves.  Simmer, stirring once in a while, for about 10 minutes or until the piloncillo has dissolved.

While the water is simmering, wash the pineapple thoroughly, and remove the stem and bottom.  Cut it into 2 inch cubes, without taking off its rind.

Once the flavored water is ready, add in the pineapple chunks and cover.  Let rest for 2 days, or 48 hours, in a warm area of you kitchen.  The mixture will begin to ferment and bubble on the surface.  Add a cup of lager beer, stir well, and let it sit for up to 12 hours more.  Don't let it ferment much longer, or you may end up with vinegar instead!

Strain tepache through a fine strainer or cheesecloth, and serve very cold.  You can either refrigerate it, or serve over ice cubes.

Today I added the beer, which I think is more for the increased fermentation that the alcohol - so tomorrow we see how it worked - I have to say it is really fermenting!   Gads, it smells horrible!  But it is all bubbly.

So here is my pineapple, piloncillo (dark sugar), and stick canela (cinnamon).

and here is my dissolved liquid, and cubed pineapple.

I don't have a traditional Tepache jarra, but I do have my grandma's old lemonade crock!

And here you have the first glass of Tepache, Cool and Refreshing, NOT!  Just a bit too much fermented flavor for my taste!  I will definitely be trying a different recipe!

There's a new kid in town

Mérida has a number of Spanish language news publications.  One of these, The Diario has recently started offering, for an additional fee, and only to subscribers,  a once weekly insert of selected New York Times articles, in English.

There are also a small number of English language Mexican news publications available from other States in Mexico; their coverage of things Yucatecan is quite limited.

Several months ago a new kid came onto the scene as an electronic English Language Yucatan newspaper.

The Yucatan Times!

Today Tom and I attended the premier of their first paper edition - 

An English Language newspaper focused on the Yucatan, and Mérida specifically.

It was a lovely event, typically Mexican in that the speeches seemed interminably long, thankfully they were cut short because the power kept failing and they wanted to show a lovely video highlighting the ORJUVE, which is essentially the Mérida Youth Orchestra, here's a TheYucatanTimes Story on them.

The premier was held in the cinateca nacional of the gorgeous Teatro Armando Manzanero (formerly Teatro Merida).  The event was also held bilingually, possibly a first for an official City event.

Those responsible for The Yucatan Times

our lovely Joanna van der Gracht de Rosado, hostess

a surprise performance by members of orjuve

the reception

Here It Is - and this lovely woman seemed proud to inform me that this was in ingles!

 Each attendee was gifted a copy of this premier edition.

teatro lobby

teatro entry

teatro facade

You can read The Yucatan Times' announcement of today's event here!

Dog Day Afternoons

WikiPedia defines:   

"Dog Days" (Latin: diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and early September. In the southern hemisphere they are usually between January and early March. The actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. 

And that's exactly what its like around here

 

a trip to Xcooch

Friend Joanna, and a group of stalwart do'gooders (I do not say do-gooders as a negative thing, it is a VERY positive thing, To Do Good) from the International Women's Club of Merida have taken on a project in the small community located just outside of Uxmal called Santa Elena. They are working with one family in particular trying to assist them into a more sustainable life. From this family, more families will come to see the value and benefit and the circle will complete.

This particular family were previously quite sustainable with their chicken, turkey, and pig production but relied on Abels income from a nearby resort restaurant for those things they could not grow or trade for. Unfortunately that position was eliminated a few years ago and the ability to pay for things like masa and medical care became nearly impossible.

Another fine article on this very same family was done by some other local do-gooders Yucatan Living

Here is where Joanna and her group stepped in - They set the women up in a cottage industry of producing oil cloth market bags, hand painted table linen and wall decor, and crochet items such as glass cozies and handbags. 

Abel himself leads tours into the countryside.  We recently had the opportunity to contact him and set ourselves up for one of his 'Tours'.   With friends Kathy and Ken visiting from Colorado we met up with Abel just on the outskirts of Santa Elena.  First order of business was to stop at The Pickled Onion restaurant for a quick bite to get us through our wilderness adventure and then set off, fully intending to return to Valerie's after our excursion to cool off in her pool and with something refreshing and cold to drink.

Our tour that day would be to the unexcavated ruin of Xcooch, (shkoshhh).  We had read a bit about this site in our John L. Stephens, Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan book.   I must say the one rendering of the site from their 1840ish journey was quite similar to what we saw that day.  Not much has been done, save keeping some of the brush cleared, and the placement of a sealed iron gate over the mouth in to the cave where water was found.

Here are some photos from that trip

(I will apologize in that there was some setting wrong on my camera and my photos all came out as if on a viagra weekend binge; blue tint)

 

Abel telling us stories about the region



Abel, Ken, Rosa, Kathy, and one of the sons



this turkey let me pet it and feel its blue and red parts,  eeeschk!

Contact with Abel can be made through Joanna and/or Valerie - 

joannavdg@gmail.com or  valerie6971@hotmail.com

Earth Day 2011, April. 10 event here in Merida

Some of you may know that I am a member of Merida Verde, a local group concerned with the environment and with creating a sustainable future!  I am the Leader of thte Composting Task Force.
As a part of the upcoming Earth Day festivities I will have a table with info about Composting -
 See the invitation below!

Please stop by - I'd love to see you, meet you, share info with you!


******************************

Dear Members of Merida Verde.

We invite you to attend Mérida Earth Day 2011. It will take place on April 10, 2011, from 9-18 pm at the Iberica Cultural Center located at 39th Street, x 74 and 74A, Garcia Ginerés. This event will provide fun for your family and at the same time teach more about important actions to improve our city. There will be short films, forums, fashion, green and fair trade items, exhibitions, music, healthy food and more.

Les invitamos al evento del Día de la Tierra Mérida 2011 que se llevará a cabo el día 10 de abril de 2011 de 9-18 hrs en el Centro Cultural La Ibérica ubicado en Calle 39 x74 y 74A, García Ginerés. En este evento podrán divertirse junto con su familia y al mismo tiempo aprender más sobre acciones relevantes para mejorar nuestra ciudad. Habrá cortometrajes, foros, desfile de modas, comercio verde y justo, exposiciones, música, comida sana y mucho más.

See you there!   ¡Los esperamos!

Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan (PPY), and a sustainable future

 

On Thursday evening, I had another opportunity to visit the home of Joann Andrews, Honorary President of Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan (PPY) to hear her speak on Biodiversity in the Yucatán.

Thanks to the International Women's Club Gardening Group President, Ileana Acevedo Vega, 

for arranging this incredible opportunity.

The evening started, as do most encounters with Joann, in a ‘quick’ tour of her orchids;

Always fascinating.  Several interesting new developments were discussed; one that I found particularly interesting is the recent re-classification of a group of orchids that I know as Schombergkia (sp) to the classification Myrmecophila.  I found this particularly interesting because I happen to have several Schombergkia/Myrmecophila orchids; several of which I have blogged while they were in bloom. (to see pictures of some of my orchids, the Schomburgkias included just type orchids in to Search bar)

ProNatura (PPY) is a non profit organization whose mission is to conserve the flora, fauna and vital ecosystems of Mexico.  They are doing this by, among other things, promoting community development in harmony with nature.

 PPY has been working on priority areas of Yucatan Peninsula since 1981.

What makes Mexico Special?

It is the Incredible Diversity of both our Terrestrial and

Marine Eco-Regions!

PPY has programs along the Coastal Regions where they protect and preserve turtles, whale sharks, flamingos, and the delicate habitats and ecosystems that are being compromised by excessive and unregulated use.

The Private Reserve of El Zapotal, where they now have proof that 5 of the 6 types of Mexican wild cats exist. Also in El Zapotal they are monitoring and recording a large variety of birds, as well as working to educate and inform the local populations on the need and benefits of protecting the unique environment there.

ProNatura is training Mayan men and women to be Conservators of the Yucatan by teaching them to Guides in many areas; from Bird Guides, to Archaeology Guides, to Guides of the History and Lore of the Maya Culture.  They are also helping women to learn to keep bees for honey production, to improve their embroidery skills to create sustainable income.  They are advising farmers on new ideas and methods of agriculture that are less damaging and that can help conserve wildlife habitat.

A few facts you might find interesting, and perhaps surprising.

Mexico is #4 in the World in varieties of plant species. The Yucatan alone has 182 families, 992 genera, 2,477 species and 98 varieties/subspecies of plants.  This is 10.47% of all mexican species, just here in the Yucatán.

Mexico is also #4 in the World in diversity of Amphibians.  The Yucatán alone can boast 43 species, with 4 of them being endemic and unfortunately 1 is already an endangered species.

Mexico tops the rest of the World as  being #1 in reptile diversity.

The Yucatán alone can boast over 25% of the total Mexican species by claiming 139 species.  Add to that there are 19 endemic species here in the Yucatán, and sadly 25 species are endangered; that is lamentable 17.9% of the Mexican species.

So you can see why Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan’s work is so important.

In the Yucatán alone you can find 513 species, a full 46.6% of all Mexican species of birds.   We have 67 endemic species, and sadly 157 species are endangered.

Mexico is #2 in the world in  Mammals, with Yucatan containing 103 species, 16 species of which are endangered, and we have 21 that are endemic.

So what can you do?   Well of course you can support PPY programs!

http://www.pronatura-ppy.org.mx/?idioma=_ing

OR you can become more involved in other ecology minded and sustainability focused groups where you live.  You can develop a more sustainable approach in your home and life; Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Compost, Create Animal Habits in your space; a bird feeder or bird bath, put up a butterfly box or a bat box, plant things that are tasty to birds, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds….

If you are here in Merida and want to get involved in a more sustainable future there are a number of options:  PPY of course,  and also MeridaVerde.   I know there are more, but this is what I have at the moment.

Ceniza

There is yet another Oaxaca fair at Parque de la Paz, which if you don't know quite where it is,  it is on Avenida Itzaes across from Parque del Centennario (aka the zoo).   These fairs used to always be at Parque Santa Ana.  At some point in the last year and a half they were moved to Parque de la Paz, we don't know why.  Parking is especially difficult on the weekends when the ample parking normally available is chock full of cars for sale.  If you are looking for a used car this where you go on Saturday night or all day Sunday!

Back to my story - Tom and I decided to go over to the fair last night, after the evening started to cool things down a bit.  We walked around, looked at all the stuff, the same stuff they have every year and that you can buy cheaper in Centro it seems to me.   There was a time when these fairs were a great adventure and you good wrangle a good deal on some stuff.

We bought a ball of fresh Oaxaca cheese for Tom, and a bag of pan de nata cakes for breakfast.  If you haven't tried pan de nata I highly recommend you try it.  The texture is a bit like a scone, and the flavor is slightly sweet with hints of vanilla and something else...Nata by the way is the heavy film that forms over the top of whole milk when it sets up, so sort of like a condensed milk???   Well anyway, we bought cheese and pan de nata.    Then on the way home we stopped in at Chedraui to pick up a few things, we were both hungry and there was nothing really quick(not needing cooking, prepping, thinking about) to eat at home.  Now why we didn't just go out for something is one of those mysteries of 'US'.   We'd rather eat a bag of chips at home than go out most times!   Weird!

So anyway, again, Back to my story!    We get home, start putting our stuff away, and start assembling the stuff we bought to eat, now normally the first thing we do when we get home is open the back door and let the pups in - tonight however we well we just didn't, neither of us really know why.   So we assemble our sandwiches, Tom had deli meat with lettuce and tomato, and I had sliced roasted chicken with lettuce and tomato.   We take our sandwiches and drinks (iceWater) in to the TV and set up our trays; American Idol was already on so we wanted to see that.   THEN we finally open the door for the poopies!

OMG!    Now you've seen Ceniza and Tech - I blog about them a bit too much!  Well for some!

So here for your memory is Ceniza, - Normally

                                                  

Now look at this!

She got bitten/stung by something, we pried her mouth open to check her tongue and throat  which didn't seem to be blocked, then managed to get a Benadryl down her and held ice packs over her eyes and snout.  She really seemed to like the ice packs.   Or maybe it was the extra attention.  Tech was really concerned - it was very interesting to see the dynamic.  Tech hovered and prodded...at one point Tatie, the cat, walked in Tech herded him around and away from where Ceniza was laying.   Really interesting the dog dynamic.  Reminded me a bit of the video  going around and on the news about the dog in Japan that would not leave its wounded buddy.

Well anyway, Ceniza is much better today, she still has some swelling, but it is greatly diminished.

These photos don't quite capture what her face looked like, her lips and jowls were so thick and tight, her eyes were just slits, under her neck was all thick and lumpy...   but well what cha gonna do!