Earlier that day we heard a rumor that if you went to Ms. Therese's house and asked nicely, she might agree to cook an authentic Garifuna meal for us. We had been in Hopkins, Belize for three days and we had not had the meal we wanted. We wanted Hudut. Hudut is fish cooked in a stew of coconut milk and other ingredients. However, upon nicely asking Ms. Therese about cooking us dinner, she immediately asked us if we would be ok with the armadillo or iguana. We nodded our heads up and down enthusiastically. We agreed to come back later in the day with the agreement that we could show up early to learn about how her food is prepared.
When we arrived, a group of men playing dominoes directed us to Ms. Therese's kitchen in the back of the house. It was a small wood building topped with a thatch roof. Ms. Therese was there, and pots were already cooking on the stove.
She was peeling oranges to prepare them for squeezing fresh juice for our dinner. Sounded great, but we were more interested in what was being cooked in the pots. Luckily, it happened to be iguana season according to Ms. Therese.
Her menu consisted of iguana, iguana eggs and a "boil-up" of root vegetables. The smells were amazing. Some of the broth from the boil-up was dribbled on our hands from a spoon. Flavors were starchy, salty and rich. The iguana was cooking in a liquid colored by annatto and flavored with garlic and freshly grated coconut milk. We couldn't wait to eat.
Ms. Therese answered all of our questions about her family and her kitchen with the most pleasant demeanor. She was proud of her skills and the kitchen she owned. We were in awe. After the oranges were squeezed and the juice strained, Ms. Therese retrieved some ice from her house and placed it into the orange juice to chill. The iguana eggs were added to the iguana already stewing in a pot. It is traditional for the two to be cooked and eaten together in Belize. After a couple of boil-overs in the iguana pot, the eggs cooked for another 10-15 minutes.
It was time to set the table. After laying a table cloth, she walked across the street from her home. Ms. Therese came back with some flowers cut from nearby, and created a colorful centerpiece for our table. After she explained that she loves making everything beautiful when she cooks for guests, she went inside and changed into her dining clothes.
It was service time! I helped her bring our plates to the table. We had a community plate of iguana and eggs. We each had a plate of the "boil-up" vegetables.
Cooking on top of the boil-up was a type of dumpling called a boil cake. It was served, also.
We were excited about trying the eggs, and we debated popping them in our mouths before Ms. Therese arrived to eat with us. We made the right decision to wait for her. She promptly instructed us on how to eat them. The eggs have a soft exterior, and a hole has to be bitten from the outside so you can suck the contents through the hole. The texture is similar to a soft-boiled chicken egg without the hard shell to break, of course. We used our fingers to sqeeze the goodness out of the shell and into our mouths. It was rich and delicious. The star of the table. Ms. Therese's grand- daughter was there to share them with us. They were obviously a treat that everyone in Hopkins viewed as a delicacy. Rightly so.
I do not think we were able to taste the true flavor of the iguana, but the annatto, garlic and coconut milk that it was cooked in had all three of us sucking on iguana bones like lollipops. The boil-up was no push-over either. Sweet potato, banana and a purple yam. Such a rich and deep flavor profile in the liquid they were cooked in. Ms. Therese proclaimed that this dish would definitely make us fat! It did make us extremely full because it was addictive. We hoped the walking and kayaking we did in Hopkins while we were there helped with the fat! Either way, we didn't care. It was the last thing on our mind while devouring quite possibly the best travel experience we have had.
Today there is a lot of buzz about the "best meal ever" on food television and other sources of culinary media. Audrey and I spend time thinking about this and we have been on a mission to taste everything we can, in search of this meal. On this day we got to taste the flavors that define Ms. Therese's Garifuna heritage. The flavors and techniques that she inherited from her grandmother and a long line of Garifuna women that utilized the ingredients of Africa, St. Vincent and Belize to create such a unique part of their culture. Simply put, we found our "best meal ever" in Ms. Therese's restaurant under that mango tree in Hopkins, Belize.
laughed our asses off at a viral video of LaSarah and generally headed home late at night with Mark as our designated driver. 
Monday, February 21, 2011: Woke up in a haze. Our plan was for Scott to drive me to Grand Rapids to meet up with my Sister. She was in town visiting my nephew, Ethan. He is a student at Grand Valley St. University. We cleaned up and made the drive. Lunch was very pleasant. We went to a pizza joint that doubled as a sports bar. Pizza was good, as was the company and conversation. Got to see my other nephew Logan and my niece Addison as well. I really enjoyed being able to make this happen. After lunch, we headed back to Muskegon. I took a position on the couch and crashed hard.
I actually bowled my second best game ever: 198. After this, we decided we needed a board game. Monopoly it was. Played a long game that night and called it a day.
Wednesday, February 23, 2012: Scott was really restless from being in the house the last couple of days. We decided to make another trek to Grand Rapids. Our plan was to go to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, 
Vertigo Music (new Low Anthem was out on the 22nd) and then visit Founder's Brewery. I really think Founder's might be top 5 in the U.S. when it comes to making not only standards, but innovative, smart beers. The plan went well. The best part came as a surprise, though. We were hungry for lunch and we had just left the record store. We drove into a Latino neighborhood looking for a good taqueria. Instead we found "Tortas Gigante".
A tiny, dirty, friendly place that specialized in a favorite of ours: the torta. The torta is basically a Mexican sandwich that can have any filling, but is usually topped by lettuce, tomato, guacamole or avacado, mayonnaise, cheese and refritos (refried beans). Two different kinds of bread can be used on these sandwiches: Bolillo or Talera. Tortas Gigantes uses Talera, which is the thinner bread that is much better for the flat top. It gets a nice crusty edge when grilled and tastes great. Scott got his favorite, Al Pastor (marinated pork) and I ordered the Milanesa (breaded steak). We were the only ones eating there, but there were several younger kids that came and went via the basement of the joint. Not sure what was going on, but we were only focused on the tortas. It was an amazing find. Beers at Founder's were great too:
We retired to Muskegon to play more Monopoly and then we played a Hold 'Em tournament before we ended the day.
Speaking of tough cuts of meat. I recently got my hands on a beef neck roast. This is a quite unusual roast, but Jeff did not want to use the neck for soup bones, so he took the neck with the surrounding muscle tissue and slow cooked it like a roast. There is a large amount of connective tissue in this surrounding muscle, so it has to cook for quite a while before it becomes gelatin and the meat falls from the bone. The resulting roast is just as good as any pot roast. I really liked it.
On Thursday, I was invited to a strategy meeting held by a community organization called Oregon Rural Action. Check out the link...
Every night, the employees of Golden Crown cook an authentic Chinese dinner for all the staff to enjoy before the joint closes. One of the regular dishes contains a top 5 ingredient of mine: pork belly. This is basically bacon that has not been cured or smoked. It has multiple layers of fat and muscle tissue and really needs to be cooked low and slow to create the desired texture. This shit can chew like shoe leather if left to an amatuer (see Brugge Brasserie in Indianapolis). Luckily we had Franky's Mom cooking for us tonight. From what I can gather, she starts cooking the pork belly in a stock with unknown spices, etc. Very soon after, she adds the Lotus root after it has been stir fried in oil. Lotus root is an authentic Chinese vegetable that is grown and harvested under water. It can grow up to 4' long, and is very fibrous. This is why it has to cook slow with the pork belly. 
Basically, when all is said and done, you have food texture porn. Seriously. If you haven't eaten slow cooked pork belly...do it immediately. I guess the only thing I can compare it to is the hot cracklins I had in Marksville, Louisiana. Although the craklins are a bit different in texture, but you can still feel the pork fat melt in your mouth like roasted bone marrow. Next, if you have the ability to buy imported Chinese produce at your local International market or your city's China Town, pick up some Lotus Root. It may be a bit pricey, but do yourself a favor. This shit is life-changing. It is a starchy root vegetable, and it picks up all flavors it is cooked with. But the texture...the texture is unexplainable to me. I want to say potato, but it is firmer. Firm, but as you chew it, it also melts in your mouth dispensing all flavors/seasoning that Franky's Mom decided to throw in the pot. It is cut into discs that are about 1/4 inch thick. I could not get enough. The great thing about this meal was that it was basically the protein and the veg served over white rice. No over-sweetened sauce or ridiculous flavor-enhancers that are often added to the American version of Chinese food. This was a taste of home for their kitchen staff. It was no frills, home-cooked food. Cantonese-style. The ingredients were cooked the way they should be. There were 2 stars in the movie, and they were unimpeded by an over-priced set or special effects. It was pork belly and lotus root cooked exactly the way they should be. Simply amazing, really. 
We are currently cutting meat this week, and it has been great to get back to practicing. Next blog will contain details about a nice meatcutting surprise.
