mistni kuchyne / local cuisine

Tema, ktere musi na predchozi prispevek logicky navazovat, je nadmiru jasne. Jakozto vyhlaseny gurman (nezalezi, co je dole, hlavne kdyz na tom bude kecup a chili) se nemohu nepodelit o zazitky s mistni kuchyni 🙂

Fazole everywhere – i tak by se dal parafrazovat znamy reklamni slogan. Ryzi, maso a lusteniny (souhrnne nazyvano “gallo pinto” nebo, pokud chcete porci i s oblohou, “casado”) totiz najdete i v te nejzapadlejsi visce na okraji pralesa (a beztak i v nem). Co ale cloveka zarazi je moznost dat si tohle jidlo v kteroukoli denni dobu, dokonce i na snidani. Neni to tak spatny napad. Obvykle k tomu dostanete tortilu nebo kousek osmazeneho ovoce podobneho bananu (“platano”), neosmazene platano je pry nejedle, takze pri nakupovani nezapomente, ze ten zeleny banan proste nezezloutne 🙂
Jinou moznosti jak zacit den, pokud nahodou vstanete az nekdy pred polednem, je “pollo frito” – smazene kure. V ulici bezne najdete nekolik obchudku (v Santa Ana jsou 3 na nejakych triceti metrech), kde vam kus osmazeneho kurete ukazou ve vitrince, vy si vyberete, ktere nejstavnatejsi kousky se stanou vasim obedem, a pak jenom nejakou dobu cekate, az prodavacka obslouzi mistni 🙂
“Chicharrones” jsou osmazene kousky veproveho, v podstate velmi podobna uprava jidla jako v predchozim odstavci. S jedinym rozdilem – ze jsem je jeste nevyzkousel..

Zato jsem mel tu cest navstivit nekolik obrovskych nakupnich center a jejich Food Courts. Ja neuveritelne, kolik fastfoodu dokazou nacpat na pomerne malou plochu tak, aby se jejich zakaznici dokazali namackat do pripravenych zidlicek pomerne rovnomerne, nevytvareli dopravni zacpy u nejznamejsich znacek a zaroven mohli pohodlne sledovat televizi.

Taky vam pripada, ze smazenych a tucnych jidel bylo dost? I pro vas existuje reseni v podobe ne zcela typickych restauraci, od pizzerii pres argentinske steaky az po japonske pochoutky – sushi apod.

Na zapiti je vyber vetsinou stejny – voda, “refrescos” (dzusy), cola, jine ochucene bublinkove napoje. Pivo najdete jenom v supermarketech a hospodach. A kdyz si v jednu hodinu odpoledne zajdete z plaze do nejblizsi hospy na jedno, budete mezi kamarady za alkoholika 🙂

Zaverem nekolik perlicek – 1) i kdyz mistni jedi ryzi trikrat denne, nepestuje se tady, ale je kompletne z importu. Z USA. 2) kdo ceka palive jidla, je na spatne adrese. Na stole najdete jenom solnicku, pepr (a nedejboze chili) je pouze na pozadani. Hlaska na mou osobu “Je z Evropy, ale nekdy je jak Mexican” budiz toho dukazem. 3) kdyz uz si chili vyzadate, dostanete je ve forme malilinkych listecku rostliny. Zadna omacka, zadne mlete koreni. 4) nazev “kecup” puvodne pochazi z cinstiny, presneji z kantonestiny. 5) jednotka palivosti je SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) a meri se mnozstvim kapsaicinu ve sloucenine. Tabasco z Habanero papricek ma asi 8000 SHU, nejpalivejsi vyslechtena odruda kolem 900 tisic SHU, peprove spreje okolo 3 milionu..

Taky premyslite, proc se cely posledni odstavec tyka ryze, kecupu a chili? 🙂

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The topic which has to follow immediately after the previous one, is quite obvious. As well-known cook (it doesn’t matter what is down there as long as there is ketchup and chili above) I have to do a little sharing about my experience with local cuisine 🙂

Beans everywhere – this could be an option for adjusting the famous advertisement. You can find rice, meat and lentils (also known as “gallo pinto” or if you want some extra vegetables, “casado”) even in the smallest village at the edge of a rain forest (and I bet even inside). A little strange fact is that you can order this any time of the day, even for breakfast. It’s not that bad idea. You usually get tortilla or a little piece of fried fruit similar to banana (“platano”), if you don’t fry it, you will feel no taste, so don’t forget that this green banana never gets yellow 🙂

Other possibility is to start a day, if you by accident get up soon before noon, is “pollo frito” – fried chicken. Usually you can find several small shops (there are 3 in some 30 meters in Santa Ana), where you can see a piece of chicken in a small shop window, you choose which of them are soon to become your lunch and then you wait for a while till the shop assistant deals with the locals first 🙂

“Chicharrones” are fried pieces of pork, actually quite similar preparation of food as the chicken. With only one difference – I haven’t tried it yet..

But I had the opportunity to visit several shopping malls and their Food Courts. It’s almost unbelievable, how many fastfoods can be squeezed into a quite small place so that their customers can still be able to find a table and a chair, not creating traffic jams at the most known brands and still being able to watch TV.

Do you also feel it was a lot about fried and greasy meals? We have a solution for you as well – with not very typical restaurants, starting with pizzerias, continuing with argentinian steakhouses and with sushi as the end..

As a drink you usually have the same possibility – water, “refrescos” (juices), coke, other bubbled drinks. Beer can be found only in supermarkets and pubs. And if you are at a beach and leave at 1pm to have a beer, you will be considered among your friends as alcoholic 🙂

Some interesting facts at the end – 1) although the locals eat rice three times a day, it’s not grown here, it comes only from import. From USA. 2) expecting hot and spicy meals, you’re at the wrong place. You can only find salt on the table, pepper (not even chili) is only at request. The quotation “He is from Europe, but sometimes he behaves as a Mexican” be the proof. 3) if you request chili, you get it as a small pieces of plant leaves. No sauce, no grilled spice. 4) the name “ketchup” comes from Chinese, to be exact from Cantonese. 5) the unit of “spiceness” is SHU (Scoville Heat Unit) and is measured as amount of kapsaicin in the solution. Tabasco from Habanero paprika has about 8000 SHU, the hottest paprika ever is about 900 thousand SHU, pepper sprays around 3 milion..

Are you also wondering, why is the last article completely about rice, ketchup and chili? 🙂