Super Bowl 2010 and “Tossin’ the ole cow hide”

LAST WEEK´S POST

Yes, yes, we realize the apparent mistake in this blog’s title. However, when in Nicaragua it’s remarkable how some of the wildest situations imaginable make up a normal week of our lives.

Jess was in Managua these past Thursday and Friday nights, so that left me alone in the house with the animals. Ian, who you may remember from such exciting blog posts as “A trip to Los Limones” and “Making a Tire Garden,” came down from his mountain roost to keep me company Friday night. We went out for a hefty dinner of bistec con salsa jalapeña at a new spot on the highway. Afterwards, we headed to a local pool hall to shoot a few games. Pool halls are an interesting place in Nicaragua. It’s very taboo to see women at a pool hall, but most men are there at least one night a week. Nicaraguans normally bet 2 or 3 córdobas per game and come up with all sorts of crazy rules that I can’t even begin to explain. The most popular game is a form of 9-ball, but instead of racking the balls for an opening break, one of the players gathers up all the balls in his arms and pushes the whole lot across the table. The other player starts from wherever the cueball stops.

Ian and I just played good old stripes and solids, which confused the Nicaraguan spectators as much as their games confuse us. Overall, it was a good evening out. On Astro’s final walk of the evening Yoda decided to follow us out the door. While I was trying to herd Yoda back into the house (not a very simple task) Astro managed to live up to his name and step through some time portal into another universe. Or, at least, that’s the only explanation I can come up with. It was the middle of the night and nobody was out and he just up and disappeared. I jumped on my bike and started riding larger and larger circuits through the streets around our house, but to no avail. Sometime around 2:30 am I decided to call it quits. I slept on the floor right next to the open front door in case Astro came back. He didn´t, so I set an alarm for every 45 minutes and, each time it went off, got on my bike for a ride through Somoto. Finally, on my 6:15 bike ride, I found Astro in front of his dad’s house 6 blocks away and absolutely covered in mud. I was mad, but also very relieved and exhausted, so I went to sleep (in my bed this time) until Jess got home at noon. The rest of Saturday was spent housecleaning and such.

Sunday, we made our way to Ocotal for the annual Peace Corps Super Bowl Party at La Yunta, a fairly decent restaurant with satellite TV. As fun as it was to be with many of our fellow volunteers, the restaurant only got the game with Spanish speaking sportscasters and Mexican commercials. It was still a good time, though. There happened to be a bunch of American and Canadian doctors also at the restaurant. The group was in Nicaragua for about 2 weeks doing pro bono medical check-ups and basic surgery. We run into a lot of groups like that up here, and it’s always great to have the opportunity to fill them in on local customs and culture.

Now, on to the cow hide. As several of you know, Jess and I have been bringing some very nice leather products back to the States each time we make a trip. We met a great guy in Condega, a nearby town, who has 20 years of experience working with leather. He does baseball gloves, belts, wallets, bags, briefcases, and pretty much anything else you can think of that can be sewn from leather. Francisco, “the bag man,” as I call him; lives very simply and has never really had a chance to get wild with his trade. Jess and I are trying to promote his products amongst volunteers here and friends at home. Below you’ll find a few pictures of a big leather tote he does.

So, Tuesday morning I went with Francisco to Estelí to see how he gets his leather. We met at 7:30am to await a bus arriving from León. León is cattle country, so it makes sense that a lot of leather tanning is done around the city. Francisco always buys his leather straight off the bus from León because it’s cheaper and you get to pick the colors and qualities you want. So, there we were catching 50 pound rolls of leather as they were tossed off the top of a school bus. Things stayed pretty civil until the rolls were untied. Then it became a free-for-all between everyone looking for the best leather. Each piece is the size of half a cow, about 9 feet long and between 2 to 4 feet wide and varies in weight, depending on the thickness of the leather. The colors I saw ranged from really bright yellow, like a baseball glove, to shiny blacks and maroons, perfect for boots. Each cowhide is tanned one solid color, but it was still easy to see brands and other marks from the skin’s previous life.

Francisco and I bared our teeth and dove into the fray in search of 3 perfect pieces with which he makes his bags. We came out with 2 yellowish pieces and one matte black piece. The two yellows were 21 and 18 feet square. The black piece was 25 feet square. I had my eye on a lovely peanut butter brown hide, but some jerk with a bushy mustache snatched it from my grip.

So, how much is a leather hide of this size, you ask? Since Francisco bought the hides right off the bus, they were 15 córdobas, or about 75 cents per square foot. All of our hides came in at just under $50 dollars.

After paying the man in charge (I´m not sure of what he was in charge of, to be honest) we made our way to the buses heading back to Somoto. I was at work by 10:30, despite the morning’s adventure. As Francisco makes his next set of bags we’ll try and get some photos of him in his workshop.

Thanks for reading!

Güirila: So simple, yet so tasty

Today, we would like to announce the opening of a brand new restaurant in Somoto: Cafetín la Milpa. During our two years here we´ve seen several restaurants come and go, most of which only offer the classic Nica fare, but this little spot deserves special recognition.

The reason we´re so excited about Cafetín La Milpa is that they have somehow managed to create a diverse menu even though every single dish´s base is corn. A “milpa” in Spanish is field of corn ready to be harvested, so it makes sense. Not only does the cafetín have the old standbys like enchiladas and tacos. They´ve branched out into some foods that we´ve never even seen in a restaurant before.

That doesn´t mean we haven´t seen them, though. You see, there are several different categories of foods in Nicaragua. Food can be broken down into food cooked at home, food purchased at a restaurant, and food purchased on a bus or in the street. Home foods are simpler, one pot dishes usually based on veggies. Restaurant fare is a little more complicated and almost always includes meat. Bus and street food includes everything outside and in between those two categories and is usually fried. I suppose the same applies in the US of A: I wouldn´t buy meatloaf at a ball game and I wouldn´t normally cook shrimp scampi at home on a Tuesday.

So, back to Cafetín La Milpa. The food that they have introduced to Somoto that was previously only available on a bus is called Güirila. Phonetically it sounds something like this: Gwee-REE-la. If you want to get it absolutely right you need to roll the “r” a little bit. Now, I suppose you are asking, what is this lovely dish that has so captured the attention of Somoto´s resident gringos? The truth might surprise you.

Güirila has one ingredient and only one ingredient: sweet corn. It’s pretty much a big corn pancake, but when prepared right it is fantastic. Here´s the steps:

1. Cut up a banana leaf and wet one side.
2. Scoop about a ½ cup of puréed sweet corn kernels onto the wet banana leaf.
3. Spread out the mush so that it´s between ½ and ¼ inch thick.
4. Cover with another wet banana leaf.
5. Place the whole banana leaf/corn mush sandwich on a hot griddle.
6. After about 5 minutes, remove the top banana leaf, flip the Güirila, and remove the now crispy bottom banana leaf.
7. Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, or until the pancake is nicely browned.

You have to throw out the crispy banana leaf after each pancake, so you´ll need quite a few leaves to make güirila in quantity. Since the güirila is a pretty healthy snack, feel free to eat with salty, fatty stuff to make sure you get the full experience. We recommend eating it with avocado, sour cream, or a crumbly cheese like Feta.

Here in Nicaragua we eat our Güirila with cuajada, which is a soft homemade cheese. We also use cuajada cheese for stuffed shells and lasagna. Jess and I actually saw it for sale at a latino supermarket when we were home over Christmas. If you are looking for a truly authentic Güirila con cuajada you can find the cheese at Twin City Supermarket in Finderne, NJ.

We'd love to get some feedback from all of you out there. Is anyone brave enough to give this recipe a shot? If so, how'd it go? Also, if you like hearing about the food, we can try and put up some similar posts in the coming weeks...

Looking forward to hearing from you!