Buen Provecho! (It's bon appetit in Spanish)

I feel as though I have made it sound that I don't enjoy the food here.  That is absolutely not correct.  I just don't enjoy loads of mayonnaise, and I prefer vegetables.  However, the food that is prepared here is very, very good.  Very heavy, starchy, meaty, but delicious. 

For this reason, I have decided to make a special blog post weekly dedicated to delicious food.  Because food is a rich part of a culture, and I can't leave all my readers (you know, because I have millions) wondering why I'm not being fed properly.  And so, as I'm coming upon the close of my third week here, I will tell you about the three best dishes I've had so far.

SEMANA 1

Milanesa

Take a slab of beef as thin and flat as cardboard, lay it flat.  Lay a slice of turkey lunch meat across it, along with a slice of white cheese.  Fold over the steak in half so that the turkey and cheese are snuggled inside.  'Pin the edges of the steak together with a toothpick.  Cover with a bit of egg so that the breadcrumbs will stick.  After coating with breadcrumbs, fry the meat.  Add some avocado to each bite when it's done, and viola!  Delicioso.

(pic from google - hopefully we'll have it again so I can take my own pic!)

I couldn't tell you what it's called... I'll have to ask Flavia who made it!  This was the first experience I had truly enjoying avocado.  They eat it A LOT here, so I'm going to have to acquire a taste for it!

SEMANA 2

Sopa, pura verdura

This soup was homemade by the fabulous Mina, our family's maid, who certainly can cook.  She told me that she took spinach, carrots, potatoes, cauliflour, and other vegetables and stuck them in a food processer (which she simply called 'la maquina,' the machine).  Then, once it's pureed, heat it up.  Serve and sprinkle some cheese and a few drops of olive oil, and here you have a soup made purely of vegetables - hence the name 'pura verdura,' which is also very fun to say.

Initially I was nervous to try it; it looked like a strangely colored split pea liquid with the consistency of a thick bisque.  But once I tried my first spoonful, I praised the Lord for this creative way to serve a vegetable.  That's my style.

SEMANA 3

Sopa, Tomatecán

This stew-like tomato soup was grade A wonderful, I had a second helping and I was already full.  The 'broth' is like a tomato soup, but it's got large slices of soft potato, chunks of beef, green beans, corn, tomato, bits of onion.  I was thankful to have another pretty healthy lunch.  It was like a stew from home, only instead of brown, it was red and kinda healthy.  Hooray!

It was so yummy, I drooled a little when I blew on it (I'm embarrassing), and my tongue is now burnt because I was too excited to wait for it to cool down on my second bowl.

Chao for now!

I didn't think to take pictures of my food before today, so I tried to google image search the first two entrees... No such luck. I'll come back later after class for another go at it!   

Buen Provecho!