Casa Tranquila

27/03/2022

Sometimes we generate stereotypes about Mexican food. We may think of it as always going in a taco or being wrapped in a tortilla of some kind and covered in either a red or a green sauce. Here's a few dishes to break your stereotype.

Take pollo relleno. A chicken fillet stuffed with ham and cheese then fried. It's absolutely delicious and very similar to Cordon Bleu.

Or maybe spaghetti in cream sauce with shrimp. Think shrimp alfredo.

A little more traditional Mexican would be ceviche. It's various seafoods cooked using only lime juice then mixed with Pico de Gallo. It's eaten with tortilla chips and when shared between two people it makes a great light lunch.

One restaurant I don't talk enough about here is el Bullpen, owned by our friends Jill and Martin. It's more Americanized than the local restaurants but it is possible to get tired of Mexican food. Martin has crab cakes on the menu all the time on Friday nights does lobster. Both are delicious.

26/03/2022

It's a quiet morning here in Chelem. On my walk I met a family headed to the beach and a fishmonger. No sign yet of the influx of vacationers from Merida.

24/03/2022

Today's weather

22/03/2022

The exodus out of Chelem and back to Merida. At one point both lanes of traffic were being used to drive out of town and the pedestrian lane was used to drive into Chelem. Normally at 6 or so La Terracita isn't very busy. Luckily we managed to be seated between rushes.

21/03/2022

This weekend the beach and town of Chelem are full of residents from Merida escaping the heat of the city and enjoying the holiday weekend (the celebration of Benito Juarez's birthday). As the roads are busy and restaurants are packed, we had breakfast at a hotel here in town versus one of our usual favorites. We both ordered the desayuno mexicano; mine with salchicas. In a restaurant you're never sure if salchicas will be sausages or hot dogs...it was delicious with little fried hot dogs.

12/03/2022

You may be starting to think the only thing I do here is eat. It's just not true. I just don't think you'd be very interested in hearing about paying bills, buying groceries, or getting small projects accomplished around the house. Having a vacation home most of the time is very different from having a vacation.

The Yucatan has a law for restaurants that if someone is drinking alcohol they must be provided with snacks. The plate in the upper portion is called dzikilpak, yes it's spelled right and no I didn't make it up. It's a dip made of finely ground or chopped meat. It was interesting but not my favorite. Going clockwise is ceviche with fish. The fish is cooked in lime juice and mixed with Pico de Gallo. Then we have some potatoes boiled with onion, green pepper, cilantro and a little habanero pepper.

After the appetizers was puerco en salsa verde (pork in green sauce). Something similar can be found in the States called Chili Verde.

Sometimes dinner is as simple as a few tacos. I would tell you the name of the restaurant, but I'm not sure it has one. In the evenings a garage door opens along the street, tables and chairs sat up in part of the street, and pork starts cooking on a vertical grill. The pork is also used to make tortas (sandwiches) if you would prefer.

The next two pictures are of a stuffed fished filet. The fish filet is filled with ham, cheese, and shrimp. It's then battered and fried. The cheese on top is called "gratinado" and comes extra.

The food really does make a better conversation than paying bills.

12/03/2022

The recent winter storm back home finally got here and is somewhat welcome. Temperatures had been near or just above 90 and the humidity was a bit steamy. From yesterday to today we'll drop around 20 degrees.

It's called a "norte". You get blustery winds, cooler temperatures and usually a little rain. It's supposed to rain all afternoon here but the winds are expected to continue a bit longer. This one isn't anywhere near being the worst one I've been through here. The cooler temps make it welcome.

07/03/2022

Normally Chelem is a quiet little town. I mentioned in a previous post during the summer 10’s of thousands of people flock to the coast to escape the heat. Merida is a city of 1 million people and is only 30 minutes away. They’re hot, we have a cool sea, you get the picture. Today was a zoo here and I know it’s only going to get worse.

About 5:30 I went out looking for somewhere to have dinner. I was driving around looking for a different place to go. Didn’t have any luck but I did identify a couple of restaurants with a lot of customers, they must be good. I ended up back at La Terracita. As I was going in I took the first photo of traffic leaving town. Don’t worry, that backup is only about a mile or so. Even with the traffic, this is the quickest (and almost only) way out of town.

Went inside and was surprised to see all the people eating dinner. I have actually eaten in this restaurant when I was the only customer. The people were probably trying to avoid some of the traffic. Had a great dinner, Filete de Pescado a la Veracruzana (fish fillet made in a Veracruz style).

About an hour and a half later after dutifully paying my $300 pesos (about $15US) for dinner and three beers I emerged from the restaurant. The main difference I could tell was it had gotten dark and the cars had their lights on. But don’t worry, the backup is still only a mile or so.

06/03/2022

Since arriving in Chelem I’ve made it to three of my favorite Mexican family restaurants. Mexican food here is mostly some form of seafood with shrimp (camarones) being very popular. Shrimp is also one of my personal favorites. I haven’t been here during the Mexican high season of summer when tens of thousands of Mexicans come to the coast to escape the inland heat. I am sure during high season these restaurants are packed well into the evening. During the spring, winter and fall however business is a lot slower. I’ve never had to wait for a table but the restaurants close when the sun goes down.

The first restaurant is La Terracita (The Terrace). The picture of a plate with shrimp and red sauce is Camarones a la Diabla (the Devil’s Shrimp). Many of the Mexican restaurants back home have Camarones a la Diabla on their menu but they tend to overcook the shrimp leaving it rubbery. Here, it’s delicious. A little bit on the spicy (picante) side but it’s not going to set you on fire. It’s easy to tell the sauce was cooked with plenty of time for the flavors to meld together. The shrimp is then thrown in at the end and cooked to order. One of my favorite Mexican dishes.

The second restaurant is Popular Camote (popular sweet potato). Here the dish was Chile Relleno de Cazon (chili pepper stuffed with shark). In Spanish, the term “chile” refers to a pepper and not a specific type of pepper. These peppers were similar to a sweet banana pepper with only a little heat near the stem end. The shark was flaked and prepared in advance then stuffed into the pepper. The stuffed pepper was then battered and deep fried. Another delicious dish.

The third restaurant is La Milagrosa (The Miraculous). Another shrimp dish, Camarones a Mojo de Ajo or Garlic Shrimp. Another personal favorite. A very simple dish with great flavor. This is another dish I can get back home at Mexican restaurants but again the shrimp are normally overcooked. Once while eating here I was the only customer so I got to talking with the cook. Not an easy conversation with my limited Spanish but he seemed pleased that I was trying. I was able to get the recipe from him. It’s simply sautéing some onions in olive oil, throw in garlic as the onions soften and finally some shrimp. Simple, quick and delicious.

All of these dishes were between $120 and $140 pesos each, or around $6 to $8 US. Throw in a couple of beers at $40-$45 pesos each and you end up with a nice meal for around $10US plus tip.

These restaurants are all family owned and operated, open seven days a week and I’ve never seen them closed for a holiday. These are hardworking families. You may have a waiter that’s looks twelve or thirteen starting to learn the family business. Chelem is a fishing village so all the seafood is obtained locally. I do know for La Milagrosa and Popular Camote other parts of the family are fisherman providing the seafood. It’s a pretty good setup with no supply chain and you’re a preferred customer of your vendor.

03/03/2022

Yesterday I had lunch at Popular Pich. They're not the best tacos I've ever had but for me they are addictive. Popular Pich is just off the town square or plaza which was just renovated. The government started an investment of $10 million pesos (approximately $500,000 US) that I read ended up at almost $14 million pesos. Well worth it they did a great job.

One of the great surprises this trip to Chelem was the streets being cleaner. Anyone who has visited Chelem in the past knows the streets are often littered with trash. I was told the fisherman get a subsidy from the government when there is no fish in season to be caught. Now, to get the subsidy the fisherman help clean the streets. Money for work rather than money for nothing. Maybe US politicians could learn something from Mexico.

02/03/2022

Beautiful start to the day here in Chelem

26/02/2022

Yucalpeten is a small town very near Chelem. This will completely change the area.

El primer residencial a las orillas del mar ha llegado a Yucatán; se destaca por su épico máster plan que le brinda altos niveles de plusvalía.