Cooking Tips & Techniques. Chef Inspiration.
In Mexico, every cook has her own tamale recipe, her own sauce, her own masa mix, her own flavours. I didn't get any family secrets from Juantia (who bore holes though me with her icy stare), but Gleacelda galdly gave me a few moments of instruction in how to make tomales in her (pretty darn good) English. I kept up with my extraordinarily bad tourista Spanish/action charades.
Just off the beaten path and worth every step (or stagger); Cantina Habanero boasts the best burger in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. South of Cancun on Highway 307, Puerto Morelos is a cozy fishing village developed enough to be convenient yet small enough to be Mexican, where I stumbled upon a vision, in search of a cure.
A trip to Belize is not a short jaunt from Canada no matter which side of the country you live on. Despite being just south of Mexico, flight fares are steep and options are few. Until one day a well traveled friend suggested looking at this trip from a different direction. Pick up a cheap flight into Cancun and then book a regional flight from Cancun into Belize City. Genius.
In the kitchen there is laughter, the smell of coffee and fresh baked bread. Guests enjoy a quiet relaxed atmosphere in the dining room; the Hillsdale House is everything a country inn should be. Elegant. Stately. Polished. A place to forget about traffic and deadlines, after all it is... Nova Scotia.
It smells good. No, strike that, it does not smell good, it smells fantastic. With a kitchen this creative and ingredients this pure, the Wooden Monkey thrills the senses from the moment you walk through the door.
A little sign next to the menu under the glass top table reads: Soup is Love. It's safe to say that love is a key ingredient in everything that comes from the kitchen at Leo’s Café.
The cafe bustles, three tables seem to overwhelm the staff and proprietor. Content, I wait and ponder the couple across the aisle. She smiles at him like a lover. He looks at her like a meal ticket.