September 4, 2008
Feedback on the turkey sequence:

How about "Takes one to know one."

—Fred Nolan

Been working hard on cliff images, inspired by the canyons of Peru:



This led to a variety of cliffs, including the Inca Cliff, the Sissy-fus Cliff, the Saguaro Cliff and the Male Genital Cliff:




As I have mentioned we had the greatest soups on this trip, starting right off the bat with our first stopover in El Salvador. We flew all night from LAX and landed in San Salvador at seven, and were on the beach by nine, eating at a funky eatery overlooking the Pacific Ocean called San Marcelina Kenny Mar Restaurant. We ordered a variety of dishes, along with cafe con leche and the local beer, Cusqueno:


Here's a close-up on the soup:



After a tour of the countryside, we ended up at the La Posada Resort in Suchitoto, a sleepy, colonial village overlooking a lake. While we waited for our room to be made up, we went into the restaurant and ordered the local soup and it was delicious with a thick sweet and sour broth unlike any soup I have ever seen or eaten:




Now, fast forwarding to Peru, we took a tour of Colca Canyon to see the condors and the spectacular cliffs of the area. We ended up in this small village and our tour driver, a local, led us to this literal hole-in-the-wall, off the plaza. Here is a closeup on their signature soup, and below that is a photo of the outside of the cafe. As you can see, the chalkboard sign is the only hint of the delights within (it says, "Today Menu And Extras"), and we would never have gone in if not for our driver knowing about it. By the way, the crowd in the entire restaurant, which included many kids, was watching a pirated version of "Kung Fu Panda," which was quite surreal. The sound was horrible, and sounded exactly like someone sitting in the third row with a camcorder. To my knowledge I have never seen a pirated movie before so that was a treat along with the great soup.




In Tommy's village, the best soup maker is Jenny (below), seen here with her husband Dante (who loves True West, and all things Western, by the way, oh, and Kathy brought him the belt buckle and belt he is wearing). She made a different soup every day we were there and they were all great.





One of the best soups I had at Jenny's is a dish called Adobo. Here is the recipe:

Cut a pound of pork (or alpaca) into large cubes. Sprinkle on 3 tablespoons of ground chili, 1 tablespoon of garlic, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin seed and one cup of vinegar. Mix it together, and let it marinate in a dish for three hours.

Fry the meat in a pan with a little oil until it turns golden brown. Fry six small onions in the same pan.

Add 1/2 cup of red wine and water to the pan, reduce the heat and allow to cook slowly until the meat is cooked and tender and the sauce is consistent.

Serve with boiled potatoes or with large chunks of bread which are added to the sauce to soak.

Finish with a shot glas of anis to help digestion, in keeping with Peruvian tradition.