Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Color of Nature


We often think how life would be if we lived on the coast.
Based on some carefully acquired intelligence and intercepted emails, it would definitely be different.
Sand in the shoes.
Rusted automobile bodies.
Hot sultry muggy days and nights filled with lots of bugs.
Computers that fall apart after 6 or less months.
Showers several times during the day
Endless burning smelly fires on the side of the road burning coconut husks, fronds and whatever else will ignite.
Tsunamis
Tourists
Out of sight Air Conditioning Bills

Or perhaps
Tons of open air under the palapa bars with endless happy hours
Multitudes of Tourists
Hard to find gourmet delicacies
Living with shorts and no shoes
Tepid Showers without having to heat the water
Tourists with endless stories
And the topic of this story....Superb Seafood

We figure it is much easier, cost effective and better for my health to visit the coast a few times a year. In fact we have no end of friends that are willing to fly down to "meet" us in several of the beach getaways.
This time we are west of Patzcuaro, just a 3 and a half hour drive or 110 miles if we had wings.
The Lobsters are plentiful as the large shrimp and other fish
And they are cheap.
Two lobsters, 200 pesos.
that's about 16 dollars. ( a little less in fact)
The color is interesting, I have never seen the splash of blue like was on our mascot for the pot. I usually steam them for about 12 to 15 minutes, in a pot with an onion, some garlic and a few bay leaves tossed in for effect.
Meanwhile I have the hard decision to make whether to use butter or just some fresh squeezed lime.
If you find a hotel to stay at that has a kitchenette, you can live on the coast and even have lobster now and then for very little money. Compared to the big fancy multistory hotels that run with meals about 2 to 3 hundred a night.
Ruffing it costs us about 30 bucks a night.
I am willing to sacrifice, now and then.

Double click on the photos to see the interesting color detail!

5 comments:

Don Cuevas said...

Do lobsters shed tears before you boil them?


Saludos,
Don Cuevas

Calypso said...

GREAT photo amigo! Can't get lobsters for that price over on the east side. ;-(

Tancho said...

Then only cry because their relatives a year ago sold for 50% more than now. Seem the lack of Gringos willing to pay Boston prices has diminished the market a little.

Well John, it's probably because the Cancunites pay double for everything and the word has spread you might get prices that you ask for,especially when your taste buds are locked onto having Lobster that night. I know I have paid too much a few times when I needed to indulge!
Funny that I never seen that blue marking. And I have cooked up a sum of them over the years....

Steve Cotton said...

I agree that the photograph is great. But it is easy to see why we call them "bugs" over here.

Tancho said...

Well Steve, I will remember that next time I trek up to the caliente coast to visit your town, I hope the "bugs" are as reasonable as in Ziha...