Friday, November 16, 2007
A reply to Skyehigh
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Music, music. music
The beat is great, insistent and infectious; the poetry of language, of sound, amuses and mystifies; the layers of sound splash out at you or interweave and almost disappear in the drive of the music. It is Reggae. It is Hip-Hop. It is Punk. Sometimes it is Funk. At times it comes close to the grittiest Rap. This is Reggaeton.
I love it much more than I do not like most Rap. Seldom does Rap have a sense of humor; a sense of laughing at itself. Rap needs to be too angry. Reggaeton delights in itself. Sometimes the Reggae seems far away, but the Hip-Hop is always right there. The music uses many languages just the way it plays with sound. Even though I can’t understand much of the Spanish, neither can my Spanish speaking husband. But that’s not necessary. The riot of sound runs away with the language.
Armed with a decent knowledge of this music (from Fado to Forro; from the Cha-Cha to Son; from Cumbia to Bacchata; from Chicha’s Culebritica to Huaynos; from Salsa to Merengue; from Flamenco tango to Samba and on) and with a good background in Classical, Folk, Rock, Country, and world music, I moved to
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wonderful Vacation in Manhattan
One of the changes that I did not like in
The best part of the vacation was dining, partying, and talking with my son and friends. Dan now lives on the
I stayed in a hotel that I recommend if you like the upper westside and do not care how small and non-luxury your hotel room is: Riverside Tower Hotel. Very affordable and close to restaurants, stores and the subway. I had accepted the generous offer of friend and former neighbor Kyle to stay in her apartment while she was in
On the way back I spent hours at the airport with newly met friend, Esther (she was going to
Earthquakes, politics, and NYC
Politics: It seems that President Garcia either has been poorly informed or is so concerned with image before truth and caring that he (to our sensibility) downplayed the tragedy and answered looting (people needing food and blankets?) with troops. Did the troops get there before the aid? Obviously it was necessary to consider that real criminals (misnamed "delinquents" here) would take advantage of disaster, but no one seemed to distinguish between people needing goods and criminals. Why weren't the troops and/or police sent with a double mission of help and protection. Neighbors were shown at barricades forming protective groups wielding sticks and pipes to keep the criminals out of their neighborhoods. Troops & police should have been divided into those who worked with rescuers, those who protected neighborhoods, and those who made sure supplies arriving were safe from hijackers and bandits. Instead, Alan Garcia seemed more concerned with guarding businesses (many of which were destroyed anyway) than guarding civilians and getting aid to them. I can say this today as I just received a called from immigration to say that I now have
Peruvian Citizenship: It's been a rough road to this place, but now the bureaucratic agony is ended and I am a dual citizen; US and
Monday, September 10, 2007
MAKING CHICHA BEER THE OLD WAY







Must fix these pictures. Still trying to figure it out.
Photos: 1) Tia Rosa's kitchen with chicha room in back at right, 2) chicha oven, 3) two stages of fermentation, 4) three stages of fermentation, 5) bottles ready to be filled, 6) workers buy & drink chicha at Tia Rosa's, 6) Kika says "delicious!"

CHICHA DE JORA (chicha from corn flour)
Ingredients: corn flour (made from alazan corn, a reddish medium kernel corn, which was soaked in well water until it germinated, dried in the sun {this took days}, brought to the mill to be ground when thoroughly dry, and ground to a medium coarse grind), well water, and molasses from sugar cane.
Preparation: The germination and drying of the corn takes two to three days depending on the heat of the sun. In the ceramic vats 50 kilos of ground corn and about 8 gallons of water were added. This was brought to a boil over a wood fire inside the oven (see photo of oven). It was left to boil for 12 hours. Every time the boiling made foam, it had to be stirred with a wooden ladle. This was about every half hour. After 12 hours, it was left to sit without heat until it no longer showed any signs of boiling.
Next it was strained with a coarse cloth; shaking and then squeezing the cloth with one’s hands. The residue left in this cloth was squeezed through the hands until the dry residue was captured. This “afrecho” was given to the animals (pigs, chickens, ducks, etc.). The liquid from the hands was caught in a pot, sweetened with sugar, and given as a warm drink to children. Though the children were given this “chufla” for nutrition, adults liked it too. After this stage of straining the liquid it was left to cool for about 2 days. Then it is strained again with a finer cloth. The residue of this is called “ñuto.” This watery residue is heated, sweetened, and drunk. Sometimes cinnamon and apples are added.
Then the finely strained liquid in the vat was transferred to barrels (see photo) or taller ceramic vats and sweetened with about 4 gallons of molasses. This was left to rest in order that fermentation would begin. This took about 1-2 days. Then it was tasted for sweetness. More molasses was added if needed and it was left for a few hours to further ferment. When ready, it was poured into dark green or brown (glass) beer bottles and corked (see photo). The cork was tied with string so that the gass produced would not pop the cork. The bottles were left for two days. Both the taste and the potency could vary from cooking to cooking. If the bottles were left for more than 2 days its potency was increased. Sometimes bottles were buried in the ground for a month to produce a type of corn brandy. The sediment that formed at the bottom of the bottles was saved to use as a vinegar. The better the filtration, the less the sediment.
Chicha was generally drunk in small, dried halves of gourds which had decorations of leaves, flowers, and (sometimes) sayings burnt into the surface. Unfortunately, this delicious brew is no longer being made in this way.
LOCHE: AN UNUSUAL VEGETABLE FROM PERU
As far as I have been able to discover, the loche does not exist outside
Legend has it that loche will only germinate if women plant it. Rather than plant the seeds (there usually are none & any found seem to be sterile), a piece of the vine is planted. I believe this makes it somewhat unusual for squash.
The squash, itself, is dark green with some bluish tints, has irregular and bumpy ribbing running from the stem to the bottom. The skin is tough like an acorn squash. It generally is about 8 to 9 inches long and 4 to 5 inches at its widest.
If anyone has a picture of the squash or its vine, or more information about it, please contact me. Thanks. Meanwhile I will try to remember to take a picture of it and upload it.
START WITH GOOD FOOD
Jan's recipe for shark (called toyo or toyito in Spanish):
TOYO BOYO
· Saute (until garlic is golden) a sofrito of minced garlic (2-3 cloves or more), minced onion (1/2 onion), 2 tsps. chopped cilantro (leaves only) and if you can get it, 1/2 tsp. fresh curcuma* (or turmeric, called palillo in
· Add about 2 cups of fish stock & bring to a boil.
· Throw in raw peas (optional) and cubed raw potatoes and cook 10-15 minutes.
· Add 2 whole cobs of corn broken in half, the rest of the whole stick of curcuma/turmeric shredded. Powdered turmeric, if using instead (See * below).
· Add about 2 pounds (1 kilo) of shark cut into 2" cubes and cook about 10 minutes.
· Sprinkle with more chopped cilantro, salt & pepper, and serve in soup bowls with rice.
· Optional: this can be made spicy with the addition of some fresh hot red pepper (cuidado!) when adding the corn (this also makes the corn a whole food).
*Curcuma/turmeric is also available as a powder. This is the ingredient that gives curry its color and is purportedly very good for your memory. If using it fresh, scrape off the thin skin. If using the powder, mix it with a bit of oil to make a paste and add after the sautéing. If you have ulcers, gall bladder problems, are pregnant or nursing, or taking a blood thinner, consult your doctor. This amount is probably too small to harm, but to learn more about its properties and whether you should use it go to: http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/DVH/HerbsWho/0,3923,4046%7CCurcuma,00.html