Camacho Watcho

Awhile back I was reading a friend’s blog post about the Omnivore’s 100 (or the 100 foods to eat before you die). On his list of things he had yet to try was Mole Poblano. Mole (mole-ay) is a Mexican sauce made of ground spices and chiles and it is typically made for special occasions such as weddings due to its lengthy preparation process. I had helped my mom and sister make mole a few years back for Christmas Eve dinner so I decided to give it a go and offered to make Mole Poblano.

While mole in general is made of ground spices and chiles, mole poblano is a bit different due to its history and the addition of one ingredient in particular…chocolate. According to my cookbook “Mexico The Beautiful”, there are several legends about the creation of mole poblano. They tell the tale that the head sister at the convent of Santa Rosa was charged with creating a meal for the archbishop and Spanish viceroy. She used the Mexican mole as the base and added chocolate, which she knew was an ingredient used for royalty. In the end, she created “a festive dish that epitomizes the culinary marriage between the Spanish and Mexican worlds.”

It sounds simple, but let me tell you, mole is the furthest thing from simple. Just check out the ingredient list: mulato chiles, pasilla chiles, ancho chiles, vegetable oil, tomatillos, cloves, peppercorns, Mexican cinnamon stick, anise seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, cloves, raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds, tortillas, french rolls, chicken broth, Mexican chocolate.

And as if the list wasn’t lengthy enough…each chile must be deseeded, fried, soaked and then pureed, each type of seed must be toasted separately. The tortillas, rolls, almonds and raisins are each fried separately…and it goes on and on.

So where did I find all of these ingredients? The simple answer would have been to go to the Rainbow or Cub Foods on Lake St. in South Minneapolis. But instead, I used this shopping trip as an excuse to visit El Burrito Mercado in W. St. Paul. And, of course, even though I was there for mole ingredients, I had to try their famous Mexican food that they prepare in their deli. Wow – was it good! I had one chicken and one beef taco (both corn tortillas) topped with white onions, cilantro and lime, rice and beans. Absolutely fantastic – especially the beans. They were so creamy and smooth…practically melt in your mouth good! I can’t wait to take my dad there next time he visits!


So back to mole, I spent the afternoon making the mole and a few appetizers of beef and chorizo empanadas. I was almost finished, when I decided to taste the mole to check if I needed to adjust the seasoning. So I took a little taste…hmmm…just as I remembered it. Intense, complex, toasted, dark….a taste that I actually don’t really like. I couldn’t believe that after an entire afternoon of cooking, I was just remembering that of all the moles that I do enjoy, mole poblano is just not my favorite.

But that was okay by me. I loved the process of making the mole and am looking forward to making other mole recipes in the future. Maybe I’ll try the hazelnut mole recipe again that we made a few Christmas’s ago or perhaps a mole verde, since I love tomatillos so much. Perhaps. Regardless, the important part is that we all tried mole poblano and could mark it off the Omnivore’s 100 list of foods to eat before we die. What’s next? Who knows…Ed does keep talking about wanting to try lobster thermidor…

I woke up this past Sunday to a wonderfully sunny, albeit windy, spring day. There were blue skies and fluffy clouds and I had the whole day stretched before me. As I sat, enjoying my coffee, I noticed my cat, Bert, stretched out in a patch of sun just at the foot of my chair. Relaxation was written all over his face and I couldn’t help but feel the same.

That morning I was meeting some girlfriends at French Meadow Bakery in Uptown. I had heard so many times that their breakfast burrito is the best in town, yet I had never eaten there. I am usually the one who speaks in extremes, so that fact that I’ve had not only one person, but several people, tell me to try their burrito, I felt I had no choice. I did not even go inside the restaurant to browse the menu, rather one of my girlfriends put in my burrito order, while I basked in the sun and saved our table. The day could not have been better.

My burrito arrived, topped with a mild salsa and diced scallions. To my delight, there were also sides of a spicier salsa, a cool sour cream sauce and a mix of black beans and corn. The combination of these accompaniments with the fluffy egg, soft tortilla and barely-there hashbrowns nearly melted my heart. The coffee was also quite tasty and free refills were available, making it easy to enjoy a couple cups while catching up with friends.

Our next stop on this lazy Sunday, was to head to Art-a-Whirl. We browsed the studios in Northeast Minneapolis, of course making just a couple purchases and mentally noting a few other things to keep our eye on. I will have to remember to return on First Thursdays, when the studios are also open – so many great, unique things to look at and to buy.

The last adventure of the day was a quick bike ride down the River Road to Longfellow Grill to enjoy a Summit and a little time with Kyle. The drawback was that there were no chairs open in the sun. So we shivered a bit, drank up, and hopped back on our bikes, headed home after a long, lazy day.

Today is another day…I believe that is what I said a few months ago while in South America. It’s true, obviously. But, it’s something to take to heart as well. Be where you are and enjoy. So, on that note, here are my final days in Argentina and my return home.

The last few days after Mendoza were spent in Buenos Aires. This was my fourth and final trip and I was finally going to do some sightseeing. Buenos Aires is made up of many neighborhoods that have such unique personalities. It really is amazing to wander through each one and experience the people, the food, the sights and the sounds. I had already spent a great deal of time in Palermo, where most of the boutique shopping is, therefore we decided to start out on our first morning for La Boca. This is a bright, vibrant area of Buenos Aires where many artists live. There is a large market with tango, vendors and small shops called Caminita and it is also the home to several of the local soccer teams such as Boca Juniors and Boca River.

The next stop was La Casa Rosada…The Pink House. This is the government building like the White House in the U.S., located near Puerto Madero. The balcony of this historical building is the setting for Eva Peron’s many addresses to the Argentinian masses. From La Casa Rosada, we strolled along until we reached the Obelisk, which is located in the middle of one of the busiest streets in Buenos Aires. With eight lanes of traffic in each direction and billboards filling the sky, this area feels like a cross between Times Square and the Champs-Élysées.

After the Obelisk, we headed to the Eva Peron museum in Recoletta. While I’d love to say that we spent hours pouring through the history of Eva Peron’s life, we actually were starving by the time we arrived, so we ate lunch. Unfortunately, after lunch we decided that since it was so late in the day, we would leave for the next adventure. It pains me now, as I hear how amazing this museum is, so I will need to return someday to properly visit it. However, the artisan pasta we had there was amazing; I highly recommend it for lunch.

After the museum, we stayed in Recoletta and walked through the Japanese gardens. To be quite honest, these were a major disappointment. The Japanese gardens in San Francisco are much better and since we had more places to go…we left after just a few minutes.

Our next destination was the Recoletta Cemetery, where Eva Peron’s body remains. The area of Recoletta where the cemetery is located is very Parisian with its beautiful streets lined with high end boutiques. We first stopped for some ice cream at Freddo’s, which is an Argentinian gelatto store that is amazing! Kyle got the malbec ice cream – another high recommendation from me! After our ice cream, we headed into the cemetery, which is just beautiful. It is, however, a little creepy to be walking through the tombs and to see broken glass and granite blocks that allow perfect viewing of the caskets that are held within. If you are creeped out easily, I would recommend staying on the main, tourist path and not walking through the narrow aisles off the beaten track, as we did. While the cemetery itself was beautiful, the church next door is also quite amazing and actually offers fantastic views of the cemetery next door from the resident chambers.

After a long walk home, we settled in and decided where to eat. Truly, if you find yourself in Buenos Aires someday and you only have the opportunity to eat one dinner – you must go to Cabana Las Lilas. Yes, it is a bit touristy, but it is absolutely the best meal, steak, antipasti platter, dessert, experience ever. That is all I will say.

And so it was my final day in South America. It had been three months of pure adventure and it was perfect.

I’ve been down here awhile and I haven’t really addressed the cost of living issue down here compared to the US. So, what is the situation? Before coming here, I definitely go the impression that it would be dirt cheap to eat, drink and socialize. Being here for awhile, I would say it is part true…depending on choice. How so? I’ll tell you….

The first thing to note when talking about costs is the odd exchange rate of the US dollar compared to the Uruguayan peso. Right now the rate is about 22:1. Makes for quite an easy translation on the fly, right? It’s so interesting to be carrying around 100 or 200 peso bills, when in actually they are worth roughly $5 or $10. While this is strange, I will note that Chile’s exchange rate is even more bizarre. There, the exchange rate is about 500:1. There is always this odd feeling when you translate upon payment….”let’s see, 1,000 pesos is $2, therefore 14,000 pesos equals $7″….of course.

But back to Uruguay. In general, public transportation, entertainment, hotels, services (haircuts, etc) and most foods are very affordable. What’s expensive is clothing! Actually, this pertains only to clothing bought in a store (vs. bought in one of the many markets), because that clothing is taxed heavily with import taxes. So, this is good and bad for me….at least it helps to not tempt me into too much shopping. I had to escape to Argentina for that!

So, what is the standard of living around here? Here are some sample costs that I have incurred:
Basket of Laundry (which is actually all my laundry) – cleaned and delivered to my hotel room = 85 pesos (approx. $4)
Haircut = 100 pesos (approx. $5)
Bottle of Wine – Normal bottle of average wine bought in a store = 120 pesos (approx. $6)
Bottle of Wine – Normal bottle of average wine bought in a restaurant = 240 to 300 pesos (approx. $10-$15)
15 minute taxi ride across town = 85 pesos (approx. $4)
Bus fare = 13.5 pesos (approx. $.45)
Sit down lunch including entree and beverage = 120 to 150 pesos (approx. $6-$8)
Sit down dinner including entree, dessert and wine = 200 to 500 pesos (approx. $10-$25) – obviously varies by restaurant
Ticket to Barro Negro = 150 pesos (approx. $6)

But I want to rewind…to the $5 haircut. You cannot imagine my surprise at this! In the US, I go to a hair salon…a very nice, but certainly not the snootiest salon on the block. My hair takes about 1 hour total and costs me $60 (including tip). I went to a hair dresser that was recommended to me here. Granted, the place was not wafting with the scents of Aveda – rosemary and mint prickling your nose. Nor, did it come with the lounging table that you relax on while you hair is being washed. I also did not receive a head massage that usually nearly puts me to sleep and makes drool after a long day at work. BUT, in 15 short minutes and for the bargain price of 150 pesos (total including tip…I felt too bad about such a small price), I got a fantastic haircut. I literally, stood up from my chair and asked her how much and couldn’t believe my ears.

I’ve recently also had dinners that have completely surprised me. For instance, I went to dinner with three friends just two night ago. We ordered meals, a few beers and a bottle of wine. The bill was $50 total. Wow. You just can’t beat it. The one area for improvement would be the service with drinks. It’s easy to find yourself stranded with an empty wine glass. My tip is to always order another glass (if you think you want one) when the waiter comes around. You’re just not sure when the next time they show their face may be.

Another thing to mention about the cost of living in Uruguay is the art of tipping. Tipping on food is customary – you usually tip around 10% for food, which definitely feels cheap for us Norte Americanos. It’s also interesting that tipping for taxis is not necessarily standard. You are told to round up to the nearest peso, but that doesn’t exactly make sense to me and generally doesn’t result in much of a tip (usually on 5 or 6 pesos). My friends and I have generally been tipping between 10 to 20 pesos. This seems to really brightened their day and we get an emphatic “Muchas gracias! Chau!” I know that when you go to other countries, you should abide by their customs, but in this case, the extra dollar just seems worth it. The taxi drivers can be so nice. They are very patient as you struggle to speak a lick of Spanish and are always asking questions about why you’re here, do you miss your family, what is the US like? It kind of makes my day, too, to get a good taxi driver.

I think you get the picture of the costs down here. Knowing this, hopefully it helps explain why all I’ve been doing since getting here is working, eating, drinking, dancing and sleeping. Food and drink are cheap and are fantastic as well. I’m assuming I’ll have a total culture shock when I return home and go to my first restaurant. First of all, I’m certain they will insist I order upon sitting down. And then they will bring me my bill before I even have a look at the dessert menu. I’ll be shocked when they bring the bill as I’m still enjoying my entree. And the kicker will be the expectation to receive a 20% tip. The nerve!

This entry marks the first in a four part series on Buenos Aires. The reason for four parts? You guessed it! Four trips to Buenos Aires. Four separate trips does sound like a bit much in a short timeframe, but each should be unique in its own way in part because of who I will be spending time there with. This first trip was spent with my friend Holly and was a trip designed soley for shopping. I’ll get to that, hang on. The second trip, my husband arrives from the US to begin his visit down here, and that will mark a magnificently happy day for me!!!! The third trip will be a short one as a night layover with Kyle, Carly and Ed on our way to Mendoza. The final trip is an actual 2 1/2 day sightseeing tour of Buenos Aires, which will mark the final days of my stay in South America. And so…on with the show.

Buenos Aires…Part I
Buenos Aires…the Paris of South America….cultural, shopping, eating mecca of Latin America. Call it what you want. I call it AMAZING. I have to admit that my expectations had been set very high for this first trip to Buenos Aires, therefore I had some reasonable doubts when I went whether these expectations would actually be met. My husband always warns me about having too high of expectations and also setting expectations too high for others. I have a tendency to always claim to know of the “best burger in the world” or the “best fish tacos ever”. He warns me that others will just be let down since these are only my opinions. I certainly do not want to hype Buenos Aires up too much for any of you who have not been there, therefore this is my disclaimer…This story is based on my actual happenings of one weekend in Buenos Aires and is heavily influenced by my romanticism and flair for the dramatic. Reader discretion advised.

Getting there from here
This part was not as easy has we had all hoped it would be. There seems to be a loose version of the truth floating around Montevideo as to travel time, distance and costs. The reality of it is that there are two options to go between Buenos Aires and Montevideo…plane or Buquebus. We chose the Buquebus. Buequebus? I’m glad you asked. This is a large ferry that shuttles either direct to Buenos Aires in 3 hours or from Colonia in 50 minutes (along with a 2 hour bus ride to Colonia). The ferry is large, lolls from side to side and is filled with all sorts of characters. I highly recommend at least one trip on the Buquebus if you have the opportunity and the time; it is an experience all of its own. One more thought before I leave the topic. Buquebus is now my favorite word to say…being from the US, when I first got here I pronounced this word with my very flat midwestern US English bookabus. I have since been corrected and now I cannot imagine saying it another way bookeeboos. Now, picture me saying this and whenever I do, I feel compelled to shake my head from side to side and make faces like I’m talking to a baby bookee bookkee bookee. I’m sure the locals don’t find it amusing. However, Holly and I certainly did after sharing a bottle of wine on the Buquebus.

Back to Buenos Aires. As I mentioned, this trip was for one purpose and one purpose only…SHOPPING. I love to shop. My sister and I were trained from an early age to shop by my mom and aunt. By “shopping”, I don’t necessarily mean “buying”. No, buying is not always the purpose. The purpose is to have the stamina to hunt, and sometimes gather, through endless stores, clothing racks and dressing rooms. For this, I have been trained. And let me tell you, I am glad. Buenos Aires is known for it shopping, countless stores filled with leather, clothing and shoes. Some of it is cheap, as you’ve probably heard, but there are definitely the high end boutiques that are amazing! As far as the spending goes, let’s just say that I bought my fair share, and for the sake of my husband reading this, I did show a lot of restraint. Holly’s fiancee made a comment to her later that day to effect of “Why do some women feel compelled to buy something in every store they go in?” She corrected him by saying something like “Every woman feels compelled to buy something when they enter a store. Half of the women buy and half of the women don’t. And then there are those times, like these, when those women who usually show self constraint just give in and go for it.”

A couple of shopping areas to point out:
Calle Florida: Pedestrian street with endless stores of cheap leather warehouses.
Calle Santa Fe: Large street with many leather and other clothing stores (seen in both pictures below)
Palermo: Including Palermo SoHo and Palermo Hollywood – Collection of small neighborhoods with boutique shopping
Galleries Pacifico: Large mall near Calle Florida with a collection of boutiques, leather stores and jewelry stores

I could go on and on about the shopping, but honestly, if you hit those places…most likely you’ve done enough damage to your credit card already. An item to note on the leather, as I definitely think this was one of the areas where my expectations fell short. Fact: Cheap leather goods (bags, shoes, purses, jackets) are everywhere in Buenos Aires. Fact: Stylish leather goods are not as easy to find and are not as cheap. That was okay, however, as the prices for these are still fairly reasonable compared to the US. I think my husband can attest to the fact after reviewing my credit card statements from the weekend, that my favorite stores in Buenos Aires are Prune and Skin. Both of these are leather stores, which you can find in the boutique areas and also in Galleries Pacifico.

Our Saturday was filled with shopping, shopping and more shopping. The only break we took was to refuel at a wine store that held tastings of Argentinian Malbec. Imagine that…we found a wine tasting! Tasting the Malbecs from Mendoza fueled my excitement for my upcoming trip to that wine region and I can’t wait to start planning. Dinner that night was spent with a few friends; one who is on the same program as me in Buenos Aires and one who just moved to Buenos Aires from Minneapolis. I had a wonderful Argentinian steak followed by crema ice cream with dulce de leche. Wow. A couple notes on food. First of all dulce de leche is everywhere down here. This is a thick, caramel-like sweet that is used in everything…cookies, ice cream, crepes, you name it. It is simply amazing and will simply be downfall for not fitting into my clothes back at home. A second note on food: the beef. I actually enjoyed the two steaks that I had in Argentina better than the steaks I’ve had in Uruguay. Gasp! But, please do not tell anyone in Uruguay that, as I still have 4 weeks to go here and I do not want to be evicted from the country for making such a statement. It’s our secret.

Dinner was followed by a shared bottle of wine at a very trendy bar, set in a transformed mansion in the middle of Palermo. Couples and small groups of fashion-oriented and beautiful twenty and thirty somethings lounged in the dark wood interior and outside in the grand courtyard. Being the friendly Norte Americanos that we are, we met three girls from Mendoza who became our fast friends. The night ended, of course, with a trip to a discoteque with the girls and we danced the night away.

San Telmo
The next day we did allow ourselves time for one sightseeing trip, which was spent in the antique market in San Telmo, held at the Plaza Dorrego. I’ve been to many markets here, but this market is by far my favorite. The neighborhood itself reminds me much of the French Quarter in New Orleans and it has the most beautiful architecture and cobblestone streets.

It was there that I first experienced live tango music. Wandering along the streets, we heard the familiar sounds of the tango and saw a large crowd. Excited to see real live tango in Buenos Aires, we weaved through the masses and found ourselves experiencing, not dancing, but musicians. When I thought of the tango before, I thought of a dance with the main attraction the dancers, dramatically dressed in red and black. What I know now is that tango is actually the seduction of the music, not of the dancers. The musicians were playing what looked like a antique, violins, basses, accordions and a piano and the sound that harmonized from them was, in fact, more dramatic than dancers could ever be. I know that this was not just the experience of the music for me, but the experience of the standing in a pedestrian street in Buenos Aires with the colorful buildings and intricate wrought iron balconies surrounding me as I listened to this soulful music. I cannot wait to return.

This is more of a comment and a mental picture than an important aspect to life in Montevideo. But, being that I am a Camacho girl, and I do love my shoes, I feel I must say something.

Shoes. There was a time, believe it or not, when I did not enjoy shoes as I do now. Somehow in my teens I did not latch onto my mom and aunt’s love of shoes. My sister caught on to this and to date, I believe she has the most impressive collection of shoes that I’ve seen. Although, my friend Kate has the most impressive organization of her shoes (polaroids on the outsides of the boxes…how can you compete with that?). Anyway, sometime after college I started appreciating shoes – they are both a necessity and an accessory…es perfecto!

So what does this have to do with Montevideo? Let’s just say that shoes are not the most practical fashion accessory down here. The streets are older, cobblestone in most cases. The sidewalks are this way as well. The women of Montevideo are very practical and they do not wear designer heels and fancy shoes because of the wear and tear and the impracticality of walking on the cobblestones. Enter…Katie. I brought several pair of shoes down here and only one pair of work shoes. Heels. These are almost unheard of down here for any reasons except to get in a taxi and go dancing…not walking on the street.

So, I leave you with this mental imagine of me on a typical work day. The historic buildings, the cobblestones, the plazas with their beautiful statues, the street vendors selling goods, the rain (unfortunately)…and me, with my heels, hobbling through it all. En el nombre de la moda! (In the name of fashion!)