Meals & Recipe
"Very very important in any fishing trip... is the food!"
I am pleased to offer a mix of local meals, as well as international cooking from France and Italy.
What's for Dinner? The catch of the day?
Costa Rica and Nicaragua are not typically known as gourmet destinations, but in San Jose, Managua, and Granada there are some good restaurants. After exploring the region for over 20 years, we've discovered there are some delicious dining options. For great food in the area, we recommend, Asseri (Local Surtidas), Le Chef Jacques (basic good French cooking), and Fellini (really gourmet Italian) for some of the best food Nicaragua have to offer.
Most of the time during your fishing trip, you will be around and on our fishing grounds. Many of our meals include a rice and beans combination called Gallo pinto, Casado, or Arroz con frijoles whatever you call it, it is generally the same in all of Central America.
Guest can't eat rice and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday, so we generally prepare several French dishes, and some other international dishes acquired over years of travel. Also, we often serve some typical local dishes including the Gallo Pinto, El Bao, The Tortillas, El Casado, and Los Picadillo.
Basic daily "Menu"
BREAKFAST In the morning we may serve traditional Gallo Pinto with eggs, and we add hot fresh bread, butter, various delicious marmalades, and fruits depending on what is in season. Examples would be pineapple, banana "Jardin", mango, and fresh fruit juice.
LUNCH Normally our lunch is at friends' Ranchos on the river banks. Obviously, there will be some rice and beans around, but then we add potatoes, yucca, tiquisque, and whatever the morning catch was that day, which will be served as a filet or whole. Chicken is always around, and some other more exotic surprises such as deer, turtle, or turtle eggs may also be served. If around lunchtime we have hooked a tarpon, then we will go on fighting it and eat aboard. We always have food in our coolers such as fruits, cookies, ham, marmalade, bread, and butter, so nobody will go hungry.
DINNER Dinners are typically a little more sophisticated. We generally have them at the lodge or in local restaurants. Some of the restaurants we visit are Kaoma, El Mirador in San Carlos, Hospedage in Solentiname, and El Castillo. We generally will have our catch of the day, which can be grilled, or in a filet, with different sauces from the local restaurant. You might have your fish French style with whipped cream and mushrooms, In tomatoes with onions, or in garlic sauce. We also may have some of our famous river shrimp, chicken, or meat (sometimes deer). Each protein can be cooked la Parilla or a la Plancha, and we recommend the Pollo a la Crema del Kaoma, which is excellent. Everything in the lodge's kitchen typically has a French touch.
River Shrimps, Langostinos, Camarones de Rio, Ouassou...
Cooking: My favorite French Sauce...
Will match almost all fish,
( A new experience for me to write a Cooking Recipe in English...not easy I hope it is understandable...)
Sometime I feel really sorry for my poor English...if something sound really strange or is totally impossible to understand please E mail me I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN BETTER
* Bernie's favorite drinks..
They are "Classic" but so special when Bernie make them.. and so fast ... No show ...Efficiency!!!! ( Thanks Bernie... it's always with a great pleasure than we think of you and Don...)
# 1 Martini
a glass almost full of good gin..
1 small spoon full of dry vermouth.
3 or 4 large green olives.
1 small spoon full of olive juice.
pour all ingredients into a shaker of ice. stir and let chill. pour into martini glasses. if
you like, pour over ice (ON THE ROCKS)add 2 or 3 olives or a piece of lemon peel.
#2 a glass full of gin
small spoon full of sweet vermouth, or dry if you don't have sweet.
1/2 a glass of tonic water.
a bit of lemon juice and lemon peel.
mix all together and serve over ice. after 3 or 4 of these, get ready to dance, or fight.................
Bernie cook
GAR RECIPES..
14th of July 2003 I got this nice E mail from someone around Mississippi...
E mail is Gopapat@aol.com Thank You Philippe
I enclosed a couple of recipes you might like to try.
Here in Louisiana this is the bait we use to catch the really big ones. However, if you have never eaten alligator gar, you have missed a real treat. Here are a couple of recipes. This, as with most recipes, will take a couple of times to get the seasonings adjusted to your liking.
1 lb of ground alligator gar meat from a large one
1 lb of pealed and ground Irish potatoes
1/2 lb of finely chopped green onions
2-3 Tbls minced garlic
2 stalks of finely chopped celery
2 tsps salt and black pepper sprinkled over mixture
2-3tsps Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning or red pepper. Tony's is best.
2 Tbls of "Try Me" brand Tiger Sauce
Mix well with your hands. Roll into balls about 11/2" diameter then, flatten to about 1/2" thick. Roll in yellow corn meal or corn flour and fry. Hum-hum good. Try dipping your hands in cold water when fish begins to stick to them.
2 lbs of fresh gar from a large one.
Cut alligator gar meat into steaks about 1/2" thick. Season with salt, black pepper, garlic, onion and celery powder or Toney's Cajun Seasoning. Roll in yellow corn flour or corn meal. Fry until golden brown. Another hum-hum good.