cia – Page 129 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Morgan’s Rock on Bahia Majagual, Nicaragua

The bus ride from Granada to Rivas was about two hours. Taxi drivers swarmed as soon as we got off the bus. One of them started to take my backpack. Espera, I said, almost pissed off. Calm down and wait for us to hire one of you before you take our bags. We needed a ride to Morgan’s Rock on BahÃa Majagual and we heard prices up to $40. I read beforehand that the ride to San Juan was about $18, but because Morgan’s Rock is a private hacienda, we negotiated with one of the drivers for $25. Moises followed the blue MR signs on La Chocolata Road for 30 minutes before we reached the security gate. The guard let us in after confirming our reservations and we kept driving through the private forest until we arrived at the main lodge where ice-cold cranberry juice was waiting for us. Staff members in white uniforms and khaki shorts took our bags to deliver them to our room while the manager showed us around. We laughed at ourselves because we’ve never stayed at a luxury place in Central America.

Inspired by the Lapa Rios Ecolodge in Costa Rica, luxury became an understatement the three days we were at the hacienda because it came with impressive responsibility. Morgan’s Rock is part of a 1,000-hectare tree farming and reforestation project as well as an 800-hectare private nature reserve. More than a million hardwood and fruit trees have been planted the last five years to bring back the animals native to the Pacific Coast. Howler monkeys woke us up in the middle of the night. Magpie Blue Jays and squirrels joined us for coffee in the mornings. Turtle eggs are monitored and protected on the beach. They have a sugar cane mill where they make their own rum, plus a farm provides food to the staff and the guests.

All the wood used to build the bungalows came from responsibly-managed logging sources and tree farming projects in the country to ensure ecological responsibility. The bungalows face west and have a view of the bay or the estuary and they were all designed to shelter guests from all kinds of weather. The designer and architect only used local materials and recycled wood while local artisans created and crafted the furnishings. The bungalows are connected to the main lodge by a 110-meter suspension bridge which was built so that trees weren’t unnecessarily cut. We had to climb 184 steps to our #15 bungalow so we made sure we packed everything we needed in the morning. There is no solar power but a bio-filter system was installed for water and the pool only uses natural salt to stay clean. They also built an on-site waste disposal plant and separation system and created a recycling project.

Ranchitos or huts sit on the beach to provide respite from the intense sun. A pool with an infinity-style edge is right next to the restaurant and bar. We signed up for a night walk one night with Juan where we saw all kinds of animals in the dark with the help of a flashlight. There were snakes, scorpions, bats, spiders, sleeping birds and butterflies and stinky howler monkeys. (When it started to smell like cow poop, Juan howled to attract them. We ran as soon as they responded because they apparently throw their poop to scare you away.) We also hiked around the forest one morning where we saw a few white-faced monkeys across the shrimp farm. We used the body boards when the waves were strong enough. Unfortunately, the estuary was too dry to kayak and it was too windy in the season to go fishing with the staff. We didn’t do much while at Morgan’s Rock except truly relax and tune out.

Where to stay in Bahia Majagual: Morgan’s Rock Ecolodge and Hacienda

Il Buco

47 Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery
212/533.1932
$180 for four people with a bottle of wine, without tip
♥

We wanted to eat at Il Buco ever since we walked by one night and took a peek inside. Candles were lit that made the ambiance romantic and rustic at the same time. We just knew that it would be a nice place to sit, eat and drink wine with good company. Four of us finally booked a table one cold, winter night to do exactly just that. We could only get a 6pm table with a week’s notice, so we took it. Unfortunately, we were seated right next to the entrance of the wine cellar. Cozy it wasn’t. It looked like they were conducting a field trip down the basement. Guests kept walking in and stepping back out and I kept interrupting our table’s conversation by pushing the door closed to keep the draft from coming in. Our waitress never made a move to transfer us to an unoccupied table even though the restaurant was not completely full before 8pm. We had to ask the bus boy for more bread and olive oil because our waitress kept forgetting us. But since the bus boy only came by to take our plates away, we never had enough.

The menu is Mediterranean, a cuisine that I can enjoy any time, with some Italian specialities. But nothing in the menu made my heart palpitate. The special of the night was braised oxtails on mashed potatoes which I make at home for less than $30. An appetizer portion of baby eels were ordered, only to be canceled when our waitress informed us that it was going to cost us $75.

We ended up ordering the octopus with Umbrian chickpeas and parsley, the bass with fresh pomegranate, lime, red chili and cilantro, the cod with fennel, lemon and red onion with mint salsa verde, the fennel-crusted sashimi-grade tuna and the beef carpaccio. The small plates were at least $12 each. They were all delicious but a little hard on the wallet. We also decided to order full plates of the pappardelle with black trumpet mushrooms and the gnocchi. The pasta servings were so small. I can’t imagine getting them as half orders.

Il Buco is like waking up startled in the middle of a beautiful dream.

In and Around Granada, Nicaragua

As soon as we landed in Managua, we were picked up by Victor and driven about thirty minutes to Granada, the oldest city in Central America and yet the most developed destination in Nicaragua. Our home for three nights was Hospedaje La Siesta on Calle El Almendro, a modest room with private bath for $15 a night owned by a French-Nicaraguan couple awaiting their first child. It was the middle of the day when we checked in. It was hot, and since our flight out of New York was at 6am, we immediately fell asleep. We woke up just before the sun started to set and decided to walk to Parque Central to look for food.

Granada had a Oaxacan feel to it. Old buildings repainted in vibrant colors; beat-up sedans co-exist with horse carriages on cobble stone streets. The locals congregated in the park enjoying the warm early night breeze, while street vendors packed up their wares, as if thinking, Tomorrow is another day.

We ended up eating at SeÃ±ora Olga’s for dinner. It wasn’t a restaurant but a woman grilling chicken on the corner of Avenida Bodan. We ate our plates of barbequed chicken with a mountain of tostones, fried raw plantains, and maduros, fried ripe plantains, with coleslaw (35 cordovas apiece or $2) on plastic tables and chairs. We heard the loud singing from the small church across the street. There were young boys playing football on the other side, screaming, while mangy dogs waited for our leftovers. The lights turned off–a blackout–and for a while, we ate in the dark. We ended up eating at SeÃ±ora Olga’s a second time. To us, it was the best option in Granada, less we chose to eat pizza or pasta.

The next day, we woke up early to hike VolcÃ¡n Mombacho. We passed by the central market in search of breakfast. We stopped by a stall that had a sign on it, Desayuno, Breakfast, and ordered a plate of the gallo pinto: rice, red beans and huevos rancheros, or scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions. The big lady who ran the show was a bit disappointed that we didn’t touch the Jell-O-like tamal on our plates.

At Shell Palmira, our foreign-looking selves were guided to a souped-up school bus to Mombacho. The ride took only twenty minutes and the conductor told us when it was time for us to get off. From the highway, we walked about a mile until we reached the Biological Center. We paid our 100 cordovas ($5) to enter the Reserve. One of the uniformed rangers told us that we have to wait for two hours for the shuttle that will take us to the top of the volcano. It was only 8:30am so we decided to hike the almost-vertical concrete path ourselves. Well, the 3,000-feet hike up took us two hours. At the top, we learned that there were two craters, Sendero el CrÃ¡ter and Sendero la Puma. We were so exhausted from our hike, we only had strength left for the 25-minute walk around Sendero el CrÃ¡ter and not the estimated 3-hour Puma. VolcÃ¡n Mombacho is now practically a forest; privately-owned coffee plantations and cattle ranchers cover the rest of the land. From the lookout points, we could see Lake Cocibolca, Nicaragua’s largest lake, and Las Isletas, the islets believed to have come from the last major eruption.

On our way down, I convinced the Dr. to zipline. We’ve never done a canopy tour before, so we gave up $50 to belay and zip to fifteen platforms and give ourselves a thrill by doing “the Superman” and “the upside-down.” The entire course runs 1,500 meters and there was even a hanging (and shaky) rope bridge to cross from one of the platforms. We rappeled from a large ceiba tree 23 meters down to one of the farms to finish. It was beautiful up there. We could see the lake from some of the platforms. The massive trees looked so alive with orchids and ferns growing from their branches. At the end of the course, our guides radioed the base camp and had us picked up. We were given a ride all the way down to the Biological Center, so all we had to do was walk the last 30 minutes to the highway to catch the bus back to Granada.

On our last day in Granada, we had breakfast at Nica Buffet, a Dutch-owned restaurant, where we had pancakes and, finally, good coffee. The owner recommended that we sign up with Hostal Oasis to visit Laguna de Apoyo for the day. For about $30, we joined a few other young couples and got on a van to go to Crater’s Edge, where we spent the entire day lazing by the lake. It was too hot to do anything; too hot to kayak, too hot to hike, even too hot to sunbathe. The swimming hole is 48 square-kilometers and it’s trapped inside the crater of VolcÃ¡n Apoyo. It’s one of the cleanest and deepest (at about 650 feet) lagoons in the country. It got kind of boring after a few hours of sitting prettily. We finished our books under the shade and we were anxious to keep moving.

Back in town, we paid $1 each to go up the bell tower of La Merced Church and watch the sun set. We could see everything from up there. The courtyards and the roofs even reminded me of Prague; the church domes of Barcelona. We walked to the malecon and said our goodbyes to Granada as the sun went down like a red-orange yolk.

Where to stay in Granada, Nicaragua: Hospedaje La Siesta

Tea-Smoked Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze

Now I’m on a smoking binge. The pulled pork was such a success, I decided to smoke some chicken, too. It’s from the same article by Dana Bowen in The Times. This didn’t require the hickory-wood smoking chips, only ingredients I already had in my pantry. I loved cooking this because it turned out beautifully. The glaze gave the chicken a nice golden color and smoking it made the meat inside silky and juicy. It was perfect with some yellow rice and, you guessed it, pickled scotch bonnet peppers.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut in half, or in several pieces
2 small oranges
2 tbsps Earl Grey tea
2 cinnamon sticks
5 pods of star anise
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsps pomegranate molasses
Sriracha chili sauce, to taste
salt, pepper, oil

1. Zest one orange and peel the other. Squeeze out juice and save for sauce. Scatter the orange peels on a roasting pan with the tea, cinnamon sticks and anise. Put the rack on top and place the chicken pieces on the rack. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat. When it starts to smoke a little, cover with aluminum foil by forming a tent. Smoke for about 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered.
3. While chicken is smoking, make glaze. In a bowl, combine zest, hoisin, pomegranate molasses and Sriracha. Add some of the orange juice to make sure it’s not too thick. Set aside.
4. In a large skillet with some hot oil, cook the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to low and brush chicken with the glaze using a pastry brush. Cook for a few more minutes until the glaze has browned a little.

North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork

The Dr. called it dedication to my meat. When a friend asked me if I was interested in going out on Saturday, I had to decline. I said I was going to be busy smoking and roasting an eight-pound pork shoulder. I don’t know why that sounds funny, but it does, because I think I’ve come a long way from cooking small dishes. Now I’m roasting a part of a pig with a bone as large as my arm. What’s even funnier is that my friend reacted nonchalantly because I know she’s heard something similar from me before. I don’t think I can say anything anymore that would surprise the people who know me so well.

The recipe looked easy enough. It’s from an article written by Dana Bowen in The Times. All I had to do was buy a tin can of hickory-wood smoking chips from Zabar’s uptown and a large piece of pork from Bayard Meat Market that fit in my tote bag. I love my barbeque, I really do, and if I can produce a good version at home, I’ll be happy. Almost six hours later, I was; the entire family was. Serve with toasted rolls and of course, pickled scotch bonnet peppers.

Ingredients:
1 8-pound pork shoulder, bone-in
3 tbsps of hickory-wood smoking chips
2 cups of cider vinegar
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
salt and pepper

1. Massage pork with salt and pepper. Scatter the smoking chips at the bottom of the roasting pan. Place the pork on a rack and then on the roasting pan. Cover with two long pieces of aluminum foil, folding them together tightly and forming a closed tent. Make sure there is room for the smoke to circulate between the pork and the foil. Place on stovetop and turn on the heat to medium and smoke pork for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and rest, covered, for 5 minutes.
2. While pork is smoking, preheat oven to 300Âº. Whisk the rest of the ingredients in a bowl to make sauce. Season to taste, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Uncover the roasting pan and transfer it to the oven. Cook for 40 minutes per pound, or about 4 hours, turning the pork over every hour until a meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the pork reads 190Âº.
4. Remove pork from the oven and rest on a large cutting board for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. While still warm, pull meat away from bones and shred chunks of meat into long strands into a bowl. Chop crustier bits into smaller pieces and add to the bowl. Season with some of the sauce and mix well.