Fresh Produce

V hates the market on market days and is usually content to place orders with our local retailer Doña I, who makes early morning expeditions on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and is happy to take along a list of requests from her regulars. There's a small mark-up of course, but she clearly knows how, when and where to find good produce.

Around lunchtime yesterday we were going to drift in the general direction of Domino's, but V tends to suffer quite badly from pizza remorse, so instead we decided to pick up a load of fresh ingredients for a more lastingly satisfying evening meal.

The market ought to have been a bit quieter yesterday, but what with all the quacks selling miracle cures, there was still quite a gentío gathered in the open-air section at the rear. It also appears that the premenstruals have taken full control now of the back road featuring Toreros and the Hermano Pedro hospital, so no more "bien cuidado seño?" but have those marbetes ready.

Amongst other things, we returned home with three big pieces of yuca (Q5) and a load of aubergines and large round avocados which V managed to pick up at Q1 each. As ever I kept well out of the way.

The woman selling the avos suggested to V that she ought to try adding some cilantro to her guacamol. It's something I recall experimenting with in London and is certainly not un-heard of in guacamoles north of the border, but here in Guatemala it's just not the done thing...but does anyway make an interesting alternative. (The coriander on our studio terrace is thriving, but we have yet to attempt to grow oregano.)

The regatonas were still insisting on Q4.50 or Q5 for a pound of tomatoes, so we drove around to the finca in San Barcholo, where they are happy to sell them to us for just Q1.50 a pound. (Salads rather than Plums however.)

For some reason onions have been comparatively expensive for the past couple of months. (Q4.50+ per pound.) and such is the enduring difficulty of getting hold of decent mushrooms at a decent price around here, that V has often suggested to me that if there's one business she'd like to start in Antigua it would be 'fungi-mart'.

On a separate note, on a matter only indirectly related to fresh produce, it strikes me that Q29.95 for an 8-pack of Carta Blanca at the Despensa Familiar represents an exceedingly good deal.

Why oh why does the Bodegona keep running out of GuateMaya habanero sauce?