To see to believe

Yes, there are some pictures taken in Bolivia. If you have been reading this blog, the Flickr site with photos may be interesting. Please check the menu on your right side: 'Bolivia mercados', with some pics taken in Cochabamba, La Paz and El Alto, and 'Bolivia Chiquitos', with pics taken in the eastern part of the country in the 'Jesuit circuit'.

Blogs, projects, dreams

The journey, like a dream, may come to an end. In this case, after almost a month of travel, I am now back in my house. And in this part of the planet the sun is pale now, and even if the temperatures are still pleasant, it means that the winter is coming. The park in front of my eyes is full of autumn leaves. Meanwhile I wonder about blogs, projects, and the nature of dreams.

Travelling was a therapy, in many senses. But now it is time to go ahead.

I still have the project to develop a network of blogs (in Spanish). It is going to be hard. Well, I am working now in those blogs, knowing the challenges involved: sustainability (the main one), and the difficulty to deal with all of this alone at this moment.

Other projects, I feel like,,,, Those will never happen, in my opinion. Like the network of children bloggers, or the ‘Memory of the XXth Century’. Maybe, I will find on the road an institution that would like to take them, who knows. Not to talk about the project for a couple books involving: food, people, culture, travel, geography, environment, agriculture, cooking, history, all at the same time. These are already in the freezer.

All of these projects, of course, also depend on how much work I have in the future. It often looks as if I am unemployed, but actually I do have a freelance job. And this job may become more intense, demanding, interesting, and challenging in the near future.

Well, this is transparent enough. I wont say anything about the nature of dreams, of course. Except that I have lots.

Tonight, I am coming back from a Bikram Yoga class. Also a therapy.

What can I say about this blog, The Vagabundo? There will be more travel and maybe some more posts. But the trip to Bolivia is over.

The cebiche affaire

This is what it takes: very fresh raw fish, hot chili pepper, salt and black pepper, onion, and lemon juice. It looks simple, but the cebiche, the best known Peruvian food, takes a lot more if it is going to be a good one. And that's the reason why yesterday I rang the bell in what looked like a family house in Lima in order to meet a a man that is also a legend among those who look for the best cebiche: Javier Wong

It takes time to get there. First, you need to get a place, and there are only 6 or 7 small tables in this house. And then you need to find the house, in a small street around La Victoria in Lima. Very few people know about this restaurant. However, it is enough to keep it full everyday. And in any case, the name of the cook is quoted more often in the media, in a country where food is a matter of national pride. He was one of the Peruvian stars in the latest 'Madrid Fusión' gastronomic show.

Wong is a Chinese descendant in a country that in the past has received lots of migrants from Asia, mainly from China and Japan. The integration of those migrants to the Peruvian society has had a big influence over the food. And there are 2 types of food created by that fusion: the Chifa food (Chinese), and the Nikkei food (Japanese).

In this underground restaurant you eat cebiche as a starter. Javier Wong is in one corner of the restaurant making it the moment you order. He uses only sole fish, huge ones. And it is a show to see him cutting the big fish and the ingredients in order to mix them in a bowl. So here is how he makes it: first the red onion, then the chili pepper know as 'ají limo' (see the 'ingredientes' folder at http://www.flickr.com/photos/luiscor/), then black pepper and salt. And, of course, the raw fish. He mixes it, and just before serving adds a bit of lemon juice.

Well, to tell you the truth, most cooks do that. But there is something in Wong's cebiche. Then you discover that this is not only cooking. The result is a raw fish (the lemon is for taste, it doesn't get to cook the fish), very spicy, and so tasty. An experience. Forgot to say that the day I went, he also added octopus.

Then Javier Wong offers a hot dish. Usually he makes only one, depending on the ingredients he has and how he feels. There is no choice. This time it was sole again, but cooked in the wok with Chinese ingredients. He goes out to a small courtyard and produces a lot of fire and smoke around that wok. The result is really amazing.

There is one thing about Wong's place: it may be the most expensive place I have been in this city.

However, it is also a good moment to wonder if looking for the best cebiche here is not a useless mission. Because there are so many places where one can find the 'experience'. It is important to understand that food is a major feature in visits to Perú, that there are tourists coming here only to eat in restaurants, that the Peruvian food is being exported to the world, and this means that there are amazing chefs and places to eat, and the markets are full of fresh, first quality products.

Cebiche is everywhere in Lima. And everyone has something to say about the preparation of the raw fish, or about where to go, what kind of fish should be used. The cebicherías are part of the geography of this city. But be aware: this is not food to be eaten for dinner here in Lima. It is for lunch, and most cebicherías are already closed by 4 or 5 pm.

My own favorite place is 'La Mar', one of the restaurants of chef Gastón Acurio, an international star who is also an activist of Peruvian food. You will find only fish here. And of course there are many types of cebiche, including the sliced version called 'tiradito', prepared by very young cooks behind the bar. This is also an experience, of course.

After the cebiche and whatever comes as a main dish, it is always a good idea to walk along the 'malecón', facing the beach of Lima, looking at the very long and dark waves of the Pacific Ocean, dreaming.

(Luis Córdova in Lima)

Markets and foods

It was very early Sunday morning in the amazing city of 'El Alto' in Bolivia. The sun was coming out, the sky was blue, the air transparent, the mountains impressive, and the streets were full of people walking fast, all of them going in the same direction: the 'Feria 16 de julio', considered one of the biggest street markets of the world, and surely one of the highest at 4,100 meters over the sea level. People buying and selling all over, speaking Spanish or Aymara. And as it often happens there, the wind was blowing hard.

El Alto was built as a suburb of La Paz (+ - 3,700 meters), a city lying in a valley that looks like a hole when seen from the market. But this was also the fastest growing urban settlement in the world, and now the suburb is a big city in itself, with more people living there than in La Paz, according to some recent data. It looks like a half finished city, full of buildings made of raw brick walls and dirt roads all over. However it is full of life, and also full of small buses for transportation that constitute a plague.

Built around the La Paz airport, El Alto is windy and cold. And the sun also hits hard. 'This sun burns, but it is not warm', said one fellow client at a small street cafeteria while we drank coca leaves tea in order to fight the effects of the altitude. This was in the middle of the market, and I was lost. It is said that there are around 18,000 registered sellers in this 'Feria', plus so many other people unregistered. Of course you can find many things, from a lamb head to be cooked in the grill, to a Japanese second hand car in very good shape.

My trip to the Feria 16 de julio started very early. And it took some hours to walk around, very slowly. There are, of course, a set of secret rules governing the market. Or, at least, secret for an outsider like me. My favorite place was on the edge of the market, on Riles street, the area of a very intense flea market full of used goods of a very diverse nature. When you look down from this part of the market, La Paz is there in a valley. And when you look up, to the other side of the sky, the Andes mountains, covered by glaciers. For the people of the market, who live in El Alto, this breathtaking view is what they see everyday. No one else seems to be impressed.

The existence of such a huge street market in El Alto is only natural in a city that is growing so fast in this part of the world. Street markets are a part of life in the highlands of Bolivia. In small towns and cities, it is very common to see people trading goods, or eating. And one of the best examples is La Paz.

There is a favorite walk in La Paz, a city where streets seem to be going up, and up, and up, while the lungs cry for air. On any Saturday turn from the main avenue of El Prado looking for Rodríguez street, and from there just go ahead, finding one market after the other. They have different names, but in real life it looks like it was only one, huge market place. Always organized. Food that way, traditional clothes used by Aymara women,.including the hats, that other way. Furniture over there, meat around the corner, tools one block farther, smuggled clothes and shoes somewhere else, and electronics in an amazing place called 'Miamicito'.

But markets mean also food. And they care a lot about food in this parts of Bolivia. There is a traditional way of cooking, often the meals have indigenous names, and around the market areas there are people eating everywhere, at all times. It is full of street eateries, where people just seat in improvised restaurants. Covered markets always have a special place where these ladies are always cooking and trying to grab you with their offers for the day.

Soup is very common in the menu. Also, stewed of fried os broiled meats with different ingredients. It often happens that visitors to Bolivia are unaware of the importance of the food, and how good it can be. And they just go for the 'safe' food, including hamburgers of well known brands.

However, I did notice that there are less restaurants in La Paz for traditional food now, or that it may not be so easy to find one, specially at night. And there are too many places offering fast food, including suspicious pizza slices and fried chicken, 'pollo a la broaster'. Ok,. it may be far better than fried chicken in the U.S. or elsewhere, but still...

Some of the highlights of the Bolivian food to be found in La Paz and, yes!, Cochabamba:
- 'Picantes', or just 'hot food'. Different meats cooked in hot sauce, served with dried potatoes (chuño), tomato and onions and potatoes. The secret is in the sauce and the mixture of flavours. I remember some years ago when my grandfather José Luis invited me to eat a Picante Mixto. After the first mouthful, my eyes were filled by tears. He said that after the third one it would get much better. This was so true.
- Chicharrón. Or, fried pork meat. But this is the part that has the skin attached to the meat. In La Paz you can find 'chicharronerías' and whatever you may think, they are good. There is obviouslly a technique that makes it so good and, in a sense, light (believe it or not). They also say that because of the altitude, pork meat is good, less greasy. You can try it as 'lechón asado', roasted pork, served here with corn, baked plantain, sweet potato and normal potato.
- Llajua. This is the hot sauce that you get in a small dish in every table. It is made with tomatoes. And the heat comes from an Andean chili pepper called Locoto in Bolivia, or Rocoto in Perú. There are lots of different chili peppers in Bolivia, but the Locoto is the king. But this Llajua has another, secret, misterous, wonderful ingredient: the Quirquiña. This is an amazing herb, with a unique flavour and a fantastic bouquet. It is so charcteristic, that it cannot be mistaken. I never found it outside Bolivia.
- Roasted lamb. All kinds.
- Cochabamba dishes with suggestive names as Sillpancho or Lapping. Or the spicy ground meat called Saice, but I am not sure about its origin.
- And then the 'Salteñas', the local version of the 'empanada', which is often translated as 'pie', but it is not really a 'pie'. In many Latin American countries people seem to have their own version of the empanadas. But for those who have tried several kinds, the Bolivian salteña is at the top of the list. And La Paz is the place where you find them everywhere. This is a midmorning food. By 12, there are no more salteñas. Usually spicy, they are filled with a stew that has meat and potatoes. It is very tasty, and covered by a dough that has some kind of sweetness as a quality. At 10 or 11 am you go around plaza Avaroa in the neighborhood of Sopocachi in la Paz, and will find it full of groups of people gathered around salteña vendors.

There is more, there is always more. But I am writing this from Lima already. The trip to Bolivia had amazing moments. On my last day there, I went to Sopocachi, to the house in Cervantes Street 2970 where we lived with my grandmother. I was 9-10 years old. Of course, everything seems to be smaller now, the square where we played, the 'huge' mountains where we did some trekking. At that time the Bolivian episode ended when the Government was overthrown, and we had to leave.
(Luis Córdova, from Lima)

High times

The bus left Cochabamba, in the middle of Bolivia, and went up for a long time until it reached the high plateau, the 'altiplano', and finally was on the road to La Paz. Now I have been in this city for 24 hours, getting used to live at 3,800 meters, wandering around the markets, and dealing with so many memories. And also, with very thin and dry air.

There is not much to say about Cochabamba. It is a pleasant city, growing fast. There were quite a few political protests when I was there. It rained all the time. The most remarkable experience: the visit to 'La Cancha' market, an impressive place were many products and services are to be found, from tailors that can make you a suit, to ladies frying fish that has just arrived from the jungle. And of course, the potato sellers, because there are so many varieties, specially now that the crops are being collected.

This Friday morning I took a bus under the rain. Most of the road to La Paz goes through the high plateau. It was quite green because of the rain. But you can always see other colors there: those of the women using colorful colthes, and those of the quinoa plants, that 'sacred' bran, truly fantastic, with colors that go from green to red.

Almost at the end of the road, the bus crosses the city of 'El Alto' (+-4,100 meters), considered one of the fastest growing human settlements in the world (if not the fastest). I used to be a satellite city for La Paz, but now is a city in itself. Very peculiar. The color of raw bricks is the main feature here, and many streets are not paved, so it looks as if it was not finished yet. However, the traffic is a nigthmare.

Then you see La Paz. The feeling is that this city is in a hole, when you look at it from El Alto. On the other side of the hole, the huge mountains of the Andes, and manily mount Illimani, beautiful, white, impossible to imagine this city without it.

I have lived or visited La Paz in the past. Part of my family is from here. So it is not a foreign land. But when you start climbing the steep streets in the back of the church of San Francisco on a Saturday, grasping for air, and finding one market after the other, full of colours, and life, and noise, and people, and the smells of food, and even a witchcraft market, and blue skies, and thin air, and the sound of the flutes of the Andes coming from somewhere, and traditional dresses, and travelers coming from so many different places of the world, and the mount Illimani in the back, it sure looks like another planet. However, it is easy to get used to it.

There is a plan: tomorrow I will take a bus to 'El Alto' in order to visit what is said to be the biggest open air market on this part of the planet, the 'Feria 16 de julio'.

(Luis Córdova from La Paz. Trivia: This is not the capital of Bolivia)

Twilight in the tropical forest

It is kind of strange to be somewhere else, after two weeks into the tropical forest region of Eastern Bolivia. To think that only two nights ago the bus I was riding over there stopped in the middle of nowhere, the night was falling and a huge truck full of cattle was stuck in the mud ahead of us. When we, the passengers, came out to walk around the dirt road while waiting for a solution, some things happened: First, we were eaten by mosquitoes, always there at dusk; Then, the mosquitoes were eaten by hundreds of cruel dragonflies... I mean hundreds or maybe thousands flying around our heads but not touching us; After that, a very heavy electric storm could be heard in the distance and the lightning could be seen in the horizon, one every 3 seconds more or less, it looked like a horrible war being fought somewhere else; It was finally getting dark, and suddenly all around us was full of lights coming from glow-worms (Is that the right word for the insect with a light? In Spanish we have a beautiful word: luciérnaga); Until it was completely dark, in the middle of the jungle, and the sky was... so full of stars, all over, and the cloud of the Milky Way could be seen, and the Southern Cross... Well, couldn't ask for a better night for the star gazer. And, some people may know, I lose a lot of time looking at the stars.

Finally the truck was pushed and taken away, and our bus kept going to the town of Concepción. It took 9 hours for 185 kilometers. That's the way it is around those places, time and space don't work the same.

That was almost at the end of the two week trip that took me deep into the forest, close to amazing mountain ranges, to very old churches built by Jesuit priests in the 18 century, to the discovery of baroque music in the middle of these jungles, to endless rides in bus and train, to see amazing starry nights, to meet incredible people who live and work here, and to a state of mind and soul and heart where, I think, it was possible to think about the future again. Then it is also true that I got sick (stomach, because I ate misterious food without the usual beer, in my opinion), and got well again. Visited markets, walked around beautiful towns, sometimes under burning sun, sometimes in the middle of the night. And I climbed a magic plateau!

I am writing this from the city of Cochabamba, in the middle of Bolivia. Here the tropical forests have already dissappeared, and now the trip is going up into the Andes. And up it goes, really.

There are two reasons to stop here in my trip to La Paz. One, is to get used to high places. Cochabamba is 2,800 meters, quite high, but still 1,000 under La Paz. The second one is to go to what may be the biggest market of the region, and one of the most amazing of the world, "La Cancha".

Why go to a market? To talk to people, get information about ingredients, recipes, and take pictures. Did I mention that very soon there will be a new blog a bout food and cooking? Well, now I will just have to do it.
(Luis Cordova in Cochabamba, hoping to adapt quickly to the 2,800 meters)