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One thing Ajijic/Chapala Ex-Pats miss the most?


Kurbie

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Yes, Costco sells maple syrup but being somewhat of a connoisseur, I did a taste test and knew right away which was the maple syrup I brought down from Canada and the Costco one. It does ok when I do run out though ;) The Costco one tasted artificially sweet and much lighter in colour and thickness. Call me fussy about maple syrup.

I also miss certain foods: poutine (heart attack on a plate: fries, gravy and curd cheese), donairs and very fresh seafood (I'm from the east coast of Canada).

I miss my family: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. + friends but Mexico is home now.

I do miss the easy access to great shopping but that gives me the opportunity to shop NOB once a year.

I don't miss the winters and the never-ending fluctuating temperatures and weather systems.

Nothing like the real maple syrup, I love the clear one, I use to drink it straight from the big glass gallon jar when I was a kid returning from school, love drinking maple sap, must bring some with me when I drive down in October.

And for Poutine well that is a cardiac delicacy in itself, you need good squikie cheese curd that is left at room temperature, good homemade fries that are not blanched and finally nice brown gravy, then ad all of your favorite extras to it, French truffle, duck, peppers, sausages, mummmm, just to think, I must get something to eat, a truly pleasure of life !

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As a kid, I used to collect the sap from the buckets and haul it to Grandpa's sugarhouse in the Adirondacks of New York State. There sat dad and grandpa, tending the evaporator pans. They said it was real important and complicated. A couple of years on I decided that the Beech Nut chewing tobacco and the Utica Club bock beer were the real reason! He produced about 50 gallons a year and sold it by the road. It definitely wasn't clear but a deep brown. Grandama would make wax on snow and maple sugar candy. RIP everyone, my childhood was outstanding!

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When I go home I hit the seafood restaurants for Fanny Bay Oysters (From a place off of Vancouver Island), lots of salmon sashimi, Alaskan Salmon, Halibut, then more oysters. Cherries in June and Peaches in August. (My two favorite months to return to B.C.)

I also miss our beautiful, clean lakes where the city of Penticton grooms the beaches every morning.Sigh..... And.... I usually split a serving of Poutine. Yumm.

Mr. Plumo: Do you know how to make Poutine? I have promised that I will make Poutine for my Mexican friends and for all of the staff at our Gated Community. I have been telling them about Poutine for ages. I now know I can, possibly, call on the Just Chillin people to cater a Poutine happy hour. I told them we could do a Mexican version and add jalapenos to the mix.

They are very excited to try this dish. They like papas. They like queso. The gravy sounds weird.... but they want to try.

I think that Poutine is a dish that could become a Mexican favorite, like Pizza!

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When I go home I hit the seafood restaurants for Fanny Bay Oysters (From a place off of Vancouver Island), lots of salmon sashimi, Alaskan Salmon, Halibut, then more oysters. Cherries in June and Peaches in August. (My two favorite months to return to B.C.)

I also miss our beautiful, clean lakes where the city of Penticton grooms the beaches every morning.Sigh..... And.... I usually split a serving of Poutine. Yumm.

Mr. Plumo: Do you know how to make Poutine? I have promised that I will make Poutine for my Mexican friends and for all of the staff at our Gated Community. I have been telling them about Poutine for ages. I now know I can, possibly, call on the Just Chillin people to cater a Poutine happy hour. I told them we could do a Mexican version and add jalapenos to the mix.

They are very excited to try this dish. They like papas. They like queso. The gravy sounds weird.... but they want to try.

I think that Poutine is a dish that could become a Mexican favorite, like Pizza!

I believe that It first appeared on the south shore of Montréal by the city of Drummondville where they even have a Poutine Festival this week, and It grew in popularity, now you can find a Poutine dish in New-York city, all fast food chains have a copy of the dish on their menu.

But it can be very addictive dish and quickly add inches around the waist, but what doesn't.

of course I know how to make it, who doesn't, well, maybe some people don't

We'll arrive in Ajijic at the end of October!

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Well, I am probably giving away my age... I have a closet full of short-sleeve, button-front blouses that are minimally loose fitting and mostly bright colored/floral, some crinkle fabric. I live in knit capris with some "give" and also have the same pants in ankle length. I am always looking for different blouses but Mia's seems to have the best selection here.

I order blouses from Ebay and the pants from Blair. Ship to my sister-in-law in Texas where my husband visits several times a year.

Everything is easy-to-wash with little or no ironing. Wow... I am not only stuck in a rut but lazy as well! :blink:

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I miss going to a mall where I can get cloths my size with pants that go to your waist. Good ice cream. I do not miss these things enough to leave but boy is it fun at least once a year to go North for a mall day.

Great ice cream available at the Italian Gelato place on the street paralleling the malecon in Chapala.

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Sometimes it is fun watching a thread slowly deteriorate.

Sounds like there are a bunch of contributors there: some posts are pure temptation, just as some typos hit the high notes.

It's not a symphony. It's a jazz group.

Back on topic: What I miss the most: living on the coast where I could buy freshly caught salmon.

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I know hat I lived in a bayou near Mobile and we got them. We have them on the coast in

Chiapas as well but hhere everything is frozen and "fresh crabs" are dead...Here the shrimp is frozen small price to pay for the wonderful climate.

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Unless you have tasted the difference I can see why someone would question it. The fresh shrimp is very sweet the frozen one lose that sweetness, it does not mean they are bad but it is a very different taste.

The difference is the same difference between good and great.

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I lived in the small town of Catemaco, Veracruz for five years. There the fish mongers went down to the coast each morning at 3am to buy the fresh fish and shrimp and return to the mercado where it was prepared and kept on ice. At times the huge white Crystal shrimp were available and yes the shrimp had a sweeter taste. I had a favorite vendor and went early or the restaurants would buy up the best fish and shrimp. We had the Huachinango (red snapper), Robalo (snook) Chuchumite (young snook), Pompano and more. Also crabs stacked and tied with palm frond strips, fresh water snails called Tegogolos and only found in Lake Catemaco. A delectable seafood cocktail of shrimp, oysters and crab was served from a roadside stand in the next town. Playaboy came for a visit from Playa del Carmen and I bet him it was the best in Mexico. He had to agree. Beef, pork and chicken were fresh killed and sold that day and each stall in the market specialized, no mixing of the meat. No refrigeration. Only one market in town had the fridges and many people refused to buy there because they didn't trust how old the meat might be. I had to be quick to tell the pork vendor I wanted the ribs entero for the grill or he would chop them small with a hatchet on a large tree stump in the center of his stall. One restaurant had fish ponds fed buy a rushing stream and after ordering the preparation of your fish you could follow the fellow to the ponds where he caught them live and you specified the size. Then they were cleaned, cooked at times over an open fire if they were out of gas, and served whole. All the restaurants served the fish whole as it was a waste of a lot of meat to order fillets.

Although I love it here, I appreciate the memories of Catemaco and the time I spent there.

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