When sinus weather hits, my daughter and I wind up eating an awful lot of Tex-Mex (to clear our sinuses). Right now is sinus weather, so we have been hitting the Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants pretty hard.
Today, for lunch, I did not grab a taco or burrito, though. I had a $5 gift card to Arby's, so that is where I headed for my midday meal: Beef & Cheddar, Jamoaca shake and curly fries. After ordering, I headed over to get my sauces and catsup... and found a NEW sauce to try. It had fire-red chili peppers on the label. Smiling at having found a new spicy food for sinus weather, I squirted a little into a paper cup and took it to my table to try with curly fries.
Sigh. The new sauce tasted more like vinegar than chili peppers. It was rather disappointing. But it brought to mind the memory of a different time I tried a new "spicy" sauce on my husband's, Anne's and my first visit into Southern Mexico. My hero, Anne and I, living in Texas at the time, had been to the Mexican border, of course. But because none of us spoke Spanish, that was about as far as we had strayed. Then we took our first cruise. The year... let's see... 2004?
We left from Galveston, Texas and stopped in Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Being our first cruise, we did not know what to expect, so I had booked all of our shore excursions in advance. Little did I know that Anne would be having so much fun in the kids programs she would not want to get off the ship! In Key West, we dragged her off the ship with us to visit the island where we had never been. In Grand Cayman, I had planned to go to a butterfly farm primarily for her benefit, and a (magnificent!) glass-bottom boat ride, so we dragged her off the ship again. But when we got to Cozumel, I was tired of the complaining and told her she could stay for the kids party if she wanted. My husband and I headed ashore to tour the Mayan ruins and eat lunch without her. (Did she ever miss out!)
After visiting the ruins (which were really neat), we asked some of the cruise staff where we could find a good, local Mexican restaurant with safe water. Several staff members suggested one place in particular, so we got verbal directions to it and headed in its direction.
The restaurant was stuffed with people, most of them probably tourists like ourselves, but it did not take too long before we were seated at a cozy table for two. Within moments of sitting down, a waiter whizzed by to drop off a basket of chips and bowl of salsa, and take our drink orders. Hungry from walking all around the ruins, my genius dipped a chip in salsa and shoved it in his mouth before the waiter had time to ask what we wanted to drink.
Swallowing, my sweetheart asked, "Do you have a medium salsa?"
Now I do not like very spicy things, and I generally wait for my drink before trying any new food. But my husband whom I trusted with the roof of my mouth, directed me to try the sauce and I did. It was so bland it tasted like unseasoned tomato sauce. I agreed we needed something spicier. The waiter did not understand our words. It took several tries, but we finally hit on the right combination of words that he understood.
He offered, "We have...."
My honey and I did not know the word the waiter used, but we indicated that he should bring some of whatever it was. He left our table and dutifully whisked the new sauce onto our table before going to fetch our drink order. I, of course, having lived my entire youth with two parents who made me try more than my share of weird and yucky new things, WAITED for my drink before venturing a taste of the newly arrived salsa. My husband the genius, on the other hand, repeated his original behavior of scooping up salsa onto a chip and popping it into his mouth right away.
I do not remember if he said ouch or started fanning his mouth or exactly what he did, but I do remember that his mouth was on fire and he wished he had waited for his drink to arrive before biting into that chip. The word we had not understood through the waiter's distinct Mexican accent was "habenero" and the genius had scooped it onto his chip like it was ranch dip.
Sitting at Arby's today, trying their new "spicy" sauce that was not very spicy and I did not like, I smiled as I sipped my jamoaca shake. This time, it did not really matter that I had waited for my drink to be in my hand before trying the new sauce. But it could have, and I was still pleased to be able to take a quick drink and cleanse my palate.
Today, for lunch, I did not grab a taco or burrito, though. I had a $5 gift card to Arby's, so that is where I headed for my midday meal: Beef & Cheddar, Jamoaca shake and curly fries. After ordering, I headed over to get my sauces and catsup... and found a NEW sauce to try. It had fire-red chili peppers on the label. Smiling at having found a new spicy food for sinus weather, I squirted a little into a paper cup and took it to my table to try with curly fries.
Sigh. The new sauce tasted more like vinegar than chili peppers. It was rather disappointing. But it brought to mind the memory of a different time I tried a new "spicy" sauce on my husband's, Anne's and my first visit into Southern Mexico. My hero, Anne and I, living in Texas at the time, had been to the Mexican border, of course. But because none of us spoke Spanish, that was about as far as we had strayed. Then we took our first cruise. The year... let's see... 2004?
After visiting the ruins (which were really neat), we asked some of the cruise staff where we could find a good, local Mexican restaurant with safe water. Several staff members suggested one place in particular, so we got verbal directions to it and headed in its direction.
The restaurant was stuffed with people, most of them probably tourists like ourselves, but it did not take too long before we were seated at a cozy table for two. Within moments of sitting down, a waiter whizzed by to drop off a basket of chips and bowl of salsa, and take our drink orders. Hungry from walking all around the ruins, my genius dipped a chip in salsa and shoved it in his mouth before the waiter had time to ask what we wanted to drink.
Swallowing, my sweetheart asked, "Do you have a medium salsa?"
Now I do not like very spicy things, and I generally wait for my drink before trying any new food. But my husband whom I trusted with the roof of my mouth, directed me to try the sauce and I did. It was so bland it tasted like unseasoned tomato sauce. I agreed we needed something spicier. The waiter did not understand our words. It took several tries, but we finally hit on the right combination of words that he understood.
He offered, "We have...."
My honey and I did not know the word the waiter used, but we indicated that he should bring some of whatever it was. He left our table and dutifully whisked the new sauce onto our table before going to fetch our drink order. I, of course, having lived my entire youth with two parents who made me try more than my share of weird and yucky new things, WAITED for my drink before venturing a taste of the newly arrived salsa. My husband the genius, on the other hand, repeated his original behavior of scooping up salsa onto a chip and popping it into his mouth right away.
I do not remember if he said ouch or started fanning his mouth or exactly what he did, but I do remember that his mouth was on fire and he wished he had waited for his drink to arrive before biting into that chip. The word we had not understood through the waiter's distinct Mexican accent was "habenero" and the genius had scooped it onto his chip like it was ranch dip.
Sitting at Arby's today, trying their new "spicy" sauce that was not very spicy and I did not like, I smiled as I sipped my jamoaca shake. This time, it did not really matter that I had waited for my drink to be in my hand before trying the new sauce. But it could have, and I was still pleased to be able to take a quick drink and cleanse my palate.
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