New website...

Hello readers, I have been trying to figure out how to create a link between this blog site and my new website but unfortunately, have not been able to import one into the other. So, my new blog is found at http://www.leeecart.com
Hope to see you there!

Monday, August 22, 2011

August 22, 2011 Assignment One for MatadorU...

This particular blog is for my travel writing course on MatadorU so for those of you who aren't involved with that, this is just a heads-up as to what's going on here...
Assignment One
Yucatan Food 101

Do you think all Mexican food consists of guacamole, salsa and white flour tortillas filled with ground beef and shredded cheese? If that’s the case come learn about some typical dishes found in the Yucatan Peninsula.
One of the most popular dishes found in restaurants is cochinita pibil or roast suckling pig that’s been marinated in a rich sauce made of achiote paste, sour orange juice, garlic, cumin, and salt, then wrapped in banana leaves and baked until tender.
Sopa de lima is the Yucatan’s idea of chicken soup. A fresh chicken broth filled with shredded chicken, strips of fried corn tortillas, and lime juice. A basic fill-you-up dish that will also help settle your stomach when you’ve had too many margaritas the night before.
Poc chuc is another pork dish. Slices of pork are marinated in a sour orange sauce before cooking, then served with a rich, slightly spicy tomato sauce and pickled red onions.
For those who like a hearty breakfast, try huevos motuleños. A corn tortilla is covered with refried beans and a fried egg, then chopped ham and green peas are added before the mix is covered with a tomato sauce and shredded cheese. This one will need extra napkins to eat!
And for those looking for a light lunch or supper, try panuchos. A slight crispy fried tortilla is covered with cooked shredded chicken, and garnished with shredded lettuce, slices of tomatoes, pickled red onion, and sliced avocado. A quick squeeze of fresh lime juice and a sprinkle of salt create the perfect zesty dressing for this meal. A variation on this is the salbute which has refried beans stuffed inside the tortilla before the chicken and other toppings are added.  
Tamales are a typical Yucatan dish. Wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks, the steamed cornmeal dumpling can be filled with just about anything from chicken to pork to rabbit with figs and green olives.

As  I wrote this article, I realized I have no idea where something like this might get published. I know it is part of the assignment to find some spots but the only places I could think of didn't look right when I studied the websites. One place I did find was El Restaurante Mexicano, PO Box 2249, Oak Park IL 60303. It's an industry magazine and requests 800-1200 word articles, so this piece is way too short for them.
Does anyone have any suggestions of markets for food related articles that pertain to Mexico?

And my apologies for taking so long to get started on this course. I wound up having to take on a second job this summer to help pay the bills, which doesn't leave me a lot of time to write these assignments, no matter how much I would like to be doing them.

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