Coroico Road

cocinamaribel — Wed, 27 May 2015 10:10:19 GMT

We encounter a roadblock due to construction on the new road. “We will have to go on an alternative road…the old road,” my friend concedes. “The old road!” I reply in a shrill voice. My friend proceeds confidently in his 2001 Jeep Cherokee, since he has driven this road for numerous family vacations. We are on Bolivia’s infamous World Most Dangerous Road or Death Road, a given name for the highest death rate for travelers, with a cliff drop-off of 3,300 feet/1000meters. Since 2006, travelers now can drive safely on a two-lane paved road connecting La Paz to Coroico. The old road is marketed to adventure cyclists to descend from La Paz’ high planes, La Cumbre starting at 15,400feet/4,700 meters to the touristic town of Coroico located in the Amazonian rainforest known as Los Yungas at 5,000ft/1500 meters.

I was not a thrill seeker like other tourists. Experiencing crumbling roads with a precipice to my death, rock avalanches to plummet me to death, and passing slippery overpasses from mountain waterfalls for added death defying challenge is not my idea of fun. Rather, I was in love with the majestic mountains of my birthplace and paternal heritage. I wanted to see all of Bolivia. The drastic climate transition from crisp cold snow capped mountains to tropical dewy-humid green foliage is one of the most unique in the world to experience. In truth I had also wanted to retrace the steps my mother had once journeyed. My deceased mother was a social, fun loving Mexican-American woman willing to try new experiences including marrying and living in La Paz, Bolivia in the early 70s. However, her anxiety of heights was tested on the gravel road not much wider than a tourist bus or minibus, with sharp turns carving mountains, any bus could fall into the abyss of green foliage. She demanded the bus driver stop! At 5’8 with perfect Spanish the driver responded like a soldier to his Capitan. My mother had a commanding voice and was domineering. Left in the middle of nowhere with a baby and toddler in tow, she walked to the next available taxi. I can only imagine the other passengers considered her a crazy gringa.

The Death Road is every thrill seeker’s bucket list must-do resulting in a memorable cocktail story. For me, I connected to the land of my late father and the experiences of my mother. I understood the Bolivians a little better, their tolerance and acceptance to accept the things they couldn’t change because there was not an alternative.

Passport & Plate - Chalupas

cocinamaribel — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 14:19:14 GMT

Ingredients
4 corn tortillas
¼ cup canola, safflower oil
1 cup black beans
2 oz pork belly
¼ cup white onions, roughly chopped
3 each, garlic
1 sprig of cilantro with stem
1 tsp. course salt

Toppings
1 roma tomato, seeds removed
½ cup cheese (your choice recommended cotija cheese)
½ cup shredded lettuce
¼ cup guacamole (optional)
1 avocado
3 key limes
¼ slice of a red onion
1 chile, Serrano, jalapeno, aji limo, your choice
Hot salsa (optional)

How to prepare this recipe
Method
Beans
1. Soak beans in water a day before their use. Cook beans in a heavy bottomed pot with beans, pork belly, onions, garlic, and cilantro. Cook for 3.5 hours or until beans are tender. Season with salt at the point of doneness. Seasoning earlier will retard their cooking time. Reserve for refrying.
2. In a sauté pan, use enough vegetable oil to coat the pan and on medium-high heat.
Remove the garlic, onions, cilantro and pork belly. Add cooked beans and the juice. With a potato masher, mash beans until you achieve a lumpy puree consistency. Season with salt to your taste.

2. Fill a heavy bottomed wide sauté pan with oil. Heat on medium-high heat for 5minutes. Test with a slice of corn tortilla. If tortilla bubbles to a crisp the oil is ready.

3. Prepare a plate or similar with a paper towel. Fry each tortilla until a crisp or until bubbles from oil subside. Flip tortilla to other side to ensure even frying. Place finished tortilla on plate.

5. Prepare toppings:
Tomato- cut roma tomato in quarters. Remove the inside flesh and seeds of tomato.
Flatten the quarter with one hand and slice thin strips. Gather strips to cross cut against the strips creating a cube.

Lettuce- Use any leafy green lettuce. Stack multiple leaves and roll like a cigarette.
Slice through roll creating thin slices.
Cheese- Use a thickest opening on a grater to shred the cheese.

Optional:
Guacamole- Use a Haas avocado or Peruvian Punta avocado. Add ¼ cup of finely chopped red onion. Finely chop one chile with seeds and veins for heat. Add the juice of 3 key limes. Season with salt.

Assemble
Spread desired bean puree evenly over fried corn tortilla.
Top with shredded cheese.
Top with shredded lettuce.
Top with cubed tomato.
Top with a dallop of guacamole.
Add hot salsa of your choice.

Provecho!

The story behind this recipe
“Why is it that you like chalupas so much?” asks the chef of my brother’s restaurant. I pondered why I loved it so. I thought back to my brief time in Punata, a small town outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was a desolate town with little in the way of a proper market or eatery to opt out of cooking during the week. A weekly voyage to the city to get all my special items ensured a stocked pantry for a meal on the ready. Hungry for a taste of the familiarity I made my chalupas. Explaining this dish to someone foreign to Mexican food, I would have to compare it to a pizza. Comparable based on the idea of layering flavor with toppings on a flat bread. In this case the flat bread is a flat corn tortilla. Chalupas was a go-to for my mother to make any night of the week without much thought and to stretch her single-parent budget. A crisp fried corn tortilla is layered with creamy refried beans, shredded cheese and lettuce, cubed fresh tomatoes and a dollop of guacamole to make this chalupa vegetarian. Unique to my mother’s preparation was a tomato-cheese fundido (fondu). With all my components in place I made the perfect chalupa. Steady as it goes into my mouth with both hands securing the tortillas disc, making sure no ingredients fall off, crunch! With every bite I’m taken back to my childhood. A time when I may have not realized that the affordability of eating beans and having tortillas on hand could turn any night into a fantastic meal. A simple preparation of accessible flavors in the Americas that I took for granted until I realized their non-existence in another country. The versatility of maize turned into a dough yielding a variety of options; tortillas, totopos, tamales, sopes to name a few. What seems everyday to me may seem exotic to another. Most importantly it’s a reminder of my mother for the many dinners she provided that offered comfort and love for my brother and myself. I love Chalupas!

Hooray for Chalupas

Coroico Road

Passport & Plate - Chalupas