Belizean Food

Hey Folks,

I received an e-mail from a friend in Ponoka and she was interested in knowing what I was eating. So I thought it would be great thing to post on the blog, to give everyone an idea of what the food down here is like. The one thing I am learning to do here in Belize is eat with my fingers and not worry about getting my face dirty or my fingers dirty from the food. I've been really lucky as Miss Lorna has been cooking for me. I have to admit, before coming to Belize I considered myself a pretty decent cook - that is if there's a recipe for me to follow. I was a bit shocked to find no directions on how to cook things and quickly came to realize how much I relied on the box directions in Canada for things like rice.....cause I got here and found out I actually don't know how to prepare it without the directions. Thanks be to God for Miss Lorna, who has been so hospitable and has been cooking meals and inviting me to dine at her place with her family. One thing to note is that Belizeans eat their big meal at mid day (noon) and then have something light in the evening.

Here is a list of some of the dishes that I've eaten with the Longsworths!
Breakfast:
Johnny Cakes (thin little biscuits that you put butter and jam, or peanut butter or ham or cheese on and eat)
Fresh fruit (Mangoes, Papaya, Oranges etc)
Eggs and Bacon/Sausage and homemade Flour Tortillas
Flour Tortilla with Jam, Peanut Butter etc
Lunch:
Rice and Beans, Chicken and Potato Salad is a very VERY popular meal here in Belize. The rice and kidney beans are often cooked in cococut milk, chicken is barbecued or fried, and the potato salad isn't much different from what we have in Canada, they add carrots and peas and corn and different tasting dressing which I love! Throw a little bit of Marie Sharps hot sauce on the rice and beans and it's great!!
Chicken Stew on Rice is great as well. From what I could tell, they put whatever they can find in the stew and mix it together and then serve it on a bed of rice.
Pasta and meat sauce - with lots of Cilanto....they love cilantro here.
Creole Shrimp on Rice (basically shrimp made in cocount milk and cilantro with some carrots and any other vegetable)
I had fried Snapper fish for the first time yesterday. 3 hours before I ate it, it was swimming in the ocean. It was AMAZING. I've never been a big fish eater, probably because I'm from Alberta and we're not known for the fish, but I think I could be! Half way through our meal I looked out side, and there were about 6 stray cats crying outside - they could smell the fish and were climbing up the screen trying to get into the house.
Supper:
Is usually pretty small and consists of flour tortilla and some sort of meat (usually chicken or fish)
Panades are also a great thing to eat in the evening. It's fish rapped in a corn pattie and then fried to perfection. It comes with a really great tasting cabbage and onion sauce that you put on top. When I went up to the city, the bus would fill up with people selling fresh panades for a shilling, they are great snack foods or meals for the evening.
Meat pies. Biscuit like pies with that are hollow and have some gravy and little bit of meat in it. Delicious.
Chips and Dip (homeade corn chips with a dip that consists of peppers, onions, velveeta cheese, mayo, hot sauce, cilantro and anything else you wanna put in it.
That's all I can think of right now.
Snacks:
Plantain Chips. Plantain is a vegetable that looks like a banana and tastes like a potato. It's great with rice and beans and great as chip snacks.
Panades
Johnny Cakes
Fruit (lots of mangoes, oranges, bananas and grapes)
Custard
Chips and Dip

I must admit I chickened out the other day in Monkey River, they were selling Crab soup, I was tempted to try it but didn't have the guts to...maybe another time. Next month, Placencia celebrates it's annual Lobster Fest weekend to celebrate the opening of Lobster season. I've never had it, so will be going over with Shawn and Lorna Longsworth for my first taste, I'm pretty excited!!
That's all I can think of right now. I need to start writing down what I'm eating. Miss Lorna told me that she's going to teach me to make Johnny Cakes and Tortillas, I'll be a pro by the time I get home!!!

We got our first rain fall today and it has cooled down a little bit. The wind is blowing making the temperature and tad bit more bareable. I continue to look forward to working with the children and have had some wonderful conversations with a number of locals outside the grocery store, the bar, and the water taxi port. I'm finding the culture down here to have a lot of respect for clergy...it doesn't matter to them how old you are. This is something I'm trying to get used to. I'm used to people being a bit hesitant to come and talk to me because of my age. This is not an issue for the culture down here. It's been a really good learning experience. Having people come to me with their problems or for advice is something that scares me a bit because I've never had to do it before....because of the age factor. However wisdom and discernment and compassion are things I pray for daily, and so far, God has provided. The experience will continue to be challenging and I'm finding that ministering down here is helping me to discern areas in my ministry that need work.

Hope you are well. Take care for now and talk to you soon!!

peace,
Chelsy

Hope you are well. Looking forward to hearing from folks soon!!

peace,
Chelsy