Saturday, March 29, 2008

desayúnese en el jacuzzi

OK. Todd and Brenda have been kind enough to take us to very nice restaurants for breakfast in their home towns in Mexico. I thought you might like to see how we denizens of the Casa Algodón start our day. (Well, at least, how I started this day. Professor Jiggs starts his day -- and ends his day -- with the same bowl of dry food and a tasty selection of geriatric medications.) Here goes.


6:30 AM. Saturday. I should be sleeping in. Saturdays are the only day I can sleep in without running afoul of some obligation. I stumble down the stairs to my favorite breakfast spot: El Jacuzzi en la Casa de Algodón. For an eatery, it is a bit eccentric. The waiter always asks you to order before being seated. I open the menu.




The selection varies, but I always have a sense of déjà vu as I pore over it. I find what I want, and give my order to the waiter.



He then shows me to my table. One of the things I like about El Jacuzzi is its lack of pretension. It has an almost natural feel -- simple, quiet, airy. Almost like one of those backstreet cafés in Prague. Just a lot wetter.




I barely settle into my seat when the waiter brings the house bread. (Michael Dickson claims "house" is a synonym for "it ain´t nothing special.") Its only saving grace is its odd resemblance to a catcher's mitt. (And note the authentic touch: el pelo del perro.)




My appetite is now teased for the specialty of the house: the inappropriately named huevos y jamón verdes.





No eggs. No ham. And the only green thing I can find is the spinach fettuccine. But this is good. The sauce is a pepperoni-pork sausage tomato sauce infused with onion, garlic, and chili powder. My British friends would call this child's spaghetti. But what do they know?


Put together, this was a fine breakfast for a morning that promised just a hint of snow flakes in the air.




Sated, I totter back to the world of reality. And just as I did after breakfast with Brenda and Roy, I am heading upstairs for a nap.

Thank you for joining me for breakfast. We must do this more often.

7 comments:

Brenda Maas said...

That was a different breakfast, but interesting and tasty. Thanks for the good company and the nice soak in the jacuzzi.
Yes, think it is time for a nice little nap now. All this eating makes me tired.

Steve Cotton said...

Brenda --

Actually, it was a rather common breakfast for me -- even though cold pizza and Diet Coke are my usual morning repast.

Islagringo said...

Thanks for the invite, but I rarely eat breakfast. Well, at least not until 11 AM or so. I'll take a helping of the siesta though!

(very interesting take on this breakfast thing. I would never have thought of just staying home!)

Babs said...

I feel dowright plebian having made home-made biscuits, scrambled eggs and fried ham!..........Velcro and I ate while watching Paula Deen stuff strawberries with cream cheese and powdered sugar..........YIKES! I want some of those....Would LOVE to have been in the Jacuzzi......

Anonymous said...

OK, maybe this is too personal a comment, but looking at your 'fridge, I think you need more wine and less bottled water. Perhaps not for breakfast, but a tad more joie de vivre in the refrigerator section wouldn't hurt.

Soon, if all goes well, you'll be tucking into huevos rancheros in your own ranchito.

Regards,

Kim G
Boston, MA
(where we make other peoples' beverage choices our own business)

Anonymous said...

P.S. "Casa Algodón" was very amusing.

Kim G
Bahstin, Mass

Steve Cotton said...

OK. I will confess. I thought of staging my refrigerator, but gave up when I realized I had nothing more interesting to put up front. It is pathetic enough that I have commercial tortillas in a plastic bag. How more demeaning can it get?