During my recent search for a house, I had several requirements for a place to live.
The first was access to high-speed internet. It is my window to the outside world.
But the second was almost as important: a good kitchen. I like to cook. And I like to eat what I cook. So much so that the retirement gift I requested from my employer was a set of good-quality cookware. I certainly could not find it here.
Most Mexican kitchens are Spartan, but utilitarian. They get the job done.
But I discovered early on that many of the homes in my part of tropical Mexico do not have kitchens. The cooking takes place outside over a charcoal-powered flame. Only a bit more sophisticated than my Boy Scout camping days.
Some homes have a "stove" -- based around a frame that holds both the pot and the charcoal off the ground. The photograph at the top of this post is an example.
Outside cookery has its advantages. The cooking smells are not trapped in the house. There are days when I infuse peppers into my cooking oil that I wish I was cooking outside. The kitchen ends up smelling like a Roman square following a police-dispersed political riot.
It is also economical. Buying charcoal is cheaper than dealing with the cost and inconvenience of propane. The trade off is that charcoal affords next to no heat control.
If the setup sounds a bit primitive, you do not have to go too far back in American history to find houses where the kitchen was in a separate building from the main house -- usually for fire prevention.
I may have a small kitchen in the new house, but it is inside.
The first was access to high-speed internet. It is my window to the outside world.
But the second was almost as important: a good kitchen. I like to cook. And I like to eat what I cook. So much so that the retirement gift I requested from my employer was a set of good-quality cookware. I certainly could not find it here.
Most Mexican kitchens are Spartan, but utilitarian. They get the job done.
But I discovered early on that many of the homes in my part of tropical Mexico do not have kitchens. The cooking takes place outside over a charcoal-powered flame. Only a bit more sophisticated than my Boy Scout camping days.
Some homes have a "stove" -- based around a frame that holds both the pot and the charcoal off the ground. The photograph at the top of this post is an example.
Outside cookery has its advantages. The cooking smells are not trapped in the house. There are days when I infuse peppers into my cooking oil that I wish I was cooking outside. The kitchen ends up smelling like a Roman square following a police-dispersed political riot.
It is also economical. Buying charcoal is cheaper than dealing with the cost and inconvenience of propane. The trade off is that charcoal affords next to no heat control.
If the setup sounds a bit primitive, you do not have to go too far back in American history to find houses where the kitchen was in a separate building from the main house -- usually for fire prevention.
I may have a small kitchen in the new house, but it is inside.
And it will be near a high-speed internet connection.
