Pollo Campero

Let me start off by saying KFC in Toronto sucks.  Their chicken is undercooked, full of oil (even as you bite into it), and it gives you stomach problems after you eat it (fire in your bum).  I don’t know why this is, I mean I have been to the US and their chicken tastes amazing.  The only alternative I have to fried chicken when a craving hits is Popeyes.  Thank goodness a new location opened about a year ago near where I live.  Their chicken is great, though I get mine without hot sauce.  As I have grown up, my taste buds have matured as well, and I no longer have the same cravings for fast food that I used to have as a teenager.  Those were the good-old-days when I was able to scarf down a hamburger combo (burger, fries with gravy, and pop can), with a large sub, chips, and an ice cream Oreo cookie for desert.  Fast food just doesn’t interest me anymore as much as wanting to eat healthy; salads, club sandwiches, and grilled vegetables.  However the one time of year I do get those old cravings for not so healthy food is when I go on vacation.

This year I went to El Salvador for a little rest and relaxation.  When I go there, I also make it a point to visit a Pollo Campero, a Central American fried chicken restaurant.  To start off with their chicken has a very unique aroma that will get you as soon as you pass by a location.  I’m sure there must be a term for this sensation (Olfactory memory); where as soon as I smell it, it brings me back to my childhood.  The next best thing about the chicken is the taste.  It’s so good I don’t even have to eat it with ketchup.  I think that qualifies as a good marker in my opinion for how good chicken is, when you don’t even need ketchup or a dipping sauce to enjoy it.  Just as good as this chicken is; it becomes a winning combo as soon as I pair it up with a Kolashampan, (champagne cola).  For me Pollo Campero not only hits the spot for a fried chicken craving, but blows it away.

Pollo Campero:

http://www.pollocampero.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DabezPgVYo

Brazil Jersey

I was born in Central America and grew up in Canada.  Unfortunately both my birth country (El Salvador) and home country (Canada) suck in soccer.  As a result in my home we were forced to choose an alternative team to cheer for; either Brazil or Argentina.  I love both teams but I have always been impressed by the Brazilian team.  Their history is amazing with such greats as Pelé and Ronaldo; their style of play is breathtaking with samba-like moves, their wins are impressive with having won 5 world cups, and their future seems bright with up and coming players such as Neymar and Pato. 

While the team is currently not performing at its greatest, it is still a fairly young team that can be built into something amazing by the upcoming World Cup in Brazil.  Till then I picked up this amazing Brazil jersey to wear.  It is not the actual on-the-pitch version, but a cotton Dri-fit version from Nike.  I love this material because it doesn’t stick to my skin when I start to sweat.  It is solid yellow with a green stripe along the shoulders.  It is also an upgrade from my previous t-shirt jersey that I got in 1998.  I don’t have many jerseys in my collection, but I hope to start featuring the ones I do have on this blog.

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8YzaGs9Ug0

Learning to make chocolate

A while back I went down to El Salvador in Central America to visit some friends and family.  At the house that I was staying at, I noticed that they had a cacao tree growing.  This piqued my curiosity because I had never seen one before, and was interested in knowing how chocolate was made.  I went on the internet to explore and research this information and soon came to the conclusion that I could make it myself.  The basic gist to making it is to remove the cacao beans from the pod, then store them in a bin to ferment the pulp, place them under the sun to dry for several days, roast them in an oven, and then finally decide on which method to process the beans.

This is the most difficult step in making chocolate because chocolate companies use highly sophisticated machines to make chocolate, chocolate liquor, cocoa powder, and cocoa butter.  Though I didn’t have access to those sorts of machines, I did not fret because there are alternatives to making a decent quality chocolate.  Besides, the Mayans were making and drinking chocolate hundreds of years ago using hand-made methods that are still used today in many Latin American countries.

The easiest part of making this chocolate was to remove the cocoa beans from the pods and drying them in the sun.  I had started drying them in the middle of the summer when the days were hottest.  What became difficult was all the hand mashing I had to do to crush and mix the beans together.  Luckily I decided to speed that process up by using a small blender.  As it was mixing, I added sugar and milk to make it more of the familiar chocolate taste that I’m used to.  Once it was done, I placed the mixture on a plate and put it in the refrigerator.  When I took it out I was amazed at how it felt, almost like clay.

I then wrapped it up in aluminum paper and stored it in the freezer for several weeks.   Finally this week I decided to unwrap it and eat it.  As I was opening it up, the smell of chocolate filled the air with its aroma.  The texture was similar to the chocolate part of an M&M, or a Hershey’s Kiss but it also felt a little grainy because of the sugar I added.  Despite how it felt, the taste was amazing.  I had never tried anything like this before.  It was natural and pure, and nothing like those artificial chocolate bars you can buy in a store.  The taste resonated in my mouth, as I let the chocolate melt and I acknowledged that this was the best chocolate I had ever tasted.

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tu7FCAEtFE