SALSA! Available in a couple of days, just in time for the equinox!

Honestly, it's amazing and overwhelming  the amount of work and all the challenges you face when writing and publishing a book. Then attempt it from the hinterlands of South America! Daunting! I suppose Life presents the speedbumps and we are to maintain our cool when all the world seems to operate with a "manana" mentality. All the philosophy aside, allow me to say that I loved every minute! Really, every minute!

Available in a couple of days; just in time for the equinox. I like the thought of having an auspicious day for a book launch! Must be the Aztec in me... I'll take a breather from writing as we prepare for the launch party here in La Paz, Bolivia at 3,650m (11,975 feet). Sure to be some Chilean bubbly knocking around, too. In the meantime, we send you our very best from South America!

 Now available - "Salsa!The Sauces of South America." Just $3.99 at Amazon.com! Meanwhile, writing continues on "HotList South America" an essential addendum to your travel guide of choice.

Copyright © Mick Huerta 2014. All Rights Reserved. 
mickhuerta@gmail.com 
All Accordin' - Travel, Culture, Food, Wine! 

The Greatest of all Adventures! ~ The Pan America Highway

The greatest adventure of all is the run from Alaska to the most southerly point of Chile! And for anyone born in the Americas, it's the perfect way to know our incredible hemisphere before traveling the rest of the world. With this trek you become an ambassador for your native soil, the three Americas. Or at the very least you'll have something knowledgeable to say if anyone were to ask a simple question like, "Where are you from?" or "Tell me about..."

No better way to appreciate the Americas (North, Central & South) than to trek the Pan American Highway! Amongst many other astounding locations, there's the Darien Gap! Atacama Desert! Torres del Paine! And Volcanoes all along the way! No other undertaking will give you a better sense of the bio-diversity, not to mention the history, language differences and the sociological dynamic of being alive in the Americas!

Personally, I've traveled only the portion from the U.S./Mexico border south to the city of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. Many travel whims pull at me constantly yet my thoughts return to trekking the section to the north. And upon completion, I believe I'll have attained a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

The rewards are great. Begin your own great adventure in the Americas on the Pan American Highway. Open the door of possibility by learning more. Take the first step and you'll never look back!

Image courtesy - Wikipedia

Copyright © Mick Huerta 2012. All Rights Reserved.
mickhuerta@gmail.com
All Accordin' - Travel, Culture, Food & Wine!

Wonderlust - Under the Southern Cross!

Won·der·lust (wondr-lst) n. - A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel this world of wonder. 

In a year of wonderlust, I flew to Santiago then on to the south of Chile and there the night sky of Patagonia was graced with the smallest of the eighty-eight modern constellations; small, yes, but one of great distinction. La Cruz is what you’ll hear in Spanish, the Latin would have it as Crux Australis and in English, better known as the Southern Cross.

The Cross is easily visible from the southern hemisphere at most any time of year. It is also visible near the horizon just north of the equator for a few hours every night during winter-spring in the north. For instance, it is visible in Southern Mexico or any other place at latitude 25° N or less at around 10 pm at the end of April. I mention the logistics being the Cross is so eagerly pursued by all Northern visitors to the South.

Once traveling to Puerto Natales, hiking through Torres del Paine National Park and eating my fill of Centolla King Crab in Puntas Arenas, I went down to the water. At the wharf I sought out a boat to sail the Straits of Magellan and make Ushuaia, Argentina & then Porto Williams, Chile from where you can fly over or round Cape Horn by sail. Both cities are enjoyed as the most southerly in the world. The aspect of the land put me in mind of my native Newfoundland and surely the position of both points to their respective poles would produce resemblances in sky and scenery. But my surprise was not the similarities but the emotion provoked by rough land and cold sea; I suffered an attack of nostalgia that I hadn’t known for decades. At the rail watching ragged shores I hummed a favorite folk song (Saltwater Joys) in a rush of salt heavy air and white tips cresting on black water. I had to pull myself into the miraculous present to get clear of the melancholy. Passage through waters renown for being temperamental was that trip unmarred by tempest and high winds. Yet at night the water had its chop and the Cross hung beautifully in the clear nocturnal sky. With a deep cup of Chilean red, I thought of all the sailors who had plied these inhospitable waters; most notably Magellan, de Gamboa, Thomas, Drake and then Darwin and his boat giving name to the Beagle Channel, intrepid all. Coming in from the dark cold, I stood watch long into the night with my reveries and wine at the fore of the craft. Sleep did not come readily that night.

After the flight over the Horn from Porto Williams and taking in the panorama of cold, craggy expanse I kept thinking Antarctica is just down there; Looking south I felt no compulsion to leave. I slowly made Ushuaia and lingered there on its wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. All the while I’d read the work of Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Mistral. In those environs I felt a kinship with her and was thankful for she helped me sense all I was seeing. Adding to that, the Cross was with me every night and I felt no loneliness only the loveliness of being at the ends of the earth. 

A flight was booked to Buenos Aires (BA) and so there was an imposed limit to my wanderings by rigid itinerary. I’m most inclined to think travel plans should be as soft as a whim, as subtle as caprice but I suppose that would never fly with the airlines of any country, silly me. BA was so far north the afternoons were hot and the evenings cool, perfect for late night carousing. The wine had changed to Malbec in perfect complement to the great commotion and nightly excitement that went on till wee hours. Lamentably light pollution contaminated my view of the Cross but I knew it was there. I could feel it. 

The last day in BA was fidgety & restless, it was as if the road had called. Next morning I was to fly to the Falls of Iguaçu (on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay) then travel home overland to La Paz, Bolivia by way of Asuncion. And in this way, I was to complete a loop of South American travel adorned by the light of the Cross. 

 For me the Cross is friend, siren and unattainable lover. And it must be so for many, being I’ve seen people's backs and arms tattooed with the constellation and note it embellishing the flags of nations (Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and Samoa). When a land adopts you and you call it home you never suspect you’ll receive the gift of stars. Perhaps that is why you should come south for a visit. You just may find a new home and new cross to call your own.

- Fotos, map and star information compliments of Wikipedia & Wiki Commons


Copyright © Mick Huerta 2011. All Rights Reserved.
mickhuerta@gmail.com
All Accordin' - Travel, Culture, Food & Wine!

Paila Marina! Viva Chile!

Travel holds many surprises. Yet for the person who cooks and loves to eat, the absolute best of all possible scenarios is an encounter with a chef who knows well the preparation of local specialities. Close to the Atacama Desert, clinging to a strand of beach there's a lovely little fishing village called Arica, Chile. A vibrant human presence in such an arid place is a bit of shock yet the village continues to surprise with locally produced melons, fragrant olives, ruby tomatoes, seafood empanadas, pastel de choclo and my favorite, a delectable shellfish stew bursting with prawns that is available throughout the country but never better then in Arica, PAILA MARINA! 

In the Central Market, you´ll find astoundingly fresh fish and shellfish pulled from the sea that morning. And situated at the interior, are a smattering of ¨Mom and Pop¨ eateries serving locals the dishes they love. Of the many, one easily stands out; "La Perla del Mar" (The Pearl of the Sea)! For years Chef Marcela Hernandez Barrera has been there cooking six days a week with a passion. Her PAILA MARINA is simply a marvel. Served with a typical Chilean bread (somewhat like a baking soda biscuit) and a glass of white wine. There is no room to want more.

Chef Hernandez shares her recipe:

Ingredients: 

2 Pounds of assorted shellfish
1 Pound of shrimp
1/2 Pound Firm fleshed fish cut into bite size pieces
1 Cup of fresh whole milk
1/2 Bottle Dry White wine
4 Cups Strong Fish Broth*
1 bottle Clam Juice
1/4 Cup Fresh Red Aji Sauce**
Olive oil
1/2 Onion finely chopped
2 Cloves of garlic (or more)
2 Medium tomatoes peeled and chopped
Oregano, black pepper & salt to taste

Instructions:
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add chopped tomatoes with juice, Aji Sauce, oregano, black pepper and salt. Reduce 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Clean shellfish, removing any sand. In a large pot heat fish broth and clam juice to just below boiling point, add sauted ingredients, fish, shell fish and shrimp. In a minute or two, when the seafood is just underdone, add the wine and milk and quickly serve in deep bowls to accomodate the shellfish. Garnish each bowl with a few drops of olive oil.

* Prepare the fish broth with a gift from your fishmonger of heads, tails, bones and fins. Add bay leaf.

** Aji Picante Sauce is made with the South American Chile called ¨Locoto¨. You may substitute with a fresh red chile sauce of preference or with diced red bell pepper for a milder dish.

Suggested Wine: Cousino Macul Sauvignon Gris, a dry Chilean white which delivers a lemon-lime flavour with just enough fruitiness to complement the Paila Marina. 

Copyright © Mick Huerta 2008. All Rights Reserved.
mickhuerta@gmail.com
All Accordin' - Travel, Culture, Food & Wine!