My Brain in Coconut Flan 02.25.2011

Seven years ago when Eric and I visited Cartagena, we ate at La Vitrola.  I recall it being a good experience, and this time I took notes.  The dinner at La Vitrola was the last official birthday weekend event and it could not have been more fabulous.  Good food and drink plus conversation with people with whom you've celebrated for more than 48 hours is a good combination.

 

La Vitrola is not a big space and there was a live band playing Cuban music.  The restaurant has a colonial look.  Our party was tucked away in a room with four large, round tables seating eight each    

 

For the appetizer, I had Ceviche de Corvina -- limey sharp and yummy bits of cilantro and mint.  Corvina is a grey-colored fish -- also called "croaker fish" due to the sound it makes when it pops its head out of water -- found off the waters of California and Mexico.  

 

For the main course, I ordered Filete de Corvina Jalepeno.  Yes, more corvina.  I could not get enough.  And jalepeno sauce?  My regular dining companions know that when my mouth is on fire, I am happy.  The jalepeno sauce was not fire-inducing but it was so good I had to close my eyes for a moment.  

 

One of the reasons I stay away from fish filets is because of the skin.  I don't understand:  It's slimy, it's gross -- take it off.  The wonderful chef at La Vitrola not only took the skin off, but layered the plate with thin slices of marinated cucumber -- it looked like the skin, but wasn't, and tasted so much better.

 

And finally, the dessert.  Yes, I had flan -- coconut flan.  I was so full after the corvina entre, and yet I found the resources within myself to finish the flan.  The coconut flakes were all over, and the rich flavors combined together were perfection.  There were a number of options for dessert and I saw other diners had ordered a chocolate dessert.  I don't know what to say about other people's bad dessert decisions.  

 

Every now and again, the taste or smell of something will consume my mind:  there is no part of my brain that isn't experiencing that taste or smell.  The coconut flan at La Vitrola was just such an experience.

 

Every night after dinner, we have walked, sated, back to our room through the hotel courtyard, with the end-of-day chirps and croaks of hidden bugs, and a slight breeze running through each entryway.  We are one of the few people heading back to our rooms as most are just sitting down for after-dinner drinks, or meeting up just before heading out for late dinner and dancing. 

 

Next trip:  more coffee and/or Red Bull. 

Day 2 in Cartagena: Three Hot, Sexed-Up Women Who Cook 02.20.2011

Unfortunately, that is not the name of a restaurant in Cartagena.  We had a decadent lunch yesterday at Juan del Mar, a seafood restaurant across from the Hotel Santa Clara, and it was during that lunch that two other women and I decided we would create a cooking show called "Three Hot, Sexed-Up Women Who Cook".  There may have been some wine involved leading up to that conversation, and possibly a mojito when we first walked in the door.  I'm not telling.

I'm feeling completely lost in the Old City, in a good way.  It's easy to get sucked in to the architecture, the exquisite door knockers, the brilliant colors, and in conversation.  A good meal and good conversation, and you have no sense that hours have passed.

There was a group lunch at Juan del Mar, prix fixe.  To start I had Muelas de Cangrejo (crab claws).  I have to pause here and tell you that before I met Eric, there was no gastronomic adventure in my life.  Eric took me to Paris for a few days in 2000 and after a 4.5 hour lunch at Pierre Gagnaire my life has never been the same.  Had it not been for that trip with Eric -- and that lunch -- I don't know that I would so easily order crab claws.

My sister-in-law nudged me to get the crab claws.  I did and it was so worth it.  It was not, however, until the third claw that I truly appreciated her recommendation.  There were eight claws on the plate with a small bowl of melted butter in the middle.  The bite-sized piece of meat was juicy and, while I am not a seafood expert, fresh.  I could swear to you that someone just plucked these crabs from the ocean.   For the main course, I ate Pescado Lamar.

This was a filet of fish in a Spanish stew with passion fruit and curry.  When I was done, there was no evidence on my plate that food had been there.  The fish was accompanied with coconut rice, which, if you have not tried, get yourself to a Colombian restaurant and eat.  


When we were last in Cartagena, a friend took Eric and me aside at a family event and said we needed to scrape the bottom of the rice pot before anyone else got to it.  Delicious.  The rice at the bottom is crispy and tastes as if it's been marinating in coconut for days.

For dessert there was a choice between chocolate torte and flan -- I chose flan.  I always choose flan.  

A piece of star fruit floating on top of the ice vat at
Juan del Mar for chilling wine.

I've talked before about restaurant acoustics and my crazy desire to be able to hear conversation at a meal.  All that goes out the window in Colombia.  Restaurants such as Juan del Mar have open windows, there is loud music, there is usually an open view up to the sky and birds are flying around -- it's really fantastic.  Everyone is deep in conversation that involves a lot of laughing.  Waiters are walking around with bottles of wine through narrow passages between tables.  A lot going on, and all good.

We left Juan del Mar content, some of us ready for nap but opted instead to go on the walking tour of the city.  The door knockers were incredibly distracting.