8/2/14
It was a dreamlike day: my colleague Miguel from Bogota University and I had jokingly decided when he had visited Iowa City last spring that we would cook together during my visit to Colombia in the summer. I didn't know if this was going to become true or not, however, yesterday I heard from Isa that in fact it was going to happen. When Isa announced this, we were at a dinner at a lovely restaurant near our hotel, a group of 15 people, all instructors that she had invited for the conference that will start in couple of days.
One of the many universities downtown Bogota
In the group of instructors are Vicki and Alvaro from Medellin, Columbia, Angeles from Cali, Colombia, Martin and his wife Bonnie from New Jersey, USA, Walter from Florida, USA, and Ed and his lovely wife Teresa from Colorado, USA. Bonnie is sitting right across from me at the dinner table when Isa announces our dinner plan for today. She looks at me almost in horror and when I smile to Isa expressing my pleasure, Bonnie whispers from across the table "are you sure you want to do this?", and when I smile to her and tell her "yeah, we had decided on this last spring when we were together in Iowa City" and explain to her how it all came about, she is still in disbelief that I would do something like this instead of enjoying the intricacies of Bogotá. Miguel, Isa, Angeles, and Erica (from Cartagena, whom I will meet later next week) had all come to Iowa city to attend a conference that I had organized last spring.
Bogotans excited about an event on Avenida 7
During the week of the conference, I had had a reception for all stakeholders and instructors and international visitors at my house and had served them some on my Turkish cuisine items. Miguel, apparently a fantastic cook, spontaneously had invited me to his house to cook together during my planned visit the Columbia to lecture at the conference that Isa and her colleagues were already organizing. What a fantastic idea I had thought. That is the kind of travel that I love to do: visiting distant lands through connecting with exceptional people both at professional and personal levels to learn about their lives and their cultures through insiders and become part of their lives. That I call "anti-touristic tourism" and that is why so far, I haven't had any experience with tours to visit other countries.
Catedral Primada de Colombia
Miguel picks me up at noon at my hotel, as planned after my visit to the markets on Avenida 19 with Ed and Theresa. We walk for some 25 blocks to get to the commercial center where there are markets. We visit one of the larger markets that sells meat, fish, chicken, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Colombia has celery just the way we eat in Turkey, with small roots and lots of greens. The tropical fruits of all kinds are very intriguing. I am happy to see that they also have beets, one item that I am planning to use as the main ingredient of one of the salads but I'm going to fix tonight. Having identified what is available in the market, we return to the hotel in time to get ready, for me to meet with Miguel and for them to meet the rest of the group to visit the Museo Botero.
Majestic mountains Bogota and its environ are embedded in near La Calera, a suburban authentic mountain town near Bogota from Miguel's kitchen
It is a lovely encounter with Miguel. He is as warm as he was in Iowa City. We head directly to his town La Calera, outside of Bogotá, up on the mountains. I will find out soon it is like a resort area in the middle of the Alps in Europe. On the way to, we stop at couple of markets to get the items that I will need to make the three salads that I plan to make. He gives some hints to what he's going to make, but the impression that I get of the amount of food that he will make is nowhere near what he actually will make at the end of the evening.
Miguel's front yard, where his wife Catalina runs a daycare...
When we arrive at his house, he points out to the kindergarten that they built on the premises for his wife Catalina to run for this little town, which houses mostly professionals who live upon the mountains but work in Bogotá. Catalina meets us at the door, who's a vibrant, beautiful, and very friendly Colombian woman. I learn that she's a psychologist and has exceptional command of English. Their home is beautiful, very spacious, with a very large kitchen, clear indication that there is cooking going on in this kitchen all the time. I ask them whether they both cook. Catalina is very enthusiastic and her response is a big yes! They both crack up to my comment of "the best lovemaking is a couple cooking together".
Our lovely hosts Miguel and Catalina getting ready to cook for 15 guests... The love in their home is so spacious, it could embrace as many as the universe sends their way...
And starts the cooking spree of some five hours. The cooks are Miguel, myself, Catalina, and their lovely helper Ines. Ines doesn't speak any English, and my Spanish is very poor. When I tell her "Hablo Espanol un poco", she responds to me "no hablo Englais" and we both laugh. After I prepare my beet salad, Turkish potato salad, and roasted red pepper salad, I am ready to help Miguel with the cutting and chopping that he instructs all of us ladies to do to help him. Before that though, Catalina makes a very phenomenal dish, which I am definitely going to try in Iowa city for my friends and family. She took a big piece of pork to roast. Covered it with half a centimeter thick layer of rock salt and wrapped it in an old shirt which was cage wired onto the meat very tightly. She then wetted the shirt with water to such an extent it would prevent the shirt from burning.
Catalina is unwiring (literally) the pork cooked in a wrapping (Miguel's old but most favorite shirt!)...
The fire in the fireplace that was burning when I arrived, is already dying down leaving huge amount of Ambers. She places the meat on top of the coals and cooks the meat on both sides for 20 minutes. She says for beef 15 minutes would be enough, and I estimate in my mind for lamb it maybe 10 minutes. I am a bit skeptical about what's going to happen to the shirt. However it turns out to be a totally safe experience, at the end of the cooking process, the shirt is understandably scorched and is to be discarded, however no fire risk was taken. I ask them whether they cook this way often. Catalina utters and enthusiastic "we do". I chuckle "you must be discarding a lot of old shirts" which meets another enthusiastic we do.
As the afternoon gives way to the evening, it gets cool and we build a lovely warm fire, around which most of the guests will flock soon...
Once the meat is done Catalina makes an interesting rice dish. Rice is cooked in one half red wine and one half water mixture. After the cooking is done a little bit of cream and Parmesan cheese is mixed into the rice dish, which is unexpectedly extremely tasty. The kids, and they have three lovely boys from age 8 to late adolescent, come out and half the pork is now gone.
Miguel preparing coconut for his rice dish
The guests arrive around 5:30. Catalina has laid out very elegantly a cream cheese dip she prepared with chopped red peppers slightly cooked in vinegar with bread and crackers as well as the shrimp cocktail that she made which tastes almost like a variation of ceviche. Miguel and Ines are still working in the kitchen for the final touches of the three exceptional meat dishes that he has been preparing throughout the afternoon. What is interesting is the electricity has been out for the better part of the afternoon, and as we are moving into the night up on the mountains, we still do not have electricity. Catalina brings another lovely touch to the environment and donns the entire living room/dining room area with a variety of candles scattered on top of all surfaces. In the meantime the guests are scattered throughout this spacious place, most appropriate to entertain friends and family, sipping on their wine or mojito, a drink that all central and South Americans apparently enjoy.
Some of our guests around the fireplace....
I know that Vickie, one of our colleagues has a beautiful voice and sings and dances exceptionally from the rumors I have been hearing for the last three days. I try to see if she may be triggered to sing for us. She starts singing a beautiful Colombian song, which verifies what a beautiful and strong voice she indeed has. The first one is followed with a song from Puerto Rico, a protest song that apparently is sung by the separatist Puerto Ricans. From all the political discussions we have been having with this group during the last three days regarding the difficulties of Colombia, I am aware that these people are progressive, liberal individuals that want the best for all the people not only a minority in their country and in other countries.
Colombia is the country in South America where there is the most variety of fruits: I bought fruits from every stand to try their full spectrum...
This brings memories from my past when we also were demanding the government to provide for the poor and create a more a military and society rather than serving the interests of the rich and a very small minority. Unexpectedly, I start singing a song from my past activist days to this group of wonderful people and explain to them the historical significance of this particular song. I can see what a different level of connection we have arrived at with just two songs. It is the voices, the listening, the tunes, but most importantly the content, which brings a totally different level of communication among people who were bonded only at a professional level up to this moment.
Let the singing begin...
But now, at this moment, we are connected and we have arrived and understanding all one another and a much higher level. The discussions, sharing of memories, singing, exploring some of our past and present over the Internet on cell phones, iPads, bring multiple layers of color and understanding to this communication that has already started. I can sense the younger colleagues are slightly stunned with this aspect of their more senior colleagues that they might be seeing for the first time. It is lovely to see that they are as pleased with what unfolds before their eyes just as we are.
Miguel continues cooking and here is how you crack up a coconut...
Finally, Miguel brings out his exceptional dishes, one made with beef, the other with pork, and the last with chicken all unique stew with a variety of ingredients that I had never tried before. The rice that Catalina had made along with the rice that Miguel made with coco milk as the base, the steamed yucca, and wonderfully prepared sweet plantain are additional dishes that jazz up our dinner table. We all flock around the dinner table and serve ourselves to go back to around the fireplace to savor all the layers of flavor that were brought to this table from Columbia, India, turkey, and America. This global power of friendship and humane connection is going to be, I hope, what will save the world and stop the wars and violence.
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| Final touches to the menu require intense conversation around the stove... |
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