"ElYucateco" news and stories

Some of you may already know that I enjoy eating the occasional gloriously messy mango whilst perched over the sink. As you can see from the above pic, that's not the only way I like to savor this supremely refreshing tropical fruit.

Years ago a friend hipped me to the practice of sprinkling my mango with salt and hot sauce. His wife was from Guyana and she always had a bottle of homemade Scotch bonnet pepper sauce. Actually it wasn't so much a sauce as a fiery mix of chopped bright orange and yellow peppers floating in vinegar. This wasn't the first time I encountered this combination though. Back in my college days me and some friends used to have contests to see who could eat the most Patak's mango pickle. Straight out of the jar, mind you, with little more accompaniment than pappadam.

A supporter of the Minuteman Project, a group that protects U.S. borders from such dangerous individuals as maids and Tony Bourdain's Pueblan chefs, has found the real enemy. Foreign-made salsa. Thank heavens someone has the courage to stand up to this most insidious of threats to national security.

Texas entrepreneur Ryan Lambert introduced his Minuteman Salsa July 4. Lambert has pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of what he has dubbed America's Patriotic Salsa. The condiment is made in America and uses only ingredients grown in the U.S.

Minuteman Salsa's web site sounds the battle cry urging true patriots "keep foreign-made salsa from slipping across the border into your pantry." God knows I regret ever letting two miniature bottles of El Yucateco hot sauce into my pantry. All they do is stay up all night singing Chalino Sánchez songs and swilling Tecate.

Source

I've been a little reluctant to go through my larder, largely because I've been busy overhauling my swinging bachelor pad. Frankly, I was starting to think PSP's dustball campaign was inspired by my crib. In any event,  here's what  I found  in my pantry:

• Seven containers of ginger Altoids. When these first came out a couple of  years ago they were impossible to get. So I snatched up about a dozen at a Trader Joe's in Westchester.
• An unopened 10-pound bag of Kohinoor basmati rice. Time to fire up the old National rice cooker.
• Two miniature bottles (one red, one green) of El Yucateco habanero hot sauce.

If anyone has any ideas about how to combine these ingredients (savory biryani with ginger habanero crunchies, maybe) please keep them to yourself. I plan to use the rice when I try my hand at Indian cooking. I'll save the hot sauce for scrambled eggs and such. As for the Altoids, maybe I'll throw some into tea.