Yes, this is soup with bull testicle in it, one of the many highlights of my Nicaraguan food adventure. The thin slices of soft and creamy testicle came in a traditional light and tasty broth that had some milk or just a little cream in it as well as finely chopped onion, potato, carrot, red bell pepper, squash, and mint leaves. The soup tasted buttery, and it was served with a corn tortilla on the side along with a slice of the typical grilled white cheese and some spicy chopped onion pickle. This place also serves bull testicle raw as a ceviche.
Location: Don Pepe, Teatro Municipal ½ c al sur, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 23, 2023.
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This was a tasty light beef bone broth with plantain, yucca, squash, and true yam along with chopped onion, tomato, and mint leaves. It was garnished with a small crab, hence the “punche”. This soup was all about the vegetables and the flavor the beef bones imparted into the broth. I sat by an open window, and the breeze cooled me off as I ate hot soup in the heat of Leon. This is undoubtedly one of those poor man's dishes where bones are cheaper than meat, and they're turned into something delicious. The little crab makes the soup look more expensive than it is. I was surprised that the good stuff I was finding in Leon was soup, but later my hotel owner told me that the Leonese love their soups and there are restaurants dedicated to them (but you have to arrive early or they'll be sold out).
Location: Comedor Sabor Pinolero, behind Santuario de Guadalupe, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 13, 2023. This is my first Nicaraguan blog, and my bean soup was delicious. The menu said it would be served with fried onion and a fried egg; however, it seemed to me that the egg was poached, and the yolk was still a little runny (which I love). Condiments were served on the side: pickled chopped onion for crunch and tang, sour cream, very crunchy chicharon (fried pork skin), grated white cheese, a bottle of fiery habanero sauce, and wedges of corn tortilla. The otherwise smooth bean soup had a few whole beans in it and a touch of sweetness, probably from the caramelized onion that was in there in rings. This was a noteworthy bean soup for sure, and I ate it outdoors while watching pigeons flocking from the impressive white cathedral to the green trees in the plaza and back. There was also a piano player in the restaurant for extra ambiance.
Location: El Sesteo, Main Plaza, Leon, Nicaragua. Date: February 12, 2023. This is obviously one of the great soups of the world, and when Palm Springs Magazine touted the Mr Lyons version, I wanted to try it ever since. It was served in the traditional French soup bowl, and it had great onion flavor. The onions were not cooked to death, so they still had a little bite to them. The bread on top, holding up the cheese, was still a little crunchy on the edges, but never mind the bread and cheese because the rich beef broth said it all.
Location: Mr Lyons, 233 East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: December 30, 2022. Chef Steven, who's from Louisiana, imports a couple of good products from his home state to use in his gumbo, namely smoked andouille sausage and dark roux (oil and flour mixture cooked low and slow until the desired color and flavor is achieved). Here in California he darkens the roux even more and adds the trinity (chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper). Chef uses green and red bell peppers, as I like to do, because the red adds some color. I make gumbo ya ya, which uses chicken and sausage, but Chef Steven also adds shrimp. Among other duties, Chef Steven is a consultant to Smoke Tree BBQ in Palm Springs. He smoked some chicken there and added it to the gumbo along with the smoked sausage from Louisiana. His gumbo was the smokiest I've ever had, and it had a depth of flavor I haven't been able to achieve yet. He added some okra to his gumbo, which he doesn't always do, and he cooked it to where it just melted into the dish. This gumbo was dark, savory, and spicy, and Chef added just the right amount of rice. Perfect!
Location: Home Cooking, Smoke Tree BBQ, Smoke Tree Plaza, Palm Springs, California. Date: June 4, 2022. This is a vegetarian cold soup served in Russia and Ukraine in summer. It consists of a lot of diced fresh cucumber along with some cooked potato and hard boiled egg in a kefir broth flavored with chopped green onion and lots of dill. Kefir is a thin yoghurt that's a little tart, and in this soup it was nicely salted. There was crunch from the cucumber, nice herb flavor from the fresh dill, starch and nutrition from the potato cubes, and protein from the chopped egg. This soup is so refreshing!
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: June 3, 2022. For me, this is the Mexican version of French Dip, though it differs in that the tender thinly sliced beef is served in the broth it was cooked in. This soup or stew comes with whole white beans, grilled onion, fresh bacon crumbles, cilantro, and a whole grilled yellow pepper. It's garnished with raw finely chopped red onion, which provides crunch, and you have your choice of corn or flour tortillas; naturally, I chose corn. What I did was to place beef slices and grilled onion on a corn tortilla, add hot sauce and a squeeze of lime (both came on the side), and then dip the tortilla into the beef broth. Just delicious! The plump white beans in the broth added creaminess, and the bacon added what bacon always adds. For me, the star of the show was that grilled yellow pepper. It was more sweet than spicy, but it was very flavorful. It was a good dish without the pepper, but it was almost spectacular with it.
Location: Felipe's Cafe, 400 S El Cielo, Palm Springs, California. Date: February 20, 2022. My sister and I arrived at Haus of Pizza only to find it closed. We had come for the Russian menu which is served the first week of each month, but as we turned away in disappointment, the Ukranian owner suddenly opened the door and said she would open early just for us. When we were seated at an outdoor table, she declared that she had just finished making borscht, which was amazing as that is exactly what I'd had in mind to order. When we asked if we should have it hot or cold, she said we should have it hot because it was so fresh. The soup was shredded cabbage and beets with a few pieces of well-cooked potato per bowl. Each bowl was garnished with chopped green onion and dill, and sour cream was served on the side. The soup was mildly sour with a hint of sweet, and there was still a little crunch from the cabbage. This was one of those dishes that was more delicious than I can describe. Both my sister and I agreed that this was the best borscht either of us had ever had.
When I ordered a beer, the owner excitedly told us that she now had Ukranian beer. We ordered a bottle each of Avtorske, an amber lager beer. It was on the stronger side, at 7% alcohol, and it was rich as well as a touch sweet and a touch bitter. It was very good. For dessert I had Syrniki. This dish consisted of two farmer's cheese pancakes along with sour cherry compote and sour cream. The pancakes were actually just firm but creamy thick fresh cheese patties that had been pan fried to form a crust on the outside. The dish was not at all sweet except for the sour cherry compote. You could actually have this as a main dish. Since I'm not much into sweet, and definitely not into over sweet, this was my kind of dessert. I will definitely have it again. Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: February 5, 2022. This soup, on a Russian menu, is listed as “German meat soup with pickles. Served in winter.” It turns out to be a Russian soup that became very popular in East Germany. The version I had today had lots of deli meat in it, including pepperoni (after all, this is a Russian owned pizza place). There was also grated carrot in it, and sliced scallions and pickled cucumber pieces. What wasn't really German were the black and green olives. The soup was garnished with dill (of course!) and a lemon slice. It was served with coriander flavored black bread and sour cream, both of which really complimented the soup. When the waitress brought me the soup, she said, “It's all homemade. Nothing out of a can.” The soup was savory and a little sour, and I can't imagine it out of a can.
Location: Haus of Pizza, 72-795 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: December 4, 2021. My friend and I were driving a 20 foot U-Haul from Washington to California, and we found this motel in Oregon that let us park our truck after we were turned away from another motel who wouldn't. The hotel had a Chinese restaurant on the premises, and because of the cool wet weather, we both had the same idea: hot and sour soup. Sure enough, they had it, but because of their Covid hours, we had to take it to go (no big deal as our room was just steps away). Our soup contained little bits of tofu and crunchy carrot, seaweed, and black mushroom. It came with egg drops in a thickened clear broth that was both hot (spicy) and quite sour (which I loved). The flavor was such that we both had to keep on eating until it was all gone. Not only was it addictive and comforting, but we found it entirely by chance. It came with fortune cookies, and when my friend opened his, it read “You will soon receive an unusual gift of food for your health.” Since I'd paid for the food, I exclaimed, “You just got it!”
Location: Royal Crest Hotel, 411 E Bonnett Road, Medford, Oregon. Date: November 14, 2021 |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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