Masachapa Shrimp Salesgirls

Submitted by catahoula_fan on 4 June, 2006 - 21:33.
Masachapa Shrimp Salesgirls

Once a month or so, Roger and I take a trip to Masachapa to shop for seafood. This is without a doubt my favorite little seaside town in Nicaragua. We have a pleasant visit each and every time, and the place just gets better and better. The people are friendly, the cops are friendlier, the market is cute as can be, the seafood prices are incredible, and I come away with great pix each time. My favorite place to shop is Venta de Mariscos on the main street of the market. Yazmina runs the place, and she puts up with my horrible Spanish with a smile.

I normally buy camarones grande for 80 cords a pound, but no one in town had any today. So I settled for whole lobsters for 50 cords a pound, clams for 40 cords a pound, and corvina fillets for ceviche for 25 cords a pound. Yazmina insisted on giving me her new cell phone number so I can call her before our next trip, so I gave her mine too. Not sure we'll be able to communicate by phone as my Spanish is bad and she speaks no English, but that's a problem for another day.

On the way out of town, we got stopped by the cops again. This happens to us, ALOT. Interestingly enough, Roger has not gotten a ticket since he got his Nicaraguan driver's license. Another good side effect of taking that driving class in Granada was finding out that the traffic cops wear long sleeved shirts and, according to the instructor, these are the only guys that can issue tickets. Any cop can stop you, but only the long sleeves have any ticket authority. The short sleeve-wearing fella today was oh so friendly, had a clipboard in his hand, and an AK-47 strapped on his back. He asked us what we were doing in the area. I got this because I understood "pescado" and him pointing back towards town. I smiled back and said "langostino". He made a note on his clipboard then waved us on. I gathered from this that there's an effort to find out where people are going, maybe for tourism purposes, maybe to find out which roads get more traffic and need work. Who knows.

All I know is I came home with a cooler full of cheap seafood, just in time to make up some snacks before the Arena Football playoffs. Great football, fried lobster with chipotle dipping sauce, and a huge plate of clams dripping with garlic and butter...Life is good in Nicaragua!

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Lobsters

Submitted by Huehuete Bob on 5 June, 2006 - 09:15.

Just dont let the cops catch you with the small lobsters. At 50 cords they are the small ones and illegal.....of course every restaurant that sells sea food sells the small lobsters but if a cop wants to harrass you, small lobsters can be big trouble.

Guess Who's coming to dinner?

Submitted by Santana on 5 June, 2006 - 07:02.

The kids are adorable and those shrimp are huge!!!!

Thank you very much for the tip on the long sleeved cops...this information might come in handy for the future.

BTW...I'm inviting myself for dinner, you sould like an awesome cook!

Have you tried the River Shrimp in El Castillo?

Submitted by Chele John on 5 June, 2006 - 11:06.

Yes, nice sized shrimp in that picture but if you want REALLY HUGE shrimp, go to El Castillo on the Rio San Juan and check out their river shrimp.

You'll swear you have a lobster tail on your plate the first time they bring you one from the kitchen. Those shrimp along are worth the trip down the river which, to me, is one of the treasures of this country.

Amen!

Submitted by no longer registered on 5 June, 2006 - 11:09.

Didn't have them at El Castillo but a bit further downriver at Bartolo Lodge -- enormous and EASILY one of the best meals I've ever had, anywhere!

*L*

Submitted by catahoula_fan on 5 June, 2006 - 10:53.

Yes, I love the shrimp we get in Masachapa, they're huge and so sweet.

I tried to take a picture of Yazmina as proprietor of the shop, but she's camera shy and deftly shoved the two kids into the picture instead. Quick thinking lady, I'll say.

Well, I'm not humble when it comes to my cooking ability, that's for sure! I was in the catering business for 12 years, back in Pa and then in Ga. I learned alot from my trips to New Orleans, as well. My 2nd favorite thing to do is play for hours in the kitchen! It's a wonder my husband doesn't weigh 400 lbs!

Cooking and weight...

Submitted by no longer registered on 5 June, 2006 - 11:10.

I think your other half is working to hard to put on weight, right?

And I too can attest to the cooking abilities of this lady -- OUTSTANDING...

such a deal.......

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 21:40.

you are my favorite new poster! ok, i confess i googled your name, catahoula, cause i thought you were referring to a place in texas. in here (pointing to my head,) i'm already there.

Hi Jim, nice to be here...

Submitted by catahoula_fan on 4 June, 2006 - 21:57.

I took a look at your personal info page. Man, your daughter is such a cutie!! My boy turned 18 last year and we sent him back to the States (he was here for almost two years). My babies now, my dogs that is, can be found at http://www.freewebs.com/quintaquijote/catahoulas.htm

To me, they are sweet angels, but to anyone else...well, just ask Josh.

Dogs

Submitted by Santana on 5 June, 2006 - 07:05.

Love the dog pictures....

Rupert my OES/St Bernard is on my bio page..he is 120lbs. I also have a Golden Ret. named Mousse.

I love animals....

i have 15 to 20 years.....

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 22:03.

sounds like a jail, strike that, prison sentence, before i get there. laura and i just had twins on may 18. so cannot retire there until then. but i like staying connected with this site.

Home Schooling in SJDS

Submitted by FNLM on 4 June, 2006 - 22:06.

I think Catahoula_Fan should talk to you about home schooling. Very good option to escape your sentence.

but thanks

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 22:17.

i so like the pace there. it was like here this sunday. we did nothing all day, well, change, change, feed, feed, repeat, repeat.

i am tempted......

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 22:13.

and have talked that over with the wife. we like to think of nica as our escape plan. what we have here is a jigsaw puzzle, maybe the pieces fit, maybe not. if not, we get there sooner. or we win the lotto and we get there sooner. what a paradox.

i had to look up paradox, to see if i got it right, retentive?

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 22:15.

A paradox is an apparently true statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition. Typically, either the statements in question do not really imply the contradiction, the puzzling result is not really a contradiction, or the premises themselves are not all really true or cannot all be true together.

and here are the twins:

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 22:05.

http://www.nicaliving.com/node/4576

Your Catahoula Children

Submitted by FNLM on 4 June, 2006 - 22:00.

hahahaa... I find them Adorable at a distance, behind a fence (me wearing Earmuffs).

ok, how .....

Submitted by Che Guevara on 4 June, 2006 - 21:41.

did i get bolded?

EXCELLENT COOK!

Submitted by FNLM on 4 June, 2006 - 21:38.

In case anybody does not Know already "Catahoula_Fan" is an extremely GOOD cook. I suppose one day she will throw us all a taste testing of many of the recipes she has come up with, Based on Nicaraguan Cuisine.

...and of course her husband "Senor Catahoula_Fan" will have a home brew beer tasting to go along with this!