One of the many concerns I had after we decided to retire and live off the grid in Xcalak our first was the availability of good, local food. Oh sure, we knew we would eat. There are small convenience stores in town where we get many basics.
We can also stock up in the large grocery store, Chedraui in Chetumal, over three hours away. Our biggest concern was for local variety and quality. Well, that seems to pretty well be taking care of itself. Out here on the beach road north of town things come to you.
About three times week food trucks come by and deliver fresh fruit and vegetables. They also generally have beef and chicken but usually not fish. Fish is bought in town from either the co-op or directly off the boats from the local fisherman. You never know exactly what you are going to get but usually, it is good, fresh and you know it hasn’t been farm raised in China.
It is lobster season now and recently we were able to get some so fresh that the just detached tails were still twitching as we put them on the grill. (A little too much information?) In town, there is also a tortilleria (tortilla maker), a Panderia (bread maker) and from what I understand there is even soon to be a beer brewer (cerveza fabricante)!
Eggs can be bought right from the chicken: Well, not exactly but you know what I mean.
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I have always been a fan of street food. I find that pretty much wherever you are, on local streets, food right off the cart/trailer is usually fresher, tastier and most likely produced from local ingredients. Street food also gives you a genuine sense of the place from where it is produced. But, here on the beach road the term “street food” takes on a whole new dimension.
This morning a man and his wife came by delivering fresh tamales – wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks – right off the back of their truck. They were flawlessly seasoned, firm but still flakey and still warm from that morning’s steaming. In other words; perfect.
Naively, at one point I was actually hoping that being “so isolated” would present itself as a good opportunity to lose weight and get in shape. In reality, there are far more food temptations here than we imagined. So tomorrow, since I know I won’t be automatically forced into dieting, I am going to make an effort to cut back.
But for today there are homemade tamales and salsa on the table for lunch and half a lobster and mango pizza in the refrigerator leftover from last night’s dinner. Now that I know we get tamale delivery right on the beach, I think I am going to have to redefine my notion of, isolated.
I am REALLY enjoying your travel adventures I found on EFAM’s website.
Your ‘street food’ article brought back memories of living in Saudi Arabia where my husband’s job took us to live (3 different cities / parts of the Kingdom over 13 year span). We ate more ‘street food’ there that, to this day, I would enthusiastically love to be able to enjoy once again! My biggest issue would be in asking someone to prepare it for me since most times I never really knew 100% what I was eating (‘meat’ ‘eggs’ ‘spice’ was usually the response whenever I asked what was in the yummy things I was offered to consume – ah well, my thought was no one looked none the worse themselves and they were all still standing!) It was a fun time!! Thanks for bringing me back in my mind to those times!!
Keep up the good work and enjoy your travels. We are right behind you by about a year in our ‘next life: retirement’. And when people back in the “civilized” part of the world give you grief over what you are doing with your life tell them “You only go around once in life, but if you do it right, once is enough!!”
Take care! Nancy Petrusek
Enjoy your writings and articles. I would like to read more about the cost of living in your present location. For instance the rents, food costs, recreation ie. diving, boat use or purchase, fishing, guides, all the necessary stuff for an armchair dreamer. Thank you, Gene McLaughlin. San Diego, Ca.
Hey Gene and Kay,nnI will do a followup article to the one I just posted with more of the information you requested. I always appreciate advice and comments.nnThanks!nnJon