Cooking Time!

This past weekend I got to have my very first in-Colombia cooking experience. This involved making a sort of jam—or “Mermelade” with my two of my co-volunteers, Heidi and Katie, and Heidi’s host mom.  We made two different kinds—raspberry as well as “tomato de arbol.”

What is a tomato de arbol? Well, here’s a picture of Heidi with one:

 

And yes, it does translate directly to Tree Tomato. They actually are reminiscent of tomatoes in taste, and it’s many peoples’ favorite type of fruit from which to make juice. As I am a fan of the salty sort of tomato juice, preferably flavored with worcestershire sauce, pepper, lime juice…and potentially some vodka as well…this sugary watered down version of tomato juice is perhaps my least favorite fruit juice here. That being said, it does make some tasty jam!

Anyway, back to jam making. Turns out, making jam is super simple. All you do is blend the fruit with a little water, strain out the seeds, add an ungodly amount of sugar (what else is new, here), and simmer it until it starts to thicken. When it’s done cooking, you pour it into any container on hand and let cool, then refrigerate without a top (Not sure about the why on this part, but since my abuela puts covers on NOTHING I didn’t think to ask about that direction at the time).

In other news, I had my first areppa! My abuela made it for me last weekend and watched to ensure I devoured it all. Made of cornmeal with cheese, fried in butter, and then topped with over an inch of MORE grated cheese, it was the size of my plate and incredibly delicious…as well as probably enough food for the day.  However, as my days of enforced meals continue, it has become clear that my abuela has every intention to follow through on her thoroughly stated intention to “grow my stomach” so that I’m substantially bigger by the time I leave her house in three months. I’ve told her I can’t afford to buy a new wardrobe but alas, this provides only another source of humor for her…and so, onward.

Pictures of jam making:

                                  Heidi and her mom starting the raspberry cleaning process

                                       Katie and I doing some more raspberry cleaning (stems and leaves
                                       were still attached!)

                         Pureeing the fruit--blenders, or "liquifiers," as they're called here, are
                         indispensable here/are in every kitchen, used daily for making juice!

                                       Yes, we licked our spoons like 5 year olds