Tacografia

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A Fishing Experience

My most successful fishing experience was back in 2012 in the beautiful waters of the Andaman Sea in Thailand. We rented a big boat to spend the day fishing and relaxing. We caught a few tunas and dorados through the morning. In the early afternoon, when one of the lines started running it was my turn to take it.



I start pulling and to my surprise it was a really heavy one. For the first 5 minutes I would gain a bit of line for a moment versus loosing a lot right after. After about 20 minutes, the fish started getting tired and I finally started getting it close to the boat. My arms were exhausted! We saw him jumping out of the water and it was a beautiful sail fish. It was so big! We took pictures and put it back in the water.




We were able to keep a couple of tunas and the dorado. On the way back to my friend's condo, we stopped at s small store and bought local products to make a couple different ceviches. I made a Tuna Ceviche in a Cilantro, Orange-Lime and Coconut milk marinade and a Dorado ceviche with tropical fruits served in freshly opened coconuts. Fresh fish like that is just priceless!



The boat owner asked me for my details after I took out the sail fish. He said it was part of the protocol. They also tagged the animal before they put it back in the water to keep a record. Weeks later, I received a package in the mail with a letter asking me to join a club. You can pay some money to receive a plaque with the certificate and to help keep the protection of the species. I found that pretty interesting and I think programs like this are a great way to keep a healthy fishing industry.

The Hunting Experience

My Korean friend Sung and I happened to go out deer hunting together down in Michigan last December. My father-in-law has a farm in eastern Michigan. He's been hunting all his life and he introduced me to it in the winter of 2013 where I got my first deer. I had been deer hunting down in Mexico before, but I was too young and didn't get to shoot a deer. I have successfully hunted ducks and doves a few times before, but never a big mammal. Reading the hunting section of the Omnivore's dilemma book, I found out that we shared mostly the same feelings. The anticipation before the hunt, the high on sensory awareness, the feeling of failure after coming back empty handed, and the satisfaction of the kill shadowing the guilt. There was one thing that differed, I didn't feel disgust from cleaning the carcass. I did feel a bit like a savage with all the blood running through my hands and yeah there was a stench but nothing too bad. If the organs and stomach are taken out carefully without ripping the stomach or tripes, it ensures a cleaner job and keeps the stench to a minimum. I was so excited about butchering the meat and learning more about breaking down a whole animal. Do I feel any guilt? Well, there is always a weird feeling of guilt after killing an animal. Nowadays though, deer hunting is very well balanced in North America. Deer have no real natural predator, except for a few wolves left here in and there. Also, the extensive farming land provides them with pretty much an infinite source of food, like grains and vegetables. The population of deer has thrived in the last few decades. Hunting keeps the population of deer under control to keep that balance. That puts my mind at peace about killing them. You would be surprised about the amount of meat you can get out of a deer. Once you have a good grilled venison medallion from the back strap served on jus made out from the trimmings, or venison stew or venison jerky, that definitely keeps me motivated to keep doing it. In fact, I can't wait until next hunting season.

Best Latin American Restaurant Prize 2013

There is a video that City Weekend released about last year's awards and I make a short appearance on minute 1:13. It's also my proof that Pistolera actually won Best Latin American Editor's Choice last year.

Check it out: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTY0MDQ3ODQ4.html