For quite a while I had been postponing meeting with my only drinking buddies. Every weekend there had been a problem. Either someone was sick, we were too busy, or there was not money for drinking. We have known each other for over twenty years now and have quite a few things in common. We all got education degrees and we all quit our jobs to do all kinds of random and sometimes quite unrelated jobs. Erasmo became a lawyer; Miguel became a utility repairman and blacksmith and now he is working as a chef in a cooking academy (@miguelvillegas.a on IG).

I was looking forward to tasting any of Miguel’s dishes, so when I finally was able to buy some shrimps, I just put aside some pending proofreading work and indulged in some distraction from everyday stress.

The day started as sunny and very hot, but by the early afternoon it was raining cats and dogs.

I went early to the fishing market to get the shrimp. Then, I went to a supermarket to get some other ingredients for the food. My friends were going to provide the alcohol.

They usually drink rum, so I got some coke to accompany it. I just can’t tolerate pure rum for too long.

We had a great time listening to music from the 70s and 80s (salsa, merengue, etc) and Miguel did a great job improvising some dishes for us.

First, Miguel prepared a vegetable Carpacho (mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, zucchini, and pesto sauce)

I started drinking my white rum with coke and the combination of tastes was just great. It's amazing how we deprived ourselves of great culinary experiences that are actually quite easy to prepare.

The shrimps were cleaned and ready to go.

Then, while he prepared the Paella Valenciana (or given the missing ingredients, a Marinera rice), he brought us some crunchy toasts with an roasted eggplant dip. The dip was a bit spicy, which was great.

Before the main course was ready (unfortunatelly, I did not take pictures of these two), the Chef brought us some consomé (concentrated clear soup) made jsut with the shrip heads.

Finally, we satisfied our cravings for a delicious paella with lots of shrimp. It was fantastic.

It has a vegetable base (tomatoes, onions, garlic, paprika, black pepper, chilly powder, and aji-no-moto) wich provides the acid base. The shrimps are stir-fried and in the same oil he stirred some chicken breast. Then, he added the rice after a semi-roasting process.
He added the concentrated soup he had prepared with the shrimp heads. He later prepared a separate dish called shrimp Bisque. He blended the shrimp heads and added onion, garlic and a little bit of black pepper, corn starch and lime

It was so delicious we are already making plans for next week. Next dish will have at least 4 more sea food ingredients. It promises to be spectacular.

Next time, I will not drink much before the food. I look at images from the moment but I can't quite remember what every bite tasted like. A vague sober memory tells me every bite was quite an experience, but I already had too much alcohol in my system to remember it properly. SO, next time: more eating, less drinking

By the time it started to rain cats and dogs we did not care much about drinking under the rain, for old times' sake. Luckily, I woke up today without further symptoms, other than the hangover-ish tireness.

We were supposed to have walked back home at about 6. Two bottles of white rum later, I got home at about 8 pm.

I asked @manujune to come next time. At least she will provide some decent karaoke singing. Miguel's neighbors almost organized a mob after our henious attempts at singing. Lesson learned. Next time, more eating, less drinking.

Thanks for stopping by