There is no joking about the “revenge” in Montezuma’s! Morning started with a bit of the runs that quickly transformed into waterfalls. Ok been there before so not so bad then for 6 hours waves of stomach cramps. The pain was so bad I had to stay in bed. At noon I thought a swim might help so made it down to the pool but the bright sunshine turned everything into a white haze. Next were severe chills and fatigue followed by vomit attacks. My diet was water to avoid dehydration as any liquid I ingested was quickly spewed out. The thought of any food with onions and tomato sauce was unthinkable. May I never see Mexican food again! By midnight all that was left was sheer exhaustion and why don’t we say “wet gas”. I asked for a 06:30 wake up call for Saturday as we head back to Toronto. As in true Mexican fashion it never happened. Thank dear God I made it home without any resurgence of the revenge. What did me in? I played by the rules and still got dinged. Was it that damn beef and onions in tomato sauce?
“Travels to a Different Time” : 27August1990: Cancun, Mexico: Beef in Onion and Tomato Sauce For Breakfast, Lewd Jokes and a Seafood Restaurant Out of Seafood!
Filled up buffet plate with a wild combo of beef in onion and tomato sauce, guava, fried bananas, pastries and bacon. Weird combo but delicious and no Montezuma yet. Off on the tequila cruise as a better and safer boat than the public boat that looks as if will sink halfway there. Being stuffed with a jolly Mexican breakfast did not partake of the party boat breakfast. Isla Mujeres was stinking hot with no shade so stayed in the water hoping not to get too fried. The trip home was full of the usual shenanigans with beefcake Yanks swilling beer from baby bottles making many lewd comparisons. A horribly bad rock n roll band but the Yanks were having a rip-roaring good time and this time, unlike last year, none of them passed out. But then again they were drinking tequila from baby bottles last year. For dinner off to El Pirata which was a quiet little seafood restaurant which was out of seafood except for shrimp and octopus ceviche both which were delicious. Drinks were on the house as a way of apologizing for no fish. A strange dessert on the street was delicious pistachio ice cream covered in chocolate.
On the Ledge Part Four: I Became a Wine Writer and Possibly a Capitalist Toady One!
The Canadian German Friendship League was a bust as far as I was concerned. It was a joke attracting street people and ruffian freeloaders who were powerless lumpenproletarian scum. We Reds love proletarians but not anything below that.
So with the blessing of my superiors I was sent to obtain a Doctorate in Wine from the Karl Marx University in Dresden. I was then sent back to Toronto to become a wine writer. With my flawless English I fit in quite nicely in the Canadian wine writing community. So many of the writers were toadies to the capitalist wineries receiving cases of samples and charging the wineries to review their wines and they labelled themselves as impartial. Capitalist wine writers have no morals unlike me steeled against corruption! It was more important to me to understand the exploitation of migrant workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Thailand and other third world countries that work in vineyards than swill wine and accept bribes. As I wrote about the exploitation of the international proletarian workers I made a few enemies amongst the wine writing establishment with their lackey mentality and lack of critical judgment. But there was a core of disillusioned consumers who saw beyond their corrupt wine writers.
Being a wine writer was a perfect cover for my mission. Meet a lot of people. Attend tasting events. Eat lots of food at other’s expense and never being taken seriously. But what was my mission? It was becoming very unclear. It was as if headquarters didn’t know themselves. The East German population really wanted no part of communism and were becoming more vocal with their discontent. The economy was in shambles and East Germans were selling their blood to the sate who then resold it to West Germany as they were desperate for Western currency. My paycheques were taking longer to arrive to the point the weren’t coming at all. My goodness would I now have to work for a living? Would I become a capitalist toady wine writer?
“Travels to a Different Time” : 26August1990: Cancun, Mexico: The Chef with a Tomato Sauce Obsession
Looks like the Mexican Hotel Shuffle has concluded which was a new room with a huge balcony and great view of the ocean. 4 huge windows and even a refrigerator. I have a feeling this is a time share unit. I have travelled this far and I simply must have an ocean view! As an added bonus you can see the pelicans flying over the ocean.
Buffet breakfast. Custom made omelettes made in front of you too. There is an abundance of fresh fruit including papaya and pineapple. I stay away from the watermelon as it not uncommon for farmers to inject water into a watermelon as when sold by weight it increases the weight. The last thing you want is Montezuma’s Revenge! Enough food and variety at the buffet to keep a hungry man happy. The hot dishes are usually in tomato sauce and onions. I don’t think Mexicans eat tomato sauce as this chef might have us believe. But as sauced up as some of these dishes are the chef knows how to cook!
“Travels to a Different Time” : 25August1990: Cancun, Mexico: The Mexican Hotel Room Shuffle
Back to Cancun yet again. Unbelievably cheap deals can be blamed. This time on a brand-new Canada 3000 plane but it lacked the ambiance of suburbanites excitedly guzzling cocktails and dreaming of Margaritas. Not a bad breakfast of mushroom omelette and potatoes with a hot buttered croissant. Read the Globe & Mail from front to back. There was a lineup at immigration but we were processed quickly. Of on the bus to the hotel called the Tucan Cancun Beach Club. Yet another room fit for a dupe with a view of a construction site. Down to the reception to complain with a promise to remedy the situation tomorrow. I escalated to the Manager and ended up in a big room with an ocean view. Well the ceiling was missing some panels and the bathroom had water dripping near some electrical wires. Again this was taken up the Manager again and yet another promise to remedy again. The Cancun Hotel Shuffle! The hotel, aside from the aggravation of the hotel room shuffle is on a beautiful sandy beach with turquoise waters. Off to good old Blackbeard’s for a delicious red snapper.
RKS Wine: Ontario’s Venerated Le Clos Jordanne: Jordan Village Chardonnay 2019:Pekaboo Time
I sense Ontario’s Le Clos Jordanne (LCJ) is making somewhat of a comeback perhaps now that winemaker Thomas Bachelder is back in the saddle after an absence from Clos Jordanne for several years. He rejoined Le Clos Jordanne in 2019 for the 2107 vintage. LCJ started in 2010 to great fanfare but closed shop in 2016.
How does LCJ Jordan Village Chardonnay 2019 weigh in? On the nose I give it points for not being so easily and immediately recognized as a Chardonnay. Give it a few swirls and the base of that familiar Chardonnay sets in. I mean before you stick your nose deep in the glass it just might remind you of a Viognier. There are definitely toasty qualities on the nose but they are buried deep in the wine not like a flimsy oaked Chardonnay. Ample pear, honey, pineapple, tangerine and mango. Almost tropical. As for the palate indicating some complexity breaking down the components of the palate are not immediately recognizable. What initially seems dilute takes a moment to beguile with a degree of complexity with well ensconced pineapple, Flemish pear and lemon meringue pie. The finish is initially short but give it a moment it swells into a long but subtly long finish. This wine deserves to sit until 2024 in the bottle and then to be consumed by the end of 2027. A thinking man’s Chardonnay yet like a child loves to play peekaboo.
(Le Clos Jordanne Jordan Village Chardonnay 2019, VQA Niagara Peninsula, $24.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario #20455, 13%, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).
“Travels to a Different Time” : September 1989: Some of Cancun’s Restaurants
Many of the restaurants I ate in were very rustic similar to those in Sosua in the Dominican Republic. Aside from a pooparama incident caused I think by that turkey in black bean sauce at Los Almendros Restaurant thank goodness no Montezuma’s Revenge. Los Almendros was the most interesting with its emphasis on Mayan dishes and it was not 10% gringo like most of the other restaurants. Very strange and exotic dishes for the North American palate but authentic. I loved the black and white tiled floor and the lack of tourist hype. The dark Mayan beer was a break from the light and fizzy mainstream Mexican beer. The snack truck across the street could be counted on to deliver good burritos made with ham, cheese, onions and tomatoes. Blackbirds at Tulum gets a high rating for food but it was relatively expensive. They had a live band with limited numbers. Two waiters in a bull costume terrorized patrons and they had complimentary tequila poppers. Yes pizza cuisine abounds in Cancun with great pizzas at Don Armandos and Pizza Rolandi. For timid Americans there is a Pizza Hut. Actually their pizza was a definite cut above their North American pizza.
RKS Poetry: 55 Years of Unhappy Father’s Days
55 years of vacant father’s days
55 years of no father to celebrate a special day with
never even a chance to say good-bye at a funeral
as that unhealthy event was the thought of many in 1964
not thinking grief could find any door
the end result being numbness and an inability to process
so grief leaks out piecemeal
perhaps solace should be found in a new drill set
BBQ
bottle of single malt
or a lawnmower
Merry Christmas Dad
Robert K. Stephen
RKS Film: “Lodo”: Profound Meaning for Some and Light Entertainment for Others
As a lawyer for many years in negligence cases there is a theory called the thin skulled theory. You take your victims as you find them. If you carelessly back your car in shopping centre parking lot and kill a pedestrian that might have not died had they not had such a thin skull that is no defence to your negligence.
Similarly if you watch a film and you are profoundly effected by it the filmmakers have scored a great success as opposed to those in the audience who view the film as light and interesting entertainment.
Eru is young boy of Mexican descent living in the United States. Eru has lost his mother at an early age. Eru is a soccer nut and after his soccer practice he visits his mother’s grave with his grandmother who he is living with. There is no emotion shown by Eru. Then the same day he is playing soccer with his friend and the ball is kicked over the graveyard fence. The caretaker expresses anger at his sneaking into the graveyard to retrieve the soccer ball. Eru covered in mud from the graveyard returns home to hear his grandmother has been having strange dreams about her deceased daughter. Eru falls asleep and has bizarre dreams about being visited by his mother. Using native medicine Eru’s grandmother tries to cleanse the house of spirits with negative influences. Eru learns that the graveyard caretaker was asked by his mother to acts as his guardian. Eru hears this and hugs the caretaker with tears running down his eyes to end the film. Nice story?
Dig a bit deeper. Eru is a child, like many, who has lost a parent at an early age. How can such a poor child process such a tragic death? That child simply lacks an understanding of the death of that child’s parent. That tragic event can be buried deep in the child’s mind and locked up in a state of numbness for many years if not forever. Through the visit of his mother in a dream Eru understands his mother is indeed gone and grieves with tears running down his eyes.
A particularly sad and touching movie for me. Why. I am just another Eru having lost my father at 9 years of age. Unlike Eru I never had the chance to grieve because the death of my father was an impossibility my mind could never wrap around. If you know of young children who have lost a parent “Lodo” may be invaluable for that child. Grieving upon the death of a parent may be therapeutic instead of eternal postponement.
This short recently played DWF (Dances With Wolves) Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film was directed and co-written by Alessandro Gentile.
While the acting is stiff the message for some will be profound.
RKS Film Rating 93/100.
RKS Wine: Wildass Red: Can the Sum Total Overcome Certain Individual Varietals?
Ontario produces some superb Cabernet Francs. One might say it is Ontario’s red wine strength. There is Cabernet Franc in this obnoxiously named wine perhaps better suited to the rodeo circuit in Florida. But there is also Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah none of which individually craft remarkable wines in Ontario. However in the blending game anything is possible as the sum may be far superior to its individual components. Wildass Red did not disappoint the last time tried. What about this time?
The wine has the beginning of a charming, warm and inviting red wine. Some vibrant red cherry swirls about in the glass raising hope for more enchantment. Lesser notes of blackberry and raspberry and a bit of smoke. So far so good but as for excellence at this point more depth on the nose could take this wine over the gold medal finish line. On the palate the feeble black cherry, kirsch and blackberry falls short of a gold medal game. The gentle tannins make this an easy drinking wine and it would suit simple grilled fare such as sausage on a bun or Portobello burgers. The Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon don’t create any magic. But I will say so much wine these days is essentially dead wine dulled by chemical baths. This is not a dead wine. It simply lacks class in its assemblage.
(Wildass Red 2018, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Stratus Vineyards, Niagara-on-the-Lake, $21.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 86363, 750 mL, 12.3%,RKS Wine Rating 88/100).
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