"Free Range" chicken

Last weekend I decided not to cook on Friday night, and went across the road to the restaurant at the Singing Sands Inn. Feeling frugal, I ordered the cheapest item on the menu, the half Free Range Chicken, flattened and grilled for $36 BZD. I’ve eaten there several times before, and have liked what I’ve had. The wife of the couple that own it is Korean, and usually the menu includes items directly or indirectly influenced by that cuisine – but I digress. The chicken was generously seasoned, and also typically tough and dry.


The only kind of chicken available in Belize is true “free range”. Chicken in the U.S. is produced in large barns with highly controlled food, water and temperature. The chickens have been bred and fed to be plump. I recall seeing a report about so called “free range” chickens that were in barns that had a very small door that would allow the chickens to get out of the barn, if they found the door.


The chickens here are small and lean. I don’t know if they ever see the inside of an enclosed barn. I do know that they are tough. I’ve been disappointed when I’ve tried grilling some chicken with my favorite herb BBQ sauce, and still having tough and stringy chicken. But then, voila!


Last Friday I bought a crock pot and a whole chicken. On Saturday I cooked the chicken in water with celery, onion, carrots, garlic and lots of herbs – for TEN hours. It was falling off the bone finger lickin’ good. I used some of the liquid to make rice to accompany it - also very tasty. So now I have to find the sweet spot – how long do I need to cook it to be tender, and be able to remove it to cook with some other method. If any of the readers of this blog cook home grown yard raised chickens this way and want to offer suggestions, I’m all ears.


This issue raises the issue about the meats and vegetables available here. The beef is tough, and doesn’t taste very good. I like beef, but would guess that I now have it once or twice a month, only to be disappointed each time. There is probably no food I miss more than a really good rib-eye steak. I’ve heard that the type of cattle that are raised in North American can’t be raised here, and of course the cattle there are fed in feed lots and don’t get much exercise. Cattle here are raised on big farms, no barns, outdoors. All the meat sold here is frozen. Stores have big chest freezers that they keep it in. Pork products are also available, and are reputedly good, but I haven’t been impressed. Shrimp (frozen) is readily available because there are big shrimp farms in Belize to serve North American and European markets.


Although the markets (the word “super” really isn’t appropriate) have veggies, the best bet is to stop at a veggie store, or buy from the truck that parks in the lower village 3 days a week. Last night on my way home I stopped at David Perez’ Vegetable Market in Seine Bight and bought two small tomatoes, a cucumber and six bananas for $2.50 BZD. The day before I bought 15 juice oranges for $2 BZD from some folks on the side of the road in Placencia Village.


When I moved here last spring there were two grocery stores in Placencia, Wallen’s and the Everyday Market. Now there are five, with the three new ones (plus the Everyday)  being owned by Chinese. The newest one has been trying to stock different foods – so has become a source of frozen veggies. One week he had frozen peas, another week he had fozen peas and carrots, and today he had frozen broccoli spears.

Today we are turning off the raffle page on our Rotary website. If the winner is someone from Portland, or someone else I know, I’ll send you an e-mail on Saturday night or Sunday morning.


My appeal for a CPA on this blog has been productive. Mary from Washington State has the type of experience I need, and owns property here, and is able to move, so we are in discussions by e-mail about what might be. It is quite exciting, and the prospect of starting this new enterprise stirs my entrepreneurial soul.


I’m also thinking about buying a 125CC Honda motorcycle. A round trip between my house and the office is 17 miles. I get about 9 MPG burning butane, which I get at a near wholesale price because we are in that business. So I spend $350 to $375 BZD a month for fuel, and considerably more when I leave the peninsula. (Gasoline is currently at $9.75 BZD per gallon). And my old truck is showing its age. The big issue at this point is my residency. I can’t get a Belize Drivers license until I am a resident, which is a few months away, I hope. I’m not sure they’ll let me drive one with my Maine license. I’ll keep you posted….


Been watching the news about the big winter storms hitting the East Coast in the U.S., and am really enjoying being here…..