Cooking for the Single Woman in Baja

Growing up in an age when health food and bulk came back into fashion has been a large influence in how I cook and eat. This is all supported by being in Baja. The produce and meat is largely organic compared to the United States. Bulk foods are easy to come by at the produce stands. I can get almost everything I need at the Fruteria (produce stand) here in La Mision. My favorite is called Seranita, located in Rosarito. They have fresher stock for the most part and harder to get items like eggplant or Italian parsley, mushrooms and the like. Yet, if I could only shop locally (another current politically correct notion in the states) then I could live quite well shopping a half mile away.

The eggs are tied up in cartons exactly as they were when I was young and living in Middlesex. Where my family shopped for three generations at the Royal Pure Food Market. The service is identical. Rice is scooped up from a large bin by the kilo or media kilo. (2.2 pounds or half of that) and cost around a dollar a pound. Beans cost more as they are so full of protein. The Fruteria only has chicken leg and thigh pieces for meat. They are frozen when you buy them from the cooler. Cost about 75 cents a pound. The flavor is more intense than the "sanitized" version one buys in the average US supermarket.

I generally cook up 2 or 3 big pots of food during the average week. Chunky soups with various vegetable, with meat or without. Beans with lots of flavor provided by dried chilies, garlic, onions and fresh poblanos. Tomato sauces made with Roma tomatoes that smell like tomatoes fresh from local farms. Even when they are trucked in they have a lot of aroma. There is a small herb patch where I live with just rosemary and oregano. I keep both on hand close to the stove in a pretty vase to toss into whatever would be best seasoned with them.

No coupons for this woman! I do not shop very much in American supermarkets. They do not use them down here, though one store does play the game of one price for people with their "discount" card and another for the unfortunates who are not so lucky. There are not aisles and aisles of prepared food like the average US consumer is used to seeing either. All in all, the Mexicans cook the way I do. From scratch. Big pots of food. Not many a salad around, and if you find one at a restaurant it is expensive and not what you might be used to seeing. You might stumble upon Romaine lettuce, and lots of iceberg. Cabbage can be used as a base. If you are looking for the more "gourmet" items like mesclun mix or crimini mushroom they are not very easy to come by on this side of the border. Corn, squash, broccoli, carrots and celery are everywhere. I keep bowls of different washed produce in my refrigerator so I can see what I have and the freshness level.

I currently have a cook top stove which runs on propane. A small convection oven as well as a microwave. My favorite appliance is the Crock Pot. I can simmer all day and leave if I want, or enjoy the lovely smell of food cooking on a rainy day while I write or read at home.

It is easy for me to live on about $15 to $25 a week for food using this system. I consider my refrigerator to be like a small deli. This all so works for me!

Susan Mahalick has lived in Baja for the last nine years. She recommends that newcomers can use the FRAO (Foreign Relations Assistance Office) for many of their issues and information. She has also written a book about "Living Resourcefully, Yet Well" available in eformat on Amazon about tips on living well and within a budget.