Saturday at the market in San Ignacio is always the busiest day of the week and it’s best to get there early for the best selections. Fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, meats, honey and natural remedies are abundant everywhere. Plus all the numerous food stands where you can get everything from pupusas and tamales to pizza and hot dogs.  Not to forget all the fresh juices made with any fruit or veggie you can imagine. Of course there is also the option of having a vendor cut the top off of a fresh coconut with his machete and inserting a straw in it for you to enjoy, (my personal favorite).

Most fruits and vegetables at the market we can recognize, but there is always a few that we just can’t figure out. Even after asking what it is, usually it’s something that we have never even heard of. I know in due time we will have them all figured out and decide where it will fit best into our cooking.

In the village of San Antonio right by our place is this little palm thatched building that looked like they might serve food. One day we stopped in and asked the owners (a Mayan couple) if they served food, and they said yes. When we walked in, there were a bunch of young school children in there eating and watching Dora the Explorer cartoon on the TV. There was no name on the place or even a menu for that matter, but the owner told us he had empanadas, salbutes, burritos and rice & beans. I ordered the empanadas and Kelley ordered the salbutes. When our food came out we each had an order of empanadas, no salbutes, but it didn’t matter because the empanadas looked great. Each plate had 6 chicken stuffed deep fried empanadas topped with grated cabbage and served with a hot sauce that looked homemade. The food was outstanding, the sodas were ice cold, plus the enjoyment of watching the kids singing and guessing the answers on the TV were priceless. Well not exactly priceless, the whole thing cost us a total of $3, I really did feel guilty when it came time to pay the bill.

On another day we were driving around exploring and came across a little place called Food House Bamboo, we were feeling a little hungry and thirsty so we decided to stop. The owners were sitting on the patio drinking coffee and tea just taking it easy. We asked what they might have and they said hamburgers and fries, so that’s what we ordered. After talking to them for awhile we found out that he was a baker in Belgium before moving to Belize. Every day he makes his breads, for their sandwiches, burgers and pizzas, to serve up at the restaurant and to deliver to area bars when they call in a food order. It was a great little find that served up good food and ice cold beer at a very reasonable price.

Other foods we enjoyed this time in Belize were stewed chicken, rice & beans, lamb ribs and chops, rabbit curry, grilled plantains, octopus, bbq ribs, burritos, stewed pork, beef liver, poutine, fried chicken, lamb stew, pizza, Chinese food and of course the best hot dogs ever. With such a diverse group of people living in Belize there’s always a lot of good food to be found.