Sustained by the Sea

In the ‘50s, when I was growing up, Mexican schoolchildren got two months off for winter vacation. Luckily for me, my parents took us to the beach. They kept a small house on Isla Mujeres, a small Caribbean island off the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

In those days, there were no hotels on the island, not even a telephone. We sent everything we needed by ferry, then arrived ourselves on tiny Cessna airplanes that were so small we were allowed no luggage other than a bathing suit apiece.

It was worth the inconvenience. The clear, blue waters of the Caribbean were simply amazing. There were beautiful beaches of white and golden sand and splendid coral reefs.

One year, the ferry with our supplies, including all of our food and clothes, was delayed several days by a storm. That meant we lived in our bathing suits 24 hours a day. We had no soap or shampoo; we brushed our teeth with our fingers. The one little general store on the island had a few goods to make things more bearable, but our meals were basically what we could get from the ocean, and the vacation became more Robinson Crusoe adventure than leisure resort.

That was fine with us. We lived very well on that island.

Every morning at 5 a.m., we would go out to catch lobsters. We’d jump into tide pools at the edge of the sea and catch them with our hands. Sometimes they would fight back with their claws. It was really no worse than being pinched by a bratty sister, but we would run out of the water screaming anyway. Also for the taking were clams, crabs, sea snails and turtles.

By 10 a.m. we’d go back to the beach house, starving, and Mother would organize the cooking. We’d boil everything we’d caught in large barrels and eat it in tacos with nothing but beans and a salsa of the fiery local habanero chile.

That now-famous chile is so spicy that even Yucatecos eat it with great caution. Ah, but how proud they are of salsa habanera. The chiles are roasted and mixed with chopped onions and garlic and then marinated in oil, vinegar, lime juice and a pinch of oregano.

After breakfast, it was time to go swimming. Later, we’d take rickety boats out to visit the place where the giant turtles lived. We rode them like sea horses by sitting on their backs and gripping their front shells while they swam along. I still smile at the memory.

Sometimes, my father’s friend Pepe Lima would take us scuba diving. And in the afternoons we would take excursions to the lighthouse, to the natural salt mines or to the Mayan ruins. (Isla Mujeres got its name, “Island of Women,” because the Spanish conquistadors found many magnificent clay statues of women among the ruins.) It was easy to walk the entire length of the island, picking up coconuts to eat along the way.

In the evening, we would cook more seafood, this time with lemons and whatever else we found at the little store. Sometimes we’d make papadzules (tortillas with pumpkin seed sauce stuffed with egg and topped with tomato sauce), which are a Yucatecan specialty. (Though the Yucatan is best known for its famous cochinita pibil--pork roasted in a pit and smeared with the fragrant orange-red achiote paste--the peninsula has a tremendous variety of dishes that change slightly according to the terrain.)

Every night before we fell asleep, we would sing around a campfire. Then we would pick our favorite hammocks and swing on them wildly until we were exhausted.

The ferry eventually arrived with our clothes and supplies, but our life on the island barely changed. What could be better than lobster fresh from the sea and rides on a giant turtle?

TEQUILA OYSTERS IN THE SHELL

1/4 cup white tequila

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup juice from canned chipotle chiles

36 fresh oysters in shell

Salt, pepper

Combine tequila, lime juice and chile juice. Open oysters. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon chile mixture over each oyster. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6 servings. Each serving:

267 calories; 367 mg sodium; 150 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 28 grams protein; 0 fiber.

FRIED SHRIMP

24 large shrimp

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

Pepper

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Shell and devein shrimp. Combine 2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil and pepper to taste. Pour over shrimp.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add garlic and cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove garlic and set aside. Add shrimp and cook, turning, until golden, 4 to 6 minutes.

Divide shrimp among 4 plates. Garnish with fried garlic. Sprinkle with remaining vinegar and olive oil as desired and season to taste with pepper.

6 servings. Each serving:

193 calories; 42 mg sodium; 43 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

LOBSTER SALAD

Four cooked lobster tails may be substituted for the cooked live lobsters.

3 tablespoons sea salt

2 (3-pound) live lobsters

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vinegar

Pepper

6 hard-boiled egg yolks

6 radishes

2 (2-ounce) tins anchovy fillets with capers

24 cornichons

1 (11-ounce) jar pitted Kalamata olives

Salt

Bring large stockpot water to boil; add salt, then lobsters, head first. Bring water to boil again, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes (about 10 minutes per pound). Remove lobsters, let cool slightly, then remove meat from shells. Cut meat into approximately 24 round chunks.

Combine olive oil, vinegar and pepper to taste. Pour over lobster and toss to coat.

Slice each egg yolk into 4 rounds. Slice each radish into 4 rounds. Roll anchovy with few capers to make small round.

Starting at 12 o’clock on each of 6 plates, alternate 1 piece lobster meat, 1 egg slice, 1 cornichon, 1 anchovy roll, 1 radish slice and 2 olives. Repeat 3 more times on each plate. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6 servings. Each serving:

454 calories; 2,776 mg sodium; 251 mg cholesterol; 36 grams fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 20 grams protein; 1.97 grams fiber.

PAPADZULES WITH PICKLED ONIONS

PICKLED ONIONS

1 red onion, thickly sliced

1 white onion, thickly sliced

Salt

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 bay leaves, crumbled

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

4 chiles gueros (peperoncini), finely chopped

PUMPKIN SEED and TOMATO SAUCES

1/2 pound pumpkin seeds, toasted

3 serrano chiles, chopped

2 1/2 cups hot water

8 tomatoes

1 onion, quartered

2 epazote leaves

Oil

Salt, pepper

ASSEMBLY

3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Salt, pepper

24 small corn tortillas or 12 regular, halved

PICKLED ONIONS

Cook red and white onion slices in boiling water to cover about 7 minutes. Drain well and put in glass bowl. Season with salt to taste.

Combine vinegar, allspice, oregano, bay leaves, thyme and chiles, then pour over onions. Taste and add more salt if needed. Cover and let stand at room temperature at least 1 day.

PUMPKIN SEED and TOMATO SAUCES

Chop enough pumpkin seeds to make 2 tablespoons and set aside for garnish.

Combine remaining whole pumpkin seeds with chiles in food processor. Add 1/2 cup hot water and process to make thick paste. Pour paste into saucepan, add remaining 2 cups hot water and bring just to simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Roast tomatoes in oiled grill pan over high heat until skin can easily be peeled off, about 5 minutes. Grill onion quarters until well-browned, about 5 minutes. Combine tomatoes, grilled onion and epazote leaves in blender or food processor and puree.

Coat skillet with 1 tablespoon oil. Add tomato-onion mixture and bring just to boil. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

ASSEMBLY

Season chopped eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Dip each tortilla in Pumpkin Seed Sauce. Sprinkle chopped eggs evenly in center of each tortilla and roll up into taquito. Top with Tomato Sauce. Garnish with reserved chopped pumpkin seeds and serve Pickled Onions on side.

24 taquitos. Each taquito:

107 calories; 71 mg sodium; 26 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.81 gram fiber.

COCONUT MERINGUES

6 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup shredded coconut

Butter for pan

Flour for pan

Beat egg whites at medium speed with electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gradually add sugar, increase mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Gently fold in coconut with wooden spoon.

Drop large spoons of mixture onto buttered and floured baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees until golden brown, about 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave meringues inside to dry, about 1 1/2 hours.

18 meringues. Each meringue:

42 calories; 19 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.02 gram fiber.