Red Snapper Supper

Some of the staff at Off the Wall Dive Resort    Left to right...Mario, Eileen, Juan, Beverly

Have you ever met a cooking angel?  Someone who can create wonderful meals from very natural ingredients? One such angel, employed by Kendra and Jim at their dive resort, "Off the Wall", made our week on Long Cay a little sort of heaven.  With the most basic of kitchens...

And an outdoor dish washing station, reminiscent of our four bucket river system, she created breakfast, lunch, and dinner with homemade breads at every meal and wonderful native Belizian recipes.  Many things were made from the coconuts that were planted to supplement the crates of vegetables boated in weekly from the markets in Dangriga and the fish caught locally by professional fishermen.  Things like coconut flan, coconut lemon pie, roasted coconut appetizers, German chocolate cake with fresh coconut.  

Every day, Eileen would cheerfully shout, Juan or Junior, or Mario, bring me a few coconuts!  And they would rush to do her bidding, knowing something incredible was coming soon.

When the fishermen visited the island, they left with their pockets heavier and their boat a little lighter. 

Red Snapper being ready to be cleaned

Junior, dive boat captain and expert with a knife as well.

 You might think that the heads would be offered to the waiting birds, but no...while the fish was grilled, the heads were carefully poached with spices and served intact for the native Belizian staff to enjoy.  Feeling somewhat adventurous, I gave them a try!   No wonder they were not tossed to the birds, they were wonderful.  Especially served with fluffy rice cooked in coconut milk.

To make us feel at home, Eileen could also whip up mean pizzas and chocolate chip cookies.

Even with all the exercise we got diving and snorkeling, we all left several lbs. heavier.