Notes from my Xela Kitchen

So I may not have come to Xela to become a cook, but it seems to be taking up quite a bit my time that isn't spent trying to become a Spanish-speaker (that being the thing that I did come here do). I don't generally find myself longing for any particular foods here--the markets are overflowing with delicious fruits and vegetables of all kinds, from a firm fleshed squash called huiskil, to oblong white-fleshed passion fruits and everything in between. And when I'm feeling lazy, the streets are lined with vendors selling sweet, cinnammon streaked arroz con leche, crispy pupusas with spicy tomato salsa, fried plantains stuffed with sweet black beans...the list goes on. But if I had to find one thing that I miss, it would be nice, crusty, sourdough bread. In Boston I head a well seasoned sourdough starter kicking around the fridge for about two years. Whenever I wanted to make bread, I'd take the starter out of the fridge, feed it for a few days, and it would be ready to go. By the next evening, I could have to large loaves of whole wheat speckled sourdough loaves perfect with a bowl of heart soup. But in Xela, thick-crusted bread doesn't seem to exist. There are panaderias on nearly every corner, but each one sells a slightly different version of a sweet, soft white roll. Sometimes they're sprinkled with sesame seeds, other times with sugar, but they are almost always sweet. There are a few places that sell whole-wheat bread, but this is also soft, sandwich loaf style. So a few days ago I bought a big bag of flour, measured a cup into a mixing bowl, added some filtered water and thus began my new starter. It's sitting on the kitchen counter and I've been feeding it each afternoon. The bubbles are starting to appear and I'm hoping that on Sunday, I can start my first loaf. I hear there's a big stone pizza oven in town and I have humble dreams of finding a way to use the oven to make really crusty, smoky bread. But first, I've got to get the yeast going (levadura for those of you wondering how to say yeast in Spanish. If anyone can suggest a proper translation of "starter" that would be great. I've heard "la base" but I'm not sure if that's quite right..). And when it's done, a came across a delicious sounding, very simple soup recipe that I'm eager to try. For those of you not familiar with 101cookbooks.com it's a great cooking blog with tasty, simple, fresh vegetarian recipes. I've had lots of success with it. This recipe for Baby Lima Soup with Chipotle Broth sounds like the perfect accompaniment to a loaf of fresh Xela-baked sourdough. Wish me luck.