Cooking with Oma & Opa

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Cooking with Oma & Opa
By Roger Brandt

Editor’s Note: Ruediger (Roger) and Irmgard (Andy) Brandt left Germany after retirement and came to Florida in 1998. They now cruise the Bahamas in their Irwin 38 for several months each year. Ft. Lauderdale, where they own a small house, serves as their home port during the hurricane season.

Cruisers have followed their noses to beach cooking in the Biminis, the Abacos, on Eleuthera, down the chain of the Exumas as well as on Long Island and in the Jumentos Cays. The Brandts plan to be cruising again after November, so look for their sailboat and help organize a feast.

My wife Andy and I often cruise in the Bahamas on our Irwin 38 CC Oma & Opa, and we have achieved quite some reputation among cruisers with what we call Spanish Style Beach Cooking.

This is how it works.

Everybody must contribute something, it would be too hard on one crew to supply and host the meal. Next you'll need a big pot (either made of steel or clay), a tripod to put it on, piles of food and drink and other cruisers to join the party.

To prepare: Dig a fire pit in the sand, start a fire (for this you'll need the other cruisers to gather the firewood) and put the tripod in place with the pot on it.

There are innumerable choices of dishes you can do in this stew. For example, you can cook chicken, beef or pork with veggies, or rice with conch, fish or lobster; any variety the joint effort can raise. With the main dish we usually have a mixed salad and some wine or beer.

While one of us is cooking, the others try to build a makeshift table and some benches from whatever planks and driftwood they find along the beach. Clean up is easy, we all wash our dishes, cover the coals of the fire and gather all trash. And importantly, we return to our boats before the bugs tell us that the party is over.

For those who don't want to improvise, here is one of our favorite recipes, the "Pollo con Tomate" (chicken with tomato) for four persons. This is what you need:

Pollo con Tomate (chicken with tomato)
8-10 drumsticks (depending on the state of starvation of the participants)
1 handful of garlic cloves
2 green peppers (sliced)
2 big onions (sliced)
5 medium sized carrots (sliced)
1 handful fresh mushrooms (or a small can)
2 potatoes (sliced)
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
Olive oil (extra virgin)
1.5 cups or so of dry red wine
salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, leaf basil (sage, oregano optional),
and a little fantasy if you think you can change this according to your taste.

Take 1/3 cup of olive oil, heat it in the pot and stir-fry the drum sticks until golden brown. Add the handful of unpeeled garlic cloves (don't peel or they'll burn). Stir for another 3 minutes. Add the fresh veggies, salt and pepper "al gusto" and stir from time to time to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. The liquid coming from the veggies usually suffices for the cooking, if you control the heat under the pot accordingly. If not, add a little of the red wine. When the potatoes are nearly done, add the two cans of diced tomatoes, the rest of the red wine and the herbs (1 teaspoon of each). Let it boil for another 10 minutes, adding spices or herbs if required.

When the mixture is exactly right, settle back, relax on the peaceful beach and enjoy the company of your fellow cruisers. Buen provecho to all.