As my mother can attest, when ever her back was turned for a few seconds in the kitchen I would be in there grabbing seasonings to add freshness or heat to her spaghetti sauce.  Chopping onions for her stew, a handful of herbs here or a pinch of salt and pepper there.  It drove her batty.

Growing up in small town Northern Ontario in the 1970′s I was never exposed to grand ideas in food. Meat and potatoes, fresh walleye pike straight from the lake, freshly shot deer and moose hanging to age in the cold fall air from the rafters in the garage were the beginnings of my food existence.  Yet somehow I knew that good authentic food didn’t come from a can or a box.  Good food should be fresh, alive, vibrant.

Modern Taco Company

Looking for adventure on a cold rainy spring weekend in Winnipeg can often be a chore.  More than likely my mind will turn to food for escape and what better way to escape the damp chilly streets than taking a trip for a few hours to the streets of Mexico.  The Modern Taco Company at the southern end of the St. James bridge, 612 B Academy Road to be precise offers a surprising choice of authentic Mexican inspired taco truck offerings at a very reasonable price.

Menu Board

When I say authentic Mexican, I mean forget everything you knew about Canadian “classic Mexican” dishes.  If you’re looking for orange ground beef covered in cheese and sour cream stuffed into a hard shell “taco” please go to Taco Time because The Modern Taco Company isn’t for you.

What Modern Taco Company does extremely well is deliver simple Mexican tacos.  Take two small fresh house made tortillas, fill with your choice of braised meat or fish.  Hit it with a dash of onion and cilantro or pico de gallo, maybe a touch of queso fresco or crema mexicana and stop. Simply let the ingredients do the rest.

Taking the first few bites of my lunch, a carne asada taco, the flavors I had just recently experienced in Playa del Carmen, Mexico came flooding back.  The coarse texture of the fresh tortilla, tender grilled beef, a touch of heat from the sauce and the tang of fresh squeezed lime.  Super yummy fantastic taco awesomeness!

Carne Asada, Chicken Tinga, Pescada, Tequila Shrimp Tacos

Easy on the pocketbook as well, ordering is made extremely simple with a pick any four of the dozen or so taco varieties for under 12 dollars.  Selections include 7 meat tacos (beef, chicken and pork are all represented), 2 fish taco types and even selections for the vegetarians and gluten-free crowd are available.

BBQ Beef, Dulce Y Picante, Carne Asada, Carne Molida Tacos

Between the two of us Darlene and I covered most of the menu options, both of us choosing the pick four taco option.  I was particularly impressed with the freshness of the fish tacos, with no heavy cheddar cheese to encumber my palate the brightness of the seafood, cilantro and lime really exploded on my taste-buds.

For dessert we had to try the Chocolate Caliante cookies, a supremely dense mixture of savory dark chocolate accented by a touch of heat from chilli and a pinch of sea salt to really cover all the sweet/salty spectrum.  Simply decadent and delicious!

Cookie Time!

The space is on the smaller side, but not cramped.  The owners and staff are eager to explain the menu and engage in conversation.  Quality control and guest experience seems to be at the top of the agenda for these young entrepreneurs.  Yet they seem to have retained a sense of whimsy, as the servers use comical bobble-head dolls to mark the tables waiting on an order.

Bobble Head and Hot Sauce.

So if you are looking for a truly authentically inspired Mexican lunch experience do yourself a favor and skip Taco Bell.  The Modern Taco Company on Academy is a place you must check out.

Modern Taco Company Menu

Related articles

• Modern Taco Company (megustawinnipeg.wordpress.com)

Reblogged from I Want Ice Water:

Paul McCartney: Out There Tour

Less than an hour ago Kevin Donnelly and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced a major concert event for Winnipeg.  Sir Paul McCartney will play Investors Group Field on August 12, 2013.

This is Sir Paul’s first appearance in Winnipeg since his New World Tour played the Winnipeg Stadium in 1993.  I was a wide-eyed 23-year-old at the time and it was the biggest show I had ever been to.  It’s long been a night that I hoped to repeat. With luck I’ll be in the crowd August 12th at Investors Group Field.

Tickets go on sale April 29, 2013 at 10 am local time.  Ranging in price from $35 to $250.

Related articles

• Paul McCartney to play Winnipeg’s Investors Group Field (cbc.ca)
• Paul McCartney coming to Winnipeg (globalnews.ca)

This time however we had a plan for something extra-special to do with our little buddy.  The Manitoba Museum is currently displaying Dinosaurs Unearthed, a interactive and robotic showcase that displays the latest thoughts on the lives of dinosaurs millions of years ago.  For a 43 year old man-child and a 6 year old this was a must do event.

Being Spring Break for the schools here in Canada, coupled with it being Good Friday we planned on going early to avoid the insane crowds that the day off would inevitability bring.  The first thing we could hardly avoid as we approached the Manitoba Museum from Main Street was the life sized robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex standing guard outside the main entrance to the building.  I thought this was going to spell trouble at first as Eric seemed a bit freaked out by the moving T-Rex and the way it growled and howled at us.

And you thought your pit bull was good for home protection!

Luck however was with us, as we purchased our passes to the Dinosaurs Unearthed we noted that for another few dollars we could also see a show staring Big Bird and Elmo in the attached Planetarium.  A perfect way to calm down a hyperactive and frightened 6 year old!

Big Bird’s One World, One Sky Adventure features Big Bird and Elmo with a new Chinese character Hu Hu Zhu.  Together the characters find constellations common to both North America and China and use their imagination to take a trip to the moon.  Our nephew Eric being half Chinese himself found this new character to be very interesting and could really relate to the simple but effective cross cultural aspects in the short presentation.

Marvin the 40+ year old star generator. Not quite high tech but still delivers razor sharp images.

At the end of the show Eric was so enthralled with the stars on the ceiling that he had to go over and ask the planetarium engineer all sorts of questions about how everything worked. We even got to see “Marvin” the Planetarium’s 40 year old star generator in action.  Now replaced by the Digistar 5 System.

Succeeding in calming Eric down it was now time to take him into the heart of the Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit.  His fear now was a thing of the past and he ran from exhibit to exhibit like a jack rabbit on crack.  Stopping only to gaze in wonder at the motion activated dinosaurs who sprang to life when anyone walked in front of them.  Some actually featured control panels where the children could choose a portion of the dinosaur to activate.

Eric getting a lesson in bone bed extraction techniques from an expert.

Our nephew Eric enjoying the cool bones.

Monstrous Dinosaurs everywhere we looked.

There were bones galore, some full skeletons, a plethora of sharp teeth to touch, replicas of course, and experts on hand to give explanations of the exhibits.  Besides the robotic life sized dinosaurs Eric loved the excavation table where children were encouraged to hunt for dinosaur bones buried under the sand.  Armed with a paint brush he carefully and cautiously unearthed a number of treasures in a patient manner while other children flailed away flinging dirt in a most disrespectful manner.  We both were quite proud of Eric’s achievement in the hands on portion of the presentation.

One big mother of a meat eater skull.

Auntie Darlene and Eric exploring the exhibit.

Eric carefully excavating dinosaur bones from the dig area.

Eventually though the crowds got much too hectic and everyone’s energy started to lag and we bid a fond farewell to the Museum, Big Bird and the Dinosaurs.The day was done but the memories will last a lifetime.

AUTHORS NOTE: For more adventures with Eric be sure to check out Winnipeg’s Winter Wonderland: The Assiniboine Valley Railway.

Reblogged from :

The wood fires to warms your bones against the cold, and of course historical re-enactments of life in the 1700′s when this part of Canada was settled.   Any of you who are also using WordPress may have been having trouble with the recient updates in adding pictures.

Related articles

• Winnipeggers brave cold, snow and wind for Festival du Voyageur (metronews.ca)
• Louis Riel celebrated at Festival du Voyageur (cbc.ca)
• Festival du Voyageur wraps up its 44th year (cbc.ca)
• Louis Riel celebrated at Festival du Voyageur (updatednews.ca)
• Manitoba introduces bilingual license plates (metronews.ca)

For Winnipeg the concept is quite revolutionary, for a fixed price of $39 per adult an endless buffet of savory meats and side dishes is brought to your table and sliced fresh from a skewer and onto your plate.  Simple in concept and frighteningly efficient in bringing one quickly to the point of entering a meat coma.  But oh so good.  Onetime chef and now author and globe-trotter Anthony Bourdain has said in the past that food and cooking is all about domination and submission.   The diner must be willing to submit to the will of the cooks and the severs to receive the best of what they have to offer.

Our meal began quite simply,  the floor manager welcomed us to our table and instructed us on the workings of the table and the floor staff.  We were each given a coaster, one side printed green with a hungry diner smiling fork and knife at the ready.  This was to be displayed if we wanted the gauchos to bring food to our table.  The other side was printed in red, the diner passed out in blissful slumber as if to say “Please no more, I need a break.”

She also explained that family sized portions of side dishes would be brought throughout our meal to accompany the gaucho’s BBQ’d offerings.  Ready, steady, GO!  We cautiously flipped our cards to green, almost instantly a smiling gaucho appeared with a skewer packed top to bottom with roast chicken wings.  Yes, why yes of course I would like some my good man.  The wings were hardly off the skewer when a second gaucho appeared bearing pork chorizo sausage.  All so innocent luring me into their trap.

The wings were crispy and juicy to a fault I gnawed at the wingtips for the crispy goodness and devoured the chorizo with equal fervor.  More and more gaucho’s appeared, skewered chicken thighs, slices of heavenly rare top sirloin, sirloin cap so fatty and crispy and delicious on the outside and so incredibly tender and flavorful on the inside that my eyes rolled up into the back of my head with near  orgasmic delight.

One of the most outstanding wandering table side attractions turned out not to be food at all but a caipirinha trolley.  Where he mixed a very potent Brazilian staple beverage in honor of Darlene’s birthday.  Handing it to her, he whispered sip it slow it, it sneaks up on you.

Our table which was empty at the start of our meal was now packed with side dishes, condiments and the detritus of the meal.  Looking less and less like a fine dining experience but more like a frat party gone horribly wrong.  I had slipped into the dark side and was loving every finger licking, chin mopping crispy skinned and painful sigh as I tried to keep pace with the gauchos.

They looked less like friendly servers now, taking on the visage of black clad, sash wearing delivers of pleasure and pain.  My stomach pleaded with me to stop, full to bursting.  But my meat addled brain wanted more, more lamb, more cap of sirloin, a chicken wing yes please.

Then it appeared, the object to stop my protein psychosis.  A single slab of BBQ pineapple coated in cinnamon and grilled to perfection.  The simple combination of sweet and acid brought everything together. Something so simple almost mundane left me full and complete.

Overall the meal was delicious, however on my next visit I would do things a bit differently to ease into the meal.  Ordering a course of salad or starters from the complementary menu right of the bat seems the way to go.  We were pounded by meat right away and by the time our salads and bread had arrived we were already into full-fledged feeding mode.

This concept for Brazilian BBQ coupled with the quality and know how that the Hermanos ownership group brings to the table, I can’t see Carnaval being anything but a smash hit.

The sun and tropical heat for a Canadian in the midst of the great doldrums of our winter are simply rejuvenating.  Putting it in the simplest possible terms I experienced an almost 60 degree Celsius temperature difference the minute we stepped off the plane in Cancun, Mexico.  We left Winnipeg in the grip of a blizzard, a bone chilling minus 25 degrees Celsius, happy to make it out of Winnipeg at all.  Cancun was a tropical+28 and the humidity hit me like a brick wall after a long exhausting day of travel.

Still though we were in good spirits and raring to hit the pools and the beach the next morning. Hit them we did,  sporting shorts and mike a junkie hitting a crack pipe.  Sunblock applied, towels over the shoulder and breakfast in our bellies the pool side area was our oasis in the blazing heat.

It seemed like every other accent was Canadian also making our adventure away that much more enjoyable.  Sometimes a bit of familiarity brings comfort after all.

After a day or so in the resort area hitting the pools and the beach  we decided to venture out into Playa Del Carmen for a bit of shopping and adventure.  That’s when the heat really kicked my fat little ass. Dressed as I thought appropriate in a white cotton T-shirt with shorts and sandals couldn’t keep me from sweating buckets.  I needed something a little more extreme,  wandering into a little shop Darlene suggested a tank top or two for me.  Normally I steer way clear of that style of clothing but extreme times call for extreme measures and I relented buying two.

A few shops down the road and I completed my Mexican transformation buying a very delicate and elegant blue and white linen top.  Stylish and functional it quickly became my go to item of choice when dealing with the heat.  Along with my newly acquired upgrade from a functional straw hat to an exquisite Panama Hat I felt styling and profiling.

The next day we ventured even further abroad, booking an adventure tour package through Alltournative Adventures.  In one day we explored the ancient Mayan ruins of Coba.  Darlene climbed the highest “pyramid” in the Yucatan the Nohoch Mul temple structure.  Unfortunately I was unable to climb to the top of the temple due to the extreme heat and my wonky legs.  I have no doubt that I could have made it to the top, but I still doubt that I would have made it down in one piece.  The only bit of “safety equipment” on the structure is a rope running down the stairs in the center.

From there our hilarious and knowledgeable tour guide José drove us into the heart of the Mayan jungle for a trek in the bush.  We learned very quickly not to touch the trees, as some of them have running sap that can give exposed flesh 3rd degree burns.   We met the Mayan people and were blessed by a Mayan Shaman (Holy Man) in a ceremony that to my mind mirrored a Northern Native Peoples sweet grass blessing.   He bathed us in smoke from burning amber held in a ceremonial vessel.

From there we swam in a Cenoté (Underground Cave Pool) with water so blue and clear the likes of I had never seen before.  We zip lined, canoed and repelled into a sink hole.  It was like Disney Land in the Jungle and all authentic.  Not one bit of it contrived or touristy,  had lunch with the Mayan people and explored the village in which they lived.  Simply incredible and very humbling knowing what riches we have in Canada.

We attended the Wedding of Jordan and Kenneth Curé, Snorkeled in the warm waters off of Playa Del Carman, and held hands in the sand.  What could be better.

If we only had a penny for every time we heard that line in Mexico we could afford to stay down there this week and all the weeks after this.  Alas pesos did not rain from the clouds, thus we are back in the cold embrace of Winnipeg.

Did we have a great time? Yes we did.  Did we see ancient wonders?  Yes we did.
Did we plunge face first into the wonders of the Atlantic Caribbean Sea?  Yes we did.  Did we meet the Mayans and partake in the wonder of their ceremonies.

YES,  a thousand times yes.

Pictures and stories from the Yucatán in the days to come my friends.

A typical Manitoba winter drive. Burrr

Strangely though, and those of you who know me will think this odd, I don’t give a rats ass.  Because by this time tomorrow I should be en-route to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico.  Buried to my knees in sand, surf and senoritas, (Shhh, don’t tell Dar) for a family wedding that they had the good sense to book in the middle of our coldest season here in Winnipeg.

We are planning all types of activities; they include laying on a hot beach, drinking beer on a hot beach, drinking margaritas on a hot beach, drinking tequila on a hot beach and finally passing out on a hot beach.  Hopefully being found by a kind staff member and escorted back to my room with an IV drip to avoid the impending hangover.

Ahh, Good times!!!

But I jest, we actually do have all types of excursions planned exploring the Mayan runes, trying the indigenous cuisine (street food), and exploring the cenotes (caves in the Yucatán).   We also hope to go zip lining and maybe catch a catamaran to the island of Cozumel.

That is if winter lets us out of Winnipeg.  We do indeed have a large storm bearing down on us at the moment but by all accounts it should clear by morning.    Fingers crossed, expect some tales of grand adventure from my very first trip to a sunny destination!

Adiós mis amigos, te veo pronto. Ariba Ariba!