Food Fiestas in Maderas

Hola todos,

I’ve had several surreal experiences centred around food here in Playa Maderas, Nicaragua. They were so extraordinary that I reckon an entire blog post is warranted to properly share them. I guarantee it won’t disappoint!

Pizza Night at Sergio’s

The first of these experiences was pizza night at Sergio's. Despite all the hype from my pal Ross, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. As we navigated the muddy, pot-hole-studded road using the starlight of a clear Monday evening, the sound of a fiesta grew louder and louder. We walked into the restaurant shortly after 6:30 and I was immediately in awe.

Sergio's Restaurant

This was far from your typical restaurant experience; pizza night was an entire evening, an event. The place was packed. People were dancing and mingling both in the kitchen and the restaurant. It was a great place to meet all the expatriates in the area. After placing the pizza order, people were free to walk into the kitchen, fix themselves a drink and simply tally the number of drinks they’ve had on a piece of paper which they can then pay for at the end of the night. The only area that was off-limits was Sergio’s workstation, where he makes the pizza.

Sergio is both an ex-con and an ex-pat; after fourteen years in prison in Italy, for God knows what, he relocated to Nicaragua. He has been dubbed the ‘Pizza Nazi’ for how seriously he takes his pies. He makes pizzas twice a week, Monday and Wednesday, and only forty in an evening. He’s known to ream people out for arriving before 6:30, for he’s not yet in his role. And if you try to come without a reservation, well, may God help you.

Sergio

Sergio is an artist, and the dough is his canvas. He spends the entire evening making pizzas from fresh, local ingredients in a little area by the wood-fired stone oven. All five of the speakers in the restaurant surround him; there is not one speaker facing the patrons. He blasts classic rock all night and dances while tossing dough in the air, carefully arranging the various toppings and placing it in the oven for no more than ninety seconds.

At 10:30, after enduring much hunger, we finally got our pizzas. I had the ‘Campagnola’, a thin-crust pizza with salame, gorgonzola and funghi. It was well worth the wait as it was quite possibly the best pizza I’ve ever had. After everyone ate, Sergio would light himself a smoke, pour a shot of lemon cello for everyone and, if your lucky, make a dessert pizza for everyone. This was definitely the coolest pizza experience of my life and I plan to attend pizza night every week I’m here!

The Campagnola

Dessert Pizza

Lemon Cello Shots For Everyone

Fresh Langosta at Mark’s

Castaway is a pretty special spot, partly due to the beauty of its surroundings, but also because of the community. Each neighbour brings something to the table: from Douglas, the friendliest local who takes it upon himself to protect the turtles, to Goyo, a Canadian ex-pat who walks around in his Speedo all day, every day. It was at Mushroom Mark’s place that I had the most surreal experience.

Enjoying the well-deserved view after bushwhacking our way up the hill

After an adventurous hike to shark-fin rock, a bunch of us lounged in the hammocks overlooking the ocean when a local strolled by carrying a bag full of fresh langostas, i.e. lobsters. After some haggling in Spanish, we nearly bought out his entire stock. That’s when Mark walked out of the ocean, equipped with his spear-gun and hunting gear, carrying his catch of the day. He saw our langostas and offered to teach us how to properly cook them and was even kind enough to make us a lobster bisque from their heads – something he learned from his time as a chef.

Fresh Langosta

Mushroom Mark with his catch-of-the-day

I spent the rest of the day collecting fire-wood and washing and preparing the langostas under Mark’s guidance. I left for a quick sunset surf session and returned just in time for the bisque which was being served to all the neighbours gathered at Mark’s. I spent a good hour tending to the fire on which we were planning to grill the lobster tails. My skills gained from many years of camping in the great Canadian North were tested in the humid, wet Central American climate. Before long I had a solid base of red-hot, smoldering embers that was sufficient to cook with. The lobster tails were grilled until the shells began to turn red, splashed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and a squeeze of lime. They turned out perfectly.

Prepping the lobster tails & saving the heads for bisque

Mark hosting the neighbours for movie night

Grilling soem fresh langosta tails

Finished product

To top off a great evening, we watched a double-feature of ‘Elysium’ and ‘Hangover 3’. The thing is, we didn’t watch it inside; Mark had set-up a projector, screen and surround-sound on the beach. Mid-way through the first film it began to pour and streams of water ran down the screen, but we kept on watching from under the shelter of a tarp.

Movie time!

Pizza nights at Sergio’s and enjoying Hollywood-films on a beach in Nicaragua during a down-pour were not expected upon first arrival at Castaway, but if this is what roughing-it as a beach-bum in Maderas entails, I think I may be able to get used to it…