Rosemary Parkinson, Freelance Writer
Jose Salgado plays a mean violin. - PHOTOS BY ROSEMARY PARKINSON
47 Gloucester Ave., Montego Bay
Phone: 820-4161
for reservations.
Hours: Monday through Saturday for lunch and Dinner
Sunday - Salsa night with Tapas
Monday, Tuesday - Jose on Violin from 10:00 p.m.
WITHOUT MUCH ado let's go get a little touch of Cuba right here in Jamaica Montego Bay to be exact. El Compay Gallo opened last December with Cubans Alina Lopez and Jose Salgado, both from the Santiago de Cuba region, at the helm.
Some of you might have heard of Salgado he is the amazing musician who mesmerises crowds of visitors to the island with his magnificent violin from the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall, to Sandals Whitehouse in Whitehouse, Westmoreland.
Lordie, this man can make a violin talk. And no wonder. He has been playing the instrument from the age of seven, took lessons for 16 years at the Instituto Superior, and was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra in
Santiago de Cuba.
STOP! MAKE YOURSELF A MOJITO
Oh, how I love Cuba for that. The importance they attach to the arts is second to none. Viva Cuba!
Now, let me quickly go and fix a Mojito to celebrate this Cuban feeling I have in mi bones. Yes, I know, you want one too. So stop and go fix one right now.
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 oz lime juice
Sprig fresh mint
Crushed ice
Rum
Soda water
Mix sugar and lime juice in a highball (tall) glass filled with crushed ice. Crush a sprig of fresh mint into the mixture. Add rum and top with soda water and Salud (Cheers)!
Salgado is no newcomer to Jamaica. Invited here by the Issa family to play for their guests, this larger than life gentleman fell in love with the island and stayed to start a new life. I can understand the same happened to me. Jamaica is like that.
DANCING CAN BREAK OUT
ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT
El Compay Gallo is on The Hip Strip and can be easily missed. Just before Doctor's Cave, coming from the Coral Cliff side, it's above one of the many souvenir shops on the right. Keep your eyes open for the sign. The entrance sports a large mural of a musician with trumpet and the staircase leading to the restaurant, an old Ford car.
Inside the décor is simple much like many Cuban family restaurants. There's a comfortable bar, a cute barman and dancing can happen on any given night tables and chairs put to one side in typical fashion, salsa music turned up to the max and that rhythmic swaying known to Cuba begins. What a sight to behold. But first, let's get on with the food.
I ordered Sopa de Caraotas Negras (Black Bean Soup) absolutely delicious. My companion, the Crema de Queso (Cream of Cheese). I tasted and found it pleasant, although the Black Bean Soup is the buzz. Alina Lopez let me know in no uncertain terms that Cuban food from her region is not known for over-spicing with picante (hot pepper). It's about the subtle taste of cumin and black pepper a Mediterranean influence allowing the particular dish to take on a flavour of its own. So do not expect anything less but delicate tastes.
I had been advised that the tamales were a must, but they were gone by the time I arrived.
(I did return the following day for one of those and have been assured they will try and never 'run out' again.) On this day I also sampled the Camarones en Salsa Cocktail (Shrimp Cocktail) and loved them. They were hardly cooked, as shrimp should be. The Croquetas de Pescado was delish. These and other tapas will be served on Salsa night every Sunday. More about that later.
For my entrée I had Pollo Asado en Salsa Cubana con Vegetables Asados. If that seems too hard to swallow, simply call it Roasted Chicken with Vegetables and it was perfect for my diet. My friend had Bistec de Res Empanizado (Breaded Beef Steak) and Arroz Congri' black beans and rice. Side Salad of Tomato and Lettuce were included. Cassava and plantain two most important dishes on a Cuban table were not
available, both difficult to get because of the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Ivan last September.
I am assured that every effort is being made to put these two scarce commodities back on the menu.
I let my imagination conjure up thoughts of crispy 'tostones'
(fried green plantains) and cassava pieces dipped into Mojo sauce, with each morsel a trip to heaven. Mojo is olive oil, chopped garlic, onion, scallion, lime juice, black pepper, a touch of scotch bonnet and salt to taste. I make it adding pimento and more than a touch of scotch bonnet, for I like my 'tings' hot fah so!
FIGHTING THE FIGHT
Lopez has been cooking since she was 13. Her mother forced to go to work after a divorce, she was left to make sure her four brothers were well fed.
After a series of bad encounters with various so-called chefs coming to El Compay Gallo for a job rather than to work, she decided to get into that kitchen herself and do what she does best cook. Not purporting to be a wonderful stylist she tries to ensure that her food is 'sabroso' meaning tasty.
Things have not been easy
for these Cubans trying to bring a little bit of their beloved homeland to Jamaica difficulty in getting the required ingredients, even for the bar, and the
exorbitant price of Cuban rum, for example. However, these
two "estan luchando la lucha" (are fighting the fight).
So, without much ado, I leave you with an invitation from these lovely people at El Compay Gallo to join them "cada Domingo" (every Sunday) for salsa night from 6:00 p.m. onwards with tapas on the menu. Lunes y Martes (Monday and Tuesday) give your ears a break from the dub, calypso and reggae to listen to that instrument of the love gods being taken to the max by Jose Salgado Mr. Violin himself.
A special hello goes out to their beautiful daughter Ariana who,
at seven years old, has a mind
of a grown woman a product
of her early years in the Cuban educational system.
For every unique talent and expression of that talent, there are unique needs. Match these needs with the creative
expression of your talent and the spark of affluence will be
created. Expressing your talents to fulfil needs creates unlimited wealth and abundance.
Taken from The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
- Deepak Chopra.
THE PRINTER'S DEVILLast week the second half
of my story was destroyed as though (Hurricane) Ivan himself had returned.
Suffice it to say that the most unintelligible part was all about my new "shake" diet ordered by Dr. Anthony Vendryes Gleaner contributor that has allowed me to shake off some six pounds in one week in a healthy fashion and his new associate, Dr. Barnes, performing a little touch therapy on an old injury.
Between these two goodly gentlemen, we are 'experi
menting' with my body and soul and, God knows, both desperately need it. A review when I have lost some 20 pounds or more will be forthcoming wish me well.
