I'm In My Room It's A Típico Tuesday Night

NATIONAL DISH OF HONDURAS - Plato Típico

I generally like to cook a special dinner for The Molefaces on their individual birthday (we don't have a group birthday, that would be crazy!) And the first of the year is the adorkable Mark George. Mark George works in IT, and although he doesn't fit the complete geek stereotype (for starters he has a girlfriend Carli) he would fit nicely in The IT Crowd. Normally a very reserved and shy boy, when with the Molefaces Mark George shows a whole new side. From his awkwardly awesome robot dancing, to his penchant for lime flavoured food, Mark George is a fountain of knowledge. He also trains for and participates in marathons, though I still fail to understand why anyone would run 42km (Mark George: 42.195km!), unless they were being chased by a homicidal maniac. As perfect as he seems, Mark George does have a huge flaw: he barracks for the Melbourne Demons. And he also called the blog 'The GGL'. Who would get one of the GREATEST acronyms in the world confused?! So South of the River travelled Carli and Mark George for their first GGJ experience.

And as it was a special occasion I thought we needed a grand meal, resulting in the national dish of Honduras Plato Típico. Plato Típico, Spanish for "typical dish", is a collection of dishes that one would find served regularly in households across Honduras. It can be a simple meal, or a lavish production for the whole family. Generally made up of several components, for example:

• Carne Asada (cuts of beef marinated overnight in sour orange juice and various spices, then grilled)
• Chimol (chopped tomato, onion, coriander with lemon juice and spices. Similar to salsa)
• Fried Plantains
• Grilled Chorizos
• Refried Beans
• Guacamole
• Tortillas

Enjoy, or as they say in Honduras, ¡Buen apetito! 



Here's all the links you'll need to make this Honduran feast:
Carne Asada - http://www.whats4eats.com/meats/carne-asada-recipe
Chimol - http://www.foodloup.com/2010/09/chimol-honduran-salsa/
Fried Plantains - http://www.whats4eats.com/vegetables/platanos-fritos-recipe
Refried Beans - http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/refried_beans/

Difficulty:         2

Appearance:   5

Taste:              4 

TOTAL:           11

There was some good time management needed for this dish with it being a little time consuming. Thankfully, Mark George didn't mind waiting for his meal, and Carli was willing to to play GGJ assistant. I recommend not cooking the meat in a pan, for the marinade will potentially scorch your pan, rendering it useless. Although I did find a new favourite hobby, mashing beans in a frying pan. It is ever so fun!


This Honduran feast was certainly a feast for the eyes. So many colours, textures and aromas all blending together to form one super meal.

All together Plato Típico was delicious. But to give a better critique, we're gonna break it on down. The meat was tender and the marinade made it juicy (pardon the pun). I was surprised the main ingredient being orange juice, but it didn't overpower the flavour of the meat which was good. Put on a tortilla and covered in guacamole, refried beans, chimol and sour cream made for one tasty burrito.
The chimol on it's own was an interesting variant of salsa. A bit more tart due to the lemon juice, but chunky and flavourful nonetheless.
The fried plantains had a crispy skin with a sweet and mushy inside, which although tasted good I couldn't eat a lot of them.
Adding some cheese to the refried beans gave a good texture and flavour to the mashed beans. They paired so well with the sour cream and guacamole.
And the crown on an already beautiful dish is the extremely delicious chorizo. We all love chorizo, so much so that when I told Carli that we were having individual servings of chorizo, I reckon she was ready to pronounce me as some kind of God.

We capped the evening off with episodes of the HI-LARIOUS British sitcom 'Miranda' and some Birthday Chocolate Lime Crème Brûlée. So Happy Birthday Mark George, hope you enjoyed your Honduran feast!