Saturday, May 5, 2012

Cinco de Mayo, Okinawan Style

by Pa Rock
Wandering Gourmet


Okay, there probably isn't much "style" or maybe even "substance" to the celebration of Cinco de Mayo on the small Japanese island of Okinawa, but there is an abundance of Hispanics stationed here in the military, so I am certain that there are some Mexican-themed backyard barbecues scattered across the Keystone of the Pacific as the sun sets this evening.

Unfortunately, nobody thought to invite me to one, and I really like Mexican food.

I know that some of the bars on Kadena's infamous Gate Two Street did get superficially Irish for St. Patrick's Day with shamrocks in the windows and green beer, so I suspect that tequila is being liberally splashed around that same neighborhood this evening.

Taco Bell at Camp Foster apparently celebrated by running a one-day special of a local delicacy called taco rice. It's usually a mess of seasoned ground beef dumped over some salad makings and sticky rice - but I didn't stop by Taco Bell today to see how they translated it into a to-go format.  Perhaps it was rolled into a tortilla - or served on a bun.

I did stop by the Shopette at Camp Foster for my Saturday afternoon iced-tea and noticed many young men carrying cases of beer out of the store.  That shopping was probably not especially geared toward Cinco de Mayo, however, because there are always streams of young men carrying cases of beer out of the various base Shopettes every Saturday afternoon.   (The young ladies carry twelve-packs!)

I have no tequila (which I don't like anyway) and there is nary a Corona within the walls of my sixth-floor hacienda, but I will open some canned chili, put on a couple of Linda Rondstadt albums en Espanol, and eat out on the balcony where I can listen to the Marines wish everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo from the bar down the street.  They are always such a festive group!

Party on, muchachos!

1 comment:

Xobekim said...

We plan so to do as we celebrate Stinko de Mayo in the backyard. This year I will not participate in the Burn the Gringo contest, where copious amounts of increasingly hot peppers are served to the unsuspecting.