Belizean Garnaches

Prior to 1995 I never heard of Garnaches. That was the year we moved to Belize Central America to serve as missionaries. I first ordered Garnaches from a lean to stall in the market place in Belmopan the small capitol of Belize. Each stall sold a single item and when the ingredients ran out they were finished for the day, usually by 11am.

Every day I would visit a different stall and order whatever they sold. I had no idea what I would get, I just knew it would be fresh, home made (Actually lean to made), and very inexpensive.

I order a dollar’s worth (One Belizean dollar is equal to 50 cents U.S) I received FIVE Garnaches! They were crisp, whole corn tortilla’s lightly covered in refried beans, topped with VERY finely shredded cabbage (They used knives not graters or food processors), and sprinkled with very dry shredded Dutch Cheese.

They also gave me the option of Marie’s Hot Sauce which is made in Stann creek, Belize. It’s a great carrot based hot sauce with Habanero peppers. (Habanero’s rank 350,000 – 580,000 on the Scoville heat scale compared to 2,500-8,000 for a Jalapeno).

It was love at first sight and bite! Garnaches are part snack, part appetizer, part salad.

Our first year in Belize we lived in a small village, Unitedville, half way between the Caribbean coast and Guatemala. We worked with a local church called House Of Prayer. Whenever the church would have a special financial need, instead of a bake sale the ladies would make Garnaches. They would cook dried red beans and eventually refry them. They’d deep fry the corn tortillas and bring all the ingredients in a five gallon bucket to church where they would assemble them and serve.

When we returned to the U.S.A. we made Garnaches for the first time and we’ve been making them ever since then!

Garnaches are Fun, Fancy, but Easy like all our Date Night Recipes.

INGREDIENTS

Tostada Shells (Crisp tortilla shells approximately 5 inches in diameter)
Canned Refried Beans (In Belize only red beans were acceptable, but black beans are great too)
Cabbage Shredded as finely as possible
Edam Cheese – Shredded
Hot Sauce (Look for Marie’s from Belize if possible)

PREPARATION

Hold the Tostada gently and coat it with the refried beans. Sprinkle cabbage, then cheese, then hot sauce.

Kiss your spouse after each Garnache. The more hot sauce the hotter the kisses!

Since we left Belize I’ve still never seen Garnaches in any restaurant, cook book or TV show. They are served frequently at the Cadle home for Date Nights and for our family and friends. Now it’s your turn to enjoy this light, fresh appetizer!

Eat Garnaches on your next Date Night and talk about exotic places you’d like to visit!

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Come back tomorrow for another Fun, Fancy, but Easy Date Night Recipe!