My Worst Cinco de Mayo Ever

by Victoria M. Johnson

Late April 2015 my husband and I left for an adventure of a lifetime in Germany.  We were excited to explore, meet people and check out the food and beer.  Though we enjoyed doing all those things, the pending Cinco de Mayo holiday caused me unexpected stress.  Every grocery store I visited in our village (and surrounding villages) did not sell the ingredients I needed to make my homemade salsa.  Particularly, they did not carry cilantro or jalapeno peppers.  Maybe, maybe, maybe I could make salsa without the jalapeno, but no cilantro?  I couldn't do it.

It was an age-old dilemma, you can't make salsa without cilantro, and you can't make tacos without salsa, and you can't have Cinco de Mayo without tacos!  I was bummed, sad, depressed.  To lift my spirits, my hubby decided to take me to a "Mexican" restaurant.  I put that in italics to emphasize that Mexican cooking in Germany is different than Mexican in California and certainly different than in my home.  We arrived at the restaurant that had a packed parking lot.  A full lot indicates good food, right?  The décor was as welcoming as any popular Mexican restaurant in the States.  Mariachi music played from overhead speakers, staff wore traditional clothing of Mexico, and we were warmly greeted and seated.  We ordered two kinds of tacos and they quickly brought out a basket of chips along with salsa.  To say the salsa was underwhelming is an understatement.  It was like the jar salsa from grocery stores—only worse.  We looked around and noticed that the Germans seemed to enjoy it.  That's because they haven't tasted real salsa, I thought.  And for some reason I felt incredibly homesick.  How long would I last in Germany without the ingredients I needed to cook with?  I was already mourning not having a Trader Joe's store around.  Could I handle this blow, too?

photo by Heather Ford

As it turns out, it took three months and three "Mexican" restaurants for me to give up on German salsa.  The Germans do many things well, some things extremely well.  Making salsa is not one of them.  Luckily, we gained the ability to shop at the American commissary at Ramstein Air Force Base—it carried cilantro and jalapenos!  My Cinco de Mayo may have been a bust but at last I could make salsa and other dishes my way.  And our new German friends reveled at my delicious version of that essential condiment.  Oh, here's a salsa recipe for you to try: https://www.cookingclassy.com/fresh-homemade-salsa/  Enjoy!

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma.  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride and a novella, Hot Hawaiian Christmas. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Pinterest and Twitter.