Delicious Soup, Art and Other Things On Ambergris Caye

It’s the season for soup! And sweater weather! Or at least that’s what my social media feeds tell me. Fall on Ambergris Caye – especially early fall – can be the hottest time of the year. September…October…the hot, humid air is what feels thick and soupy. Just thinking about a sweater makes me sweat.

But heat does NOT stop Belizeans from eating soup – all year round. Hot soups and spicy foods allegedly cool you off – by increasing your sweat – during hot hot weather. (Honestly…I’d rather splash cold water on my face than eat my lunch covered in habanero sauce but I was born 1000s of miles north of the equator)

Soup is VERY popular in Belize – summer (average temp mid-high 80s) or winter (avg mid 70s). Chicken, Black Soup or chilmole, conch, beef, cowfoot…you can find at least one on every delis special list. And I love the way it is done here. With the starch – the rice and/or the fresh corn tortillas – cooked separately and served on the side. So it’s not smushy and soggy…

Yesterday I returned to a small local restaurant on Back St, San Pedro that I really really like. For the homey feel, the FRIENDLIEST staff, the fact that it’s always bustling with customers that are mostly locals (it’s a good sign about the food!) and for the specials…

But before I get to lunch at Sweet Tutz Restaurant – I attended the small art fare a few blocks over in Central Park San Pedro.

The fair continues today – though we are having a rainy start to the day, it looks like the weather is clearing this afternoon. The flyer says 10am to 8pm but I’d guess mid-afternoon would be your best time to meet the most artists.

I headed over to Sweet Tutz to meet Jeff – I’d been thinking about their Friday special…Beef Soup…all week.

Jeff told me he wasn’t going to eat anything…he wasn’t hungry…UNTIL he saw the menu. CONCH SOUP!

We each ordered soup and…it’s not just a cup of soup. It’s a whole thing.

I love that the beef and the soup have been cooked for a loooong time. Tender and flavorful. And the veg has been cooked just right. I even like okra in this soup…and I am not an okra fan. The other plates are warm fresh rice and a serious stack of warm fresh corn tortillas.

And the fixings.

And look at those pretty but DEADLY to me habaneros. Jeff ate all of his and all of mine in his deeeelicious conch soup.

Amazing amount of conch and coconutty and creamy but light…delicious.

The beef soup was $15bzd and the conch soup was a STEAL for $22bzd. We both ate until we were full and I ended up bringing home half of the beef soup for dinner.

For more on Sweet Tutz, check out their Facebook page. They’ve got a very classic and LOVED soup on the menu today – Escabeche.

And last thing…we are keeping an eye on a storm for the first time this season. It is still quite far away…so things can change…but just watching…

You can play around with all of the models…GFS…now there is a Google AI one…but here it is – on the National Hurricane site. Way out there…a week or so away.