In the lands of the coffee, from the book, Searching for treasures
Puebla City Historical Center, Puebla, Mexico
“Of course it is possible, my dear sir. Why, if you were in charge of rounding up and driving a train of oxen or mules, you wouldn’t even make it to the first inn on the road,” the cook answered, seemingly serious. “It’s easier to please a couple of horses staring down from the balcony than to please you, my most excellent sir. Now, it turns out that you got me building up a sweat in the kitchen, just to prepare a bandeja for you. A bandeja, that’s going to the garbage!
Meanwhile, here you are, sputtering and stammering about too much food. And the first dish, over there, is getting cold, waiting for you to begin to eat.!” Jean Marie couldn’t believe how the three women exploded into laughter. Finally, he joined in, as he realized they were having good fun and playing along with him.
Doña Juli came to the rescue. “Girls, you have had your fun at the expense of our dear guest. Look here, my dear sir. Now, don’t you worry! We can serve you half a portion of a bandeja. We call this a Bandeja Junior. At this precise moment, we have it waiting inside the kitchen. We prepared it just in case… Since I had an early lunch because I have to go out to run some errands, the girls can have one each for lunch. Not a problem at all. What do you say?”