A rooftop barbecue

Our upstairs neighbours have a beautiful rooftop area with a view of the city, plus they have the coolest little ceramic hibachi. And the best part is that we are within walking distance of the famed Shrimp Ladies of Mazatlan. These are the perfect ingredients for a rooftop shrimp barbecue. 

Our first step was to source the shrimp from the Mercado de Carmarones a few blocks down from us. The vendors (mostly women) are there from 5:00 in the morning every day selling shrimp and prawns fresh off the boats.  They set up along the side of the road under makeshift tents with shrimp of all sizes in ice in blue plastic dishpans.

It was hard to know which vendor to buy from because all the shrimp looked fresh and lovely, so we just went to the first Señora who called to us. We asked her where the shrimp were from and she told us: ocean.

Apparently the price for shrimp doesn't vary much. This year it's about the same as when we were here in 2010, a hundred and fifty pesos a kilo. (That's about $5 a pound--a fabulous deal.) We bought a kilo and a half thinking there would be some leftover for shrimp tacos the next day and asked her if she could clean them for us. Here's she is expertly cleaning our selection for us. It took her less than five minutes!

I used a simple marinade with oil, lime juice, cilantro and garlic and put the shrimp on skewers. Two to three minutes on each side over the coals and it was fabulous. Ron said it was the best shrimp he had ever tasted, and I have to agree it was really delicious.

Needless to say there were no leftovers for shrimp tacos!





The bonus was the rooftop views as the sun went down.  Here's the cathedral in one direction and the lighthouse on top of the hill on the other.