anthony: the chef is making sancocho. a stew of beef, veals, and sausages. and there s some fresh caught grouper and red snapper. anthony: there aren t many places left like this. that s the point, that s worth something. the tourism business in the caribbean is going through a lot of changes. in the short term developers and construction get paid a lot of money for pouring concrete. but everybody is going to be going to cuba in a few years. why? because it s unspoiled. they haven t [ bleep ] it up yet. man in blue shirt: that s why we have to start talking the same language. you said it, profit. let s talk profit right. let s show them that there is profit in nature unspoiled. that reef back there provides us with millions of dollars worth of services. fish, tourism, protection from hurricanes, annually that produces a svice to us as a
liza: i was born in chicago, il. anthony: in chicago? liza: my family came back mostly because our family was here. puerto ricans want the family to stick together. if you can live close to each other, the better. i decided to stay because i wanted my kids to grow up here. anthony: better times? liza: better times of course. anthony: what changed? liza: the government took too much in loans. and couldn t pay them back. so they kept putting taxes on the people, the working class people like me and we cannot pay. anthony: like many professionals here, liza marie cordova would likely have an easier time of it in the states but she chooses to stay. liza: when the crisis came to puerto rico mostly i think about
said whoa, this is very good. give me more. using the tradition as a weapon that s what made us successful. anthony: at a local beach in loiza, about 45 minutes outside san juan, a crab shack that is one of his favorites. pedro: oh my god, look at that. excellent. anthony: what do we have here land crab? pedro: land crab, this is a coconut arepa. anthony: what do you think, just bang the [ bleep ]? pedro: yeah just knock it open like a lobster, there you go, you see? anthony: ahh there we go. pedro: they are very sweet the meat. they just leave it a few weeks in the cage. feed it with grains to take away the flavor of the mangrove. anthony: why did you think sausage? pedro: i had the experience as a chef in puerto rico. i knew the necessity that there was in the restaurant for good quality sausages. so i put my little kitchen to make the experiment and i worked well with that. anthony: where were they getting their sausage before you? pedro: yeah from the moun
construction get paid a lot of money for pouring concrete. but everybody is going to be going to cuba in a few years. why? because it s unspoiled. they haven t [ bleep ] it up yet. man in blue shirt: that s why we have to start talking the same language. you said it, profit. let s talk profit right. let s show them that there is profit in nature unspoiled. that reef back there provides us with millions of dollars worth of services. fish, tourism, protection from hurricanes, annually that produces a service to us as a community. man in blue shirt: so if you all of a sudden destroy this, you start losing money. anthony: can you conceivably settle for a revised project. meaning okay no casino, no giant hotel, an eco-lodge for super rich people? lady in blue shirt: in nicaragua they have a lot of these things that are developed around communities. man in black shirt: costa rica you know and places like that the government is conscious about the environment and the amount of money
i decided to stay because i wanted my kids to grow up here. anthony: better times? liza: better times of course. anthony: what changed? liza: the government took too much in loans. and couldn t pay them back. so they kept putting taxes on the people, the working class people like me and we cannot pay. anthony: like many professionals here, liza marie cordova would likely have an easier time of it in the states but she chooses to stay. liza: when the crisis came to puerto rico mostly i think about my kids. will they have the options to stay here and work and have a family? anthony: okay so where are we? liza: we are at casa vieja in ciales. this is typical 1960s 50s grandmother house. anthony: and the food is, grandma food? liza: it is grandma food actually. those are corn fritters with ham.