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VIDEO

Welcome to the video section of my website.

Documentaries currently online:
(these videos are hosted by Google Video)

Daniel and Joey's Brazilian Cookup at Mondu Taitu Hostal

"Cookumentary" (8 mins) - Mondu Taitu is a busy backpacker's hostel in the archipelago, "Bocas del Toro", in the Northern Caribbean coast of Panama.

Mondu's kitchen sets it apart from all the rest. Owners Dan, Daniel and Dave have created a special culinary space that breeds exceptional cooking. Inspiration comes from all corners of the globe as travelers and owners alike, roll up their sleeves and get chopping, boiling, baking, frying etc.

Tonight, it is Daniel (part owner of Mondu) and Joeys' (who owns a nearby restaurant) turn to cook. Watch as they mix it up Brazilian/Argentinian style. The results are amazing. You can find a sample of Daniel and Joey's recipes on this website under Cooking and Recipes.

This cookumentary was made in March, 2006

Baking Johnnycakes on Bocas Island

“Cookumentary” by Martin Morris (6 mins)

Jonas “The Johnnycake Man” (78) is one the very special characters who lives on Bocas Island in the Northern Caribbean coast of Panama. On Wednesdays and Sundays, Jonas peddles the streets of Bocas Town selling his homemade Johnnycakes from the box on the front of his bike.

“Johnnycakes” are small coconut milk breads traditionally baked in a pot over the fire. They are a Creole specialty, and along with other treats such as banana pudding and coconut balls, can be found throughout the Caribbean.

Jonas’ Johnnycakes are some of the best around and he is very proud (and protective) of his recipe. This cookumentary is a special opportunity to spend some time with Jonas and get baking with an expert. Why are they called “Johnnycakes”? …Watch and find out!

A rough version of Jonas' Johnnycake recipe can be found in the Cooking a Recipes section of this website.

This cookumentary was made in May, 2006

Me and Documentaries

Making documentaries is a little hobby of mine and I leaned by messing around with video cameras and editing equipment.

All up I have made five documentaries, ranging from very, very amateur (ie the cooking documentary I made in my kitchen while holding the camera myself), to semi-professional (ie the documentary I made with portrait painter Stephen Bennett). Currently I only have my most recent stuff on the web but hopefully I will soon find a way to put them all on (thankyou Google Video!!!!)

The following little "cookumentaries" were made with my little digital camera (see technical notes below) as I traveled through Central America. Both of them were shot in Bocas del Toro, Panama. I call the "cookumentaries" because they blur the boundries between a cooking show and a documentary. You can learn a lot about people and cultures by observing what and how they eat!

I also have footage which I took on the Island of Ometepe in Nicaragua that will soon become a documentary (about traditional island cheese making) but it is still in the process of being edited. There was also some great footage about traditional tortilla making which I shot while hanging out with a family in Leon, Nicaragua, however unfortunately the CD in which it was contained was left in an internet cafe somewhere in Costa Rica! :(

Why do I make documentaries about food? Food and nutrition is something that I have been interested in for ages and during my travels I always seem to find my way into strange kitchens and talking with the cooks and learning new recipes. The kitchen, especially in Central America, is the hub of the house where everything happens. I found that these 'kitchen exchanges' took me past the normal tourist interaction and connected me with the locals in a very genuine and profound way. I decided to make mini-documentaries to share some of my special kitchen exchanges with my family and friends around the globe and because making documentaries is fun...of couse!

I would love to hear any feedback you have about the documentaries that I currently have online. If you don't already have my email, you can find it on Contact Me page of this website.

The following is a list of the other documentaries that I have made:

(April, 2003)
Cooking with Marty - Asparagus and Haloumi Salad

(September, 2003)
Questacon (The National Science and Technology Centre) brings science to the Croc Festivals

(July, 2004)
A Painted Portrait of Australia - by Stephen Bennett

Technical Notes: The two cookumentaries currently online were made using my Canon digital still camera (Powershot s500, set to video mode: resolution 320 x 240 @ 30 frames per second). I only have a smallish memory card (512mb), which limited the time I can record to about 15 minutes (for a maximum of 3 minutes at a time). I left my heavy laptop in Mexico City, so I had to edit the cookumentaries in internet cafes and when possible, using friends' computers. The videos were edited using Microsoft Moviemaker (the video editing program that comes with Windows XP), which I chose because it is simple to use and is the only video editing program that is on most newish computers. Actually the program worked pretty well and forced me to find creative ways get around its (many) limitations. If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them. Contact Me

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