February 4

An international company from a town up in the border contacted me about catering a very important dinner. They wanted a Mexican inspired dinner and I thought it would be adequate to showcase some good Mexican wines too. Sommelier Humberto Falcón, provided the pairings. Here's the Menu.

Cucumber and Jicama Salad, Aguachile Shrimp.
Mariatinto Blanco 2008.

Green Pozole, Duck Confit.
Maat 2007

Zucchini Blossom Risotto, Pepitas and Cotija Crisp
Kojáa 2007

Entrée options:
Rack of Lamb, Cinnamon Mole, "Esquite" purée

Duck breast in Adobo, Glazed Camote, Guajillo and Agave Sauce

Red Snapper in Achiote, Grilled Peppers, Orange and Mezcal Sauce.

The wine for these was La Borde Vieille DCR 2007. A great wine made by Hugo D'Acosta in the Languedoc Rousillon Region.

Making the dinner was a lot of work and dealing with unexpected issues. In the end, I was happy with the results, but more importantly the customers were happy too.

Xmas Dessert

For more than a year now, I had been obsessing about Dulce de Frijol. While I have tasted azuki paste and my parents told me about sweets made from beans or garbanzo, it wasn't until last year's Culinary Symposium that it stuck. I didn't get a chance to do much with the lingering idea for a good long while. I even wento to the Second Culinary Symposium...

Luckily for me, the same presenter was on this year, and he showed the same clip. This year, I recorded the clip and later I took note of the recipe. So now I had the information needed to tackle my obsession. What I didn't have was a purpose other than pure curiosity. Then I read this. Author Haalo talks about interchangeable ingredients. So instead of azuki, our pinto bean paste went in. Some people relate wontons with tortillas (and why not), but the look of fried wontons reminds me a lot of Buñuelos, a typical dessert for the holiday season.

Buñuelos are usually served with a syrup made with piloncillo and accompanied by some hot drink such as atole, champurrado or hot chocolate. We simply decided to add some heat to the syrup by putting a bit of chipotle in there.

Other elements in the dish are chipotle crumble and vanilla Ice Cream. This dessert made with playing with regional flavors will be available for Holiday Dinners this season.

Pics from the job

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Taking pictures onsite is challenging, to say the least. Lighgting in kitchens isn't quite adequate for good photography. However, I have been trying to get some better pictures into this blog.

Here's a sampling of some pictures taken of both dishes from our menu and others created for our wine tasting events.

Cocinero del Año Menu

Last september I participated in the local semifinal of the Cocinero del Año contest. It was my first contest and I learned a lot about what needs to be improved for following attempts (meaning I didn't do that good).

Here's the menu I prepared:

Appetizer 1:

Smoked Salmon and Xiqueño Mole Tostada

Appetizer 2:

Escabeche Carrot Cappucchino and Pig Trotter Croquette

First Course:

Salt-Cured Nopal and Confit Tomato Salad.

Main:

Red Snapper with Beet Mole, Cacahuazintle Corn Raviolo, Oyster Mushrooms and Cilantro Pesto

Dessert:

Chocolate and Corn Millefeuille, Garapiñado Ice Cream, Coffee Sauce.

Maybe next year!

Morelia Tour

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Earlier this year, my wife and I took off to Morelia for a weekend. We had a great time visiting that beautiful city. Michoacan is an amazing state full of incredible places and lots of very interesting food. Pictures of the sights are on our Facebook, but I got all the ones of the Food.

Particularly memorable were the all the sorts of tamales: Corundas, Uchepos and Wheat tamal as well as the awesome Black Zapote Sorbet.

Milk and Sugar

I've always wanted to take the flavors of childhood and tweak them into something more apt to be served in a restaurant. I've never really gotten around to doing it, however. I have reinterpreted things like Reese's cups or a cake that was very popular about ten years ago (Chocolate cake with a flan layer on top) with relative success as far as the clients' enjoyment of the desserts. 

Growing up in urban areas of northern Mexico makes for pretty lousy food memories, as far as traditional eats are concerned. Having parents that were born elsewhere doesn't help either as far as my exposure to what the local sweets are. However, I did get to know a few of the sweets of the region. Like Jamoncillos, Cocadas and the most famous "sweet" of the region: Pan de Pulque. 

Jamoncillos and Cocadas share two ingredients that could be considered staples in pretty much every region of Mexico: Milk and Sugar. Wherever you go in Mexico you're bound to find sweets based on custards, curdled milk or more commonly caramelized milk. On a more modern note, condensed milk has also made a place for itself in the sweet pantry of our kitchens. 

In the 2003 movie "Politiki Kouzina" (A touch of Spice), the main character reflects on milk and sugar. He mentions having seen many seniors walking around with boxes of sweets based on these ingredients, which are, ironically, the first flavors we taste. 

One very popular sweet combination, and one that many Mexicans have eaten regardless of their region is the Galletas Marías and Cajeta. The former being a very popular biscuit, the latter, our version of Dulce de Leche (made from goat's milk). 

Taking that idea and this one from Linda, I wonder how people would react to a new, elegant version of the childhood staple. How about Galletas Marías and Lemon?? 

Duck in Rose Petal Sauce (Sort of TGRWT #16)

Duck in Rose Petal Sauce
Originally uploaded by cookiejesus

I didn't get to make an entry for TGRWT #16, which was about chicken and rose. All I did was translate a recipe from a book.

Last weekend, I got the chance to dine at El Sacromonte, in Guadalajara and had a couple of dishes that incorporated Rose Petals.

First up were the Quesadillas with rose petals and strawberry aioli. They weren't really as good as they may sound. The rose petal was overpowered by the strawberries and the aioli didn't resemble anything but a jam or a coulis. 

On the other hand. We did get the roast duck in rose petal sauce. Since it was such a huge dish, my wife and I shared. She got the leg and I got the breast. The sauce was really good, nicely sweet and it went really well with the duck. My only problem is that the duck was a tad dry. I believe my wife got the better end of this issue.

Best taco in ages

Being from Mexico, it's sometimes ridiculous to see a taco fad across other countries. Specially since it seemed to my untrained eye that the early international versions of the taco had absolutely nothing to do with the real deal. The incredibly simple and delicious taco. I've seen this trend spring around with a bunch of other foodstuffs I grew up taking for granted. But I guess this is just part of the process of food becoming global. You can't expect all of the ingredients to make the trip along with the idea.

Celebrating our anniversary with a recent trip, my wife and I visited the beautiful city of Querétaro. One of Mexico's UNESCO protected cities. In the Cinco de Mayo walkway, we came across a sign that grabbed my attention so hard, it practically pulled me in: Tacos de Chapulines (yes, that's grasshopper tacos).

It had been a while since I last had chapulines, so the Oaxaca-inspired taqueria/cantina was a nice place for a meal. The place was quite eye-catching, but then again, in a city where most buildings are considered cultural heritage, that's not the hard part.

We started off immediately with a couple of the tacos de chapulines and while we drank our beers, the waiters brouught our treats. It was a beautiful, simple thing: one tortilla laid on the plate with chunks of avocado, pieces of pork rind and a good handful of the little critters. Add a good spoonful of salsa and we were ready to dig in.



If you've never had the little buggers. Let me give you a very poor description of what it's like: Crunchy, salty with a hint of acid and spice. That's because they're so deeply fried that crunchy's all that's left and they are later seasoned with chili and lime juice. Still, it was a very good taste along with the pork rind and avocado chunks. How good, well, well enough to rate as one of the best tacos I've ever eaten. I've even gone to get me some chapulines at an artisan fair to reproduce these sometime this week...