Mexican Food Festival

‘Eat-What-You-like-How-Much-Ever-You-Like’ is a very complicated concept for me. I have a small appetite therefore it’s very difficult for me to try everything that is at buffet tables. So the first thing I do before I start my dinner is to make a round of all that is available and is visually pleasing to my eyes.

 This is exactly what I did last Saturday when I was invited for Mexican Food festival at Lake View Café at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. Chefs Guadalupe Monterroza and Chef Narciso Alcazar have been flown from Mexico especially for this festival and they have done justice to the food by preparing their authentic Mexican cuisine.

On my rounds, passing through the live food stations of Tacos, fish, Cactus leaf, Panela cheese, I stopped by the stall that prepared pickled fish and also ordered some watermelon juice for me.

The Cancun Escabeche (pickled fish cooked with cilantro, tomato, lime, red onions) was delicately cooked and the chilies added extra flavor to it. (There were five different varieties of red pepper, I had asked him to add three of them.)

 Slowly does it. To digest food one needs to walk, admire the ambience and enjoy the Spanish music that was playing softly in the background. Walked over to the table containing large range of salads and a wide array of Salsas such as Molcajete, Mexicana, Guacamole, Chipotle, Borracha and Habanero.

Returned to the table with 2 types of salads containing squids, fish, chicken and few sauces. Mexican culinary contains beans, cheese and red pepper in most of their recipes. It is spicy and pungent; the flavor comes from the variety of red pepper used in their recipe. The chef returned to our table at regular interval, presenting us with different assorted plates made especially for us.

Moving on to main course on Mexican vegetarian delicacies included Chile relleno,  Arroz jardinera, Oaxaca cheese(Rice stuffed chili, oaxaca cheese), Calabazitas (Panela cheese stuffed squash), Molotes (Mushroom fried quesadillas) and non-vegetarians were Pescado Veracruz (Tomato, onion, red and green pepper, green olives), Pollo con mole negro(Chicken with a chile chocolate salsa) and Barbacoa de Borrego(Beer, tomato, green tomato, onion, avocado leaves, guajillochile), amongst other appetizing dishes.

I have never eaten black chicken (Pollo con mole negro) cooked with chocolate and chillies that contained nuts and sesame seed. It was delightful dish with chicken so tender that it melted on the first bite leaving behind the sweetest, spicy, chocolate taste. I am hoping that chef (he promised) will share with me the recipe of this dish. 

Dessert was the feast to the eyes. Churros, Tres Leches (Three milk cake), Arroz con leche (Rice pudding), Borrachitos(Mexicantequila cake), Flan de Rompope (Eggnog flan), Ponche (Punch). The churro con chocolate and soft delicious cakes brought back the fond memories of Spain.

Fun evening spend with friends who enjoy food as much as I do.

The Mexican festival will be on till 3^rd July at Lake View Café at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. at Powai.

Dined a Spanish Cuisine at Olympic Village at Barcelona

When in Spain, eat what Spanish eat, no?

The fun part of travelling around the world is to taste the local cuisine. During my last visit to Bangkok, my family and I headed straight from the airport to a restaurant to take our first bite of fried rice. Even the guests who visit me in Mumbai go crazy on batatawada, pani-puri, ragda pattis. I don’t blame them, they crave for the local food and they would go wild if there was no fear of bad stomach.

There are many countries where we have to develop a taste for that particular cuisine. When I went to Spain for the first time, I found the food very bland. There was no spice or chilies in the food. Many times I would carry a chilies sauce in my purse when I went out to eat. But gradually I developed a taste for it and now when I visit Spain, I do try some local cuisine.

On my last visit to Spain, I stopped by Barcelona for four days. My hosts took me out for lunch to try a typical Spanish cuisine. Twenty years ago, Barcelona was the host for Olympic games. An Olympic village with apartments and restaurants were developed at the seaside. Here was the venue for rows of restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine. The place was well lighted and there was much activity till late evening.

It was raining and the weather was chilly. As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were surrounded with the warmth and the happy atmosphere. Tourist and business people occupied the large round tables that were evenly spaced out. Transparent plastic curtains enclosed the area to keep out the rain. On the backside, behind the transparent curtain were the bar and the kitchen.

The service was quick and the waiter was alert. The olives and freshly baked bread coated with garlic and tomato appeared on the tables before even we could decide on the menu. The order would be the mixture of vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

To start with, I opted for Sangria, a fruit cocktail mixed with red wine with a bit of bubbly soda. Unfortunately, during the meal, with many more variety of food appearing at our table, I accidently dropped off my glass of Sangria and was not able to enjoy this after few sips.

But the rest of the meal was quite enjoyable.

I stretched my fork to pick up Jamón Ibérico de Bellota. This ham, (cured for more than 36 months, I was told,) is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called dehesas), and eat only acorns during this last period. The exercise and diet have a significant impact on the flavor of the meat. Salty and crisp, it tasted best went combined with freshly baked toast.

Gambas a la ajillo, the shrimps stir-fried with garlic in olive oil were tender and sweetish in taste.

Calamars a la Romania, the ring shaped squids, coated with egg flour batter and deep-fried. These were crispy and tender.

 I had never tasted Chiperones, which is actually small deep fried fishes, “have this, you will like the crispy, crunchy taste” said my BIL, but we were served baby octopus instead, I liked that as well.

When the Paella arrived I was taken by surprise. Now I had never known the existence of black rice. This is the specialty of Valencia and the black color is from black squid ink that is used during preparation. The rice was salty, crisp and well grilled filled with assorted seafood and chicken.

For the vegetarians, there was goat cheese salad, vegetarian paella and vegetable pinchitos, (the grilled chunks of cucumber, white gourd, brinjal and tomatoes).

Spanish meal is never complete till it ends with liquor and dessert. I was too full to order anything. However the liquor is good for digestion and the tiny glasses were too attractive to give a miss. We finished it with the piece of cake coated with cinnamon and powder sugar.