docsconz

The quail may have been my favorite dish of the evening and one of my favorites from the trip. It wa beautifully presented and delicious. Grilled "Wagyu" Beef with Foie Gras Tortelloni in Game Broth was no slouch either. The beef was tender and delicious. The tortellono provided a smooth, soft mouth feel in addition to delicious flavor. The combination plate was decadent. This combo had a distinct French cast to it as opposed to the obvious Japanes, Italian and Spanish -influenced dishes that we had been served. The Syrah, Renard, "Truchard Vineyard", NapaValley 2003, was once again well matched, although this would have been a tough one to screw up.

Another shot of the "Chawan Mushi". This was awesome. The wine pairing for the Mushi was Ribolla Gialla, Movia, Slovenia 2003, a superb match. Monterey Calamari, Chorizo and Grilled Asparagus It is no surprise that this prepartion felt and tasted very Spanish. I felt like I was in San Sebastien Niman Ranch Tripe, Cuttlefish, Organic Tomato This also had a very European feel to it, although I can't decide if it is Spanish or Italian. We had Grenache, Arrels, Clos Oblidat, Old Vines, Monsant, Spain 2003. I guess this should have confirmed the Spanish influence for me. I was very much looking forward to the next course and it did not disappoint Spaghettini "Crabonara" This was paired with Schramsberg Vineyards "Blanc de Blanc", Napa valley 2001. Following this course we were served Broiled Sake marinated Alaskan Black Cod and Shrimp Dumplings in Shiso Broth Another outstanding dish, I enjoyed it much more than the miso marinated black cod at Nobu. This was well paired with Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge, "Les Pierres", Marc Colin, Burgundy 2002.

We had two sakes with the Trio of Sashimi and Tuna Five Ways Kubota Hekiju and Hakkaisan Both were smooth and delicious, althugh I found myself drawn to the Kubota Hekiju. I am a novice with sake, but do enjoy it and hope to learn more about it. The Sashimis were all beautiful, delicious and interesting. The tunas were more of the same. Here they are individually in close-up: Tuna tataki Bottarga Tartare Sashimi zuke-don Mojama Each of these was outstanding.

While in San Francisco for a medical conference I arranged to hook up with eGullet's Molto E to hit some of the top food establishments of the Bay Area. Molto arrived earlier on Sunday while i got in for my conference the previous Friday night. I will be reporting on my other experiences independently, but Molto and I are going to attempt something a little different here. We will be tag-teaming our restaurant reports if all goes well with this, our first. We are both oddly dedicated to photographing our culinary experiences so are pooling our photographic take to pick the best from each along with our feelings about the food. Our first joint dining experience was Ame at the St. Regis on a Sunday night in late March. Despite that the restaurant was moderately busy. We were excited as we approached the door and saw the sign: and then we received the menus: The restaurant was smartly decorated and we were quickly made to feel comfortable. Our first order was for cocktails. Molto...

Looking forward to it. Buen Viaje!

I don't think that is who Penzey's will be marketing to. The location says it all.

I had the good fortune to be able to attend a Professional meeting in San Francisco at the end of March. I arrived late on Friday night so couldn't do much then. Truth be told, I was exhausted. But the meeting started Staurday morning and was held at The Hyatt Regency in Embarcadero, amazingly close to the Ferry Plaza Market. Fortunately I had a nice long lunch break so I took my camera and hoofed it over to the market. Even better, Saturday was the day of the big Farmer's market. Following are some photos of that lovely time. I managed to snag a little lunch too. The famous clock tower. Information. A pretty flower stall. There were all sorts of dried fruit. Lovely artichokes I had the pleasure of meeting Rancho_Gordo himself. Later in the week when I made it up to Napa, I had the pleasure of stopping in on his wonderful operation. I was able to buy a great variety of beans and he kndly shipped them for me. It sure beat having to carry them. Plenty of excellent dairy products to sample. These would have been great to buy, but a nuisance to carry of ship. These spoons are made from potato. They are the coolest things as they are fully biodegradable. They were used at the Sant Benoit Yoghurt stand. The citrus was delicious. These are conventional navels, bloods and kumquats. Those were all in the front. I finally made my way to the waterside. I sampled a dozen oysters at The Hog Island Stand. sweet and delicious. These were raised by Hog Island Oyster Company. I don't see fresh horseradish root too often. Nor cardoons. Beautiful and delicious Asian Pears. More great citrus. Roasting organic chickens. The drippings were falling on beautiful looking potatos. This was tempting, but I had already had the oysters and some delicious fried asparagus that somehow I did not photograph. I made it back inside the building as it started to rain. I finished my lunch with a pastry from Frog Hollow. I love all things mushroom and here I hit the motherload. Funny thing is they did not seem to be open during the week. This is a fabulous market. If I get the chance I will post some photos from the Tuesday market as well.

Doc - There's a Penzeys store about 2 blocks from one of my offices in Chicago that I use a a resource. Store prices are the same as catalog. ← That is what I would expect, but the rent ain't cheap

I had what is likely to be my last meal at Chez Sophie Bistro in the diner in Malta last night. As usual it was excellent. My veal chop with wild mushrooms was the best I have had in some time. They anticipate moving into the new space in mid-May, although the dates have already been pushed back several times. Nevertheless, it is important for them to get in and settled before Skidmore graduation weekend. I saw the floorplans for the new restaurant and talked with Paul and Cheryl at length last night about it. The plans look great adding a lot of flexibility to how they can serve. In addition, Paul is very excited about the capabilities of his new kitchen. Because they anticipate being able to do much more with food, they are dropping the word "Bistro" from the restaurant's name. It will now be known simply as "Chez Sophie". In addition to dinner they will also be serving breakfast and lunch. I wish them bon chance.

It will be interesting to see how their prices compare to their catalog. It should be a very good source. Thanks for the info.

A Night in Mexico City As they say, "all good things must come to an end." This trip was no exception. Fortunately, it ended on a positive note. After we checked into our hotel, my wife and I took advantage of some free time to head back to El Centro Historico to view the murals of Orozco, Rivera, Sisquieros and others at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, before heading back to prepare for the evening. Two old fallacies are that there is not good wine from Mexico and that good modern Mexican cooking does not exist. Another is that wine does not go with Mexican food. All of these fallacies were shown to be such this night. Wine Bar where we went for a tasting of Mexican wines before dinner. We tasted five wines at the Wine bar. As you can see that was a lot of glasses to clean. The white was Monte Xanic Vina Kristel 2003 from the Valle de Guadalupe in Baja. The grapes sauvignon blanc and semillon. This was wine pleasant but overoaked for my taste. Next was a rose, the Adobe Guadalupe Uriel 2003 also from the valle de guadalupe. This wine, once again, was nice, but didn't strike me as anything special. because of its good acidity, though, it might have proven much better with an appropriate food pairing. Vina Liceaga Merlot 2001 from San Antonio de las Minas was a typical supple merlot. This was a group favorite. Adobe Guadalupe Kerubiel and L.A. Cetto Don Luis Terra both from 2003 and both from the Valle de Guadalupe were morre interesting wines to me. These had some good depth, body and complexity of flavor. In addition, they had a hint of saltiness on the palate. They were not standard globalized wines. They had some individuality and character. While I wouldn't necessarily rush out to stock my cellar with any of these wines, they were at the least pleasant and fun to taste and at the best serious wines that I enjoyed drinking. From the Wine Bar it was time for our ultimate group cena. The choice of restaurant for this event was one that interested me personally very much. It was the Restaurant Pujol with chef Enrique Olivera. I had read a number of positive comments about this restaurant including a number here on eGullet. Chef Olivares, a graduate of the CIA in Hyde Park, is known to take traditional mexican ingredients and dishes and put his own modern spin on them. The restaurant is fairly small, but elegant. our group took up about half the place. After a nice tequila we dove into the set menu. Vuelve a la Vida or "Return to Life" wa a trio of seafood. Focused in this photo is a Cocktail broth with a delicious hearty scallop at the bottom. A skewer of octopus and shrimp Oyster with mexican Gel salsa. The gel reminded me flavor wise and texturally of sushi grade tuna. This was delicious. I think tuna would have been marvellous as well. We drank Casa Madero 2003 Chardonnay from el Valle de Parras, a match that worked very well. Duck Magret Carpaccio This had a green pipian vinaigrette and mezcal foam. This dish, though fine did not rock me as much as the others. I couldn't really taste the mezcal and the pipian vinaigrette could have been a little more assertive. nevertheless, the dish was fine. Frijol con Puerco or poached pork loin with beans and yucatan oregano. This dish did rock me. It was my favorite of the night. The flavors were bold, delicious and complex and it was a fun riff on very classic Mexican foods. The Mariatinto 2002 from Baja was also a supple match for this flavorful dish. Chocolate Mousse with cumin, coconut and sour orange. This traditional dessert was given a lovely mexican twist with the added spices. A view into the kitchen of Pujol. Myself with Chef Olivares. He is an exciting talent doing interesting takes on a very traditional cuisine. It will be very interesting to follow this fine young chef's career. In any case it was clear after this evening that some very good wines are currently being made in Mexico, especially in the Baja where weather patterns are better suited to wine making (rainy season in the winter and dry season in the summer), that thee is some excellent, creative modern mexican cooking and wine goes very well with that cooking. The dinner was over and starting as early as that night people were beginning to go their separate ways. My wife and I had breakfast the next morning at the nearby Los Almendros, a much fancier restaurant than I expected it to be. I know some people have expressed disappointment with this restaurant here recently, but I had my huevos mottulenos and I was quite satisfied. As we were all packed up I did not take any photos. Indeed, it was time to return home to our family and to pay for this extraordinary (to me) trip. We left, however, knowing that as much as we did do, there was still so much more to see, do and eat not just in mexico City, but throughout Mexico. If therre were not so many other places in the world that i hope and wish to visit, I could see returning here frequently indeed. Even so, my wife and I do hope and plan to return to this beautiful country with its beautiful people and beautiful food before too long. I appreciate the interest and patience that has been shown in this recounting.

This has been a labor of love and respect. Thank you rancho_gordo and others who have expressed your support. I have but one more recounting post to make before I have been through the trip. I appreciate everyone's forebearance in dealing with my reminiscences. I am happy if some people have derived some enjoyment from this culinary adventure.

Back to Mexico City We had to leave Tlaxcala. That was difficult, but I was looking forward to returning to Mexico City. My wife and I had originally arrived in time to be able to check out the archaelogical museum before we met everyone to start the tour. The Museum was great. We wished we could have spent more time there, but it was not to be on this trip. The highlight of that visit, however, was watching a performance of bird dancers from Veracruz outside the museum. The climbed up a very tall pole, wound ropes around their ankles and then revolved off the top of the pole, rotating around it until they arrived at the ground. This is an ancient tradition that was astounding to watch. We left Tlaxcala after breakfast on a comfortable modern bus with video screens. We watched most of the movie Frieda on the drive. My wife and I had seen it before, but it was awhile ago and watching it in our current context was great even though I really did want to sleep on the bus (ok, maybe there was some alcohol in that pulque after all!). It was incredibly impressive when we opened the curtains after we finally stopped and saw the zocalo (main plaza) of Mexico City and its Cathedral. The Cathedral. We spent some time together with Rick leading us through the ancient Mexica (aka Aztec) pyramid just a little ways off the teeming zocalo. His knowledge is astounding. After this we had a little free time to explore the area. We managed to see the Rivera murals in the National Palace and a bit of the cathedral before we had to meet back at the bus in order to have lunch. This afternoon would be devoted tacos and their derivatives. We rode over to El Farolito to have lunch and ordered whatever we wanted off the menu. Unfortunately, without specific notes and this far removed from the lunch my memory for the names of the specific dishes is incredibly faulty. As a result I will simply post photos of the food. If anyone cares to identify the dishes, please do so. While not the most satisfying food of the trip, it was still tasty and better than most of the mexican food I have had north of the border. Here they are: This had chicharron and other pork in it. This was a cheese crisp much like a parmesan crisp. This was someone else's dish. It looked good. These were not all my dishes! Next up: Our final evening in Mexico City on this trip.

Pulque Party: Part V: La Comida You didn't think we would get through this party without a proper meal, did you? Even after I showed the photos of the dining room all set? Nah, I knew you couldn't have thought that. Of course we had a proper meal, but not until after sufficient lubrication from the tequila and the pulque. In actuality, the pulque is lower in alcohol than beer, so it wasn't really a factor. Let's just say that we were all feeling pretty darn good. This had been a truly delightful day and that was not yet over. We all filed into the dining room along with our host and members of his staff. Before and after On the table was some guacomole while fresh blue corn tortillas were brought out and passed around The guacomole was the spiciest food we had had all week and it was spicy, actually too spicy for my taste with guocomole. I couldn't taste the avocado, which was a shame. Fortunately, those tortillas provided a welcome antidote. I also learned to never take the top tortilla as it acts as an insulator for those below it. Sopa con nopalitos, granos de elote y calabacitas This was a soup with little nopale strips, chicken, corn kernels and squash blossoms (it did not occur to me until just now how often we had squash blossoms on this trip. I guess I didn't notice because I get them only infrequently at best and I really enjoy them). This was excellent. Pollo Xochuca This was a house special variety of michiote with chicken. Unfortunately, I did not get a good photo of it unwrapped. Barbacoa de borrego This michiote was the one that Yolanda demonstrated to us earlier in the morning. The wrapper is parchment which plays a pretty good second best to the maguey membrane. The meat is lamb. In addition we were served sides of beans and rice in separate dishes. Requeson with Agua Miel Requeson is a ricotta like cheese. The agua miel was super-concentrated and possibly the single most incredible taste experience I had the whole trip. It was balanced like a world-class dessert wine as the complex sweetness was cut by just the right amount of acid. The combination with the simple cheese was just extraordinary. They had a few extra bottles and I managed to buy a small amount to take home. This was a real "WOW". And the band played on... The whole day was simply a blast. This day was probably the single greatest one of the trip for me. As we were heading back to mexico City the next day and had free time that evening, Marilyn kept us abreast of what we needed to know. She and Ana Elena did a fantastic job with the groundwork and their connections in Mexico and keeping things running smoothly. It was hard to leave the Ex-Hacienda de Xochuca. They really gave us a spectacular welcome in a truly beautiful spot. We relaxed on the bus back to Tlaxcala where a free evening awaited us. My wife and I wound up going out with Yolanda, Consuela and Nati. They took us to a small bar with a singer where we had some more tequila and beer while singing along (mostly Consuela as neither my wife nor I knew the words) and dancing. It was a lovely end to a fantastic time in Tlaxcala. Next: Back to Mexico City for our last day on the trip!

You have a good eye, Sr. Gordo. He is indeed. He is the organizer of these Worlds of Flavor trips and an absolutely great guy. He does an outstanding job. This was our second trip with him and I can't say enough about him. When you see him, introduce yourself and tell him I said hello

Pulque Party: Part Four: Finally Some Pulque! The donkeys were back and we followed. We were brought into the carefully kept fermentation area and specifically asked not to touch anything other than the ground that we were standing on as our flora might contaminate and ruin the pulque making. This is a fairly quick, low alcohol fermantation. The pulque needs to be drunk fairly fresh as it spoils quickly. This is one reason why it is not exported. While very popular in the past and very traditional the drinking of pulque has until relatively recently been somewhat out of fashion. However, it has gained acceptance in places like Mexico City and has regained at least some of its former popularity In Mexico City and other nearby burgs. The popularity has risen to the point that ciudadanos of the City and elsewhere have taken to restoring old ex-haciendas like Xochuca and making pulque for regional distribution. Filled barrels waiting to be brought inside for fermentation. The fermentation room. A barrel with finished product getting ready to be transported to market. Large barrels with fermenting pulque Fresh pulque to sample. It tasted yoghurt like only somewhat fermented and still sweet. I liked it. Back in the courtyard there was cold pulque mixed with either coconut or tamarind. These were also quite tasty. and led to more dancing...

The Agaves that are used for Tequila, Mezcal, and Pulque are what's called "monocarpic" plants. They grow for years, building up a huge reserve of carbohydrates, flower once spectacularly, and then die. They don't tap (or harvest the hearts) of the Agave until they are fairly close to flowering. So, really, the plants are close to the end of their life, anyway. ← Thank you, Erik, for the additional information. My understanding is that the bigger issue regarding the health of the plants is the removal of the leaf membrane to make michiote wrappers. This damages the plant at any time of its life cycle and depending on how much is removed can ultimately kill it.

Pulque Party: Part III: Michiote Membranes Maguey leaves have a membranous surface that can be strippe off and traditionally has been used to make michiote, basically meat and vegetables cooked within a wrapper. Today this is most commonly done as stripping the maguey leaves tends to kill the plant which is economically unviable. nevertheless, the membrane has some qualities that make it ideal for cooking en papillote. It is impermeable, strong and does offer some flavor to the finished dish. Unauthorized "poaching" of the mebranes from the maguey remains a significant problem for maguey growers who do so primarily to make pulque. We were shown the process of peeling the leaf, nevertheless. Starting the process. The process. The membrane was very aromatic with a lovely scent. Next: making and sampling pulque

Pulque Party: Part II: Agua Miel I thought something was brewing when the boy was loading up the donkey. in fact it was. We were about to go experience the harvesting of the agua miel from the maguey agave plant that is used to make pulque, a lightly fermented somewhat sweet alchoholic beverage of ancient Mexico. We were already in a good mood heading out to the magueys In fact the mood was dancing good! Morre donkeys arrived, got loaded up and proceeded to the farm. Of course they needed a drink first! Of course we needed music too. The agaves were on a berm. This maguey was ready to tap and already had its crown sawn off. Inside the well is accumulated agua miel or the sap from the heart of the maguey. Obviously this is ultimately not good for the plant. The staff had great shirts. I asked the owner if he had any to sell. They had a few that quickly sold out. They weren't really prepared for sales and hadn't planned on selling anything to us until asked. They are not generally set up for tourism. The agua miel is siphoned up into the blue "club" and then emptied into these yellow containers to be brought back for fermentation. Pouring out some fresh agua miel for us to taste. Mostly clear, but slightly milky in appearance. Sweet and delicious - much more so than raw unprocessed maple sap. A loaded donkey. Next up is stripping the maguey leaf for michiote. This was done solely for demonstration on a specific plant.

Yes, thanks for the great pictures and commentary! Initially I had a little sticker shock about the prices on the website; but, seeing this travelog it looks like it was well worth it. I especially enjoyed the market pictures. I hope the day after the pulque party wasn't too painful. ← Thanks, eje. The trip was a great value as was the Spain trip I took with Worlds of Flavor from the CIA. This was not simply about travel, hotels and dining. it was much more than that with opportunities that I could never hope to have on my own, not to mention traveling with some of the top people in the field. The trips are not cheap, but I would have to pay much more to get something resembling this on my own.. Actually the next day wasn't too bad, but I'll get to that

Thank you MissAmy! I still have a bit more to go including the rest of the "Pulque Party" and the following day. It has been fun for me to relive the trip, although I am finding that the further removed I get from it, the harder it is for me to remember certain details. Unfortunately, it has been fairly time consuming to do this and I haven't been able to do it in a more timely fashion. Regardless, the conclusion that I have drawn from my trip is that Central Mexico is indeed worth visiting on so many levels. I urge anyone who has any desire to travel to do so, especially with an organization like the CIA or Marilyn Tausend's independent trips at least until one becomes more personally experienced visiting the country.

Pulque Party: Part One: A Welcome Place Our bus took us up into the mountains to the town of Tlaxco and the Ex-Hacienda de Xochuca now a large producer of Pulque, the indigenous alcoholic beverage of Mexico made from the agua miel of the maguey plant. Upon entering the former hacienda (my understanding is that old time haciendas were to Mexico what antebellum plantations were to the American South) From Wikipedia: It is therefore important that these impressive estates are now known as "Ex-Haciendas". The Ex-hacienda de Xochuca is indeed impressive and evocative of another world. The colors were particularly beautiful The entrance after we pulled up. As we entered the courtyard we were greeted by the owner of Xochuco, his staff and a wonderful Mariachi band. We were also greeted by shots of herradura tequila served in carved out wonderfully crisp cucumbers with salted chile/lime powder around the rim. These got us off to a fine start. Molotes de Papa y Queso "Masa and Potato "Torpedos" with fresh Cheese. These were very tasty antojitos served during our welcome. A boy and his donkey. I noticed the boy outside the courtyard loading up this donkey. The purpose will become clear shortly. Off the courtyard in the other direction was a very interesting space. This area was the dining room that we would become better acquainted with later on in the day. Hasta luego!

The book is not yet complete. He is working on it with Marilyn Tausend. I'll see if I can get permission to post one or some.

The ones for our soup were rinsed in the disinfectant solution then towel dried before the pistil was removed and the blossoms shredded for inclusion into the soup. These last steps are not necessary per se and they are generally omitted for stuffing and frying the blossoms. I would personally also omit the rinsing if I knew the source of the blossoms and the agricultural practices used to grow them. Yes, the quesadilla blossoms were also shredded into more bite size pieces. I think the best blossoms are probably the ones that one can get ahold of solong as they are fresh and not wilted. To be honest, I have no idea if there are differences amongst them, although I would be surprised if there were not. Thank you for your comment and questions. Any other thoughts on the questions are appreciated.

As an aside, I made some fried beans last night with the Flor de Mayo beans I bought at El Merced. The beans were phenomenol. I used duck fat instead of lard because I happened to have some of that rendered, but no rendered lard. Between the beans I brought back from Mexico and beans I bought from rancho Gordo when I was in the S.F. bay Area last week, I think I will be eating a lot of beans for the foreseeable future