On 11/17/2018 at 7:08 PM, FauxPas said:I am somewhat regretting not joining you tonight, but I had a busy day with a quilt course and a luncheon and wasn't sure I would have energy for tonight's expedition. But I am very much looking forward to hearing about things! I hope you guys have a fabulous time!
I'm afraid you didn't miss much. I went alone, and it's a good thing: my darling wouldn't have enjoyed himself at all. Much too much walking, on dimly-lit pathways, with long lines and - all too often - nothing left by the time I got there. It wasn't a total bust, but I doubt you'd have thought it worth the drive and the ticket cost. I doubt I'd go again.
(Caveat: this is long! Sorry! I'm not willing to break it into two posts now.)
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum held its first-ever Sonoran Harvest "Taste the Desert" food festival last night. Since we first began visiting here, I've read about their occasional evening events - wine under the stars, chances to see the animals in the evening when they're typically more active, and so on. This event was billed as a celebration of local foods - with, of course, the wine and beer and animals. It happens that our campground is quite close to the ASDM. There was no way I would miss this event!
I arrived promptly at the 6:30 opening, along with what seemed half the population of Tucson. Each person received a map and a schedule, and if s/he'd paid the extra for beer tasting, also received a 4-oz tasting cup to be carried along. Our tickets allowed 6 food tastings, 4 beer tastings and 2 full-bar drinks. (There was also a tequila tasting, but I hadn't paid for that.) Here's the map of the ground to be covered...
...and the schedule of events.
I waited for some time in line for chips and salsa, never made it through, decided to go to visit the animals as they received their special puzzle-treats. That was at one end of the park (item 10). The other end of the park, with most of the food items (4, 5, 6 and so on) is a brisk 10 minute walk for someone who knows where she's going. With dimly-lit pathways and the usual wrong turns in that maze, it was more like 15 minutes. The stars were gorgeous, I will say! When I arrived at the food end of the park, the lines were still very long but some stands were already running out of food. I was able to use 3 of my 4 beer-tasting tickets. I enjoyed Dragoon Brewing's Stronghold Session Ale (I got the very last sample, at around 8 p.m.) and Catalina Brewing Company's La Rosa, with its hint of prickly pear fruit. Catalina's Mesquite Agave was another story. The beauty of tastings like this is that I didn't have to buy a glass to find out I didn't like it!
Most of the foods I tried were mystifying as to what made them special. The Sonoran hot dog was simply a run-of-the-mill dog in a run-of-the-mill bun, with run-of-the-mill pinto beans. The Sonoran dog as described by FauxPas is a different animal altogether.
I asked the gentleman serving "turkey sliders" what made them uniquely Sonoran. He made a face. "Well," he said, "we've run out of the special ingredient that made it Sonoran." He couldn't remember whether it was agave or prickly pear or chipotle, nor could he remember what had been done with it. Jelly? Syrup? I never found out. What I got was just chunks of turkey in barbecue sauce, placed on a small burger bun. I didn't finish it.
All that said, there were some brilliant moments that kept the evening from being a total bust. There was a chef competition (no special punch tickets needed) among 4 local dining establishments. The public was invited to come sample and vote. By the time I found the place at around 8:15, 1 table had run out of material and closed. Voting was no longer an option. Another table had left samples of some sliced bread with toasted pepitas scattered over some sauce. It was okay, but nothing to write home about.
Then there were two marvelous creations, with wonderful staff to go with it!
Prickly pear caramel flan, from Welcome Diner. Luscious, lovely stuff. I want to try caramelizing prickly pear syrup to see if I can get close. I wanted to go back for more, but given the short supply I restrained myself.
At the next table was the Ciao Down Food Truck entry. This food truck is a roving pizza joint. Everything is handmade, from the dough up. The owner began his professional career as a brewer, and then moved into baking. He uses champagne yeast for his dough fermentation, does 2-3 day retarded ferments. His passion for his work shone through every sentence, even after their booth had closed and I accosted them outside with more questions.
This picture doesn't do the food justice. I meant to take a "money shot" after I'd bitten into the appetizer, but my fingers were too gooey to work the phone. It's a play on their "Snake Bite" Pizza. Under the microgreens was a crispy sealed pouch of mesquite puff pastry. Inside it was a shot of raspberry chipotle jam, a touch of jalapeño, mozzarella and cream cheese. Prickly pear jam lined the bottom of the plate. The microgreens were cilantro, IIRC. It was brilliant - and delicious, with just a slight surprise sting of heat that was tamed by the cheeses and sweet sauce. I think I did go back for another of these. I asked later about the puff pastry. Yes, he'd made it from scratch. Yes, it was from mesquite flour. He showed a picture of the pastry rolled out to a thickness that would make a strudel chef weep with envy, just as the dough circles were being cut. This isn't one of their normal products; it was a flier for this event. It was brilliant, I tell you. I hope they took first place.
If you have a chance to find the Ciao Down Food Truck (they post their route on Facebook), make a point of tracking them down.
There was music nearby, and although I never reached the head of the line to try the dessert bar, it would have been overkill after the excellence of the samples above. The fun was that a musical duo played Mississippi Delta-style blues and they were resonating with a couple that danced beautifully together. Everyone else stood back and admired the dancing and music. There's a deep magic that comes, as a rare gift, when one is playing music and truly connecting with other musicians and/or the audience, and I think the same must hold true of other live performances. It doesn't happen every time. This was one of those times. I loved being there for it, even though I'm not crazy about the blues!
Finally, I stumbled onto some fascinating information booths. The best was this woman who demonstrated just how easy it is to preserve the desert harvest with a pot, a pillowcase and a propane torch. She showed how to gently torch the prickles off a cholla so that the buds can be harvested. It turns out that cholla is very high in calcium while being zero-fat or cholesterol. (Hmm, maybe I'll try some of my dried ciolim again.) She had mesquite pods and talked about how to make mesquite flour (from the pods, not the beans) or mesquite syrup (from boiling and crushing it all, then letting it steep and straining it). We talked about the good mesquite and the not-so-good mesquite. All the pods are edible, but the local Velvet Mesquite, Texas' Honey Mesquite, and the Screwbean Mesquite are the best. When in doubt, break and taste a ripe, dried pod. If you like the flavor, harvest it. If not, don't.
The prickly pear fruits are the most intriguing to me. She had two ways of treating them: (1) puree the tunas, then strain through a pillowcase and discard the solids, or (2) freeze them, then let them thaw and drain through a strainer for a few days. The juice is a beautiful, deep magenta. (She boils the juice before bottling, to kill microbes: 170F for a few minutes.) I want to try this. She gave me her husband's recipe for prickly pear ice cream, and I'm eager to try it!
So...despite the initial kvetching, I'm glad I went. Once.
