Monsieur Hery & Señor Dan
On a recent Saturday night I made my semi-professional debut as a chef, cooking a three-course, Mexican-themed meal for 20 people. The occasion was a kick-off campaign to raise money--and awareness--for historic preservation efforts in Fianar's Old Town. Our neighbor Karen came up with a novel idea of fundraising: a dinner series, held in Old Town, each dinner a different theme prepared by a different chef. All money raised goes towards paying the salary of Karen's assistant. Hery, the owner of Tsara Guest House, a Fianar boutique hotel, graciously donated the space, dishes, and an employee to help serve and clean up. Señor Dan agreed to cook the first dinner.
Karen and I worked out a menu, which wasn't as easy as you'd think. On the practical side, we were limited by ingredients and spices that were available locally or had been brought from the US; there's no Mexican grocery in Fianar (or anywhere on the island, I'd wager). Then there were social issues that dictated our choices of main courses. We ruled out tacos on the grounds that the French don't like eating with their hands, and tackling a taco would have them way out of their comfort zone. We rejected burritos for the same reason and settled on enchiladas, which, we felt, would not send ambiguous messages about the mode of consumption.
The menu is below, but here's a description of the dishes:Entrée - Pumpkin Soup with Cornbread (yes, I know cornbread is Tex-Mex, not Mexican)
Creamy puréed pumpkin flavored with cumin, cayenne, and bacon--just the thing to chase off winter's chill.
Shredded roasted chicken, seasoned with Señor Dan's special spice mix, wrapped in a flour tortilla, and topped with red sauce and cheese and then baked. (Karen had a friend in Tana order tortillas from the US and sent over in the diplomatic pouch. Thank you, US taxpayers.)
Dessert - Drunken Orange Cake & Mexican Coffee or Citronella Tea
A white cake infused with spirited syrup made of sugar, orange and lemon zest, and dark rum. Black coffee, flavored with sugar and cinnamon.
Menu de la dia
I cooked pretty much non-stop the 48 hours before the dinner and missed more than ever our dishwasher from Madison. Stress levels were high; there was a lot of pride and my reputation on the line. But, the work paid off. The food all turned out great and folks raved about it afterwards.
¡Que Bueno y Hasta Luego!
3 comments:
Oh, yummmmm!!! Wish you'd have let us know in advance - might have been tempted to pop over from Michigan for dinner. ;-)
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Congratulations man. From our previous conversations, I was under the impression that the reason for la festival was the US World Cup match. I had no idea it was such a fancy occasion. Martha Stewart, thrilling ankle-wear or not, my friend, ain’t got nuthin on you.
If you ever become a successful and famous entertainer, I just want you to know that I will be on all the cable news shows talking about how "I knew him when he was cooking for 20 foreign exchange students from UK who were all looking to hook up with Senior Dan in the hopes of scoring a green card".
Since you got the first of the dinners out of the way, I bet you are looking forward to future evenings with great anticipation knowing that your only responsibility will be eating and drinking.
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