Last year it was an honor to be invited to provide the culinary experience for the Mexican Independence Day Celebration for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego. It was an amazing party! But this year we really wanted to take it to another level of elegance and celebration...
What started out as a 300 person event climbed in the final day to 450 people, so we went back into the HKC Kitchen to make a little more of everything...and I planned the service rate to be just a bit faster...In one hour, we served 100 beautiful platters of empanadas with perfect flaky crusts, sopes with gorgeous albacore from Catalina Offshore, albondigas simmered in consomme with roasted onions, fresh tamales, and colorful little spoons of chicken with mole negro, charred micro onions, and an emulsion of traditional Mexican sweet corn cake...and we followed that with Tres Leches Cake with strawberries and cream...
And of course, Snake Oil Cocktail Company provided all the heart could desire from a good cocktail party.
Parties like this make me love what I do. The high spirits and fast pace and music are the reward, the culmination of long hours of preparation. Seeing a hundred basic elements- flour, eggs, salt, fish- finally come together on beautiful platters and then disappear... that's what it's all about for me.
Special thanks to my partners at Snake Oil Cocktail Company for another creative collaboration. It's inspiring to work with partners at such a high level of craft. Cheers!
Also very special thanks to the speed, stealth and artistic fluency of photographer Dona Tracy! This party was a handful to capture the full scope of, but with over 40 years in the profession, she has some chops ;)
MENU:
Tamalitos - Recién Hechos - Tamalitos de Rajas con Poblanos, Queso y Salsa Tomatillo, Hoja de Maíz
Empanadas de Picadillo - Picadillo de Res con Chile Guajillo y Crema Poblana
Albóndigas - Albóndigas con Cilantro, Arroz, Cebolla, Hierbabuena en Salsa Chipotle - Palillo
Tostada de Atún - Atún Aleta Amarilla, Cebollita Encurtido, Salicornia, Frijol, Flor Micro
Mole Poblano - Pollo en Mole, Cebollita Asadas, Emulsión de Maíz - Cucharita
Pastel Tres Leches