Munching on a Monday: Mole at Mestizo

by Blair "B-Rex" Loup

Mole (mow-lay) is one of those foods on a menu I can never pass up. It's a personal rule, you know, like when a Spice Girls song pops up on my playlist, I listen to it. Last Monday, Jay and I were talking about a green mole dish that Jim Urdiales' Mestizo presented at Crawfête and decided to head there for lunch. Jim happened to be there and we all started talking about moles. One thing lead to another, and Jim wound up putting us in a food coma for the rest of the afternoon. 

We tried a green and red mole with two different proteins and I honestly can't tell you which one I enjoyed more.

The red mole, served over a grilled chicken breast, had that slightly bitter ever-so-sweet sweet balance working with a velvety texture; in the words of Jay Ducote, it was "money." A mound of Spanish rice, pico, and sautéed onions laid on the plate, but who has time to think about rice when there are pieces of fried plantain all over the place? The sweetness of the the fried plantain combined with the bold flavors in the mole left me satisfied...but wait, there's more!

Mole con Pollo at Mestizo

Just like Jim, the food at Mestizo is fun. The green mole topped this crazy fresh stacked enchilada/Mexican lasagna-type dish. Instead of being rolled inside of the tortilla, the flavors were stacked: fresh spinach, chunks of feta, and succulent shrimp. It was all so fresh and light, totally different from the richness of the red mole, but totally flavorful. I loved the fresh spinach inside, it just brightened the entire dish with the zesty tomatillo in the mole.

Green Mole at Mestizo

Jim and his executive chef, Stephany Novoa are creative, fun, and full of personality, and you can taste it in the dishes they create. Sometimes it's nice to step out of the Tex-Mex slump and try some of that same "south of the border" flare fusing with Louisiana cuisine.

Peru in Baltimore: Chicken Rico

A recent trip to visit Caroline in Pennsylvania had me routed through the Baltimore airport thanks to a Southwest Airlines buddy pass from the one and only Amanda Ball.  Since I had a couple hours to kill in Baltimore before Caroline could come pick me up, I gave drinking and sailing pal Doug Avnet a call to see if he could join me for lunch.  Fortunately for me, he could; and he knew exactly where to take me.  I met Doug around Camden Yards on a snowy Baltimore afternoon.  We hopped in his cab and took off towards Chicken Rico, a Peruvian chicken joint on Eastern Avenue.  Baltimore is a city known for being rather multicultural, and one tour down Eastern showed why.  I'm used to "Latin" restaurants meaning Mexican, Tex-Mex, or possibly a little Mexican-Cajun fusion, but is rare to see authentic Cuban, Peruvian, Honduran, and more.  I knew I was in for a treat!

Clearly, charbroiled chicken highlighted the menu.  Whole  roasted chickens revolved continuously over red-hot charcoal on a rotisserie spit.  As the birds slow-cooked to hot, juicy goodness, customers could see exactly where their food was coming from.  The chickens were rubbed with Peruvian spices to give them proper flavor.  When ordered, the staff takes a plump chicken and chops it up with a cleaver right in front of you.  Doug and I ordered a "family special" that came with a whole chicken, two sides, and a few beverages.  Within about ten seconds the chicken had be deconstructed into eighths and piled onto a platter.  For side items we opted for thick-cut fries as well as fried plantains.

A whole charbroiled bird, fries, and fried plantains from Chicken Rico

I tried Inca Kola for a change of taste

The chicken exploded with juices on first bite.  The tender and moist meat had a great flavor with more herbs and spices under the skin.  Each bite pulled off the bones of the bird and made my stomach extremely happy.  The fries and plantains were just okay though.  I would try something else if I went back to see if any of the other side items were any better.  In the end , after I ate half a chicken, it's not like I really needed any sides!  I also tried Inca Kola, a carbonated beverage that Chicken Rico had in their cooler.  I figured I might as well drink something that I've never had before.  I don't know that I'd choose Inca Kola again, but they at least wet my whistle while I enjoyed the chicken!

Honduras - The 2010 FIFA World Cup Bites and Boozes

Honduras

Bite and Booze hasn't represented CONCACAF in the World Cup posts since Mexico on post two. Today we pay a visit to Honduras, a small Central American nation between Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.  Honduras belonged to the Mayan civilization before the Spanish conquistadors arrived following Christopher Columbus's discovery of New World. Obviously, both the Mayan and Spanish cultures carry through to their cuisine of today.  An original and notable dish is a baleada, and the accompanying beverage of the day is a liquor called Gaffity.

Baleadas are made by taking a thick flour tortilla, folding it in half, and filling it with mashed fried beans. Basically it is like a bean soft taco, but with a larger and thicker tortilla.  From that basic form that every baleada uses, other ingredients are up to the eater.  The most common baleada fillers are crumbled cheese, scrambled eggs, sausage, plantain, avocado, chicken, pork, tomato, onion, and bell peppers.  Baleadas are so popular in Honduras that there are restaurants devoted to only serving various baleadas.

Gaffity is a Honduran liquor that contains various herbs and spices.  The fiery beverage cannot be found in grocery stores and little is written about it.  From best I can tell, it is concocted by the Garifuna people on the tiny Cayos Cochinos (The Hog Islands).  The islands are an archipelago north of Honduras' Caribbean coast.  From the pictures and few quotes about the place and the beverage, I'd sure like to give it a try!



















For more on Honduran beer, check out the BR Beer Scene!

Thanks and Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baleada
http://gocentralamerica.about.com/od/recipes/g/Honduras_Drinks.htm
http://www.discovercentralamerica.com/country.html?country=honduras