The “winter surge” has by all accounts subsided in Los Angeles. As a result, we feel much more comfortable ordering food for pickup now. On New Years Eve we tried out Redbird downtown, and for Christine’s birthday we ordered from Rossoblu (also downtown). Other than that, we’ve ordered takeout and delivery much less since Christmas than we did in the summer and autumn months.
I’ve been cooking a lot more recently, although my recipes have not increased much in difficulty. I’m still cooking a lot of pasta dishes, steaks, and chicken with various combinations of starches and vegetables. I made a few stews that I’ve been proud of, and an Italian dish similar to a shakshuka with chickpeas and prosciutto and eggs…but the pictures look like I threw a bunch of condoms in a skillet so I won’t share them here. Trust me when I say most of my meals taste better than they look.
When we last checked with Chef Jordan Kahn and his team at Vespertine, they were collaborating with Alinea on an avant-garde masterpiece that required some culinary skills on the part of the diner in order to execute. Remember the truffle explosion dish? The high-wire act of preparing that dish still haunts me to this day.
The most recent (current!) menu at Vespertine focuses on Oaxacan cuisine. According to the 56-page (!!!) book that was included with this meal, “Oaxaca is the most geographically mountainous and diverse state of Mexico, abundant with hundreds of cultural and linguistic groups, ancient history, and an incredibly rich biodiversity.” As such, Kahn writes “The enormous responsibility of this undertaking is not lost on me. I am not academic nor a historian, but as a cook, my devotion to the craft of providing nourishment and happiness has led me towards a path of deeper understanding. I am of Maya ancestry predominantly from the Yucatán, which has inspired me to learn more about my mortal history and the history of my ancestors. The Maya also inhabited many parts of Oaxaca, and thus, inspired me to learn more about its history and cuisine. The experience has been extremely enriching and eye-opening. I am thrilled to share what might be our most ambitious take-home menu to-date. Our success should be measured by the transportive aromas and flavors filling your kitchen as you prepare this meal, creating a form of time-travel. These are the aromas and flavors from an ancient time.”
There is a “basic overview” that comes with this meal that lays out how to best prepare everything in about eight steps. You start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees, remove all the components from the delivery box (like above), place the rice pudding in the fridge until ready to eat…
And that’s when I started sweating bullets. Already, three steps in, I’m worried I’m going to fuck this up.
Step 4: “Pour yourself a glass of the Agua de Chilacayote over ice and garnish it with a squeeze of fresh lime (these are included in the box.” That I can do! And with that, the meal officially began.
Agua de Chilacayote (Fig-leaf gourd, pineapple, cinnamon, piloncillo, ice, lime wedge). “Typically, agua fresca are made with raw ingredients to highlight the freshness and brightness of their flavors…The focal point is a special type of gourd called chilacayote. When eaten raw, is mild in taste, but when cooked, comes to life. When simmered, the natural flavors of the chilacayote begin to develop and deepen into a complex, aromatic broth that is then infused with pineapple rinds, canela, and lime. After, the beverage is sweetened with piloncillo, an unrefined can sugar with wonderful, rich molasses notes.” I found the drink to be quite delicious and quaffable, especially when paired with the included spicy peanuts.Cacahuates Oaxaqueños (roasted peanuts, chiles de arbol, toasted garlic, lime). “This addicting snack is found in almost every mezcal bar in Oaxaca. It is made by slow-roasting the peanuts on a wood-fired comal, along with garlic, chiles, salt and a squeeze of lime. Here we are using chile de arbol and chile morita for a bit of heat and smoke (be mindful of the chile de arbol, they are fiery!). These achieved a really nice level of heat, and I’m usually one to complain that spicy items are not spicy enough for my palate. I munched on this throughout the meal and still had some left over the following day to snack on. I think they were too spicy for Christine. She’s not a heat freak like I am.Molotes de Plátano (Plantain, Santanero Negro Delgado Beans, Crema Oaxaqueña). “In Oaxaca, black beans are flavored with any one of their indigenous herbs, but one of the most intriguing flavors is lent by the leaves of the native criollo avocado tree. These leaves share a faint anise flavor when crushed and toasted. For the beans, we are using the Santenero negro delgado beans from the XOXOC Project, which are considered some of the most prized black beans of Oaxaca. These molotes are served with…a lightly-cultured cow’s milk cream.” So, this is where my job as meal preparer officially began, as I had to reheat these in the oven and drizzle the crema over them when finished. Obviously I don’t have a very steady hand, or any clue how to plate a dish like this and have it look professional, let alone respectable. It looks terrible in this photo. You know it, I know it. Apologies to Chef Kahn for how bad this makes his food look. At least the flavors were outstanding. Christine fell in love with the crema and basically popped a rubber nipple on top and drank it straight from the jar like a baby for the rest of the night.Flor de Calabaza y Quesillo (Blue Corn Toastadas, Squash Blossoms, Oaxaca String Cheese). “Tlayudas are among the most famous street foods in Oaxaca. Typically they are enormous corn tortillas that are toasted until chewy and crisp on the edges, then slathered with a delicious black bean paste (from the molotes) and covered with quesillo, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and often tasajo or cecina (thinly sliced grilled meats). Here we have made a simple tlayuda featuring two iconic ingredients: quesillo (a type of fresh, hand-pulled cheese) and flor de calabaza (squash blossoms).” The instructions here were to lay the corn tlayuda on a baking sheet, tear the squash blossoms in half and drape evenly over the top, pull the quesillo into thin strips and scatter evenly, baked until cheese is melted, then top with a slathering of salsa verde. I think I did pretty good job here! The brine of the cheese and freshness of the salsa verde were the stars here, with the squash blossoms adding a touch of earthiness and texture. I really liked this. It felt like something I could make myself in the future to snack on late at night with the right ingredients. Cuitlacoche (Guajillo Chiles, Epazote, Crema, Queso de Petate). “Cuitlacoche (or huitlacoche) is an unusual ingredient hardly found outside of Mexico. This unusually delicious fungi grows randomly on organic, landrace corn and is considered an iconic ingredient in Oaxacan cooking. It is often referred to by chefs as the ‘Mexican truffle.’ We have cooked the cuitlacoche with guajillo chiles and oregano into a type of paste, similar of that to a rudimentary mole, to be enjoyed slathered onto fresh tortillas and topped with an incredible fresh cheese called queso de petate.” My instructions here were to tear the epaozte leaves into shards and sprinkle on top of the paste, then cook for 5-10 minutes, and serve by spooning some paste onto a warmed tortilla, crumble cheese on top and finally add rajas de chile agua. I think I did a pretty good job here and these were outstanding. So much flavor from the combination of paste, cheese, and the roasted, marinated chiles. I could have eaten five of these but I stopped at two because we still had a good amount of food to follow.Mole Negro (Tamale of Stewed Organic Chicken and Masa). “This mole contains 20 ingredients and each is treated individually before being integrated in a very regimented layering process. The flavors here are truly ancient and I believe should be enjoyed slowly. It took the team here three days to make this mole negro…we decided to serve this with a tamale. These tamales are the best known of all Oaxacan tamales and are considered a celebratory dish. The tamales are filled with chicken stewed in the black mole sauce and the fluffy masa is made from heirloom olotillo corn.” Reheating instructions were to fill a pot with about 3″ of water and place over high heat, place the tamale atop a mesh strainer or steamer basket and steam for ten minutes, then warm the mole in a small pot. Once again, I felt like I was performing a high-wire act steaming the tamale and constantly stirring the mole to ensure it wouldn’t get scorched on the stovetop. The results were delicious, and the mole actually lasted until the next day’s lunch…while I’ll write about later. The depth of flavors was really something wonderful to behold. Like coffee or wine, you could pick out a different “note” with each bite or spoonful. Hongos En Pipián (Oyster Mushrooms, Pumpkin Seeds, Pepper Leaf). “Pipián is a delicious and unctuous sauce made from ground pumpkin seeds, chiles, spices, epazote, and tomatoes. It is common to find pipián in the more remote areas of Oaxaca featuring preparations involving wild greens called quilites, and mushrooms. Here we have used oyster mushrooms which have been grilled over a live fire, then coated with the pipián sauce and topped with stewed swiss chard leaves. The mushrooms and greens are then wrapped in large leaf called hoja santa, also known as the sacred leaf, which has a delicious and unique fragrance and smoky root beer-like flavor to it.” The instructions here were easy enough, baked for about 20-25 minutes and serve with a light squeeze of lime juice. I was surprised how much I liked this dish, the pepitas and mushrooms played off each other well texturally and the chard was stewed enough to give off a bit of sweetness. Barbacoa (Garlic and Chile Paste). “In Ojitlán, a c ity in the Papaloapan region, beef is often the meat of choice for barbacoa and is prepared for special festivals or family occasions. Here we are using prime beef ribs from the short plate, rubbed with a paste of childe ancho, chile guajillo, and chile chipotles. The beef is surrounded by avocado leaves, then slow-cooked in a stone coffin filled with live oak embers until tender. We are presenting the barbacoa with fresh criollo avocado leaves on top to perfume your kitchen as the beef warms in the oven.” The most hilarious part of the preparation here was where I was instructed to “remove the meat from the bones by running your knife horizontally across the top of the bones.” The only problem was, I couldn’t see or feel any bones. I felt like such a moron calling the restaurant and asking, “Wait. there’s no bones here, right? Am I crazy?” Apparently our prep book was out of date. After laughing it off (even though I was crying on the inside for even questioning myself regarding whether or not there were bones in the barbacoa) I went ahead slicing and chopping to make tacos. The meat was perfect with a sprinkle of cilantro, lime, and any of the included salsas. Of course I had to make one taco with each salsa in order to grade them all.There were four salsa included in the package. The verde was used with the tlyuda, and I made various combinations of tacos with the other three. This one I think was just barbacoa and salsa boracha, which is amde using mezcal and morita chiles along with orange juice and cloves. I thought this salsa worked best with the barbacoa, but my favorite of the bunch was the salsa de guajillo. That one was made with guajillo chiles, garlics, and toasted onion. The last salsa was totally vexing but I used it in some tacos the next day with just cheese so I could really parse the flavors. The salsa macha is made with grilled peanuts and sesame seeds, and the texture is described as being almost like hazelnut praline paste. There is no acid in the salsa. Man, that one was a lot of fun to play around with in the next couple days as we made our way through leftovers and I tried to conjure inventive ways to use up what was left.Arroz Con Leche (Canela Cinnamon, “Burnt Milk”, Lime Zest). I am admittedly not a rice pudding fan. I don’t like the texture. This recipe included two “unusual” additions: caramelized garbanzo beans and burnt milk. I absolutely loved the taste of the garbanzos, which is why I kept returning to the pudding. Apparently they are soaked so their skins can be removed and then they are cooked in a piloncillo sugar syrup until caramelized. I need to figure out some kind of recipe I can make that calls for caramelized garbanzos. If anybody has any recipes (not rice pudding), by all means let me know.
Our meal concluded, I felt like I deserved another glass of wine while put my feet up and relax. The meal lasted a few hours, and during that time we killed a bottle of grenache from Thumbprint Cellars up in Healdsburg, CA. Had I known any better — and were I less consumed by fear of ruining the meal by reheating things improperly — I would have remembered I have a bottle of Mezcal de Pechuga I could have opened with the meal. If you’re unfamiliar with Pechuga, it’s made by hanging a raw chicken breast inside the still during distillation! Gross, right? Lest you worry about bacteria and raw chicken, the steam cooks the chicken as the spirit distills, killing bacteria while the fat and juices to drip into the mezcal. The result is quite a savory mezcal, and I TOTALLY FORGOT TO PAIR IT WITH THIS MEAL.
Oh, well. Next time. If mom manages to comes to town in May (and we’re fully vaccinated) I’m sure there will be another Vespertine meal on order so she can see what the fuss is all about. Until then, send me all your caramelized garbanzo bean recipes and stay tuned.
