The Royal Chef At Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining

CINCO DE MAYO

I talian cuisine is soulful, taking simple ingredients and just letting them shine; a phi losophy that says “I see what you are.” French and Chinese cuisines are creative, tak ing ingredients and transforming them into something knew; an approach more “I wonder what you can become?” But Mexican cuisine, one of the world’s greats in my opinion, is ultimately both: extremely soulful and intensely, amazingly creative. Imagine combining ingredients from all over the world like sesame, chiles, chocolate, star anise, black peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves, bread, ground corn, clove, and almonds and from this chaos you create mole—a breathtaking achievement. If it was up to me I would desig nate all Mexican moles as Unesco world heritage treasures! While I didn’t grow up with Mexican food, living in Texas these past twenty years has schooled me, at least a little bit, in Mexican food fundamentals. I won’t own up to a greater degree of proficiency than that, in part because Mexican cuisine is so varied and complex. Still most of us can easily handle the delicious basics. I remember a vacation to the coastal city of Ensenada eating fish tacos made by a fisherman with the days catch, full of avocado, salsa, shredded lettuce, onion and cilantro… I was in heaven! Cinco de Mayo takes place every May 5 th and that means big celebrations in Texas where 25% of all Mexican Americans live. Locally there are cultural dance and music events, especially mariachi music festivals, and plenty of eating, drinking and dancing through the night. I approve. Tequila, and its magical cousin Mezcal, aren’t limited to drinks alone, but find a way into many of my dishes, including a pomegranate margarita granita that tops off the evening. That keeps everyone cool and mellow and outside on a warm May evening, the music playing and the stars twinkling in the night skies.

SPRING · CINCO DE MAYO

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