Cocktail Food

A few Fridays ago I was at a cocktail party intended for the press here in Guadalajara to present to them a new resort that is opening in Puerto Vallarta. The Sunset Plaza Beach Resort and Spa.

The evening started around 7:3 pm with drinks and here is where I have to compliment the manager. As soon as it came to his attention that I was from the States, spoke very little Spanish and my friends were tied up with business he took me under his wing explaining everything to me and I enjoyed excellent service from both him and the staff that entire evening.

At around 9pm they gave the presentation on the resort and immediately following this the staff started to circulate with passed appetizers. My background is in food and in previous postings I have talked about the freshness of the food here in Mexico, street vendors and my Mexican weight loss plan. This event though blew me away with the creativity and quality of the food that was served, the more so being that the hors’ devours were passed and some were selections I would never have considered, like the chicken and mushroom soup.

Served in a teeny, tiny demitasse cup the broth was hot and tasty with succulent chicken and a little mushroom, served whole. This being a cocktail party and more of a business event most people were standing with drinks in their hands but somehow the idea of eating soup worked with no problems.

Pure white, miniature soft tortilla shells folded over a paper thin dried pepper that would just dissolve on your tongue. As with everything served that night nothing came out of a box and the tortillas were freshly made.

They had a most unique way to serve the bean dip. Flat bottom ceramic spoons were being passed from trays and each spoon had a layer of refried beans, topped with a spicy mango salsa and a tortilla chip planted like a flag in the middle of each spoon. People would take a bite of their chip and then eat the dip and salsa right off the spoon.

Hand made puff pastries were filled with savory cream cheese and garnished with a sliver of walnut and a blade of lemon grass. These were just the right size to pop whole into your mouth. I learned a couple of years ago after hosting an event that anything flakey must be small enough to eat whole or the ladies will have puff pastry flakes littering their lipstick.

And who would ever have thought to serve lamb shanks at a cocktail party??? Thinly sliced with a mint glaze and served hot it was kind of funny to see folks standing around chewing on the bones but like the soup, it worked.

A cold seafood salad was served in ceramic ramekins and dessert if you will was fruit and cheese presented like a crab Rangoon.

Such creativity and such quality almost makes me want to get back in the business but it’s really nice being the one served for a change.