What better vacation than to spend the days eating and drinking food you never get at home, then dipping into the pool or ocean for a breather before eating and drinking again?
That's what you would have experienced at the 2012 Food & Wine Festival in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo. To see what you missed (if you weren't there), take a look at this and the next few posts.
The Best Margarita and Guacamole. I wish I could check into La Quinta Troppo in Zihuatanejo all over again. And not because this hillside hotel is small and charming, with breezy rooms and spectacular views out to sea. I just want another welcome cocktail and Margarita.
As soon as I got to my room, one of the staff appeared with a cocktail shaker and poured out a perfect balance of tequila, fresh lime juice, orange liqueur and a drop or two of sugar syrup.
Bougainvillea blossoms decorated the pink and orange woven bedspread, the bath mat and washcloths in the bathroom. As you can see, there's one on the edge of the margarita glass too.
The guacamole had a surprise ingredient--dry cheese, just enough to bind the texture, not to produce cheesy flavor. Little or no lime juice had been added to keep the taste pure and fresh.
The Best Food and Wine Match. The dish was braised pork shank with papaya slaw, mint, chiles and clam liquor (above), produced by American chef Michael Symon for the final festival dinner at Las Brisas Ixtapa.
Symon (at right) said he had gotten as many Mexican ingredients as possible and "braised the pork with a lot of chiles," putting bits of chocolate clam into the topping.
The good match wasn't the wine intended to go with this dish, the Santo Tomás Merlot 2010, but the one that went with the ceviche and cold mango soup that preceded it, the 2011 Santo Tomás Viognier.
The Merlot tasted so strongly of vanilla that it overpowered the meat. The Viognier was crisp, fruity and slightly sweet, perfect with the heady fruit and dried chile notes of the pork sauce.
The Biggest Shock. I'm glad I didn't know what I was eating at the time. It was bony meat accompanied by a green sauce (above) at a lunch where local cocineras (women cooks) talked about their dishes. Because I sat far in the back, I couldn't hear what they said. Hours later, someone explained that I had eaten tejón--badger.
Next Post: Wild mole and a stylish ceviche
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