We started with this ginormous bowl of made-at-your-table guacamole. It was really fantastic, and I was so irrationally excited about it, so I started taking a bunch of pictures, and then our guacamolier offered to take one with me. This was kind of embarrassing, but I think this picture makes it quite clear that I didn't care and I have no shame.
One of the best parts of New York was that I ate a lot of seafood. My mom doled out hefty portions of food money to us all on the first night, and it was so delightful to go out to nice restaurants and choose the salmon without feeling like maybe I was choosing fish over winter shoes for Bria or something.
Most of us had dishes that featured mole in one form or another. I have only had one other encounter with mole, and it was not a good one. When I was a sophomore in college, I had a huge (unrequited) crush on this boy I nicknamed The Hobbit. He cooked dinner for my apartment one night (the background to this dinner is a story for another time). He made us an "authentic mexican dinner" which consisted of flour tortillas, boiled chicken tenderloins, and mole. I still can't talk about it without gagging. Anyway, I have no way of knowing if the mole under my salmon was actually good, but I think I was too scarred to even try it. But my sisters did thoroughly enjoy their mole enchiladas.
The mole sorbet (see it down there? at the top of the flan?), however, was intriguing and weird and almost delightful. It kind of tasted like Christmas-- but not necessarily in a magical way. (p.s. Lindsay, thanks for giving your dessert a peace sign/bunny ears.)
And then we have the ice creams. Mexican vanilla. Delicious! Mexican chocolate. Absolutely fantastic. Almost grainy, which I actually enjoyed. And Sweet Potato Rum Raisin. OK. Why did I order that? I don't know. I really don't love sweet potatoes. But the ice cream was actually really scrumptious. It tasted more like a pumpkin ice cream, which saved me from feeling like I was eating a sweet tasting vegetable (*shudder*). I just nudged all the raisins out of the ice cream. Raisins have no place in ice cream. But, my goodness, all three of these ice creams certainly have a place in my heart/mouth/stomach.
I've only had mole once too, and I wasn't a big fan either. Maybe mole is just something that is either made to taste great or made to make you gag--always one or the other. :) Those ice cream flavors look fabulous!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, my neighbor who is from Mexico decided she made the best chicken and mole. She took the whole pieces of chicken thighs (bones and all) and boiled them until they were tender and then put them in the sauce. I told her once I wanted her to show me how to cook authentic mexican food so she gave us a huge container of this chicken. Uggh! I HATED it. I've tasted good mole sauce and hers was not it. It's sad really. I took one bite and threw the rest away. Maybe it's a hit-or-miss type of thing.
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