In celebration of the Hispanic Heritage month, acclaimed Four Seaaon Chef Mel Mecinas and his fellow chef brothers, delighted their guests at Talavera restaurant with a traditional Oxacan four course meal.
The three Mecinas; Honorio, Juan and Mel worked together on to design an aperitivo, four bite size appetizers including a lamb taco, shrimp ceviche with worm salt, a Molote with queso and chorizo and a Memelita stuffed with quesillo cheese. These 4 canapés were beautifully paired with La Piña Picante or spicy pineapple; a blend of habanero tincture, pinapple and cilantro.
Next, chef Honorio who currently works at the Hotel Rio in Las Vegas, crafted the Entrada or first course. A soy and agave marinated sea bass, served on a plantain leaf on a bed of mole amarillo , garnished with chayote and radish. This was just divine, I’m now a huge fan of Mole, thanks to Mecinas.
Marinated Sea Bass with Mole Amarillo
The Plato Fuerte was created by chef Mel, the big brother, the one that leads the Mecinas pack. He put together the traditional chocolate mole negro with coffee rubbed New York strip loin. Equilibrating this plate, like in a genius balancing act, mole rojo, which gets its color from red chiles, and a jumbo prawn, creating an explosion of flavor and texture on the palate. To finish strong, Chef Mel introduced me to Huitlacoche, a puréed corn kernel mushroom that has a distinctive black color and texture, wrapped in a calabacita and paired with house made chorizo.
New York strip loin with Mole and chorizo
Jumbo Prawn on a bed of Mole
Calabacita stuffed with Huitlacoche
And finally the youngest Mecinas brother, Juan, who is in charge of the dessert, impressed us with a leche quemada (burnt milk) ice cream and a white corn flan topped with a peach compote and adorned with a caramel pumpkin seed brittle. Simply gorgeous and delicious, the flowers that garnished the plate were edible and made this dessert a one of a kind experience.
White corn flan
Thank you so much to the Mecinas brothers for sharing with us their extensive knowledge of oaxacan cuisine, to the hotel Four Seasons and Talavera for putting together such an impeccable event and for making this experience possible.
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