Today I think I had one of my best meals ever. No, it wasn’t consumed in a fancy restaurant but instead in a department store dining hall. Why was it one of the best? Not necessarily because the food was the yummiest that I ever had but because there was an entire explosion of unique tastes in my mouth. There were more flavors combined together than I have ever experienced before and each part of the meal was a combustion of innovation .
First up was the drink that came with lunch. It was refreshing and amazing at the same time.
it was called a non-alcholic Acapulco Mocktail. Imagine strawberry (fresa), pineapple (Pina), coconut (coco) cream and peach (melacoton) garnished with candied pineapple. But what made it truly remarkable was the lime/chili/coconut salt around the rim. It totally changed the entire flavor of the juices from good to memorable!
The next thing up on this three course lunch was a mushroom soup topped with tortilla strips cut so thin you could almost see through them. But what made this so unique was that instead of the typical cream of mushroom soup one thinks of when considering this sort of fare; this soup had a deep rich base with the essence of chilis. Now as a person who has never been particularly fond of chili I have to say that this was quite a surprise that the spice could actually enhance a dish rather than detract from it. I know…it looks like a bowl of chili but tastes nothing like it.
After the soup came the biggest surprise of all… the “pièce de résistance” …. Chile Hojaaldrado. Imagine something like a chile relleno with a filling made of beef, garlic, onions and who knows what else. Then take this all this goodness and stuff it all into a puff pastry. Then surround the “relleno” with a cream sauce consisting of pomegranate, a slight bit of cinnamon, and other unidentifiable heavenly ingredients. Ahhhhh this combination of flavors is like nothing I have ever tasted in my entire life and I am getting to the age where I could drop over dead at anytime so I am so pleased that I lived to have the pleasure of this dish!
While this meal was a bit pricey at $329 MXP (about $16) for me it was worth every penny. As I said I ate this incredible lunch at a big “department” store called Liverpool in the Antea Mall; which is one of the biggest malls in Latin America. The food area is on the 5th floor and there is a huge variety to choose from. Pizza, sushi, burgers, traditional Mexican food, sandwiches, flan, gorgeous pastries, breads and excellent wines served bar style can all be consumed here. This may not be what you think of when you think Mexico but lunch today will probably be one of the most memorable that I will experience as I transverse the continent.
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