Epcot Food & Wine 2010 – Jose Camey, Paradiso 37

Food Who & What: Jose Camey, Paradiso 37, Downtown Disney, Pleasure Island; menu = Beef & Chicken Enchiladas with Quesadilla Mix

Wine Who & What: Lovely Miss Eva (that’s what the announcer called her), Domaines Barons de Rothschild, “Lafite Around the World”; wine = Lafite “Reserve Speciale” Bordeaux Rouge

When: Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Where: Festival Center Epcot

Menu: Beef & Chicken Enchiladas with Quesadilla Mix

Not including the recipe because there are a lot of steps and “hidden ingredients” – and frankly – he was an entertaining and enthusiastic speaker & I couldn’t listen to him and enjoy the presentation and take down all of the information he was so eager to give us! (nora)

First off, the wine discussion from the Lovely Miss Eva

• you should buy and drink what you like
  • wine doesn’t have to be expensive – only enjoyable
• wine should be simple and enjoyed with good company
  • at this point she remarked that the pours we had were going to allow us to actually taste the wine and enjoy it – unlike the pours at the beverage seminar she had just conducted
• Lafite “Reserve Speciale” Bordeaux Rouge
  • 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet
  • Bordeaux is astringent, great marriage with food
  • 2009 Vintage
    • the best vintage since sometime in 1960’s
• you want your food and wine to complement each other
  • Nora: back to what I keep thinking about alcohol and food — you want good yin and yang

Now, to the food – this is a laundry list of notes that Nora took while listening to Jose Camey

• Paradiso 37
  • 95% of the menu is made in-house
• mole
  • moles don’t have to be chocolate
  • they are typically a thick sauce – may be smooth or may be chunkier
  • basic ingredients in a mole are tomatoes, garlic, and onions
  • can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days – no longer
  • if you vacuum pack moles, you can freeze them for longer storage
    • let thaw completely before reheating
• chiles
  • to remove the heat from chiles
    • the longer you cook them, the more the heat dissipates
    • if you cook with the chile flesh, not the seeds, you’ll get more flavor than heat
  • chiles have different names depending on their ripeness, their preparations, etc…
    • roasted and smoked POBLANO is called an ANCHO
    • roasted and smoked JALAPENO is called a CHIPOTLE
  • the heat and flavor of chiles varies greatly depending on the time of year they’re grown and the region they’re from
    • never use a recipe containing chiles without tasting your chiles beforehand
  • always wear gloves, even dried chiles contain oils – and when they get on your skin or in your mucous membranes (eyes, nose) – you’ll feel the heat
  • cooking with dried chiles
    • remove the stems and seed and soak in hot water for an hour (?)
    • rinse them off thoroughly before using
• flour tortillas vs corn tortillas
  • flour tortillas cook faster and heat up faster – thus fillings may not have enough time to get heated/cooked before the tortilla
  • corn tortillas allow the fillings to cook in the oven
  • heat corn tortillas in a pot of oil, not frying them, to moisten and warm them so that they don’t crack
• cheese
  • a blend of cheeses adds silkiness and moisture to shredded meat
  • shredded cheese mixed into your cooled shredded meat helps the meat to heat up more quickly and evenly inside your enchiladas (etc)
• spices
  • add at the end when you’re making sauces – keeps their flavors distinct
  • toast spices before using them to release their oils
• pico de gallo
  • simple!
  • fresh, ripe plum tomatoes – don’t refrigerate them!
  • serrano chiles
  • cilantro
  • fresh lime juice
  • salt & pepper

What we ate…

• Beef Enchilada with Guajillo Sauce
  • red mole sauce, very smooth
  • spicy & earthy
• Chicken Enchilada with Mole Verde
  • green mole sauce, more texture
  • crisp-flavored, tart
• Pico de Gallo

Final Thoughts…

• portions were quite decent, we got half of a whole-sized beef enchilada and half of a whole-sized chicken enchilada
• the pico de gallo that was served with the enchiladas was topped with queso fresco and it was marvelous – I could eat a whole bowl of it like gazpacho!
• we prefer flour tortillas to corn tortillas, even if they aren’t always “the way” or “traditional”
• are we brave enough to go to Paradiso 37? there’s no way the food will be as good, is there?