Mexican food, Spanish wine

So there we were last night, back at one of our favourite restaurants, getting happier and happier...

For a few years now, Frontera Grill has hosted a spring series of wine pairing dinners. Mexican food and wine together, you wonder. Certainly. Why, one very good reason why we love Frontera and Topolobampo is the sommelier, Jill. And last night her pairings were remarkable.

The evening starts off upstairs in the demo kitchen. Conradand I joined RAD
and one of the regulars he knew, enjoyed the margaritas, and watched Rick Bayless demo some enchiladas. The man knows his stuff, he's enthusiastic, and it's really a treat to have him there talking and cooking for us. Plus he had a little bit to say about his recent appearance on Top Chef. Fun! We all got a little plate to try, the maragaritas went down fine, and with that it was on to the dinner downstairs in the Morales Room.

We didn't sit with RAD for a change. We were among the last to get downstairs to the communal tables, and there simply wasn't room for 4 of us together. No worries, it's just an opportunity to get to know people. This meant a fun evening sitting at the end of one table next to Danand NancyBoth were terrific company throughout the evening. I hope we see them at the restaurant again.

Ah, but on to the food. Guacamole awaited us when we sat.To go with it we sipped the 2004 Leopardi Brut Rosé Reserva Cava.

First course was the Chiles Fingidos. Here's the description from the menu: Swiss chard leaves rolled around slow-braised bacalao, "soufflé-battered" (chile relleno-style). Veracruz-style roasted tomato sauce with capers and olives, Three Sister's Garden "shoots" salad.Simply delightful. Jill (you can see her partly in the photo above of Dan with Conrad) paired it with the 2005 Bodegas Nora "Nora Da Neve", an oak barrel-aged Albariño. Wonderful!

Second course was the Mole de Olla. Unlike the thicker types of moles most people know, this is an unusual broth-style of mole. The description: Red chile mole de olla (rich, brothy short-rib soup) with corn, calabacitas, green beans, epazote, and xoconostle (sour prickly pear). The first photo shows the solid bts before the broth was added, then the other shot shows the finished soup.
I liked the soup a lot - clean tasting. But paired with the 2006 Bodegas Ateca "Atteca", the combination was my favourite of the night. We hope we can find the wine at the stores.

We'd been hearing about the wines, of course, but at this point Rick Bayless came down to tell us more about the foods.We took advantage of the pause to get photos of our dining mates at the table.


Up third was the Puerco en Pipián Rojo. I love the close up that Conrad got. Here's the description from the menu: Grill-roasted Maple Creek Farm pork loin in classic red pipián (ancho chile, pepitas, sesame seeds, sweet spices). Fresh corn budín and Snug Haven winter spinach.
Okay, I'll be honest - I was very happy by this point. So forgive me if I can't wax on about this dish. In fact, it was fine, though I think it was slighter than the previous course. I liked it, but it didn't shine quite so brightly as the others. Jill had paired it with the 2004 Viñas Del Cenit "Cenit". The label on the bottle was especially beautiful.

Finally, dessert: Budín de Mango. This was caramel-crusted fresh mango rice pudding tart. Creamy coconut infusion, mango sauce.
Sounds like heck, right? Rice pudding tart? Stodgy? Not at all. Light, very light. And excellent. I loved it - I wasn't so "happy" that I wouldn't have known the difference! With this we had the 2005 Jorge Ordoñez & Co. "Seleccion Especial" #1.

See? Happy - and blurry. This was early in the evening, though!