The first Spice Lady’s Food Safari seemed to exceed the expectations of many of the attendees. I have been receiving emails with so many kind words and thank you’s. It makes me feel wonderful to know people enjoyed the company and the food. Here are some of the comments:
“Just a note to let you know that I had a wonderful time last night and enjoyed every aspect of it.”
“I just wanted to say thanks for the delicious meal and informative evening … really enjoyed ourselves – don’t worry we will definitely be back :)”
“It was a lovely evening! Great execution!”
“was fantastic! great night. well done.”
“I really enjoyed your dinner party…good food, good conversation, nice surroundings…all good! I think you handled everything very well, congratulations!”
“Just a note to tell you how wonderful the dinner was. It all looked and went just beautifully. Everyone had a great time.”
The evening started off with a very special tasting of high quality olive oils from Spain. These oils range from $24.00 to around $100 dollar a bottle. We had the opportunity to taste:
Dauro (used for our potatoes) Rincon de la Subbetica, Organic (used for our salad)
Parqueoliva Gold Series Full Moon Oro San Carlos
All had varied subtleties in taste and culinary elements. If you would like information on these outstanding oils here is the Olivacorp website http://www.theolivarcorp.com/ExceptionalOliveOils.html
A heartfelt thank you to Deloros for her expert advice and information.
Onto the food…ah yes…outside of the wonderful company of genuine and warm dinner guests… there’s the food. We started with a lovely fine olive oil dip with parmesan, chili oil, and balsamic. After that we stayed on track with the menu, but added Le Riopelle de l’Isle cheese to the 3rd course. I just really felt the creamy and smooth, lightly acidic taste provided a nice pairing with my rhubarb strawberry lime and ginger compote. Fresh milk and cream with just a hint of butter, it was “positively enchanting”.
A wine expert suggested La Casona 2007, Monastrell Old Vines from YECLA Denomincion de Origen…Bodegas Castano. This wine is so inexpensive…and yet so full of flavour. The blueberry and cherry notes went perfectly with the sweetly spiced sour cherry dijon glazed roasted chicken. It has a touch of oak and full body fruitiness. I really enjoyed it. You can’t miss it on the shelves as it has an image of a primary coloured house on the label. Suits all budgets.
Some of the attendees sent me pictures to share. Guess we were too busy eating and chatting to take a pic of the plated entree.
If you would like to join us for the next Spice Lady Food Safari, it is scheduled for Friday May 27, 2011. We had a full house for April, so you may want to book early to avoid disappointment.
