An interestingly homogeneous evening in some ways, as the various of the ten folk who attended dinner were all from different parts of the US, most of them students or just recent graduates, and all down here either for some sort of research or internships in their respective fields. Sometimes, things just work out that sort of way.

A Palometa Ceviche, palometa being a type of leatherjacket fish, in the same family as pomfret and pompano. Not a fish often used for ceviche, though given that in flavor and texture, it’s much like bonito or albacore tuna, I’m not sure why not. Cured using ingredients typically used in a Japanese dish called namerou, which is a sort of fish tartare – lime juice, white miso, ginger, rocoto chili, and shiso leaves. Garnished with a whole shiso leaf, sesame seeds, finely chopped rocoto, red onion, and chives.

Salentein Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature (Chardonnay)

Bringing back a soup from one of our Bread & Soup Project dinners – it just felt like a nice chilly night on which to have a hot, creamy, mushroom soup. This is Kulajda, from our Czechia entry in the project, and I have a step by step on how it’s made. The only difference from the original preparation is that I used a mix of dried mushrooms – Chinese black, porcini, pine, oyster, portobello, and button. It was the favorite dish of, I think, three of the guests!

Catena Zapata “Nicasia Vineyard” Blanc de Blancs 2021 (Viognier, Chardonnay)

This was my favorite of the evening, but then, the pasta courses usually are. Artichoke Escabeche Pansôti. Homemade semolina pasta, filled with a mix of artichoke escabeche, just finely diced rather than whole hearts, with bacon, and both fontina and mozzarella cheese. The sauce is a bechamel mixed with a basil and sunflower seed pesto, and more fontina cheese. Garnished with toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds and a couple of grinds of black pepper.

La Liga de Enologos Criollo Rosado 2021

All that garlic and chili I had a couple of weeks ago on my ravioli al ajillo, had me in mind to do something similar, just without the big chunks of garlic. A Chicken al Ajillo – pan roasted chicken thighs, basmati rice with a touch of turmeric, and steamed wax beans, all with a ladle-ful of a thickened gravy of a ton of garlic, merquen chili, olive oil, butter, white wine, and chicken stock.

Bodega Putruele “Natalina” Black Blend (Alicante Bouschet, Malbec, Bonarda)

And, finishing off the evening with a Spice Cheesecake – a cookie base, and our usual homemade cream cheese, here flavored with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and dark brown sugar. Atop, a slow-cooked tangerine marmalade.

Las Perdices “Partridge” Dulce Natural 2021 (Viognier)