EPCOT Mexican Food and Tequila Pairing November 7, 2013

Our second most anticipated event of the festival was the Mexican Food & Tequila pairing. This event was held at La Hacienda de San Angel. We attended the first such event last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. After checking in, we were handed a Horchata Margarita, a drink that I thought for sure combined the tastes of chocolate and cinnamon (and a little tequila, perhaps a lot of tequila). As I learned, there isn’t a speck of chocolate in this drink, but there are plenty of different alcoholic beverages. What a yummy drink! I could sit on a shaded veranda drinking these margaritas all afternoon and most likely regret that decision the following day. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, there weren’t seconds on this drink, but we had plenty of other options to enjoy with this meal. My husband decided to capture a picture of me before the lunch began while I was still in a somewhat sober state. For some reason, we didn’t get an “after” picture.

Here I am in a reasonably sober state. There is no “after” picture.

As you can see from the photo, we had plenty of glasses in front of us.

Here are the drinks starting with the back row that has the labels on top of the glasses (left to right): Jose Cuervo Reserva Blanco “White”, Milagro Select Reposado “Rested”, and Gran Centenario Anejo “Aged”. In front of the Jose Cuervo is the shot of vodka, to the right of the Gran Centenario is the Horchata Margarita and to the right of that is the all important glass of water. In front of the water is the shot glass of mezcal (clear) and the dessert tequila (milky shot glass).

We discovered last year that the shot glass on the left is vodka. Vodka is used to clean the palate, thus allowing us to really enjoy the tastes of the different foods and tequilas that we would consume. (Yea, right. I think it’s just an excuse to raise our blood alcohol level.) We had three different tequilas that were paired with the first three courses of the meal, a mezcal (which I will explain later), and a dessert tequila. There was also a glass of water, which I intelligently did consume with the meal. I think I’ll mention here that tequila is generally 40% alcohol. No more needs to be said.

Our host and teacher of all things tequila.

As I finished my Horchata Margarita, our host for the luncheon explained how tequila is made and how tequila classification is determined by age. We would enjoy four courses of food and tequila during this meal.

The menu with English translation.

The first course was Pulpo en Escabeche, marinated octopus with vinegar, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, cactus, and hearts of palms. This was paired with the first tequila, Jose Cuervo Reserva Blanco.

Pulpo en Escabeche

The food was absolutely wonderful! Mexican food has a bit of “bam” to it, so the flavor kind of explodes in your mouth. I had no idea how octopus would taste, but the meat wasn’t fishy, just really good when combined with all of the veggies. Blanco tequila, the first tequila classification, is unaged, or aged less than two months in stainless steel barrels. The tequila is clear and a little strong.

The second course was Crema de Cilantro, cilantro and serrano peppers cream, served with toasted pine nuts, and was paired with the second tequila, Milagro Select Reposado.

Crema de Cilantro

The soup was great, really flavorful and the pine nuts gave it a nice crunch. I think I enjoyed this course more than the first. The Reposado tequila, or rested tequila, is aged for up to one year. Milagro Select Reposado specifically is aged for 10 months in French oak barrels. This gives the tequila a honey color and it is smoother than the blanco.

The main course was Mar y Tierra, grilled filet mignon over roasted tomatoes, dry peppers, almonds and sesame seeds sauce and marinated shrimp with guajillo peppers accompanied with a cactus leaf vinaigrette. The tequila was Gran Centenario Anejo, an aged tequila.

Mar y Tierra

Man oh man, this was scrumptious and my favorite course for the luncheon. The filet was cooked to perfection. The Gran Centenario Anejo is an aged tequila, meaning it has been aged in oak barrels for at least one year (specifically, this tequila had been aged for 18 months). This was the smoothest tequila so far with an amber color. The main course scored an “A” as far as I was concerned.

Okay. So far, we had a great margarita, three different tequilas, and had faithfully cleansed our palate with the shot of vodka. Life was good at La Hacienda de San Angel. Before our final course, dessert, our host wanted us to experience the difference between mezcal and tequila. Tequila, as you know, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the blue agave plant in the area surrounding the city of Tequila. Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant, which is also native to Mexico. The name means “oven-cooked agave” and apparently some folks think mezcal is a tequila. I didn’t know mezcal existed before this luncheon, but I now know the difference between the two. Mezcal is like drinking liquid smoke and frankly, I only drank about half of it. Let’s move on to dessert.

Dulce de Mamey

The dessert was Dulce de Mamey, a Mexican exotic fruit served with berries and whipped cream. The texture of the dessert was slightly similar to a creme brûlée and was paired with an extra Anejo, a tequila that is aged for at least three years. I didn’t catch the name or distiller of this last tequila, but it was a sweeter, smooth tequila, perfect with a dessert. I thought it had a hint of coconut in it, but remember, I thought the Horchata Margarita had chocolate.

All in all, this event more than met our expectations. The food was prepared to perfection and it’s just plain fun to enjoy the food with tequila. We definitely will try to attend the event next year.