As a fan and proponent of dinner cocktail pairings, in place of or in conjunction with, wine pairings, I am always excited when the kitchen chef and bar chefs work together. After all, from my point of view, cocktails are but one sphere within the culinary Universe.
Still, I admit that when I was invited to a “Kahlua dinner” to showcase the coffee liqueur’s versatility, my first thought was “How are they going to make sweet cocktails to pair with every course of a meal?” I wasn’t sure. In the hands of Chef Jimmy Shaw of Loteria Grill in Hollywood, however, the whole concept make sense because he used the Kahlua IN the food! Duh! Latin cuisine often mixes sweet and savory – and his results were delicioso!
First, guests were greated with a Kahlua Horchata welcome drink, a more traditional Mexican twist on the Kahlua-n-creams my mom and her friends drank when I was growing up. The spicy cinnamon of the horchata (sweetened rice milk) played beautifully with the coffee elixir – and might I add that this would make a wonderful holiday libation.
After mingling, we sat down to the first course: flamed cheese and morita chile. By “flamed” I mean the server pour Kahlua Especial over the top of it and set it on fire! Quite a dramatic way to begin the meal! Next, a salad of mixed greens with stuffed dates, Manano chiles and goat cheese was topped with a Kahlua vinaigrette! Yes, I’m serious – and it was fantastic.
Our main course was actually my least favorite: Chicken breast (or pork) in a white almond mole infused with Kahlua Hazelnut. Mole is essentially a mix of chile and dark chocolate – and I love it. Chef Shaw’s sauce definitely has potential so if you find it an intriguing idea, as I do, and want to try it at home, make sure it has plenty of “pow” (meaning spice) and it could be a winner.
The dessert was a sumptuous nod to a classic Spanish (and Mexican) snack or dessert: Housemade churros with Kahlua especial reduction and Kahlua Coffee Cream dipping cream. Seriously, how can sticks of deep fried sugary goodness dipped into a thick alcoholized coffee cream possibly go wrong?
And, finally, our end of meal decadence: a warm drink called , which mingled Kahlua coffee cream with anejo tequila and topped with milk foam and grated Mexican chocolate. The perfect end to a creative dinner. Just goes to show that thinking outside of the box, any alcoholic libation can enhance your culinary experience… even one that you would not normally gravitate toward.