Viva Mexico at the Regent, a colorful cultural fiesta

By Grace Segran

JAKARTA (JP): It is a colorful fiesta at the Regent Hotel. The mariachi serenades guests in the lobby. The 40-strong cultural troupe from Aguascalientes dances the legendary salsa. The chefs from Four Seasons Mexico whip up a feast with a variety of exotic ingredients from south of the border.

From now until Sept. 3, many outlets at the Regent will be serving Mexican fare. At poolside, seafood and meats are grilled nightly, and the margaritas flow. The sounds of the mariachi and the vibrant performance of the Aguascalientes Dancers set the tone for the 10-day party.

To give people a chance to learn how to cook some of the dishes that were showcased, cooking classes were conducted at Asiatique from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30. Philipe Sanchez, chef de cuisine at the Four Seasons Mexico, showed participants step by step how to make appetizers and party food, tacos and burritos, and main dishes.

For Mexicans, more important even than rice is corn meal, which is a heavy, mealy kind of flour made from any variety of dried corn. Other important ingredients include different types of tomatoes and chilies, provincial goat cheese called queso blanco, coriander, garlic, cactus and avocado.

Says chef Kenji of the Four Seasons Jakarta: "Mexican cuisine utilizes fresh ingredients in its original form. The secret in making the sauces is to fry the ingredients after they have been ground -- the way we do with our sambal here in Indonesia."

This food promotion surpasses your average taco and nacho plate, although this ubiquitous Mexican fare is on offer at the taco booth, where you can construct your own tacos.

Costly blue corn fungus, refried beans and homemade tortillas are some of the colorful renderings at the BBQ Fiesta.

For appetizers, you can order mini-omelets with blue corn fungus. They are topped with a hot pica de galo sauce and fresh coriander leaves, with red salsa and guacamole on the side. Salade non palas is a light salad of lettuce, pickled cactus, coriander leaves and fresh buffalo mozzarella (the local substitute for queso blanco) in a mild vinaigrette sauce.

The winner at our table was the quesadilla, which is much like the Indonesian pastel but with a Mexican flavor. It is made from corn meal dough pressed flat, stuffed with small mushrooms and fried in corn oil.

As you survey the buffet spread, you will notice the Red Snapper Veracruz. It is a gigantic fish cooked in tomato-based sauce with chopped olives, tomatoes, red and green chilies and capers, and garnished with coriander leaves.

The chicken achoate is served with a deep red sauce, garnished with avocado leaves. The strong sauce is made with anatto seed, chilies, orange juice and white vinegar. The chicken is served with delicious black refried beans and tortillas in three different colors.

We finished our tour of Mexican cuisine with bread with a difference -- bread pudding toreja. According to pastry chef Lal de Silva, this sweet is similar to bread pudding from other countries except the Mexican variety is deep fried instead of baked. It was truly wicked -- topped with caramel sauce, sugar, brown sugar and pecans.