Tex-Mex food is familiar to us all – but French-Mex??!! 
Yes …….  this last summer saw a very brave me
attempt to prepare a Mexican dinner for our good friends,
Chef Johannis Sailer of Restaurant Les Abeilles and his wife, Marlies. 
.......... and you ask,  “…why?”

It all started the year before, when we were spending a quiet evening
with the Sailers on their day off – of course talking food with Johannis.
He mentioned that they had recently attended the wedding of his nephew,
who married a Mexican girl. 
He remarked on how much he had enjoyed the food at the Reception. 
We started talking about the flavors in Mexican food and I told him about Mole Sauce
which has as one of its ingredients – chocolate. 
We talked about having a Mexican dinner at our house,
but I said I would have to bring some of the ingredients from California, next trip.


The courtyard at Maison des Pelerins set up and ready for our French- Mex dinner
on a warm summer evening.

That was during our recent summer vacation!
Mind you, Johannis had not just waited until we went back there
to start incorporating Mexican ideas into his food. 
Always looking for new elements with which to make his food interesting,
Johannis had already started working with sauces that incorporated unsweetened chocolate
or Cacao as it is known in France. 
During the Journée du Livre one of his Food and Wine pairing sessions,
he served a delightful dish of roasted pigeon with a rich red wine/cacao sauce,
paired with a fantastic Sablet red wine.
That was a very pleasant surprise.
Johannis explained to me that some of the reason for the energetic conversation
 amongst the group on the night we talked about chocolate in a savory sauce,
was that in France, chocolate is always sweet.
 Cacao is the name for unsweetened chocolate, which when added to meat sauces,
adds such a wonderful depth of flavor.

So, dried Mexican chilies in hand, we set the date for our Mexican dinner. 
I must admit that some of my thoughts were along the lines of……. “Are you crazy inviting a chef to dinner and trying to incorporate Mexican food into the scene?”  
Nevertheless we moved onward…….
With the help of inspiration and a recipe from a favorite resource for Mexican dishes
 –  Chef Rick Bayless!

In the interests of putting a Mexican dinner into a French context,
I decided on a first course of fresh Scallop Cerviche,  served alongside a chilled sweet corn and coconut soup.  Chilled soups are a very popular summertime first course in Provence
and the coolness of the corn and and sweetness of the coconut milk 
provided a great backdrop for a little hidden chilli that pepped it up.
The soup was my recipe and I was very pleased
when Johannis christened it "Crème de Maize"  and asked for the recipe!



"Verrines" (little glasses),  set up ready for the First Course of Creme de Maize and Scallop Ceviche. Soup was served in the wide verrine and the scallops in the barrel shaped one.  My apologies that I did not get pictures of the completed dishes - I was nervous about this meal!

The Main course was a Lamb (yes, lamb), recipe courtesy of Rick Bayliss.
It is his Grilled Rack of Lamb with Honey Pasilla Sauce. 
This delicious dish was lamb which was marinated overnight
in a chili mixture and barbecued outdoors, a great dish for a warm summer evening.
The lamb was served with roasted cherry tomatoes and zucchini. 
It was also a great hit and everyone had seconds.
Interestingly, when we had tried the same dish the night before on a practice run,
the lamb was a lot spicier. 
After marinating overnight, the chili seemed to mellow
while still providing some heat and wonderful flavor.

We skipped the cheese course and went straight to desert.
Trying to come up with something other than flan, which is very close to the French Crème Caramel,
I decided combine two of my all time favorites – Mangos and Caramel. 
It was very simple - using the same method as Oranges in Caramel,
I sliced up the mango and poured over caramelized sugar
– the slight twist was adding a stick of cinnamon for a little touch of Mexican flavor. 
After cooling in the refrigerator for the afternoon, the caramel dissolved into a rich mango-caramel sauce.  Together with a Coconut Ice-Cream bought from the store in the village,
it was a simple, refreshing desert for a warm evening.
On reflection, I think I’ll cut the mango into cubes next time 
- I think it will add more mango flavor to have a denser piece of the fruit.   
I was very tempted to make a chocolate/cinnamon custard made with chili-infused coconut milk, 
but I think we’ll do that another time!

Dinner was fun, although nerve racking for me. 
We ate a dinner cooked in Provence, by someone born in Sri Lanka,
who was trying to introduce a French Chef born in Germany,
to some elements of Mexican food as we interpret it in California!
We drank great French wine and talked late into the night
 – it was one of those evenings that we have come to enjoy so much
 with our friends and neighbors in our village of Sablet.

Recipe for Grilled Rack of Lamb with Honey Pasilla Sauce - www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=14 /> />/>/>