i can't tell you how fun the anticipation of seeing what everyone would bring was. almost all people i spoke with decided to NOT tell me what they were going to make, other than that they were extremely excited and couldn't wait for me to try their dish. keeping me in the dark turned out to be a blessing because i had no expectations as to what i would be tasting! as you'll see below, people were quite creative.
as for my part, i decided to create, in effect, a sangria tasting. i've always loved sangria but never made it before in my life. so why not introduce it to my repetoire of culinary skills, and my friends, by preparing not 1, but 5 different sangria recipes!? maybe it's the overachiever in me, but it was well worth the effort and i learned plenty in this lesson.
there are as many recipes for sangria as there are for thanksgiving stuffing but they are all similar in its basic components which consist of a blend of wine, fruit and sugar. variations include the addition of juice like apple and orange, blended or fresh squeezed fruit, spirits such as brandy, rum, or vodka, and the muddling of spices like cinnamon. wine can be red, white or even sparkling wine. there's a lot of room for creativity here.
researching the web yielded a dizzying array of variation. traditional methods, purist slants, modern creations, blah blah blah. so i'm going to sum up what i learned and applied in my "experiement."
1) taste as you go, and taste again
2) make more than you think you need
3) be creative, if something sounds like it'll taste good together it probably will
4) let it sit overnite in the fridge so flavors can meld and mellow
5) don't let lemon rind sit overnite, it produces a bitter note
6) stir the sugar in really well
7) don't cut up fruit too small or it'll disintegrate, unless you want that to happen
8) fruit flavors won't be prominent at first, but after sitting overnite will become major, muted notes
9) no need to use expensive wine, two buck chuck will do, but good tasting wine will add complexity and depth
10) go for the unexpected combination of ingredients
as i mentioned above, i decided on 5 different recipes, gathered from various places on the web and cookbooks. i'll post the recipes in a separate post later.
cha cha cha's sangria
danna's secret sangria
cava sangria
mexican rioja sangria
citrus white sangria
my guests got to try each one and at the end of the nite voted on which sangria they liked best. you'll see which sangria won in the pictures below.
so without futher ado, welcome to my 29th birthday party, sangria 29!
the sangria bar.
these were 2.5 gallon glass barrel jugs that i found at the container store for $20 each. they come with metal lids and wooden handles. it fit great with the theme i thought. sorta reminded me of the big aqua fresca jugs in the tacquerias in the mission. the recipe for each sangria was framed in front of the jugs. plastic ladles were placed in each one.
and the guests and tapas start to arrive... 1st up, anne the baker's delicious looking carrot cupcakes! in keeping with the theme, she made bite-sized cupcakes. and a few regular-sized ones for me. =)
wayne and lexie bring deviled eggs. there's just a hint of curry blended in. exotic. and it was the first tapas to be finished.
jimmy carries in a large bowl of sweet and tart pickled cucumber salad. very refreshing.
ahbi brings a plate of sliced rolls of some sort. i have no idea what they were, but they were good. i think i had 4.
kevin brings the sushi bar! california rolls, shrimp tempura roll, and other assorted sushi.
veo outdoes herself with a platter of mini bacon crescent rolls. yes, there's some non-bacon ones too, but the vast majority are bacon-filled. butter and bacon. mmm.
tony creates a beautiful plate of salami-wrapped cream cheese-stuffed olives, proscuitto-wrapped asparagus, and roasted bell peppers. loved the asparagus.
edmund and vicky swing by the russian delicatessen on geary in the richmond and select some choice russian salami, sausage, and headmeat, accompanied by earthy swiss-like cheese slices. anyone care for a big bowl of meat?! highly recommended.
ali and francesco bring a bowl of chickpea salad. i believe the dressing was made from greek yogurt? nice and tangy.
scott brings a huge order of asian popcorn chicken. it disappeared quickly.
christina goes all out and makes me special rice krispie treats using genuine rice krispie brand cereal. no generic crap for lawrence. no siree.
brandon, although not there, sends along his sweet and spicy sa-cha chicken wings. finger-lickin' good!
janelle arrives with a japanese appliance in hand and begins making takoyaki...
or in english, octopus dumplings!!
mmm. hot, savory and very tasty.
chef paul and dennis plate paul's tapas creation...
carefully assembling 3 layers to create...
lamb merguez sausage on potato rounds with a harrissa and roasted shallot creme fraiche, and linguisa sausage on roasted potato rounds with sweet olive greek yogurt. such innovative sauces! it was very hearty for such a small bite.
danna arrived fashionably late and began furiously assembling her tapas dish...
tuna mango tartare on little potato chips!
quite popular throughout the nite as evidenced by the empty platter and a smiling danna.
alycia and albert arrived with a different appliance in hand: a deep fryer! after a few minutes, alycia came out with their creation...
coconut shrimp skewers with sweet and sour dip!
who can resist piping-hot deep fried shrimp?? not me...
suzanne and manuel brought a light, fluffy, and creamy coconut-passion fruit cake from citizen cake. so good and refined in flavor.
so now you may be wondering how the sangria was doing with everyone...
while the tapas room had a consistent flow of visitors partaking in the abundance of food,
others were getting their fill of sangria and making various expressions from smiles to whatever kendrick was doing.
or whatever michelle was doing.
edmund, vicky and others visited the bar quite a few times...
others, ahbi, made intrusive gestures in front of my camera.
as evidenced here as well. poor fran.
ah yes, let us not forget the reason for such a joyous nite of food, drink, friends and fun...
my 29th birthday!
"do i get to eat the big cupcake or small cupcakes?!"
these were so great. a little greasy but arguably the best flavor, texture, and cream cheesiness i've had! and of course... homemade with TLC by the best dessert baker i know. thank you anne!!
so as the nite was heading into its final rounds, guests began casting their votes...
danna, notably displeased with how the ballot was looking, attempted to swing the vote in her direction by campaigning for her recipe, danna's secret sangria.
in the end, the evidence speaks for itself. in order of most-left-over-sangria-jug, here are the results of my sangria 29 sangria tasting!
in 5th and distant last place: citrus white sangria!
people thought it was too strong and not drinkable at all. the lemon rind, sitting too long overnite, added a bitter note to the sangria. i had to add apple juice, sugar and lemon-lime soda throughout the nite to encourage people to drink it! ah well.
in 4th place: mexican rioja sangria!
this was my personal favorite, as it was for veo and tony. it had a much more robust, complex flavor, due to the rioja wine used in the recipe which is the traditional wine for sangria. it was also extremely strong. =)
in 3rd place: cha cha cha sangria!
interestingly the most basic sangria recipe (red/white wine, sugar and oranges) got the most compliments about its drinkability. it's a very sweet and fruity version (2 cups sugar to 4 bottles of wine!). no wonder cha cha cha sells so much of this stuff.
in 2nd place: danna's secret sangria!
i had predicted before the party started that danna's recipe would win. it came in at a very close second. very fruity with citrus, strawberries, and pineapples, this sangria was very drinkable, sweet and had multiple layers of flavor. of course, the secret ingredient, which i will not divulge, really makes a difference.
and now, drumroll please! in 1st place: cava sangria!!!
yes. the clear winner in this sangria standoff. people were scraping the bits of fruit at the bottom of the glass barrel to get a last taste. i think i heard, "you should've made more of this one," throughout the rest of the nite. what got everyone was its uniqueness in ingredients. the wine base was cava, or spanish sparkling wine, aka "champagne" from spain. the 2nd peculiarity is about 3 cups of blended fresh strawberries, which is then fused with apple and pear fruit. it's also extremely strong, including triple sec, rum, AND brandy. by the way, no sugar was added to this concoction. all sweetness came naturally from the fruit. and ok, maybe the liquor too. =)
yay for sangria!! clap clap clap!!
the whole nite was amazing and so much fun. i was surprised by how much sangria people could drink. and everyone definitely thought the sangria tasting was such a great idea. i loved tasting everyone else's cooking for once and seeing all the creativity of what tapas mean to others. ultimately for me, tapas and sangria will always mean good food, good drink, and fantastic friends all in one place.
thank you all so much for an awesome birthday celebration. we need to do this again. until then...
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