Mixing Fine Foods with Pure Silk

Boquete Gourmet Host Artist, Barbara Rabkin and I presented a full day of creativity, including learning to paint luscious, pure silk scarves and tasting fine, gourmet foods each hour throughout the day.

Barbara gathered nine very talented ladies together in my El Santuario, Boquete Cantina, and the day quickly turned into non-stop fun, full of creative ideas put down on silk. Everyone’s appetite was satisfied with a variety of healthy, tasty dishes served with teas, wines and fresh, sparkling Boquete water.

Let’s begin at the end, with the beautiful, colorful hand-painted scarves, including three scarves that were still on the frames.

The patterns painted included designs from abstract to detailed realism. Each artist became mesmerized by their work, and could hardly take a short break to taste each gourmet dish as it was presented. This was “tough work”!

The days menu included a warm Peach Buckle, steamy Roasted Pumpkin Curry Soup, colorful Nicoise Salad with Smoked Tuna and Pickled Eggs, Artistic Day Parfait and the finale was a Chocolate Silk (scarf) Pie with real Whipped Cream, of course.


This was a first-time effort for everyone involved. Barbara and I enjoyed working with the nine artists and we were gratified with the results. Several of the recipes served came from the Boquete Gourmet Community Cookbook, on sale now at various locations throughout Chiriqui, Panama.

Betty and Kaye photographed the day-long event, and thanks so much for their expertise.

Who would believe that pure silk and fine dining go together? We just proved that they do . . . with wonderful results!

Try something new yourself, why not???
Cora

Nosh on Nicoise

Pronounced nee swaz’, this is the perfect lunch to serve at a lunch party. Sure, why not have a group of friends over for lunch.

When we first arrived in Boquete, good friends Hershel and Mikey invited us to their lovely home for a “Luncheon”. I don’t think we had ever been invited to such an affair and it was a very special event. We met many folks there who became “life-long” friends.

This is my favorite “almuerzo” to serve when friends from all over the world gather at our home. It looks gorgeous, it’s easy to prepare, everything gets prepared ahead of time and your guests become “designers” of their own lunch.

Because we enjoyed the afternoon so much with Hershel and Mikey, we’ve served this “Luncheon” many times. Everyone loves an afternoon party!

This is your chance to use all the lovely serving dishes you have been collecting. You’ll need a large salad bowl in which to serve the mixed lettuces, but the other dishes can be medium size or small.   This mango wood bowl I found in Costa Rica, it’s beautifully made and it smells like smoke.  It hasn’t lost its fragrance after using it many, many times. I provide small tongs to serve the greens.

Every serving piece should be a different size, pattern and color. It’s fun to go through your cabinets and select silver, wood, ceramic, china, plastic dishes, or even a piece of tile on which to display your remaining ingredients for the Nicoise Luncheon.

These are the ingredients I prepare for noshing, but use your creativity.

Blanched whole green beans
Tomatoes, cut into small wedges
Spring onions, sliced
Canned tuna served in shot glasses, 2 oz. is the perfect serving size
Hard boiled eggs peeled, but not cut – provide an egg slicer and small knife
Unpeeled cucumbers cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the inside with a spoon and slice
Dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, herbs (your special blend), a little mustard and salt.
Chilled boiled potatoes, cut into julienne strips
Anchovy fillets, whole
Black olives, pitted
Cheeses, cubed or in julienne strips
Blue cheese, crumbled
Carrots, grated
Pine nuts

The fun of the Nicoise Luncheon is that each guest becomes the “artist” of their own salad, designing it exactly the way they like. They begin with a dinner-size plate and lay out the greens.

Then, your guests continue along the buffet filled with brightly colored dishes, and layer each ingredient until it looks just exactly right. One guest made a funny face out of his salad, the skies the limit!

Each dish becomes a masterpiece.
The results are beautiful enough for a photo.