Ay, Caramba!

While Dave and Lydia enjoyed a father-daughter lunch together before the big dance, I did something that I have wanted to do for a long time: I took a cooking class!

When I was on the hunt for a baking stone that will fit in my 14” x 14” oven, we discovered a wonderful cookware shop called Pantry Magic. It is in a really odd place – at the end of a very “local” (i.e. no expats around) street in the central business district that’s filled with tiny shops filled with used household items, books, trinkets, etc. – it’s like a garage sale district.

But Pantry Magic…it was a sight for sore eyes and a delight to the senses. The outside looked inviting and familiar...

The inside smelled like baking bread and it was filled with brightly colored kitchen tools.

And, perhaps even more importantly to me, it was organized! I have gone back a couple of times since we bought the baking stone – not because I needed anything, but to just feel “normal” for a while.

Anyway, I got on the mailing list for Pantry Magic and was notified of cooking classes. The one that worked for my schedule was to learn how to make an authentic MEXICAN meal!

The chef who led the class relocated to Hong Kong from Barcelona, but is originally from Mexico City. She explained that what many of us think is Mexican food is really Tex-Mex. The way she said “Tex-Mex” you could tell she thinks that style of food is for bottom-dwellers! (A burrito, apparently, is NOT Mexican food. Who would have guessed I would gain such insight in Hong Kong?!)

We learned how to make authentic fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, refried beans, tiger prawn tacos, and Mexican style zucchini. (We were also taught the most efficient and proper way to cut a tomato – that alone was worth the class fee for me.) Wow, was the food ever delicious – definitely the best I’ve had in Hong Kong.

Now I’m all set to replicate the meal, but there’s been a small glitch. A key ingredient in a couple of the dishes is canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. But, do you think I can find a single can of peppers in all of Hong Kong? Nope. All the stores that usually carry them (I went to all of them in a mad dash one morning – it felt a bit like the Amazing Race) are out of stock. Sigh.

Guess we’ll just stick with cheese enchiladas…and I’ll add canned peppers to my ever-growing list of things I’m bring back from the US this summer!!