What a night! Another great evening of food sampling, this time courtesy of the National Peanut Board. The event was set up in great gallery space in lower Manhattan. Several different stations showcased different chef's peanut-themed culinary inventions. Additionally, there was bar service and trays of hors'douvres going around.
Who would have guessed that a whole event could be based around peanuts? Well truth be told it didn't totally work...peanuts were an after thought in many of the dishes which, for the most part, were good regardless, just not peanut-y. I'm going to pretend this is Top Chef and do 3 winners and 3 losers for the night:
Winners
- Jicama Rolls with Peanuts and Fresh Basil
- Shrimp and Peanut Chowder
- Chiles Rellenos con Salpicon
For my money, the Chiles Rellenos were the unquestionable best. I loved that they were very spicy, not 'crowd-pleasing' spicy. They were rich and cheesy, and the peanuts really enhanced everything. I think I went back for sevenths...
Losers
- Lemon Rice
- Magic Bar
- Peanut Lemonade
What crap. 'Lemon Rice' was just rice with a couple peanuts thrown in. And it was dry to boot. The magic bar (made by the same crappy Indian chef as the awful Rice) was dry and tasted like sawdust. If I were eliminating a single chef, it would be that guy...but truly the worst thing of the night was the Peanut Lemonade. They were using Lemongrass as the Lemon flavor in this, but it was really just gross. The gritty texture from the (not so) peanut puree was really unappetizing. There was another drink called a Peanut Toritio but the Lemonade was enough to scare us away from any further Peanut themed alcoholic beverages...
