Last Thursday there was plenty of loud music, loud food, and loud drinks at the 2010 Flavors of Passion Awards held at the Westin Park Central Hotel. The celebration, which rewards Latino culinary talent, was founded by Felipe Gaytan, currently executive chef at Via Real in Irving (stolen for that position from The Mansion on Turtle Creek where he worked under Dean Fearing). Flavors of Passion is, he says, the first event to honor Latino chefs. It also awards scholarships to Latino culinary students who aspire to be the next generation of leading Latino chefs. This is the second year of the awards but it already has the backing of major corporate sponsorship from brands like Coca Cola, Ben E. Keith, Hennessy Cognac, Cadillac, and Taxco Produce.
Awards are made in several categories:
Each chef provided hors d’oeuvres for the evening. Out of town chefs recruited a local crew. Both Brookhollow Country Club and El Centro College Food and Hospitality Institute provided brigades for visitors. While everybody who was somebody made a speech I cruised around the food and drink booths at the back.
At Gloria’s, everybody had the same idea as me, it seems, as the place was mobbed. Those who made their way to the front dined on a combination of Salvadorian, Tex-Mex and Mexican dishes. Gloria Rubio’s daughter Nancy took me through them: ceviche made with orange roughy, scallops and shrimp marinated in lime juice. Plantanos fritos (fried plantains). Salvadorian papusas (a handmade corn tortilla made out of masa harina stuffed with pork and cheese. This was a ‘black beanless’ variation) and Salvadorian tamales (softer than Mexican tamales and stuffed with chicken and potatoes).
Luis Rene Fernandez at Azuca Nuevo parted from the traditional dishes that dominated the culinary selections with a “Chino-Latino Ceviche”. A ceviche served with seaweed and fried plantain and sesame seeds. He also had Moqueca de Camarao, a Brazilian shrimp stew or curry.
