I haven't been able to write anything for a few weeks because I was covering another assistant for 2 weeks. Having double the amount of work, planning and setting up a major meeting, a major party, a smaller party, and Thanksgiving doesn't leave much time for the mind to wander in interesting or esoteric ways. Nor does it allow for typing anything extra.
First, the major party-it came out beautifully. It was set up to celebrate the people who were promoted and in today's world having a positive, having something to celebrate is particularly wonderful. And I was told to make it special. Well, given the fancy girl I am this is music to my ears...catnip to my soul...
My first
call was to my caterer and as we were talking he mentioned he would
have some Iranian caviar and would I like to try that. I've never
tasted Iranian caviar and it is supposed to be the BEST. The Caspian
Sea sturgeon of Russia and Iran are the two best egg producers in the
world. Unfortunately, the sturgeon are over fished and close to being
on the endangered species list. The Russian government has begun to
regulate the fishing so is helping, the Iranian government has no
interest in changing a difficult situation so it doesn't. Artisanal
caviar producers around the world are working with other species of
fish and with farmed sturgeon to try to capture the silky divine
saline taste of the sea of the top level sturgeon eggs which also helps
to alleviate the situation. American sturgeon farmers are apparently
having the highest success rates. I haven't tasted any American farm
raised caviar yet as I am addicted to salmon roe and cannot get enough
so never really buy anything else, but I should start looking for some
sturgeon eggs to try.
So back to the party and the Iranians. How could we possibly afford to serve that for 100 people? Or even for 10 people-it's $150 an ounce? My caterer was expecting a sample few ounces from the Iranian tourist board the day before the party. "Ok, wait" I said, "The Iranian tourist board????? WHAT??? When did that come about? And they are marketing the eggs of an endangered species? And that endangered status came from their own fisherman over fishing????" We laughed and I said of course I wanted it and thanked him profusely for offering it to be my centerpiece! So what goes perfectly with caviar at a special celebration-champagne, bien sur. So I ordered the bottles we needed.
The day of the party I bought armload's of white flowers and readied a few vases for later in the day. Thankfully the caterer himself came because it turned out I was so busy that day, with two bosses that I could barely breathe let alone set up a party. He asked what my vision was and for the first time in my life I told him that I didn't have time or energy to care. He was just as shocked as I was at what emerged from my mouth as I am generally a control freak about parties and food set up. But I could not concentrate. It was also the day we were trying to sign the contract for the company holiday party. He did a beautiful job, manipulating the tables in the conference room to create a gorgeous shape for flow and food placement. I was in charge of flower arranging as it was all I could handle-I simply kept the flowers in the tall vase I threw them in that morning to wait their turn to perform. He put 2 Lucite risers in the center of a square table and I put the vase on top, then he arranged all the platters of caviar on blini with creme fraiche around it on shorter Lucite risers then on the actual table he put tortilla cups filled with cilantro grilled chicken with an avocado cream garnish. I had extra flowers so searched out a vase on the floor I was. I threw them in there and we slid them under the riser with the really tall flowers. Everything looked really beautiful and by the way the champagne was a real brand!! Not the cheap harsh sparkling wine from some unnamed country I'm usually forced to buy given budget constraints. It was Domaine Chandon from the California vineyards of Moet and I happen to love both, the French (which is really of Dutch descent, so please pronounce the final "T"). Does the history of the word champagne interest you? The French government has set up legal appellations so that only the products produced in the specific region or using a specific method can use the famous important name. The Italian government has begun to create these appellations now as well ie, only the ham that comes from pigs in Parma and smoked in the centuries old method can legally be called prosciutto de Parma. Only carbonated wine produced in the Champagne region of France and produced the way the Franciscan monks discovered (Dom Perignon was the monk who created or discovered champagne by the way) can be called champagne. All countries signed off on this in various treaties so are legally bound by the agreement. In 1932 when the French government asked the US government to sign the agreement there was no sparkling wine being made here so in the brash young upstart way we have we refused. Now that we are making sparkling wine, some even under the aegis of the French houses like Domain Chandon, we call ours champagne even though technically it is sparkling wine.
So I was finally able to taste the Iranian caviar. I tasted first the whole package and it was lovely though I thought the blini was a little overpowering for the caviar. Then with the tines of a plastic fork so as not to damage the fragile eggs I slid them from their creme fraiche pillow and into my mouth. They tasted of silk and there was a hint of salt and so much flavor in such a tiny thing. After that taste I continued to eat the caviar off the blini. I had a wonderful time and received many compliments-it went over so very well.
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