A Mexican culinary festival will take place tonight at the El Patio Restaurant in the Melia Hotel. Seven types of tequila, the national liquor of Mexico, will be available for tasting during the event.
Mexican cuisine is known for its intense and varied flavours, colourful decoration and variety of spices. Most contemporary Mexican food is based on the ancient cuisine of the Aztecs and Mayans, combined with European flavours brought to Mexico by Spanish colonists.
The Spanish introduced the Mexicans to their diet of rice, beef, pork, chicken, wine, garlic and onions and combined it with native ingredients, including maize, tomato, vanilla, avocado, papaya, chilli, beans, squash, limes, sweet potato, peanuts and turkey. Mexican food tends to be very colorful, because of the rich variety of vegetables.
During the 10-day event, which runs until next Sunday, two Mexican guest chefs will give connoisseurs in the capital a chance to enjoy authentic Mexican cuisine. The two master chefs, Roberto Treves and Sergio Snyder, have carefully selected a spread of representative dishes to ensure the best dining experience. The festival will showcase Mexican favourites, including mole poblano (a dish made with chicken, chilli and chocolate), chicken ja;apeno soup and fish veracruzana (fish cooked with tomatoes&onions). Other popular Mexican finger foods and drinks will also be available such as tacos, quesadillas, burritos, tequila, and margaritas.
Visitors also will have the chance to contemplate art works by the Mexican artist Teodulo Romulo, at a painting exhibition featuring his works at the hotel. Considered as one of the great Mexican painters, Romulo has exhibited his work in galleries in Europe, the US, and Tokyo.
Collected from the private art collection of the Mexican Ambassador to Viet Nam, 12 oil-on-canvas paintings and Chinese-ink drawings by Romulo will be displayed at the hotel.
In addition, Hanoians will have the chance to view the Made in Mexico film festival, a 10-day event running from September 21. Ten award winning films will be screened including the 1933 classsic Woman of the Port, the 1946 movie Maria Candelaria, as well as recent movies The Cime of Padre Amaro, Frida, Danzon, Duck Season and The Violin.
