HI,

I will bring a guest, Maria Kijac who wrote the South American Table. I linked her to the proposed menu, she commented:

The menu sounds very good. I was in Oaxa several years ago and the food they chose is great. I especially liked the yellow mole, it wasn’t as heavy as the black mole. The only thing that is missing is a good tamale. When I was there I had a tamale filled with iguana meat, it was delicious. Iguana tasted very much like chicken.

I'm not expecting iguana, though that would be ever so cool.

Regards,

Vital Information wrote:

David Hammond wrote:The Wife and I are still in.

Hammond

I only need to know if you are not on the list and wanna come, or are on the list and cannot come...

Actually, The Wife is out. Just I'm coming; that's all you needed to know, right?

Hammond

Is it too late to sign up? I'd like to attend but I completely understand if I've delayed for too long...

Vital Information wrote:I want to confirm some details for the dinner on SEPTEMBER 17TH.


Amscrap + 1

Unfortunately, the "+ 1" after my name has to be removed.

Alice will be in Indy for the antique advertising show and won't be able to make it back to Chicago in time.

I, on the other hand, have my priorities straight...food wins out!

Ken

An earlier question was raised about whether or not attendees could BYOB, or if the restaurant would object to that. I might bring a bottle of Mezcal, from which those interested in a tasting might sample - but I'll not do so if it's inappropriate. Guideance?

Bill wrote:I might bring a bottle of Mezcal, from which those interested in a tasting might sample

Con gusano?

Bill wrote:An earlier question was raised about whether or not attendees could BYOB, or if the restaurant would object to that. I might bring a bottle of Mezcal, from which those interested in a tasting might sample - but I'll not do so if it's inappropriate. Guideance?

Well here's a cut & paste of something Rob posted back on 7/27 (I corrected the date). Posted here/now to try and provide nearby reference so folks don't have to go searching through the (currently) 3 pages of posts. I haven't seen anything since that says BYOB is no longer an option. I'd think, out of deference to the owners, that bringing specific wines/liquors is cool but if it's beer you'll be drinking that buying it there might be the way to go. That's just my $0.02 and would look to VI for any guidance on that.

Edit: Forgot - Mrs. Kman and I are still in
==== Rob's 7/27 post =================================
Thanks for the prompting. I went today and made what I would call the initial final plans (or is that the final initial plans).

We have a date!

September 17, 2005, although not an exact time, think 7 PM.

We have a budget, $20 pp. They will allow us to BYOB or you can buy drinks from them.

We have a tenetative menu including many of the dishes described above (and very few things on the current TLO menu for what it's worth...). It should be a lot of fun.

I suggested a max of 30 but he said he could go up to 80 but would like to do no more than 50. I'd like to get a pretty good count in the next two weeks, and then I will (start to) finalize things.

Rob

I had posted back in August for joining the dinner and am not on the list. If it's full, that's ok, just thought I'd follow up.
Schuyler

Kman, thanks for the clarification of the BYOB matter; it's what I thought the situtation would be. amscrap, I don't think I'll be arriving with a bottle of mezcal with a worm. The worm in the bottle is more a marketing ploy than something you see, traditionally, in Oaxaca from what I've experienced and read. Thanks!

Guys,

Bad news. I went by TLO tonight to give them the final number, and I found out, thru some mix-ups between them (husband and wife), that the party room has been booked to another (and larger) (and deposit paying) party. There was really nothing I could do about this week. They offered me other days, especially Fridays, but to be honest, I am a little less interested after today about having a dinner there. Sorry 'bout that. It could have been cool. Probably when I cool down, I'll perhaps try again. Again, sorry for all the people that have to make new plans for Saturday.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:They offered me other days, especially Fridays, but to be honest, I am a little less interested after today about having a dinner there. Sorry 'bout that. It could have been cool. Probably when I cool down, I'll perhaps try again. Again, sorry for all the people that have to make new plans for Saturday.

VI,

That's too bad, and I was looking forward to grasshoppers.

Hammond

Vital Information wrote:Guys,

Again, sorry for all the people that have to make new plans for Saturday.

Rob

VI,

Too bad about the mixup...it would have been a fun get-together.

Don't worry about there being 30 people who are disappointed with the bad news. In reality, there are 30 people who appreciate all the work, on your part, trying to pull this all together!

And it could have been worse. Imagine everyone showing up at the door and being told that there was no room at the inn!

Ken

Bill wrote:I don't think I'll be arriving with a bottle of mezcal with a worm. The worm in the bottle is more a marketing ploy than something you see, traditionally, in Oaxaca from what I've experienced and read.

Bill,

You're correct about the worm in mezcal being a promotional device. However, I wonder if something that is dreamed up as a way to hype a product can become so pervasive that it starts to enter, and become part of, the popular culture.

In 1970, I drove to the end of the Pan-American highway, trying to stay away from the more well-travelled areas (which wasn't all that hard to do...even Cancun hadn't completed building its first hotel). On a very much "off the beaten path" road in Mexico, which I couldn't have negotiated without my four-wheel drive (the SUV didn't exist at that time!), I purchased a bottle of locally made mezcal. I have no doubt that this bottle (with its handprinted label) was not intended for the tourist trade.

As he handed me the bottle, the seller asked "with worm or without?". When I said with the worm, he opened the bottle and pulled a bucket of worms from beneath the counter. Grabbing one, he put it in the bottle and resealed it.

Unfortunately, I was unable to bring the bottle home. When I eventually got back to the US, I was told that California (at that time, at least) did not allow alcohol to be brought across the border. I was directed to a sink where I poured the contents down the drain...except for a big swig (including the worm) which went down my gullet, under the baleful gaze of the Customs officer.

Ken

You're correct about the worm in mezcal being a promotional device. However, I wonder if something that is dreamed up as a way to hype a product can become so pervasive that it starts to enter, and become part of, the popular culture.

You have a point. Each of us can probably point to things drawn up as marketing gimmicks that become widely accepted and expected. In some isolated instances, this may be happening with mezcal.

What I've read on the topic calls the worm nothing more than an advertising gimmick. Actually, it's not a worm - I read that it's a butterfly larva. Some critics of the worm say only bottles of poor quality mezcal contain it, to mask an otherwise bad taste. Although I drink it on occasion, I don't really like the taste of mezcal; I'm not about to conduct a taste test to see if the critics have a valid point.

Mezcal is becoming more popular in Mexico because of the inconsistent supply/availability of tequila and wide fluctuations in its retail pricing. I've no doubt we'll see an increased marketing and presence of mezcal in the USA because there's a larger mark-up on the product (as compared to tequila), there's a greater supply of the product and the USA audience doesn't know what it's drinking much of the time.

The vast majority of tequila is exported to and consumed in the USA and the Mexican spirits industry needs a replacement to quench the thirst of their national market. The result has been a marketing campaign in Mexico extolling the virtues of mezcal - as an "affordable" alternative to tequila. I've seen no ads/references to the "worm" in a bottle (in Mexico), and I think that gimmick is almost entirely rejected by Mexicans. However, for foreigners/tourists, it draws attention to the few bottlers who use it and, as we know, gimmicks often help to sell a product (quality be damned).

In addition to larva in bottles of mezcal, there are artificially flavored mezcal's - gran manier, lime, vanilla, chocolate, etc. They're produced for and marketed to, almost exclusively, the huge number of tourists clogging the streets of the city of Oaxaca. Most of my Mexican friends chuckle when they see someone buy this stuff - they wonder if we're all fools.

I thought that if we were striving to have as Oaxacan-representative meal as we possibly could, a taste of mezcal was appropriate. Mezcal without the worm!

Thanks for your follow-up comments.

To learn more about the "worm", mezcal and tequila, follow these links:

History of the Worm
http://www.mezcal.com/worms.html

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Mezcal
http://www.ianchadwick.com/tequila/mezcal.html

Tequila - Culture and Myths
http://www.ianchadwick.com/tequila/tequila_index.html

Bill wrote:What I've read on the topic calls the worm nothing more than an advertising gimmick. Actually, it's not a worm - I read that it's a butterfly larva. Some critics of the worm say only bottles of poor quality mezcal contain it, to mask an otherwise bad taste. Although I drink it on occasion, I don't really like the taste of mezcal; I'm not about to conduct a taste test to see if the critics have a valid point.

The worm may be a time-honored, perhaps centuries old gimmick, but it's hard to see how a little ole worm could mask the general vileness of the mezcal I've had. Xmas before last, I opened an old bottle of Cusano Rojo I bought in Yucatan in the 70s, and the worm seemed to have "swollen" over time. I ate the worm, along with some silkworm larvae ReneG gave me, and drank the mezcal, which as I recall had notes of burnt petroleum.

Hammond

PS. Having done a side-by-side taste with the "worm" and silkworm larvae, I think you're right that the "worm" is indeed larva.

During my first trip to Oaxaca, I stopped at a mescal manufacturer that offered tours. The making of mescal involves a multi-step process that I can't imaging anyone actually thinking up.

After the lecture, we were served several kinds of mescal, including apple flavored and mescal cream. There were no worms in the bottles, but our host put out a plate of worms with salt and chile. The locals dove for the worms like they'd put out free foie gras. I tasted one, but it had no discernable flavor, at least not that managed to survive the coating in chile powder.

So maybe the worm in the bottle was a promotional gimmick, but I wonder if Oaxacans (who dine happily on grasshoppers, as well) where consuming the worms before anyone thought of bottling them.