Party at Belasco de Baquedano

On Tuesday, the day of the big event, we began work around 10:00 in the morning. There were about six of us that worked together all day. It was a beautiful day and the view was gorgeous from our outdoor kitchen.
We began by peeling all the potatoes that were to be served with the main course. The peeler that was in my knife kit had broken my first week at Ruca so I had gone to a local kitchen store and picked up a new one. I debated the purchase because it was a bit pricey (around 50 pesos) but I went ahead and bought it anyway. As I dove in and began peeling potatoes for 260 people I kept saying to myself that this was the best fifty pesos I have spent so far! Another gal that was helping with this task did not have a peeler and was using a knife that was not in the greatest shape. I felt bad for her and I knew her hands were starting to hurt. All I could do was lend her one of my knives. We made it through the two bags that seemed never ending and moved on to more prep. We cooked and mashed the potatoes and after seasoning them with (of course butter and cream) and fresh herbs we then formed them into rounds with a ring mold and wrappped a strip of pastry that we had rolled and cut out earlier around the circumference. We carried them down the two flights of stairs to be stored and reheated later on. Pictured on the right is the "crew" taking a little dinner break. I knew I was in for a long night ahead.

The reception part of this event was to begin around 6:30. We would assemble everything and serve on this top level where the restaurant is and where there is also a fairly large outdoor patio.

Chef Alejan- dro arrived (pictured left and below) as we began to bake the empana- das and assemble the Tapa's. He is one of Lucas chef's that I had not worked with yet. I am sorry to not have had the opportunity to. He was very personable (and cute) and I could tell was quite talented. He arrived at zero hour and knew just what to do to keep everything running smoothly. I loved the way that all the appetizers were assembled on one big table then an assortment was placed on the wooden planks, garnished then served. It was quite an assembly line. After the tapa's came the empana- das - all shapes and flavors. Sergio was the official empanada baker.

The reception was a whirlwind of empanadas and tapas. There was so much food it was hard to believe that these guests were to also have a full meal .

The reception ended and the guests went down to the first flour where one of the wine rooms was set up for the banquet. We abandoned our outdoor kitchen and all went down to the first floor to a make shift tented kitchen to begin to prepare for serving dinner.

I took this one shot of the first course, which was a lentil salad topped with a little jamon cruda and parsely, dressed with a lemon vinagairette and garnisehd with a swirling of a malbec glace.

I set my camera down and never had the chance to pick it back up and take anymore pictures. That's how crazy it got.

The rest of the menu you will have to imagine. The main course was fillet, the potatoes with a little sauce of herbs and cream and pimienton. A Lucas main course.

The dessert was the chocolate mousse Matias I prepped previously and was plated with a swiring of carmel and orange crème anglaise. I think there was ice cream and nuts on the plate also but I lost track. I was so focused on not dropping this huge bowl of crème anglaise as I placed some on each (260 - to be exact) plate. There were plates and crates everywhere.

It really got crazy when it thunderstormed. We had to quickly move all the tables under the eaves so we could finish plating the desserts.

Then there was the coffee and liqueurs on ice that each table was served.

Then clean up.

I fell exhausted into bed somewhere around 2:30 am. I barely remember the drive home.

While I loved this day and this experience, I learned one thing.

I don't want to work banquets on a regular basis. I'm too old to work 15 hour days!

Buenas noches.