Authentic Mexican Caterer

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. We do lots of weddings (seems very popular to have Mexican food at your wedding right now!), corporate events, which we have done for Kaiser Permanente, the Gap, Levi Strauss, Nat'l. Parks' Crissy Fields 10th Anniversary, the United Fund and many more. At an average event, we probably serve between 50-80 guests, at weddings its more like 120-150 (although we do some small dinner parties, which I love to cook for... its a real opportunity to show-off and do something special). We do LOTS of 40th birthday parties, for some reason!

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. There is a vast difference in the quality of what is provided by a caterer. Try to find out what they make fresh, themselves. Are the sauces all house-made? What cuts of beef do they use to make, for example, their Carne Asada? If you have a fixed budget, does that affect the quantity of food serves (it doesn't with us, there is always plenty, even when the per person cost is a little lower).

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Mexican food is so much more than tacos and burritos (in fact, burritos are not even really Mexican food)! Read my column at http://www.examiner.com/x-56003-SF-Fusion-Food-Examiner for "trade secrets"

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. You should have some idea of your budget because it helps us in planning your menu. Also, whether you want more casual food, traditional Mexican dishes or something more exotic (like a Pippian, Mole or Pollo Pibil- chicken breast wrapped in banana leaf). Also, let us know what kind of facilities we will have for cooking, or re-heating, or if there are no facilities at all (some offices even prohibit sterno for chafing dishes). We can work with any kind of set-up, but it does dictate the menu options we can offer you.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Definitely, the care we take to work authentically in our kitchen, using traditional cooking methods, which are frequently slower; but the results are worth it! For example, we hand-grind many of our salsas, using a molcajete (see photo) rather than an electric blender. We serve hand-made tortillas. We make our own adobos (the marinade for meats and poultry) using several different types of chiles that we dry-roast on a comal (a kind of Mexican grill). We use ingredients which we source in the Mexican markets in San Francisco's Mission District, many of which are not available elsewhere.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The opportunity to broaden horizons when in comes to Mexican food. I like to call it "Mexican Food- the cuisine you thought you knew"!

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Do we cook on site? YES - but we can also accommodate venues that do not have a full, or even a partial kitchen. While we LOVE to cook on-site, we can suggest menu items that do not require this. As quality of the food we serve is always paramount, there are some items that don't fare well if there is no kitchen, and others that will be just fine.

What if my guests don't really like spicy food, can I still go Mexican? Absolutely, first, you can request most dishes mild, medium or spicy. Plus, there are a whole range of dishes that don't even use chiles!

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I have had the privilege of being privy to recipes passed down through the generations in Tenango de Valle, Mexico, where I have a home. The first time I went there, they killed a Guacalote (wild turkey) in my honor and made molé.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. Mexican food is so much more than Tacos and Burritos, in fact, Burritos are not even really Mexican! Its a cuisine rich in history and many of the dishes and recipes of today, and certainly the ingredients, date back to pre-Columbian times, to the Aztecs and Incas. Mexican cooking is replete with technique that bring out the natural flavor in ingredients, for example, dry-roasting of chiles on the comal or hand-grinding of garlic with salt in the molcajete.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. The first time a saw a young Mexican girl making tortillas by hand, I said to myself, :now that's the root of a business idea!". I never looked back.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I guess it would have to be the weddings we cater, they have to be perfect and the stress level is pretty high but we always pull it off without a hitch. We did a wedding for 140 guests in San Francisco recently and the bride, groom and all the guests raved about the food, said it was the "best wedding food [they'd] ever had". Everyone especially LOVED our guacamole tasting bar, and the Taco Station was a fun and cost effective way to do appetizers for the cocktail hour. People even took photos of our Tortillera, making her tortillas by hand, right there in front of the guests.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Watch my column at: http://www.examiner.com/x-56003-SF-Fusion-Food-Examiner