Kitty Leaken - Cooking with Cafe Pasquals Recipes from Santa Fes Renowned Corner Cafe

Copyright 2006 by Katharine Kagel
Photographs copyright 2006 by Kitty Leaken
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kagel, Katharine.
Cooking with Cafe Pasquals : recipes from Santa Fes renowned corner cafe / Kahtarine Kagel ; photographs by Kitty Leaken.
p. cm.
1. Cookery, AmericanSouthwestern style. 2.
Cookery, Mexican. 3. Cafe Pasquals (Santa Fe, N.M.)
I. Cafe Pasquals (Santa Fe, N.M.) II. Title.
TX715.2.S69K354 2006
641.59789dc22

2005032814

ISBN-13: 978-1-58008-649-3
eBook ISBN: 978-0-8041-5272-3
Designed by Robert Brady and Joseph Shuldiner

v3.1

Answers

If I envy anyone it must be
My grandmother in a long ago
Green summer, who hurried
Between kitchen and orchard on small
Uneducated feet, and took easily
All shining fruits into her eager hands.

That summer I hurried too, wakened
To books and music and circling philosophies.
I sat in the kitchen sorting through volumes of answers
That could not solve the mystery of the trees.

My grandmother stood among her kettles and ladles.
Smiling, in faulty grammar,
She praised my fortune and urged my lofty career.
So to please her I studied but I will remember always
How she poured confusion out, how she cooled and labeled
All the wild sauces of the brimming year.

Mary Oliver

IT HAS BEEN A DOZEN YEARS since the publication of our first book, Cafe Pasquals Cookbook: Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe. In reviewing these intervening years, Im struck at how the world has changed, but the Cafe has basically re-mained the same: our talented key staffers have largely stayed on, as have our regular customers, loyal and true, and many vendors, winemakers, and ranchers, many of whom have become good friends.

Many of the core kitchen crew is still stalwartly ensconced. From the morning crew there is Can-do, indispensable, dependable, and unflappable Rudy Gabaldon, our master head breakfast chef and ordering captain, as well as ever-cheerful, creative, and fun-loving breakfast/lunch cook Ramon Polanco. Lunch chef Gabriel Ruiz remains our valiant utility infield and MVP for his skillful versatility. He gracefully swings knife or spatula in the a.m. or p.m., pinch-hitting for the baker, line cook, or prep cook. Those magnificent words he says at every turn in the road, no problema, continue to be music to my ears. Our longtime day crew of Santos Leon, Carlos Pereira, Jesus Pereira, Jesus Rivera, Antonio Caballero, and Emilio Galdamez are major stars in the Pasquals firmament.

In the evenings, there is skillful Presciliano Ruiz, whose flavor judgment I depend upon. He is the father of all kitchen high jinks, as well as the bringer of delicious and stylish Mexican dishes. Fabulous, hardworking Fritz Fuchs easily cooks on the line, sauts, and grills, working all these stations with great attention to detail. Ricardo Justo prepares our sauces, mole, chiles, salsas, rellenos, and tamales. Consistency is always his uppermost value. Nestor Antonio also can easily switch-hit from a.m. to p.m. crew, bringing his standards of excellence with him wherever he goes. Pablo Rivera, Daniel Rivera, and Balmore Melgar are all known for their brilliant cooking.

Dining manager Brad Brown, gracias a dios, still plies the dining room. With his charm, quick smile, and rapier wit, he dazzles us by remembering an astounding roster of the names of our patrons, as well as their likes and dislikes. He easily glides across to work in the gallery and office, efficiently executing a thousand tasks at once. His knowledge of the intricacies of the business and human behavior are deep and invaluable and merit kudos and a thousand thanks.

Day chef Gabriel Ruiz

General manager, David Coulson, aka Mr. Numbers, began working here as a line cook, then moved on to host, waiter, and manager. As general manager, he is our cosmicnaut, a veteran of twenty-one years as of this writing. He continues his heroic dedication to the physical plant, and with his techno-computer wizardry he faithfully keeps track of the numbing numbers. His original, incredibly produced annual movies are legendary and eagerly awaited each year. He also manages to make us all laugh and puzzle with him over the ambient paradigm and the existential exigencies that are profound when theyre not profane. I am grateful that he has been willing to continue to build the Cafe even in the face of tumult, tough times, and meltdowns. His gentle, patient, and generous spirit is unbounded, and I bow.

Robert Brady birthed our gallery, grew it for its first seven years, and showed us the ropesto him we are so grateful and we salute him. How wonderful and rewarding it has been to work together again, this time on the splendid design of this book, with both Robert and designer Joseph Shuldiner.

For a dozen years, floor manager Bill West has been greeting newcomers and locals alike with his stentorian voice, giving each one stellar dining service. Our Irish lass, Noreen OBrien, energetically manages the dining room with her twinkling eyes, bright smile, and unending good spirits, also lending a careful expert hand in the gallery and office. Sunshine Lawley greeted the evenings patrons and managed the dining room with elegant aplomb. Tara Esperanza is also a veteran of our evenings. She now adds her sparkle to the evening dining management and is the wine buyer for the ever-changing all-organic wine list. I am deeply grateful to all these and dozens more wondrous, talented, and dedicated staff members, past and present.

Behind the scenes is Lyra Grant, our indefatigable book-keeper, who keeps rolling out the numbers with good cheer, and Bill Takala, CPA, who continues to tie those buttons and bows with alacrity. There would be no Pasquals save for Vance Holmes, who, from his working start at age eighteen, is still, at forty-four, plumbing the intricate world of Cafes heating/ cooling/refrigeration and pipeage, sometimes at the oddest of hours and for many hours.

My dear friend, Mark Matthiessen, the ubernitpick and playful wordsmith who skillfully edited the first draft of this book, has my eternal gratitude. He made the task a delight, and I shall savor the experience. Nymphe Kefal patiently scribed our elusive never-before-written recipes with patient earnestness. John Vollertsen cooked up a storm for a summer, kicking off the testing and recipe gathering with his laughter and effervescence. To the loyal team of guinea pigs who are ever-true-blue friends to taste and taste and tasteMark Schilkey, Mia de Sousa, Jan Brooks, Lane Coulter, Malin Wilson, and Greg Powell