Not ceviche — aguachile.
Ceviche employs citric acid, rather than heat, to denature seafood proteins. You can called it "cooked," but only with quotation marks, since by definition cooking requires the application of heat. Though commonly conflated with ceviche, aguachile (literally "chile water") uses citrus principally for flavor rather than as a curing agent. Octopus, the namesake of this aguachile de pulpo — an exciting foretaste of soon-to-open Mexican restaurant Cosme — was combined with the other ingredients and then served within a matter of a few minutes. (Admittedly, the line between aguachile and quickly prepared ceviche is a blurry one.) As you'd imagine, very fresh seafood is essential. Underneath, offering a contrasting texture, was a layer of elote Occidental sourced from Zapopan, Jalisco by Masienda, which supplied several varieties of Mexican landrace corn for the festival.
Also shown: from La Newyorkina, a mini-cone of purple corn and cacao flower ice cream, the frozen version of the Oaxacan beverage tejate; the obligatory cornfest elote (made from local corn), and Taco Santo's uncommon, bicycle-mounted station for dressing it; an hallaquita and a carato de maiz from Caracas Arepa Bar. The first is a Venezuelan tamal, in this instance a vegetarian version flavored with cilantro and coconut; the second is a fermented corn beverage with a mild (but non-alcoholic) twang, here garnished with pineapple and caramelized hibiscus flower.
MasaFest
97th St. boardwalk, Rockaway Beach, Queens
www.GrowNYC.org/events/masafest
(This event was held on August 9, 2014)
