Foodbuzz 24,24,24 Amuse-Bouche: Chilled Avocado Soup with Arepa Fritter

An amuse-bouche is a light precursor to the appetizer; it is meant to stimulate the palette. I started the Farm to Table menu with a chilled avocado soup, which I made from this recipe at epicurious.com. I substituted a whole Florida avocado from Bee Heaven farms, which was heavy and buttery on the tongue. I also

substituted vegetable broth, for the sake of my vegetarian guests. Also, chicken broth sometimes congeals when chilled, which would be unpleasant and improbable in a soup meant to be sipped from a glass. I made sure that I added enough water so that the soup would not be too thick.

I skipped the chili-coriander cream, although it sounded lovely. Instead, I topped my soup with an arepa fritter made with Harina Pan, a white corn meal that is omnipresent in Venezuelan cookery. The dough is simple to make. I mixed the meal with water until a malleable dough was formed, moist but not gooey. I formed small balls of dough. Then, I used a wooden press, lent to me by my cousin Mercedes, to press the dough flat. Most importantly, cover the press with plastic wrap so that the dough won’t stick to the press. I used an ordinary drinking glass to press the circle shape of the arepa fritters, making sure I was cutting a circle large enough to cover the glass. I peeled the dough circle off the plastic and placed it gently in a frying pan of neutral oil. A minute or two later, I placed the finished fritter, puffy and golden brown, onto a plate lined with paper towels.

I topped the amuse-bouche with garlic chives from Bee Heaven Farm and cilantro.