Cinco de Mayo Celebrations, Nouvelle-Style

Feliz Cinco de Mayo.

And what a great time to celebrate our love affair with Mexican food.

If you’re stuck for ideas, you may find a few here to start you off. But be prepared for a few changes in approach.

“The Mexican party of the past used to look like a child’s birthday party, with paper flowers and pinatas ,” said Los Angeles party designer and florist Tom Pearce .

“Today it has progressed to the high-tech look of clean lines within a Mexican feeling. The decor is usually centered and pulled together around the food, and we are using more tall cactus with blooming succulents such as bromeliads.”

Tarzana caterer Darlene Miller of Savoir-Faire, who once used traditional decor and foods, now uses exquisite serapes, fine fabrics and live amaryllis plants.

‘More Sophisticated’

“We do things with terra-cotta pots, wooden puppets, Mexican ceramic bowls, and beautiful handcrafts in a more sophisticated way,” she said.

“In the past, one could get away with tostadas, tacos and enchiladas. Today we’re doing more display station cooking, where quesadillas are made on the spot and tortillas are freshly made. That’s the all-time favorite.

Instead of a formal menu, Miller suggests a variety of appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts scaled to appetizer size.

Miller serves gazpacho with a splash of vodka. The garnish is sour cream and cilantro.

Another Savoir-Faire idea is to make tamales without fillings. After steaming them, thinly slice the cornmeal on the diagonal to form a base for sauced seafood or chicken.

Finger Foods

A quick and easy finger-food idea is to scoop out small boiled potatoes and fill the cavities with Cheddar or Jack cheese and sour cream and sprinkle them with cilantro.

To make Savoir-Faire-type quesadillas, heat tortillas on a griddle and sprinkle with Jack and Cheddar cheeses, plus a few condiments, such as scallions, olives, cilantro and chiles. Then top with another tortilla and grill until the cheese filling melts. Serve the quesadillas with sour cream, guacamole and salsa. The Savoir-Faire salsa is chunky and combines chopped tomatoes, serrano chiles, cilantro and pine nuts.

For a rice accompaniment, season plain cooked rice with green chiles or sauteed onion, and add chopped olives, pimiento and shredded Cheddar cheese. A dash of lime juice adds piquancy.

For a Mexican-style brunch, serve warm tortillas filled with scrambled eggs topped with grated Jack cheese, salsa and crema (sour cream is a good substitute).

Serve grilled poblano chiles (roasted as you would green pepper) with steak or burgers.

For a colorful Mexican-style salad, toss together jicama strips, mandarin orange segments, diced beets, Cheddar cheese and green apple cubes, and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Savoir-Faire teams zucchini slices, corn and red pepper to create a salad using the colors of the Mexican flag.

And for dessert, try fruit-filled toasted taco shells. Simply combine melon balls, strawberry halves, pineapple chunks, halved grapes, cut oranges, sliced kiwi and bananas and fill toasted shells with a cup of the fruit. Dust with powdered sugar.

Marla Kleinman of Bon Cuisine does fresh lemon tarts for dessert, and Miller serves mango cream with fresh fruit.

Fried flour tortillas can be shaped into a cornucopia and filled with ice cream.