30-year tradition: Xavier Teixido's paella party
CORRECTION: The Ministry of Caring had some changes, and corrections to their upcoming line-up of dinners, since this article was first published. Café Mezzanote is hosting an Italian night in April; May will be a Soul Food night; Caffé Gelato is presenting a Taste of the Chesapeake in June; and September will feature Chef Ning with Asian night.
When it comes to paella, purists know the saffron-flavored Spanish rice dish should be tender, but not creamy – this is not risotto – with just the right combination of aromas and textures that please the nose and palate.
Attention to detail is essential and paella magic is achieved when gently sautéed onions, garlic and tomatoes thoroughly mingle with chicken and sausage, a combination of seafood, and never-mushy peas and rice.
Xavier Teixido happens to knows a little something about what makes paella so terrific.
The Wilmington restaurateur, who was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, grew up eating the dish and Teixido and his extended family have been serving it up, along with a taste of kindness, for the past 30 years for The Ministry of Caring.
Testing the rice before it's served to a sold-out crowd of 160 guests, Teixido forks through the dish and gives it his seal of approval, an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Only then does he allow his family, friends and various volunteers to serve generous plates of paella to hungry, waiting diners.
Teixido's annual, and much anticipated, Spanish dinner is one of 10 special meals offered during the year at the Ministry of Caring's International Nights held at the Francis X. Norton Center in downtown Wilmington.
"It's a nice way to support the Ministry of Caring, and we get our family and friends and our kids involved. It's just getting out in the community and doing something. It doesn't have to be complicated," says Teixido, adding he believes in "leading by example."
The Ministry of Caring is a community-based nonprofit organization that provides a network of social, health and support services for the poor, including the homeless and working poor, in the greater Wilmington area.
Proceeds from the International Night dinners help fund the Ministry's Emmanuel Dining Rooms, three facilities that provide free meals daily to the hungry with no questions asked. Last year, more than 180,000 meals were served in the dining rooms, including 12,000 to hungry children, according to Priscilla Rakestraw, The Ministry of Caring's development director.
Each month, from January through October, guests gather at the Francis X. Norton Center on either the third or fourth Sunday to enjoy meals, prepared by local restaurateurs and organizations, that are inspired by the cuisine of various foreign countries. Groups donate the food and their time.
For those who aren't in the know, these open-to-the-public, sit-down dinners, which cost $25 per person and usually include three to four courses, can feel like a secret club. Bottles of beer and glasses of wine can be purchased for only $2 at a bar that sometimes manned by Sister Bernadette Breen. Volunteers, usually from area schools and local organizations, wait and clear tables. No gratuity is expected.
"Every penny goes to the Emmanuel Dining Room," says Rakestraw during about the Feb. 26 annual "pop-up" dinner hosted by Teixido, owner of the popular Wilmington restaurants Harry's Savoy Grill, Harry's Seafood Grill and Kid Shelleen's. To commemorate their 30th year hosting the dinner, Teixido's family also donated $1,000 to the Ministry of Caring.
The next International Night dinner, scheduled for March 26, focuses on Irish cuisine and will be prepared by Bill Bradley, the Ministry of Caring's executive chef.
"Xavier represents the caring of chefs in this community. Look at this crowd," says Rakestraw as dozens of guests waited to get table assignments at the Norton Center, well before the scheduled 5:30 p.m. start, while others lingered at the bar sipping glasses of homemade sangria studded with fresh fruit.
"This is our largest turnout. Everyone get really excited about this dinner," Rakestraw says. "Xavier is one of the most selfless, caring people I know. This is like coming to Xavier's family's dinner."
Dorine Menchhofer, who takes reservations for the dinners, agrees. "The guests love Xavier. This is always a sellout."
Other popular dinners are hosted by Caffé Gelato, a Newark Italian restaurant owned by Ryan German, and Wilmington restaurateur Dan Butler who creates dishes from his Piccolina Toscana restaurant, Menchhofer says.
"Caffé Gelato dinners are a sellout and Dan Butler is a huge favorite," she says. The Delaware Saengerbund, a German club based in Ogletown, prepares a well-attended German dinner in October and The Polish Kitchen, which includes volunteers from Wilmington's Hedgeville neighborhood, just hosted the sold-out January dinner.
Menchhofer says the International Night dinners have grown over the years, mostly by word-of-mouth, and because "you get a really good, sit-down dinner for only $25."
Danny Mellon came as a paying guest to his first International Dinner 30 years ago, but has been working as a volunteer server for the last six years.
"One night I came and they only had one server. I grew up in the catering industry, so I just jumped up and helped. And I've been doing it ever since," Mellon says. He says he sees many repeat diners each month at the dinners, but "it's also nice to see the new faces."
Franciscan Sister Julie McCole, director of Emmanuel Dining Room for the past two years, says the International Nights have a faithful following of guests and chefs. "We have chefs from all over Delaware. And Xavier's always so generous to us." McCole says the non-profit is always looking for new chefs and groups to donate their time.
The International Nights started in the early 1980s as another way to raise funds for the Ministry of Caring, founded in 1976 by Brother Ronald Giannone, a Capuchin Franciscan friar. The dinners were once held in the Emmanuel Dining Rooms, but moved 10 years ago to the spacious Francis X. Norton Center, the former Sacred Heart Church at Ninth and Madison streets.
Teixido says he was first approached about preparing a dinner for the charity in 1987 when he owned and ran the Columbus Inn in Wilmington. He didn't have to think twice about helping out.
"I loved what the Ministry was doing and I was amazed by what they did and how they did it with so little," Teixido says. Since he and his parents Dr. Ruben and Sara Teixido emigrated from Paraguay in central South American, he knew they would focus on a meal the family knew well – paella.
"Because our heritage is Spanish, I thought it was the best choice for us," he says. Teixido, who comes from a family of six, says his parents, who've been married 68 years, frequently hosted large gatherings of family and friends and served paella. "They would be like, '50 people for dinner? No problem.'"
This was the first year, his parents, now in their 90s, haven't help with the meal preparation. Instead, the couple came as guests and enjoyed the convivial atmosphere.
Paella isn't a dish Teixido offers at his restaurants, but he makes it often for at-home celebrations.
"This paella is based on the paella I grew up eating," he says. Still, the version served at International Night is slightly different than what Teixido serves when he's not at his restaurants.
At home, he cooks paella in the tradition style - in a large pan over a charcoal fire. That method creates the highly desired socarrat or brown crispy rice bottom. But, slight modifications have to be made when cooking in a commercial kitchen and feeding a crowd of 160 people.
There might not be any caramelized, crispy bits, but the basics are still the same. The backbone of the paella is always the sofrito, a sauce made by sauteing a variety of ingredients including onions, garlic, tomatoes and white wine mixed with pinches of saffron. Rice, the heart of the dish, comes next, usually a variety like Spanish Bomba or even Italian Arborio.
Yet, after 30 years of making the paella for a crowd, Teixido has found that Uncle Ben's rice works best in a commercial kitchen, even it sounds slightly unconventional. "Carolina rice would get way too gummy," he says.
He uses 25 pounds of rice, followed by at least a full ounce of pricey saffron. The paella also calls for 60 pounds of chicken, 20 pounds of chorizo, 48 pounds of shrimp and about 20 pounds each of calamari, mussels and clams. It's blended with gallons of homemade chicken stock and flavored with more saffron.
As the aroma of chicken and seafood perfumes the air, Teixido ticks off the rest of the menu. Each table has a plate of featuring slices of manchego cheese, a sheep's milk cheese from Spain, along with crackers and olives. Sangria, a red wine mixed with a little brandy, is flavored with slices of peaches, strawberries, grapes and fresh citrus. Next comes a tossed green salad, followed by the paella that's dressed with sprinkles of pimento and fresh parsley. Dessert, always a highlight, is a silky flan with a light caramel topping
"We use my mother's flan recipe," Teixido says. "We had to modify it slightly."
His sister Gilda Teixido Kelsey explains that her mother's flan is "the classic flan" and a longtime family favorite.
"At every family birthday, you have birthday cake and flan," Kelsey says as her mother, Sara, stood by her side, nodded and beamed.
"It's the same way my grandmother did it," Sara Teixido says.
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Emmanuel Dining Room's International Nights. These open-to-the-pubic meals are prepared by area chefs, restaurateurs, culinary arts students and club members of organizations that celebrate various heritages and cultures.
WHERE: Francis X. Norton Center, 917 N. Madison St., Wilmington
WHEN: The third or fourth Sunday evening of the month. Doors open at 5 p.m., service begins at 5:30.
COST: $25 per person/$176 per table of 8. Soda is $1 each and beer/wine is $2 each.
INFORMATION: Contact Dorine Menchhofer at dmenchhofer@ministryofcaring.org or (302) 652-3228.
SCHEDULE
March 26: Irish Night
April 23: Italian Night hosted by Café Mezzanote
May 21: Soul Food Night
June 25: A Taste of the Chesapeake dinner by Caffe Gelato
July 23: Chef Dan Butler from Toscana
Aug. 27: Favorites from Buckley's Tavern
Sept. 24: Chef Ning will present Asian night
Oct. 22: German Night with food by the Delaware Saengerbund