Wahaca

by wahaca : Monday, 29 March 2010

Mexican Morsels: Chillies, Taco Trucks and Tamales

We’ve got our RSS reader trained on some amazing Mexican food blogs such as Mexico Cooks, A Little Cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate, Mexico Food Drinks and More, The Great Taco Hunt and Rachel Laundan’s blog to name but a handful.

Here are our favourite posts from the last week or so:

1. On Mexico Cooks you can read about the amazing world of fresh and dried chillies that are available in Mexico as well as what to do with them. It’s a great guide. It’s the sort of thing you read and can almost feel your eyeballs and nostrils stinging from the heat. You’ll also find a special guide to Mexican food for lent.

2. A Little Cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate writes about her quest to make the perfect tamales. It’s a great guide to making this iconic Mexican dish and makes us wish we were back in Mexico.

3. Meanwhile, over on Trend Spotting site, We Heart Stuff, they’ve written a super piece on a luxury hotel in Veracruz called Maison Couturier. It’s staggeringly stylish and would make an incredible base from which to explore. But you may have to be a Premier League footballer to afford it.

4. Rachel Laudan has written an interesting piece that about the way Mexcians served couscous in the 1800s which reads as if it were written in Morocco.

5. For a more lighthearted read about the taco trucks of West Coast America, look no further than The Great Taco Hunt.

6. And closer to home, check out Kavey Eats’ post about her evening learning to cook Mexican food with Tommi in aid of the Blaggers Banquet.

We hope you like the links, and if you come across any Mexican blogs that you think we might be interested in please let us know.

by wahaca : Monday, 22 March 2010

Captain Morgan Conquers Wahaca with the Cunning use of Flags

Whilst playing around on Twitter we stumbled across this awesome picture by flying.giraffe and became intrigued. What on earth was going on? So we did some digging and before we knew it, had received a brilliant explanation from the guy who took the picture. So without garbling his words, over to Ian:

I have been wanting to do more with my photography for a fairly long time now. I enjoy taking photos, no matter the subject but recently I was finding myself taking my camera out with me less and less. So I wanted to do a project that would encourage me to photograph more and look for inspiration for creative shots.

So I had seen a few people doing 365 projects on Flickr but had always been daunted by the prospect of doing it myself. But then I came up with the idea of giving myself a theme to work with and that gave a whole new creative link to doing something like this. Rather than just being a random collection of images taken everyday there should be something to tie them together throughout the year and that made me want to tackle something challenging rather than be put off by it. 

That’s where the Lego character came in, now I have something to base my photos around and it gives me a reason to take my camera with me (and the little man) almost everywhere I go, hoping to get inspiration for new photos and situations he can get himself into.

Now I see, and get, inspiration from all over the place, including when in Wahaca the other night. I was enjoying a meal with my good friend Mathilda and she noticed the little flag sticking out of one of our dishes and suggested posing him with it. The scale worked perfectly. I’m hoping this inspiration now spreads to other photos, not just ones involving Lego and my other work. 

It’s proving a challenge, but a fun one. I’m only ten days in and there have been mixed results from my photos, but it’s making me think creatively more than I used to which can only be a good thing.  I’m hoping by the end of the year to have 365 photos, of which there are at least a few ones that I am really happy with, enough to put into a small collection and possibly print.

Created with flickr slideshow.

If you’ve got any suggestions for Ian about ideal places that would make for a brilliant photo of Captain Morgan let him know by leaving a comment. Thanks Ian for sharing your story and good luck for the rest of your 365 project. And if you’ve got any fun photos you’ve taken in Wahaca we’d love to see them. You can either email them to us at loswahacos@wahaca.co.uk, add them to our Facebook page or add them to our Flickr group.

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by wahaca : Friday, 19 March 2010

Huitlacoche – The Mexican Corn Truffle

Mexico is the 5th most biodiverse country in the world and on a recent trip to Oaxaca we saw how many incredible different types of produce they have just in their local markets. Coming from a UK supermarket where everything is flown in from all around the world it is pretty incredible visiting these markets where all the produce is locally grown and the variety is incredible.

Huitlacoche is one of those Mexican produce that is impossible to get fresh in the UK so at Wahaca we get it brought in from Mexico canned. (We are hoping to encourage some British farmers to grow the huitlacoche for us!)

It is a very new flavour and ingredient in the UK and it is through Wahaca that many are probably trying it for the first time. Probably half the time not knowing what they are eating but hopefully enjoying the flavours.

I therefore thought it would be good to tell you all a little more about this ingredient.

Huitlacoche growing on the corn

Huitlacoche is a fungal, and in Mexico a culinary delicacy, that grows on ears of corn as they ripen after a heavy rain or period of high moisture. While most farmers will treat it like an infectious affliction that ruins corn crops, it has a long history in the cuisine of the Aztecs, Hopi & Zuni.

The Zuni Indians call the corn fungus corn-soot and say it symbolizes the “generation of life” whereas farmers have called it smut, soot or devil’s corn. The word huitlacoche comes from two words in Nahuatl, the language of ancient Aztecs occupying the area that became Mexico.

“Huitlatl” means excrement and “coche” means raven which apparently is named so because the first time Aztec farmers discovered it they saw the grey appearance on the corn and thought it was ravens excrement. Fortunately as some of the best culinary discoveries have been made someone decided to try it out and discovered one of the most appreciated delicacies in Mexican cuisine. For more information click here for the Wikipedia page.

Fresh huitlacoche, Casa Oaxaca and Alejandro Ruiz

Huitlacoche has been used in Mexican cuisine since then adding a rich, earthy and pungent flavour to stews, tamales, taquitos and quesadillas. We cooked with it in Mexico at Casa Oaxaca with renowned Mexican chef Alejandro Ruiz.

I took lots of photos while going around the markets of Oaxaca of the produce… click here for a few of these.

Created with flickr slideshow.

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by cecilia : Wednesday, 17 March 2010

UK in Mexico Video featuring Julio

UK in Mexico is a YouTube channel dedicated to showcasing the lives of Mexicans living in London. We are very excited to see none other than our very own Julio being featured in their latest video, talking about his life working at Wahaca. Now that he’s a major star of the big screen we’re preparing ourselves to beat off offers from Hollywood agents once they recover from the Oscars.

To see their other videos take a look at the UK in Mexico YouTube channel. And feel free to congratulate Julio or ask him any questions by leaving a comment.

by wahaca : Monday, 15 March 2010

Thomasina Miers book signing in Canary Wharf

Join us on Tuesday 9th March from 1pm in Canada Place Crossroads in Canary Wharf’s mall for a chance to meet Thomasina Miers and get an exclusive signed copy of her new book “Mexican Food Made Simple.”

“A world away from Tex-Mex sizzling fajitas with cheesy nachos, Thomasina Miers, former MasterChef champ and Wahaca restaurant founder, is bringing a large slice of genuine Mexico to the mainstream” The Independent

To mark the occasion, Wahaca will be giving away delicious guacamole and chips fresh from their restaurant in The Park Pavilion, Canada Square.

Hope to see you there!

by cecilia : Monday, 8 March 2010

Steve Gale on Tommi’s Book Launch (Guest Post)

This is a guest post by Steve Gale who is the winner of Tommi’s Mexican Recipe Competition. Steve’s brilliant recipe for a refreshing salad made with watermelon and a dusting of sugar, salt and chilli can be found in Tommi’s new book, Mexican Cooking Made Simple. Over to Steve for an insight into where his idea came from and what he thought of the book launch…

I first sampled Thomasina’s cooking at the Covent Garden branch of Wahaca and remember being blown away by the authenticity of the food. It was a really fun place to eat and there was the all important buzz of people enjoying fantastic food with friends. So many times I have eaten in other Mexican restaurants and have been disappointed with the standard nacho and fajita fare. So when I saw the competition to submit a recipe for possible inclusion into Thomasina’s new book, I leapt at the chance.

Over the past 10 years I have travelled extensively in Europe, India, Asia, Mexico, Central and South America. I feel I am uniquely strange in that as a bloke I don’t watch the footie, I travel and write down recipes of blinding meals I have eaten in unusual places. I trawled back through my note books and remembered a great Mexican street food trend of serving chilled fruit with a chilli, salt & sugar sprinkle. The cold juicy fruit works really well with a salty chilli hit – just what you need on a blisteringly hot Mexican day. I adapted this into a light salad with some fresh cheese and a crispy tortilla and was extremely lucky to win the competition.

Thomasina was kind enough to invite me to the book launch in her new Wahaca restaurant in west London. It was quite a star studded affair and a little intimidating for one not used to media events. However a few (strong) margaritas later and I was feeling much more comfortable, if a little drunk. I think the key to a good margarita is not to let any one element overpower the drink and these ones slipped down a treat! The canapés were great – a selection of delicious dishes in miniature from the main menu. Potato and chorizo tacos, lime and coriander braised beef tostadas, crispy fried chicken tacos… I could go on….

I had a really good chat to Rachel Allen and Matt Tebbut and then stalked the other celebs for a photo opportunity before finally catching up with Thomasina (and her Mum). Thomasina is clearly passionate about Mexican food and is trying to show people that the food of this region is not a one trick piñata. Yes, tortillas play a big role in Mexican food but this is the carbohydrate staple of the nation. Imagine suggesting that the cuisine of Italy is dull because they eat a lot of pasta! The food of Mexico is as exciting and diverse as any I have eaten. From fish tacos in Baja California to the seven famous moles (sauces) of Oaxaca, great smoky chilli rubs on barbequed meats to delicate marinated fish dishes. I really hope that Thomasina succeeds and inspires more people to cook and eat real Mexican food.

You can read more of Steve’s culinary adventures on his website: www.gapyeargourmet.com and find out more about his recipe in Tommi’s new book: Mexican Cooking Made Simple.

Congratulation Steve and thanks for sharing such a great recipe.

by wahaca : Sunday, 7 March 2010