Wahaca takes Mexican-inspired dishes and sources them as ethically and as locally as possible. We’ll upload some of our recipes from time to time, and if you want to recommend some of your own, we might even cook them for you.
Tell us about your favourite recipes via the comments section of this post.
So, you’ve planted your seeds, waited with baited breath and crossed your fingers, and all of your dreams have come true – Your chilli seeds have sprouted! But before you get ahead of yourself, just hold on a second, you’ve got to make sure you look after them well if you’re going to be rewarded with precious fruit. In the second of our installment of Chilli Expert videos, our guru grower talks you through repotting your plants to ensure you get an even growth. Over to you Craig…
When your chilli seedling has developed its second set of leaves, it is time to pot it on to another pot.
A mistake that some people make at this stage is to repot it straight into a huge pot, thinking that this ok. If you do this, all that will happen is that the chilli plant will grow to fill the pot, but concentrate on producing foliage, but no flowers. If the plant does not produce flowers, then you will not get any chillies!
As a general rule of thumb, your chilli plant should be potted on to a larger pot when the roots start to appear out of the bottom of the current pot. Personally, I pot on plants from a 3 inch to a 5 inch and eventually to a 7 inch pot.
Keep an eye on your plant and water it if the compost looks as if it is drying out. Again, the idea is to keep the compost moist and not drenched. In the colder months, you will find you only have to water every two or three days, but as the weather heats up, you will probably need to water every day.
When flowers start to appear on the plant, you can give it a helping hand by adding liquid tomato feed to the water. It should be diluted at half of the recommended ratio for tomato plants.
Alternatively, you could use one of the feeds that are specifically designed to be used with chillies.
In the next video, I’ll be giving you tips about how to make sure that all the flowers on your chilli plants turn into lovely chillies. See you then!
Stevie is an old friend who I met at Ballymaloe, rather a long time ago now. He is an amazing cook with a passion for exotic spices from around the world, beautiful ingredients and unfussy food. The result is a wonderful mix of simply presented food from around the world, never with too many ingredients competing for attention. His flair with spices produces some sensational marinades, delicious chutneys and daals and he makes a mean biryani. One day he is going to teach me how to make his chaat masala too.
He occasionally lets me come and play at the Dock with him. A coulple of weeks ago we cooked Mexican together. We sat down with three-week old Samuel, his first-born and devised a menu together which we cooked all of this week at the Dock (I only did Tuesday and Wednesday as had other menus to do at Wahaca).
It’s a delight cooking there, as like Petersham Nurseries, you can just pop out of the kitchen to the herb garden to pick whatever herb you think might make all the difference to your chillie paste, sauce or soup…
The kitchen is also completely open lined with glass, rather than the conventional walls. How Stevie moved from the River Cafe, with all that beautiful light, to the only other kitchen in London that I know of, that is also an ode to light, is beyond me, but fairly typical of his natural jamminess. On August 21st they are closing for a fortnight and building a souped up kitchen courtesy of Wolf/Sub-zero, possibly the sexiest, coolest kitchen makers in the world, and the restaurant will double the number of seats it has to 80. What excitement.
Meanwhile a brief sypnopsis of our menu. We started with some corn which we shaved off the cobb and sauteed with sweet onion, garlic, a chipotle paste I made and masses and masses of butter. The result, a sweet, smoky, fiery filling for a white corn taco. It was so popular that I think I am going to put it on the wahaca menu next summer. Yum.
Next up was courgettes, a thoroughly Mexican vegetable, sauteed with girolles and summer herbs…
And then a plate of octopus which we rolled in crumbed crisy pig skin, deep-fried and served with a fruity, fiery habanero salsa…
This recipe was thanks to a friend Roberto Solis of the restaurant Nectar in Merida. Totally yummy, thanks for the idea Roberto, I hope you are enjoying Noma this week, you lucky so-and-so.
We did a sopa de guia next, which is a broth flavoured with wild herbs and leaves, which I first had at Casa Oaxaca, cooked by the wonderful Alejandro Ruiz…
And finally a slow-cooked shoulder of saltmarsh lamb, marinaded in ancho, chile de arbol and pasilla de oaxaca chillies and slow cooked over a bed of carrots, celery and onions and served with the classic shredded cabbage, radish and coriander slaw.
The pudding, which I failed to capture (please excuse my crummy photographs) was blackcurrant, hibiscus and tequila made by the lovely Hannah (ex-Ballymaloer) and Mexican wedding cookies made by the equally lovely Lewen (also ex-Ballymaloer maybe?). I had to go back to take these picces on Thursday, when I was no longer cooking and bumped into Mary Portas, Queen of Shops, who was eating there! Quelle excitement! I love Mary’s love of independent shops, what a woman. She was looking as stylish as ever.
So all in all an idyllic week, cooking with Stevie’s amazing team (here is Stevie and Lewen).
Creating food, talking to great people and feeling that life is good.
Thanks so much for having me guys, good luck with the refurb and thanks for the cooking tips.
tommi xxx
A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Baja California, and just had to tell you all about a wonderful cantina on the outskirts of Cabo San Lucas that I was taken to called Puerto Nuevo. It is a total favourite with all the chefs who I met out there. Antonio de Livier from La Frida described it as the best fish place in Los Cabos. So obviously I was very keen to try it out.
The entrance entranced me. All those bottles of salsas. I do love a hot sauce. The more the merrier. This is just what I love about eating in Mexico.
The first thing we had to try was the fish tostada. I don’t have a very pretty picture of it here. Just a close up of the chopped onion, white flesh of the sea bass and snapper and the layer of mayonnaise that was utterly delicious spread over the crisp tostada. Man, I can’t tell you how fresh it tasted! Yummy, yummy, yummy. This was one of the highlights.
Next up was the aguachile. Aguachile means chilli water and it made by whizzing up green Serrano chillies, masses of fresh lime juice and plenty of coriander leaf until you get a lovely vivid green dressing which you dress your seafood with. I normally add raw scallops or mackerel, but here they had tossed in fat, juicy prawns and amazingly tender pieces of octopus along with lovely half-moon slices of cucumber and thin slithers of sweet, red onion. If only we could get a good sweet onion here like the ones in Mexico….
These are the cheerful chefs, cooking in blistering heat. Although the cantina is literally on the side of the road, open to the elements with the tables on sand, the kitchen, as you can see, is spotlessly clean. I love eating in places like this. Places where the locals go. So much more fun than some of the swankier restaurants that are full of tourists, and the food costs a fortune. This is the real Mexico.
This was our last dish, after the lobster quesadillas which I didn’t photograph as I am not entirely sure about fish in a quesadilla. Once they put this down I started smelling a rat. This looked distinctly Veracruzan to me. I can remember eating a jaiba enchipotlada in Veracruz and not being able to stop eating until every morsel had been finished. I asked the waiters about it and it turns out that the owners of this place are indeed from Veracruz. Sadly this jaiba was not quite up to the one I had all those years ago on my roadtrip to Veracruz. The sauces should be smoky, garlicky and sweet from the crab flesh. It certainly wasn’t bad though, just not quite to the par of their delicious tostadas, the yummy aguachile and the pulsating raw clams that they presented to me as a kinda amuse-bouche. This was a lunch to remember.
Tommi xx
Today is the big launch of our new summer menu… good luck to the wahaca team and hope you all enjoy our new dishes.
We did a tasting of most of the new dishes last night with some food bloggers, tweeters and friends – it was a great success and the feedback and comments from all was really positive.
Here are some of the fab photos and comments… Hope this inspires you all to come by and try out the new menu!
@tomdotcom_uk This is the @Wahaca summery new potato taquito. It has a new orange habanero salsa on it which is a delight!
Summery new potato taquito
@eatlikeagirl Really impressed with the @wahaca summer menu. Really vibrant and delicious. More please!
@tikichris And @wahaca’s corn bread with mole, sesame seeds and crema? Wahoo!
Corn bread and mole sauce
@SimonG_1 And the food keeps coming @wahaca – summer menu is incredible – the mole is mind blowing
@tomdotcom_uk OK @Wahaca have outdone themselves! I am the biggest fan of their churros & chocolate, but the new Flan de la Casa is the best pudding ever!
@MathildeCuisine @wahaca has come up with an absolutely delicious summer menu. Ceviche is so tasty and flan is to die for!
Flan de la casa
@LibbyEAndrews Delicious meal @wahaca tonight – the summer menu is def the way to go
@BeccaChaplin Just had an amazing evening @wahaca sampling new menu. Must haves are ceviche, mole taco, new habanero sauce, hibiscus & passionfruit jelly!
Chicken mole taco
@1mgoldstars Tons of yum on @wahaca’s new summer menu, particularly good veggie options, and great evening as usual 
Grilled cactus taco
@simondoggett Found some heaven in the @wahaca shrimp and scallop ceviche. Lovely chat with Mark. Top restaurateur dude.
MSC ceviche tostada
@SimonG_1 It was a great event @wahaca just shows you can have great tasting ethically sourced food without breaking the bank.
Chicken guajillo tostada
Thanks to all for joining us and for all your wonderful comments. Hope to see you all down in wahaca soon and look forward to hear your feedback on the new dishes.
Thanks to Niamh @eatlikeagirl for her great photos which can be seen on flickr. Check out her new blog where she has added a post from last night. Also congrats and hello to Tom who became the foursquare mayor for wahaca Westfield last night after the menu tasting – thanks for all your support!
Those of you who are in the know about foursquare, will probably understand what we mean with this post. For those of you who aren’t, please don’t think we’re desperately trying to hunt down Borris and invite him for a taco (although if you’re out there Borris, we’d love to talk to you about introducing Mexican style VW’s to our taxi ranks).
Foursquare is a great site that helps you to find new ways to explore your city by checking in on-line when you visit restaurants and bars, and linking up with friends to discover their favourite places to go out. It’s also a great way to pick up tips that only people in the know would be able to tell you – Apparently our “Frijoles are off the chain” according to James M (thanks,we agree), and One Tamarind Margarita isn’t enough for Fergus M!
Now, we’re pretty new to this site, and are hoping for your help in tracking down the Mayor of each of our restaurants (These are the guys who have checked in the most times, and basically love us so much they can’t stop coming back). We know who they are, but can’t seem to contact them.
Can you help? Do you know these Wahaca super fans? If you do, we’d love you to send us a tweet @wahaca, or post a comment below and tell us, so we can get their details from you.
Do you know these men?
Nick H
Richard S (Although this may not be a true likeness)
David G
So… Nick H (Mayor of Wahaca Covent Garden), Richard S (Mayor off Wahaca Canary Wharf) and David G (Mayor of Wahaca Westfield) Come on down! We’d like to invite you to a very special dinner tasting our new summer menu.
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!
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.
Matty’s contribution to my recipe competition is a Mexican teatime classic. Kids would come home from school craving this cheap, delicious treat, kind of like the best of beans on toast and cheese on toast all wrapped up in one. It should be in everyone’s repertoire. The hollowed out middle means this recipe has far more to it than meets the eye.
This is another very typical Mexican recipe. Simple and delicious! You have to have frijoles which you can make according to this recipe. You will also need ‘pico de gallo’ salsa, which you can find out more about here. Over to Matty…
Ingredients:
4 rolls or bolillos (but 2 fresh baguettes cut in half will do the trick)
Frijoles (about a cup)
Lancashire or mozzarella cheese according to your taste
Butter
‘Pico de gallo’ salsa (recipe link)
Method:
1. Cut the rolls in half and remove the softy middle part; we call it ‘migajon’.
2. Spread with butter and then with the frijoles.
3. Sprinkle with cheese and bake about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
4. Serve with ‘pico de gallo’ salsa.
Thanks Matty for a great recipe. It just goes to show that some simple pleasures transcend international boundaries.
Stay tuned for more contributions to my Mexican recipe competition. And if you make this dish please let us know how you get on by leaving a comment.
Alicia’s recipe is a deliciously alternative idea for Pancake Day. Using smoked fish is inspired and goes beautifully with the sweet potato and corn pancakes which might be a little too sweet for normal ceviche. The pancakes are also outrageously good with streaky bacon and slow-cooked tomatoes for breakfast. You can use either smoked pollock or coley for a more sustainable option.
Feeds 4 as a light main meal
Ingredients:
For the ceviche:
300g undyed smoked haddock fillets
1 serrano chilli
1 red shallot
Juice of a lime
Tabasco (optional)
For the pancakes:
120g coarse cornmeal
1 red shallot
1 serrano chilli, grated
Zest of a lime
Kernels cut from 2 cobs of corn
200g sweet potato, grated
2 whole eggs
About 100ml milk
2 egg whites
Stems from a big bunch of coriander
Salt & pepper
Sunflower oil for frying
To finish:
Juice of half a lime
Splash of olive oil
1 ripe avocado
Leaves from a big bunch of coriander
Method:
Remove the skin from the smoked haddock and cut it into thin slices, across the grain. Place the sliced chilli, sliced shallot and slices of fish in a non-reactive dish and pour over the lime juice. Sprinkle on a little Tabasco if you like it really hot. Leave for 45 minutes to cure.
In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, diced shallot, diced chilli, lime zest, corn and sweet potato.. Stir through the whole eggs and the finely chopped coriander stems. Add enough milk to make a thick batter. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold through the corn and sweet potato mixture. Season with salt & pepper.
Fry pancakes gently in oil (about 4 minutes a side – the first one inevitably falls apart and it takes a long time to cook out the sweet potato) and keep them warm.
When ready to serve, drain the fish from the marinade (discarding the juices but retaining the sliced shallot and some of the chilli slices) and combine with the coriander leaves and scoops of avocado. Dress with the lime juice and a splash of olive oil. Correct the seasoning.
Serve the hot pancakes topped with cool, fresh ceviche.
Alicia’s recipe is very special indeed. The contrast of textures, temperatures and acidity make this a real joy. The corn and sweet potato pancakes are so good that you should make a large batch so they you can enjoy them for lunch the next day with a zesty topping of prawns and guacamole.
Thanks to everyone who entered my competition. For more Mexican recipes, including the winning recipe from Steve Gale you’ll have to buy my book – Mexican Cooking Made Simple!
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