Wahaca

by wahaca : Thursday, 2 September 2010

Mexican Cooking comes to The Dock Kitchen

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

by wahaca : Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Calling all designers! Your chance to design the new uniforms for Wahaca Soho

To mark the launch of our new restaurant in Wardour Street, Soho, we are launching an exciting competition to design our staff T-shirts. Not only is this a chance for you to show off your creative side, but the winning designer will be treated to 12 months free food at our Soho restaurant!

Designs should be inspired by “Mexican market eating”. Good designs will be fun, stylish and above all capture the spririt of the restaurants. The winner will be chosen by Co- founders Mark Selby and Thomasina Miers. To see the existing uniforms and for more inspiration, pop into the restaurants or take a look around our facebook and flickr pages.

Key notes:
Consideration shoud be given to the fact that the final design will be printed onto a brown t-shirt.
Unisex t-shirts to be worn by both male and female staff. Designs should be sized to fit on an A4 page (297mm x 210mm).
Designs should be applied to this template and submitted digitally as a high resolution jpeg (300dpi) using the submission form below.
Deadline for entries is the 30th September. Winner will be announced shortly after this date via the blog.

FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS “Soho t-shirt design contest”

1. Open to all UK, CI, IoM & ROI residents
2. Closing date for receipt of all entries is 30.09.10
3. To participate, entrants must submit their design digitally as a high res jpeg via the blog http://blog.wahaca.co.uk
4. One entry per participant.
5. Entries must be the original creation of the participants.
6. Entries must not contain copyrighted material owned by third parties.
7. The winner will be selected by the promoter based on what they feel would be best for the soho t-shirts .
8. The Prize: The winner will design the t-shirts for the new restaurant and these will be printed by the promoter and worn by their staff. The winner will receive a years worth of meals at wahaca up to the value of £1200. This amount must be used in the Soho restaurant and will expire a year from an agreed date with the promoters.
9. The design must be the original creation of the winner.
10. All designs entered to the competition become the property of the promoter.
11. The winners design will become the property of the promoter
12. The Promoter’s decision in all matters is final.
13. Winners agree to take part in any publicity that may be required resulting from this promotion without further recompense.
14. The Promoter does not warrant the use of, or access to the site, will be uninterrupted by error or virus free nor shall it or its licensors have any liability for damages caused by hostile software which may affect or infect your computer equipment or property as a result of your use or browsing of this site.

Promoter: Wahaca, 66 Chandos Place, London. WC2N 4HG

by wahaca : Friday, 20 August 2010

Puerto Nuevo, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California

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

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by Tommi : Monday, 9 August 2010

Baja California’s best sashimi ever

I’ve just returned from the most amazing week of cooking, eating and fishing in Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico. An amazing trip where I learnt the secret to a great batter for fish tacos, how to cook mole negro and the delights of a good recado blanco (from the Yucatan).

Fishing was amazing. We went with Angelo, the chef behind Nick-San, possibly the best sushi restaurant I’ve ever been to. Last week we had the steamed head of a wahoo and some deep-fried seabass and snapper at his place with an evil habanero sauce, but that’s for another blog post. Here is him making up some ceviche and sashimi on a boating trip we went on…

and here is me eating, as usual…

Here is a plate of the delicious sashimi which Angelo whipped up in a flash (nothing to do with me I’m afraid, though the soy-serrano dressing I have made once or twice before and yes, it is yummy)…

Finally here is a picture of one of the beaches we visited… it is ridiculously beautiful and unlike my last ten trips to Mexico, this time I managed to get out of the kitchen and actually hit a Mexican beach! My first one in six years….at last!

Thanks to everyone who helped me make the trip so much fun! More stories to follow soon.

tommi x

by Tommi : Thursday, 29 July 2010

Meet Oliver Stone at “South of the Border” Film Premiere

We had a visit from the team promoting Oliver Stone’s new documentary about South American revolutionaries, “South of the Border” last week. They are running a competition for 5 lucky winners to go to the London premiere on the 19th July. We thought it would be fun so we’ve entered, and because we’re the kind of people who like to share, we thought we’d let you know about it too.

So if you want to be in with a chance of winning yourself some serious red carpet time, then head on over to southoftheborder.dogwoof.com and register. Good luck (Well atually, bad luck, because if you win, that means we won’t. In fact, sorry, ignore this and go about your business. Nothing to win here. Thank you.)

by wahaca : Monday, 12 July 2010

Free food at Wahaca goes through to the next round!

There were a couple of nervous faces around Wahaca yesterday lunch time, but we kept our faith and were dancing between the tables when we heard that Mexico had gone through to the knockout stages of the world cup.

Image courtesy of Sussepudim on Creative Commons

So, to celebrate Blanco and the boys’ progress so far, we’re extending our offer of free food for anyone who comes in to Wahaca wearing an authentic Mexican football shirt on Sunday, when Mexico take on their next opponents, Argentina. Whoever they are…

For more details about the offer, click here

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by wahaca : Wednesday, 23 June 2010

Burrito Burrito Burrito!!!!! Wahaca launches takeaway exclusively for Canary Wharf

Wahaca Canary Wharf today launches their exciting new take-away service for all those living and working in the local area to enjoy.

Using the soft tortilla as a base, burritos originated with wives bringing farmers their mid-day meals by using tortillas as wrapping. Now Wahaca does the same for busy customers who want fresh fast food. A meal in itself, a burrito gives the body everything it needs for the day, perfect for lunch on the go.

Pop in to Wahaca Canary Wharf and pick up a burrito or call 0207 516 9145 to pre order.

The full take-away menu is available to see by clicking here.

What bloggers say about our burritos:

“The pork was incredible and was wrapped with pink pickled onions. The tart, sweet crunch of the onions meant that the pork wasn’t too overwhelming and kept it fresh tasting.”

from londonburritomadness.blogspot.com

“It was great trying the range of burritos at Wahaca and I was surprised by just how nice the toasted ones tasted!”

from londonburrito

“We thoroughly enjoyed each one we tried, but were most impressed with the char-grilled steak burrito with

chipotle salsa and grilled spring onions.”

from londonist

“Favourites…included chargrilled steak and slow cooked pork.”

from onemilliongoldstars.com

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by cecilia : Monday, 7 June 2010

Mexican football dreams!

We’re all getting excited about the friendly match tonight between England and Mexico. A few of the Wahaca team are all heading down with a mixture of Mexican and English supporters.. luckily its a friendly match.

This made Julio, our Wahaca football captain, give his insight on the big games and chances Mexico will have this summer in South Africa.

With the world cup around the corner, Mexico smells like a safari, our black warriors are sharpening their boots, to achieve the dream of a nation, to play the fifth game in the southafrican land.

“La seleccion” are ready with their new striking black uniform to fly to the southern hemisphere, the hope of a country with 200 years of Independence placed in the feet of the 23 players. Preperations have been intense since the last world cup in Germany, exporting players to some of the most important leagues in the world like the Premier League where Carlos Vela plays at Arsenal, after being champion in the sub-17 and Guillermo Franco star of West-Ham Utd.

With a very solid defence and players that belong in the Bundes Ligas and la Eredivisie, our captain Rafael Márquez leads a formidable team. The creative midfield have a couple of young promises from TRI, with the likes of Andrés Guardo and Giovani Dos Santos, the star of the local league Cuauhtemoc Blanco and the terrific unstoppable duo that is Vela and “El Chicharito Hernández”, recently named by F.I.F.A. in the top six attacking duos in the world cup. The blacks are ready to get some leon tacos in the inaugural match against the host nation and intend to start on the right foot, and why not maybe they will play the final in the same Stadium?

Mexico is ready for the challenge that this presents them, and to show off a true Mexican wave to the opposing teams this world cup. Viva Mexico!

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by cecilia : Monday, 24 May 2010

Can you help us find our Mayor?

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.

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by wahaca : Thursday, 29 April 2010