Photo from Askabir on Flickr via Creative Commons

Whilst Spring has forgotten about us in London, Mexico is blooming. Which is great news visually but also gastronomically. Using flowers in cooking has become quite trendy in Europe with restaurants like Roussillon, Bras and Wild Garlic using them in imaginative ways. So we were fascinated when we unearthed an incredible article about the edible flowers of Mexico which is accompanied by an MP3 interview (from a radio broadcast) and an awesome collection of photographs.

So, if you’re at all interested in Mexican, food, and flowers click on this link and drink it all in.

The Mija Chronicles

Sometimes you see a post and gasp. We challenge you not to be bowled over by this post by The Mija Chronicles about the vivid colours, smells and sights of Xochimilco Market just south of Mexico City. In particular look out for the frog leg tamales, pigs brains, gorditas and blue corn tortillas.

We’ve got a few posts up our sleeves about our trip around Oaxaca’s amazing markets and are looking forward to sharing them with you soon. There really are few things in life more invigorating than a Mexican market in full swing.

For more information about Xochimilco Market have a look at Wikitravel.

It’s hard to believe November has started. We thought about doing a round up of all the Day of the Dead and Hallowe’en posts that we’ve seen but instead thought we’d just share three great posts that help to transport us away from the gloom of November, to somewhere more exotic.

1. We got very excited when we saw a post abut how to cook Lamb Shank Adobo on Dinner Diary. It’s a great dish that they have done proud. Now we are in Autumn this slow cooked treats come into their own, but Mexican style!

2. World Foodie Guide has published a guest post about the food scene in Istanbul. You can almost taste Istanbul as it seeps through your monitor’s pixels. Would it be possible to do something similar for Oaxaca or Mexico City?

3. Meanwhile, over on A Slice of Cherry Pie, Julia has hosted another of her excellent contests that asked bloggers to submit their favourite Keith Floyd recipes as a way of saying a fond farewell. We love the fact that the Kenyan Goat Feast won.

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We are avid MasterChef fans. When Steven Groves, of Launceston Place, emerged triumphant last week, we cheered. His playful cooking makes him a worthy winner. Anyone who pumps smoke into a bell jar deserves to win.

So, given Tommi’s success on MasterChef , we thought we’d use it as our theme this week and see what recent winners and finalists are up to…

1. Steven Wallis, who won in 2007, is doing a demonstration at the Slow Food Hallowe’en Market of how to cook “an unusual and rich classic dish “Pepian” which has its roots in Guatemala and is normally eaten on “the Day of the Dead” (El Dia de los Muertos or All Souls Day – 1st November)”. We’re intrigued and are keen to pop down for some inspiration at the weekend.

2. Hannah Miles, who missed out on winning the big prize to Steven, writes a great blog called Hannah’s Country Kitchen. She recently launched a decadent book of all about baking cakes and cookies and is about to publish her second book called Sundaes and Splits. Can anyone see a theme here?

3. Matt Folas, who won last year, has done brilliantly. He’s foregone the usual route of being a trainee chef in big London kitchens and has opened his own restaurant in Dorset called Wild Garlic. From the website, blog and comments we’ve heard it sounds amazing and we’d love to try it out. It’s good to see another blogger in the restaurant world.

4. But it’s not just the competitors who’ve got new projects on the go. Greg Wallace is set to open a greengrocers in Putney called “Wallace and Co.” and John Torode has just launched a new restaurant called Luxe which AA Gill reviewed on Sunday.

5. For a witty rolling summary of this year’s MasterChef drama check out meemalee’s kitchen blog. It’ll have you laughing into your remote control.

We’re intrigued about what’s happened to all the other winners and finalists from the various MasterChef competitions that have graced our screens over the last few years. What are they all up to? If you have any clues please let us know…

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We’re getting really excited about Dia De Los Muertos which is now less than 2 weeks away, and we’ve got lots of exciting plans for you, so keep your eyes on the blog to find out more. In the mean time, we loved Ruth Alegria’s blog post, that shows some highlights from what Mexico City will be offering up, plus it gives you enough info become an overnight aficionado and impress the pantalones off all of your pals.

Now, concentrate everyone, another really great Mexican ingredient to learn about – The amazing Huitlacoche – Believe it or not, it’s a type of corn which has a fungus growing on it, that gives a really distinct flavour and an amazingly intense black colour. If anyone has any other recipes with Huitlacoche, we’d love to hear from you, who knows you could get featured on our menu?

There are amazing things happening just around the corner from Wahaca Covent Garden every Thursday, in fact we’ve been down to check out the real food market stall before. We thought that Naihm from Eat Like a Girl really captured the amount of effort that goes into making it happen, and we’re very grateful indeed. (We also thought the black bean and chilli looked amazing so watch out for us queuing up for a bowl next time!).

Like most food obsessed Londoners, we’ve been following the buzz around Pierre Koffman’s pop up restaurant on the roof of Selfridges, and Chris from Cheese and Biscuits was lucky enough to be able to try it out, have a look at the review here. If Pierre’s looking for his next free lance job, then he’s very welcome to help us out with our next burrito, Pibil Trotter anyone?

Our mouths were also watering reading about Helen from Food Stories’ trip to Brindisa to learn all about the differences between the Jamons on offer down at Borough Market – The lucky swine. We’re always keen to hear about how London restaurants are giving you lot a chance to get involved behind the scenes,and we’re busy thinking about how we can do something similar at Wahaca, so watch this space.

Thursdays in Covent Garden are market day and I was all over excited and hungry! It is great to have it on our doorstep once a week.

Carolyn (who does Wahaca’s product sourcing), Tommi (co founder and chef) and I all headed down for a spot of lunch and to chat to Niamh (@eatlikeagirl) at her stall to try out this weeks fare.

We tried some delicious Frank Hederman smoked salmon with Niamh’s own pickled cucumbers and chunky fresh bread. She’s spent the last few weeks pickling and canning her cucumbers as well as her home cooked filo pastries with butternut squash, spinach and chilli. We love a bit of chilli! All of this was topped off with a cheeky glass of Prosecco. hmmmmm…

We hope next time to try Frank’s smoked mussels in olive oil, which has come highly recommended… Niamh said she’d find out whether they’re available. Please let us know!

On to pudding…

I have a weakness for chocolate and other spoiling treats! We found this little stall selling mini shots of different puddings for just £1 – called the Dessert Deli. Chocolate shot with honeycomb on top was my favourite but I think the others were favouring the Crème Brulee.

Can’t wait for next week.

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