I’ve just opened my first restaurant, Wahaca, a 140-seater in Covent Garden.
If I had known what the work entailed when I started on the project nearly
18 months ago, I might have had second thoughts but, luckily, as in so many
other big projects in life, ignorance is bliss.
Finally, we’ve opened the doors for true Mexican food, which I think is a
million miles from Tex-Mex sizzling fajitas and cheesy nachos. For example,
the skirt steak is marinated in fresh citrus juices before it hits the
griddle; we serve our sustainable fish with a fresh, fiery green tomatillo
sauce; our free-range chicken is poached and served with delicious
ingredients in a taquito, a quesadilla, an enchilada or in our Sonora salad
with a slow-cooked chipotle chilli and garlic sauce (see panel facing page).
The name Wahaca derives from Oaxaca, a region of Mexico that is home to some
of the country’s greatest food markets. It was here that I fell in love with
Mexican food on my first trip outside Europe, aged 18. Searingly hot,
citrusy ceviches made the perfect lunch by the beach, with a handful of corn
chips. In the evenings, meaty tacos would be livened up by the punchy table
sauces that adorn every table. I became a dab hand at judging the quality of
a cantina by its table sauces, just as one judges a good restaurant by the
quality of its bread.
My passion for all flavours Mexican has ebbed and flowed over the years,
largely because of the lack of Mexican ingredients and cooks over here, but
it’s never gone away. At the same time I’ve developed an equally fierce love
of traditional English food, local produce and markets. So, I finally threw
caution to the wind and succumbed to my longstanding desire to introduce
proper Mexican food to the UK.
In search of small food producers
Last year I set off on a research trip to Mexico, hosted by the Mexican
Tourist Board, to reconcile my twin passions and see how they might better
fit together. I had no idea what a success the reconciliation was to prove.
Wahaca’s food originally took inspiration from the food markets and street
food around Oaxaca, so it was here that I started off with the help of Pablo
Muñozeledo, a Mexican businessman and member of the Slow Food organisation,
which seeks to promote natural produce and protect traditional, sustainable
methods of growing food.
My aim was to see if I could work with small producers in Mexico to supply the
restaurant in London with indigenous Mexican crops, but also to see how I
could use English produce in the restaurant, thereby limiting the amount of
imported food. Pablo was the perfect mentor. Many years ago he gave up a
highflying job in marketing to set up a food label called Aires de Campo,
which bottles and sells organic Mexican produce to the public. Today he runs
a cooperative of growers, under the label Yolkan Bio, which sells indigenous
rice, amaranth grain (see panel, facing page), hibiscus flowers – which are
simmered until all the flavour is extracted to make a delicious,
cranberry-like cordial – cocoa and honey, to name but a few of the products
that come under his umbrella.
Indigenous ingredients
While the traditional diet of beans and corn is extremely healthy, the
ever-increasing hold of multinational food companies on the Mexican food
chain has meant that millions have turned from a traditional corn-based diet
to one rich in cheap, flour-based Bimbo bread as well as sugar-laden fizzy
drinks. As a result, Mexico has overtaken Britain in obesity rates and is
catching up with the US. The multinationals may be trying to take over the
corn and wheat markets, but Mexico still retains a huge number of small
producers growing many of its staple foods. Where else in the world can you
find such a wealth of indigenous crops that include corn, chillies, beans,
avocados, cocoa, vanilla, oregano, coriander and allspice?
When the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived on Mexican shores he must
have been dazzled by the Mayans’ rich diet, which was strong on vegetables,
featured the staple trio of chillies, beans and corn, and was almost devoid
of meat. It was only when the Spanish arrived with the pig that meat began
to feature prominently.
Pablo and I set off to visit some of the small holdings. With his support,
farmers have been turning their land around and dedicating it to growing
amaranth, an ancient, easy-to-grow grain, rich in protein, making it a
wonderful vegetarian food. Amaranth was so important to the Mayan diet that
it was included in their sacrifices to the gods. When the Spanish invaded,
they found the idea so sacrilegious that the crop was banned. Today it is
emerging as a “new” superfood.
Amaranth is not the only ingredient in Mexico rich in nutrients. Cactus is
excellent for the digestion, fat-free and full of fibre. It has such a good
reputation for its health properties that it is used in fresh juices at the
markets as well as griddled with onions and herbs to eat in soft-corn tacos.
Villagers come from far and wide to bring their small-scale, often organic
crops to food markets dotted all over Mexico. You can expect to find at
least ten types of bean, from speckled to brown and white spotted ones.
Corn, free of gluten and rich in complex carbohydrates, comes in yellow,
white, red and blue hues; multitudes of different types of dried chillies
line the lengths of the markets.
Fish from sustainable stocks
Pablo and I made real progress. I now import amaranth and Mexican chocolate
and we are negotiating to import Mezcal (a Mexican spirit) and hibiscus
flower. We also discovered a small cooperative in Tonala, in the state of
Jalisco. Together we have designed tequila and beer glasses, which the
village makes from local supplies of recycled glass. Another cooperative in
Michoacan is designing us some lead-free pottery. In this way we hope to
support local people in the country we love.
However, buying locally in Mexico doesn’t mean that we can’t shop locally in
Britain, too. Thanks to global warming, the South of England has the perfect
climate to support chilli growth. The South Devon Chilli Farm grows its own
habanero chillies, which it transforms into a delicious, searingly hot
chilli sauce, which we will have on Wahaca tables for those who like to
spice it up. Another chilli company, Peppers by Post, will be supplying us
with Mexican green tomatoes and the poblano chilli when in season. It looks
like a green pepper but has a fiery taste.
Our fruit and vegetable supplier, Carmino, is based at New Covent Garden
market. Sadly the market pales in comparison with the vibrant markets in
Mexico, which are supported with huge grants from the Government. However,
we know that Carmino can buy directly from farmers all over the UK and we
hope that our support for the market will help it to expand, once we get
properly up and running.
Our fish all comes from sustainable stocks and is approved by the Marine
Stewardship Council. Our free-range pork is from Plantation Pigs in
Hampshire. We are hoping that our customers will appreciate the quality of
our produce and not mind paying a little more for it.
While we may get some of our sourcing wrong to begin with, and there is
clearly a steep learning curve, for now we are set on our course of Mexican
market eating, whether that is through the markets in Mexico or the markets
in England. I expect the vegetables that I can find to use in our Mexican
food will be a constant source of inspiration. This Mexican journey is only
just beginning.
Wahaca is at 66 Chandos Place, London WC2 (020-7240 1883; www.wahaca.co.uk
)
Mex and the city Amaranth
The green leaves and grain from the amaranth plant are high in protein as well
as containing three times more fibre and five times more iron than wheat. It
disappeared as a crop after the Spanish arrived in America but has been
revived as a nutritious gluten-free source of flour. It’s also used as a
meat substitute and garnish.
Ceviche Raw fish marinated in lemon or lime juice, olive oil and
spices, served as an appetiser.
Chipotle Furiously hot smoke-dried jalapeño chillis, used to add a
kick to pastes, salads, sauces and salsas.
Cacao First cultivated in AD250 by the Maya in what is now Mexico and
Central America, the cacao tree and its seeds provide the raw material for
chocolate. It tastes great, is highly antioxidant and thus earned the Latin
name Theobroma cacao or “food of the gods”.
Enchilada A form of tortilla – a thin round unleavened wrap made from
maize – fried and dipped in piquant tomato sauce before encasing a main meal
of meat, vegetables and/or cheese.
Hibiscus flowers A serious superfood and source of the healthiest of
juices, hibiscus flowers contain anticancer properties and reduce
cholesterol.
Mezcal The Mexicans say: “For everything bad there is mezcal, and for
everything good, too.” A strong distilled spirit from the agave plant.
Tacos Like an enchilada but smaller, filled with mashed beans, meat
and sauce and, if fried, this is only done after filling. Tacos are eaten as
a snack or appetiser.
Taquito A small deep-fried corn tortilla usually, but not always,
crammed with shredded chicken or beef.
Tomatillo sauce A sauce made from the tomatillo, a small green Mexican
fruit, similar to a tomato in its green state. It is thin-skinned and has a
delicate and slightly acid taste.
Quesadilla A snack consisiting of cheese and/or other simple fillings,
sheathed in a folded tortilla and deep-fried to melting point. PAUL
BENTLEY
Sources: The Oxford Companion to Food , The Times database
