Forget curry, Mexican food is our new fave

Move aside curry you are no longer the UK's favourite dish. According to the 'ethnic' ingredients we're splashing out on, we're more likely to whip up a tortilla than a tikka masala.

Despite Brits long being a nation of curry-lovers, we spend nearly twice as much on these cook-at-home Mexican kits than we do on curry essentials and over the past year sales have gone up by more than 12 per cent.

The rise in 'proper' Mexican food has been boosted by celebrity chefs such as Tomsina Miers (whose Mexican street food restaurant Wahaca has expanded hugely this year), who have introduced us to tasty, satisfying Central American dishes, proving there's more to tortillas than Taco Bell.

[Wahaca at home: Mexican food made easy]
[Mexican hot chocolate]

And it seems we've been encouraged us try our hand at the colourful cuisine. Though this could be down to our basic cooking skills - as Mexican dishes are arguably easier to cook from scratch than curry, with it's scrolling ingredients list.

The stats don't take into account takeaways, which we suspect might skew them in curry's favour. But when it comes to home cooking, the sales list put together by industry analysts Kantar, revealed that Brits spent £101million on tortillas and £67.5million on Mexican meal kits in the past year. Compared to just £90million on curry ingredients.

A spokesman for The Grocer (a food-sector business journal) told the Mirror: “The explosion in world food is the result not just of foreign travel and celebrity chefs but the rise of a truly multicultural society.

"Mexican meal kits and tortillas are the biggest sellers in the world food ingredients aisle."

But though we're confident with our kits, Mexican food is about so much more than the tortilla. As Tomasina told us in a recent interview, Latin ingredients are now supermarket staples, and with a touch of adventure you can conjure up something truly incredible on your plate.

You can check out her top recipes and essential ingredients before you head out on your next supermarket shop.