Mexican food made tasty: Wahaca's Thomasina Miers on the joys of slow-cooking your own tacos

For years Mexican food had a reputation for giving non-natives a dodgy tummy and the best we Brits could hope for were stale nachos from an underwhelming Tex-Mex restaurant on the high-street.

These days that's all changed thanks in part to the opening of Wahaca restaurants in London, the brainchild of MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers, whose travels in Mexico inspired her to bring the delicious dishes from the pueblos to the UK.

"I went to Mexico for the first time on my gap year when I was 18," Thomasina tells us. "I completely fell in love with the whole country - the chaos, the colours, the smells."

"I started in Mexico City, which is just incredible, and then I began to travel and discover how amazing the food was."

Disappointed to find a total lack of great Mexican food upon her return to London, Thomasina set out to learn her cooking craft before opening her very own Mexican restaurant in 2007, which she reckons was a no-brainer.

"I found it quite fascinating that none of that amazing cuisine had made it to the UK," the chef and mother of two explains, "It seemed like such a glaring gap in the market."

"There's nothing extra-ordinary about me, I have a pretty similar palette to other Brits so why wouldn't they think it was just as delicious as I do?"

"My gut just said to me that this would work."

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Six years, 11 restaurants, two books and a television series ("Mexican Food Made Simple") later and it looks like Tommi was right.

Not only have quality Mexican restaurants like Wahaca popped up across the UK, but Latin ingredients like jalapeños and avocados have become staples in British supermarkets.

Mexican cuisine is full of rich flavours, spices and fresh produce that can be a little daunting for novice cooks so we asked Tommi for her top three ingredients that you should have to hand to start on your Mexican adventure.

1. "The chipotle chilli (smoke dried jalapeños) is a really fun chilli to start playing around with. They add a really smoky kick and a wonderful deep base flavour to your dish. They're so delicious, you can add them to stews, mayonnaise or French dressing. You can make incredible ketchups and chutneys with them."

2."Avocados are so healthy, so good for you - I try to eat as many as possible. They're amazing in the morning - just whizz them up with milk, squeeze of lime and a bit of agave syrup for a healthy way to start the day. And of course they're the main ingredient in homemade guacamole."

3. "I know they're not very trendy but I am a massive fan of beans. They're full of protein, so versatile, you can make so many different things with them. From a full-on butternut squash and bean stew with a coriander salsa to an amazing chilli. They're so nutritious, so cheap and so easy to cook."

Tommi also gave us the recipe for Wahaca's most popular dish - the slow-cooked, mouth-watering pork pibil tacos.

"We marinade the pork overnight in amazing spices and chillis before cooking it for four hours," she reveals. "You get a really soft yielding pork full of flavour with the pink relish on top."

For those of us who are put off by the prospect of cooking for four hours, Tommi insists it's not as terrifying as it sounds (but maybe save it for weekends).

"Slow cooking at home is such a joy because you just shove it in the oven and forget about it. I find it much easier than fast cooking."
 
"You can marinade your meat the night before, put it in the fridge overnight. Next day, turn on the oven, chuck in the meat and just forget about it. Four hours later out comes this incredible dish."

And what would Tommi recommend washing all these tasty treats down with?

"Of course tequila - it's my favourite alcohol in the world."

"Make sure it's 100 per cent agave and you won't have a terrible hangover the next morning. And boy does that drink make you happy - I dance every time I drink tequila!"

Wahaca is sponsoring MexFest, a four day Mexican cultural festival in London featuring film, food and art. For more information click here and for tickets click here.

Pork pibil

This is our bestselling dish at Wahaca and one of my favourite recipes from Mexico. It comes from the Yucatán and uses two local products: achiote, a spicy paste made from the ground red berries of the annatto tree, which turns the marinade brick red; and the habañero chilli, which gives it a lovely touch of fire. You can buy achiote online or from specialist shops. If you prefer your food not too hot, simply leave the chilli out. We use neck end of pork, which is marbled with delicious fat that melts into the sauce. For the tastiest, most tender pork, marinate it the day before cooking.

Feeds 10–12, but freezes well

Time: 3½–4 hours + overnight marinating

3kg neck of pork, cut into a few large pieces
1 habañero or Scotch bonnet chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
50g butter

For the marinade:
1 teaspoon allspice berries
2 teaspoons freshly ground cumin seeds
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
100g achiote paste
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 fat garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
large bunch of fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 fresh bay leaves
2 tablespoons sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 6 oranges (about 450ml)

To serve:
steamed rice or potatoes
Pink pickled onions

First make the marinade. Warm the spices in a dry frying pan for a few minutes, then grind to a fine powder. Place in a blender with the achiote, vinegar, onion, garlic, herbs, salt and olive oil and pulse to start breaking up the achiote. Slowly pour in the orange juice with the motor running to get a smooth paste.
Pour about two-thirds of the marinade over the pork, ensuring that it is thoroughly coated. Refrigerate overnight. Freeze your remaining marinade or keep it fresh for a week in the fridge (and try it with something else, like barbecued chicken).

Preheat the oven to 130°C/250°F/gas 1. Transfer the pork and its marinade to a large casserole dish and add the chopped chilli and butter. Bring to simmering point, cover with foil and a tight-fitting lid and cook as slowly as possible for 3–4 hours, until the pork is soft and falling apart. Serve chunks of pork in deep bowls with rice or steamed potatoes, lots of sauce and piles of the Pink pickled onions on top.