It's The Weekend - The taste of Mexico in your own home

Mexican food firm, Wahaca, is encouraging hungry souls to sample the signature tastes of Mexico, by unleashing their exclusive sauces and marinades upon a wider audience.

The new range is developed by Wahaca co-founder and MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers and her team, in partnership with ‘All About Food’.

Inspired by Thomasina’s travels around Mexico, Wahaca was created in 2007 when she and co-founder Mark Selby set about recreating the flavours of Mexico’s vibrant street food culture.

Almost ten years later, the name is recognised as the UK’s leading Mexican restaurant chain with owners being awarded as ‘Restaurateurs of the year’ award at the annual Catey Awards.

The individual taco kits, priced at £3.69, are presented in colourful, vibrant branding, providing salsa, a marinade and flour tortillas with suggested recipes ranging from tacos to quesadillas.

For a novice foodie such as myself, the process is reassuringly simple. All you need is a choice of meat, fish, veg and a splash of oil (and 30 minutes or less) to create the tasty treats.

For those looking for a mild option, the ‘Tomatillo & garlic mojo’ kit comes with a garlic and chipotle marinade and a tomatillo salsa, making a mild-yet-tasty taco.

For the more adventurous, ‘Tomato & smoky chipotle’ sits in the safe middle ground – containing a smoked tomato and chipotle marinade and chipotle salsa.

The third option, only for the bravest spice-loving souls, is the ‘fiery habanero & achiote’ providing maximum heat and generous use of the habanero chilli.

The kit also combines the brick red achiote marinade – used in many of Wahaca’s most popular dishes – in its devilishly hot chilli salsa. Approach with caution.

For those looking to experiment further, salsas to marinades are available to buy individually.

Reflecting on the Wahaca launch, Thomasina Miers said: “We’re so excited to launch our soft taco kits.

“It has certainly been the year of the taco and so we are thrilled to be able to offer these simple, easy-to-use kits which will allow our customers and loyal fans to create a taste of Mexico in their own home.”

Speaking of the partnership with Wahaca, ‘All About Food’s’ senior national account manager for Tesco, Matthew Davison, said the launch was, in part, a response to customers “getting more adventurous with their cooking” and looking for “more authentic flavours from Mexico”.

“We saw this as an opportunity to bring the amazing flavours and vibrancy from Wahaca’s restaurants and the brand into Tesco stores,” he said.

Mexican Buyer at Tesco, Fiona Moss, added: “It has been brilliant to work collaboratively with the team at Wahaca on this special project.

“Mexican cuisine is a huge trend we see on the horizon right now and so we are delighted to have partnered with ‘All About Food’ for this exclusive launch.”

Wahaca Soft Taco Kits are available at up to 900 Tesco stores nationwide.

For more information visit the website www.wahaca.co.uk or search @wahaca on Twitter.

Piccadillo Recipe (Authentic Chilli con Carne)

• 250g Minced Beef

• 250g Minced Pork

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• ½ Teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ Teaspoon ground cumin

• ¼ Teaspoon ground cloves

• 50g Pimento-stuffed green olives, roughly chopped

• 70g Raisins

• 1 Onion, finely chopped

• 1 Garlic clove, finely chopped

• 2 Tins of plum tomatoes

• 250 ml Beef or chicken stock

• 1 Tablespoon red wine or cider vinegar

• 50g Flaked almonds – toasted

• 1 Wahaca Chipotle Marinade – from the Wahaca Tomato & Smoky Chipotle Kit

1. Combine the 250g minced pork and the 250g minced beef and then pour over the sachet of Chipotle marinade. Mix through and then leave to marinade for 15 minutes (or overnight for more flavour)

2.) Add oil and heat to just smoking point. Add the meat to the pan and fry until the meat turns brown and slightly caramelised

3.) Next add the spices (Cinnamon, cloves and cumin) and then season with salt and pepper.

4.) Next add the onion and garlic and then sauté them for 5-7 minutes until the onions have completely cooked.

5.) Now add the raisins then the 2 tins of plum tomatoes. Then cook until the tomatoes start to break down.

6.) Now add the additional stock and chopped olives.

7.) Next grate a bit of dark chocolate into the pan and a table spoon of red wine vinegar, then leave to simmer on a low heat 45 mins – 1 hr, stirring occasionally

8.) Finally add the flaked almonds and then your Piccadillo is ready to serve.

9.) Now you are ready to make up a delish taco by pairing the delicious Piccadillo with your Wahaca tortillas, a spoon full of Chipotle Salsa and a splash of sour cream.