A taste of underrated Mexico with chef Santiago Lastra
The innovative chef talks about his favourite underrated Mexican dishes and how he’s using British ingredients to create flavours from back home at London’s KOL, the UK’s only Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant
Where are you from in Mexico?
I was born in Mexico City but I grew up in Cuernavaca, which is a 45-minute drive south of Mexico City. People call it the ‘City of Eternal Spring’, as the temperature is always between 28°C and 30°C and everyone wears flip flops, so it’s a bit of a paradise. It’s a place where flowers and crops grow year-round, so it’s very beautiful, like a little pocket of heaven.
What inspired you to become a chef?
I never wanted to be a chef when I was a kid. My mum didn’t cook, my dad didn’t cook; no one cooked at home. I’m from a generation where the microwave was a new thing, so all the mums were asking themselves what they could buy to cook in the microwave. It was instant everything. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I found a recipe for a crab dip on the side of a cracker box. I decided to make it, and everyone liked it.
I realised that you can make something from scratch and make people happy, so I decided to start buying lots of cookbooks and booklets to start cooking at home. It was amazing to transform a normal day into a special day by creating new worlds and unlocking a craft. At 14, I went to work in a restaurant kitchen in Cuernavaca and I fell in love with it. I felt like I never wanted to leave and I knew I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.
What are some of your favourite Mexican dishes?
My favourite Mexican dish is huauzontles (known as Aztec broccoli), which is a plant from the amaranth family. We put cheese on it and whip it in eggs. We then fry it and cover it in red salsa made from smoked chillies and tomatoes. It’s incredible. It tastes so earthy and to me, it tastes like home.
I really like tongue, cheek and ox tail tacos as well as quesadillas with huitlacoche, which is like a mushroom. It’s a type of fungus that grows on corn, known as Mexican truffle or corn smut in English. I also love escamol (ant egg) tacos, which is a real delicacy. Escamol is often called Mexican caviar. I also love buñuelos (fried dough fritters), which we eat drizzled in a sweet guava syrup.
What should people do when they visit Cuernavaca?
In Cuernavaca, people should definitely visit the town of Tepoztlán. You can hike for an hour to the top of the mountain and the view is amazing. There’s a local market there where you can eat itacates (triangular corn breads) with all sorts of fillings like cheese or courgette flower. Sometimes they have about 15 sauces and you should try them with a mango and habanero sauce.
What are your favourite things to do when you’re in Mexico?
When I go back to Mexico, my favourite thing to do is to eat a quesadilla and a tamal at the local market. The markets in Mexico are so beautiful and full of life and colour. They’re very inspiring and so alive. Going to a local market, either in Mexico City or a small village, fills me with joy and inspiration.
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A taco created using British ingredients at KOL (Image credit: Anton Rodriguez) -
Lobster with corn tortillas at KOL (Image credit: Anton Rodriguez) -
Devonshire duck with mole at KOL (Image credit: Anton Rodriguez)
Finally, what fuels your creativity in your work as a chef?
My dream is to represent the meaning and quality of Mexican food around the world. I moved to the UK, where I spent a year travelling around visiting farmers and foragers, learning about how I could create Mexican-inspired dishes using British ingredients. That is how KOL came about. Today it’s a restaurant and test kitchen where I still experiment. We want to champion Mexico and Mexican flavours while also showcasing the UK’s biodiversity.
KOL restaurant is on 9 Seymour Street in Marylebone, London and is the UK’s only Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant.
