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Mexican meals minus the meat...

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date11 June 2022
"It's one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and the foundations of the diet are corn, beans, the courgette plant, tomatoes, chilies and wild herbs," says Thomasina, 46

Mexico has around 50,000 native plant species (by some estimates), with some 200 varieties of chilli alone, compared with the UK and Ireland's 1,500 or so.

Protein often came from moles (a traditional sauce made from beans), "enriched with lots of ground seeds", adds Thomasina.

"The authentic way [to make it] is often very complicated, with 37 ingredients." (But don't worry, she has recipes with just eight).

"A lot of the housewives in Mexico make their own vinegars at home out of guava, pineapple or apple," she notes. The idea of packing your diet with a rainbow of vegetables is the focus of her new book, Meat-Free Mexican.

"I think we're really beginning to think about food as medicine much more these days, which I think is completely right," she says. Plus, "people are looking at eating less meat anyway, because environmentally, how much meat we're eating is a total catastrophe."

Thomasina - who won Mas- TERCHEF in 2005 and is the brains behind the Wahaca chain of Mexican restaurants (where 50% of the menus are now vegetarian) - says: "I love that ancient Mexican food and the modern way we're all kind of starting to eat, feel very in synergy together."

From plant-based versions of Mexican classics, like beetroot ceviche, celeriac and chard enchiladas, chickpea rancheros and cauliflower tacos, to vegetable dishes that celebrate Mexican spices and flavourings, like chipotle-tamarind baked sweet potato gratin and baked polenta with veracruzan sauce, her eighth cookbook (and her third Mexican-focussed) is, like all of her recipes, for "people who are busy".

So although some are longer, it...

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