On Saturday the 28th of May, we hosted our first Flavour Session at Chancery Lane for friends and family. Like any adolescent boy, we were a little nervous about our first time (hosting a food research and development session that is) but any fears of underperformance were soon quashed by the sheer pleasure of the day.
The day began with an ice-cold Corona (the best days always do) and a cooking demonstration from our guest chef, the lovely Marcela from Rico Mexican Kitchen. Marcela runs a successful company with her husband offering a range of authentic Mexican salsas, beans and cooking sauces. Originally from Monterrey and a wonderful cook, Marcela was the perfect visiting chef to help us experiment with new recipes – in particular: tamales.

Made from maize dough, steamed in corn husks and filled with pork, chicken, beans or cheese, tamales are an ancient Latin American dish that dates back to Aztec time. They are also a delicious, gluten-free alternative for celiacs.

After Marcela’s demonstration, our guests got the chance to try making tamales for themselves which was a really fun hands-on experience.

The most important part of the day was of course the ‘tasting’. After sampling the tamales and giving their feedback, our guests were also served quesadillas and frozen margaritas. The margaritas in particular required extensive ‘testing’ and certainly added to an increasing sense of merriment.

All in all, the day was a great success. As we grow, engaging our guests in our menu development process and getting feedback is very important to us. With delicious food, a free cooking class and flowing booze, our guests had an amazing time and we got to experiment with new recipes, new ideas and new techniques.
We would like to thank Marcela for being such a wonderful and engaging guest chef. If you’d like to get involved in our next Flavour Session event email: ChilangoFriends@ing-media.com