Wahaca: Mexican Food at Home Hardcover – October 1, 2012

When in London on holidays my husband and I frequented Wahaca on multiple occasions. Being able to bring some of the yummy menu items home has been brilliant! I actually used a number of these recipes for a recent dinner party for 15 people and everyone raves about the flavours and simplicity of the food. I HIGHLY suggest you buy this book. If you're living in Australia, there are places you can find the special spices and chillies to buy - get online!

Love this book!!! Beautifully laid out. Easy to follow recipes. Definitely not a beginners book.

This book is great. We loved the restaurant and wanted to make our favorites at home. Some ingredients are hard to find (which is why I am giving 4 stars) but other than that it yields wonderful food.

Excellent addition to my recipe collection

This book has major problems! Many of the recipes make no sense – they include ingredients that are never used in the instructions or have a very non-specific instructions. On the plus side, it’s like someone is telling you how to make a recipe. On the minus side, it’s like someone is telling you how to cook without actually making the dish and making sure the instructions work. If you were actually looking to make dishes, I would not recommend this book.

Good recipes. Like the book!

Wonderful!Colourful.Everything so far is super tasty.

I purchased the kindle version of this book, because I'm really interested in mexican and South/Central American cuisine. And the e-book seemed like a good place to start.The author's love and reverence for the cuisine shines out in her writing. It's hard not to feel her enthusiasm.I am coming to the conclusion, though, that cookbooks are best enjoyed as paper copies, although e-books are great for following recipes if you already know what you want to cook. For leisurely browsing through, and seeking inspiration though, tree books are supreme.I did learn that much of authentic Mexican cuisine is not suitable for a halal diet, as almost every recipe contained lard, pork, copious quantities of alcohol, or all 3, lols.It's OK, I can work around that mostly, and substitute, but it's something to be aware of I suppose.This book teaches you that authentic Mexican food is so much better and more diverse than old el paso meal kits. Don't get me wrong, they have their place too, but they are such poor, pale imitations of authentic, cooked from scratch Mexican food.For those working with Asian chilli powders, its worth noting that Mexican chilli powders are far less spicy, and quantities will need to be adjusted downwards significantly if substituting.There was advice and links given for purchasing authentic Mexican ingredients like masa harina, tomatillos and arbol chilli powder.

This is a really special book. I try to buy cookery books only by people from/who have lived in the country or region they're writing about. Miers lived in Mexico and clearly loves the food. This especially comes through in the little sections dotted throughout which provide information about Mexican foodstuffs such as the many varieties of chili and even cactus, which sounds delicious. Also included throughout are pronunciations of ingredients/dishes which is a wonderful idea. I really liked this as it felt like a mini cookery course was included.I am vegan and find this book caters very well for my diet. In contrast with some books that foreground meat and dairy (e.g. any book with many recipes based around a hunk of roast meat) this is a book that focuses much more on seasoning and veg, especially chili, herbs, tomatoes and avocado. Whereas you can't really substitute something easily for a centrepiece of roast lamb, this book makes substitution easy. That recipe for pulled pork tacos? Replace it with jackfuit or Linda McCartney vegan pulled pork/shredded duck (available in any moderate sized Sainsburys). Fish dishes can even be replicated with tofu (and if you're feeling adventurous, a bit of shredded seaweed) or you can leave the meat/fish out entirely, replacing it with beans of some kind. A recipe including feta? No problem, Sainsburys do a lovely dairy free feta made of coconut oil (they do other dairy free cheeses too, though that one is my favourite). The recipes are wonderful and unfussy (even if you do make substitutions) and make it easy to cook delicious, inventive Mexican food at home. It's a real winner.

I've enjoyed cooking a number of different international dishes over the years,especially Far Eastern foods. Having never really delved into South American cuisine I was really looking forward to getting to grips with some tasty Mexican fare.Within the book there are some interesting articles on your required store cupboard items and even some suitable alternatives, and the photos of most of the recipes do look very appetising and well presented.The main food chapters are: Breakfasts ( a few drinks, a bread and three hot dishes); Market Food (probably the best variety of Mexican "snacks" you'll find); other chapters consist of: Soups & Salads/Lighter Dishes/Bigger Plates/Side Dishes/Puddings.However,I can't help but say I was very disappointed as I started to read through the recipes. As someone who enjoys cooking for smaller numbers on a regular basis, ie between 2-4, it became increasingly obvious the book appears to be geared more towards larger families or larger dinner parties.The average recipe is for 6 people or more. Yes, I know there is such a thing as scaling down recipes, but when lighter dishes require such ingredients as 3x dressed crabs; 1.5kg of octopus or 1kg neck of pork, you can't help but wonder how many you are feeding, and indeed most of these recipes are for 6, or even 8 people.At the end of day, I'm sure the recipes do work well and taste great. But do I really want to spend an age trying to work out what I'd need for the regular four person meal, and ultimately how much I'd waste? - Certainly not is the answer! Why the bulk of the recipes weren't adapted for 2 or 4 people so you can easily scale things up, only Thomasina knows! She does make a valid point about Mexican food being made for sharing, but so is Thai, Indian and Chinese, but I don't want to cook several dishes or large plates of food everytime I'm in the kitchen.I really enjoy her programmes and her style of cooking, so I'm tempted to buy her earlier book Mexican Food Made Simple to see if this is any easier to work with.As previously mentioned, the recipes do look great, and I'm sure they work well, just make sure you invite enough friends and neighbours!

I bought this, and Thomasina Miers "Mexican Food Made Simple" and having spent hours comparing recipes (many of which are duplicated across both books), categorising difficulty and how likely I was to actually make the recipes that were unique to each book, and deciding which had the better font and colour scheme I concluded ... that I would have to keep both.To assist you: If you like large type that you can read from across a kitchen then Mexican Food Made Simple wins. On the other hand, if you prefer a very comprehensive Index (that means you don't have to remember each obscure recipe title but can find things under categories as well as ingredients) then "his book is better. (Consider both contain roughly the same number of recipes: this book has an 8 page index, the other has only 4 pages.)(Or do as I did and find space for both.)

I used to travel to London on a regular basis and Wahaca was always my staple restaurant. Having this book allows you to cook many of the dishes to the same standard as the restaurants. Whilst many take time to cook down they are easy to make and incredibly tasty.I'd agree that some of the ingredients are harder to source and are required for the authentic flavour in the recipes. I've found buying them on Amazon is a good option and have included some links belowAchiote Past (For Pibil):  MexGrocer El Yucateco Achiote Paste 100 g (Pack of 3) Mexican Oregano:  Seasoned Pioneers - Mexican Oregano Leaves  or  Chillies on the Web Mexican Oregano 100g Chipotle Chilli:  Chipotle Chilli Dried Whole - 100g Ancho Chilli:  Ancho Chilli Dried Whole - 100g De Arbol Chilli:  De Arbol Chilli Dried Whole 100g Guajillo Chilli:  Guajillo Chilli Dried Whole - 50g Pickled Jalapeño:  La Costena Nachos pickled Jalapeno Nacho Slices 440g - 1 pack Tomatillos:  La Preferida Tomatillos Masa Harina:  Maseca Instant Corn masa Flour - 2kg There is a also good pack available with a few of the above ingredients: COTW - Mexican Chilli Pack (20g)Hope the above list is helpful - enjoy the food! MexGrocer El Yucateco Achiote Paste 100 g (Pack of 3)Seasoned Pioneers - Mexican Oregano LeavesChillies on the Web Mexican Oregano 100gChipotle Chilli Dried Whole - 100gAncho Chilli Dried Whole - 100gDe Arbol Chilli Dried Whole 100gGuajillo Chilli Dried Whole - 50gLa Costena Nachos pickled Jalapeno Nacho Slices 440g - 1 packLa Preferida TomatillosMaseca Instant Corn masa Flour - 2kg