I want to tell you about a meal that I think I will remember forever.
The Psydeh team, Will, Diego and myself all walked from the office in the very very cold weather (not going to lie, I was a bit unprepared) through the fog to a small restaurant, or better described as an orange room with three tables, chairs and an open kitchen (by kitchen I mean a table and a stove) - ‘Cocina Betty’ where Betty waved all 10 of us to take a seat.
Now, I had been in Mexico for like 4 weeks by then, used to the heat of the sun and with the risk of sounding like a drama queen - I was freezing, I felt like I had forgotten what being cold was like and wasn’t sure I would ever warm up again… okay maybe a little bit dramatic but anyway. On a mission to warm up, we ordered Pozole, (Photo below) a traditional meat stew with Hominy (a food produced from dried maize kernels).
As the food was cooking, the table was alive with conversation and laughter - the clear bond between every team member evident. The chef, Betty, brought over some tortillas, radish, limon to enjoy with the Pozole - well I couldn’t resist, started eating and I must say, what surprised me with Mexico is that nearly each tortilla you had tasted different, it had it’s own flavour. This one was up there with one of the best - Jorje said it was because of the maize (corn) that only grew in Hidalgo. The Pozole was amazing - the broth full of flavour and the meat super tender. Making 6 different portions and then another 4 different dishes seemed like nothing to the chef, she was working in the kitchen so harmoniously as if she was in her own home.
After I finished my meal, I started flagging, I was knackered and so was Will (we had been up since 5:30am). Trying to keep up with the Spanish was hard and making convo when I am tired isn’t a strength of mine and neither is waiting - then like he knew, Jorje came from the other side of the table and presented me with a dessert - well it’s like he knew me - when Mel is down, feed her…to be honest, when Mel is up also feed her, just always feed me! - Anyway, he asked me to try it and I was unsure what it was but I took a big bite and oh my god - is was BANGINGGGGGGG! Picture a bread and butter pudding but a million times better, it’s called Capirotada. It had the perfect balance of sweetness from the hard texture of the almonds cutting through the sugary syrup with the a light, fluffy texture of the pan (bread). My mood immediately changed and as everyone took a bite of their capirotada, the sound of the room became louder, we all started laughing. Jorge and I realised what we bond over - food - and that is how I became the one people looked to when the question of food was on the cards.
To end this perfect meal, we asked Betty to take a photo of us all and she went rogue and just decided to take photos of each side of the table - laughing and telling us how beautiful we all look and asking whether we are full, this was the end result.
To end this perfect meal, we asked Betty to take a photo of us all. She went rogue and decided to take photos of each side of the table instead - why not ey?