Celebrating National Margarita Day with MEXIco
Published On Saturday 25 Feb 2017 by Sticky Beak
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The Man Bird and I are huge fans of MEXIco restaurant located at Derby’s Intu Centre, so when Chef Johnny Hernandez wanted to celebrate National Margarita Day and invited us along, we were thrilled.
As soon as you walk around the corner you can see the bright frontage of MEXIco and it instantly puts you in a great frame of mind; then when you see the fantastic authentic Mexican artwork on the walls in all its vibrant glory you get another hit of the feel good factor.
MEXIco’s operations manager, Ben, came over to greet us and whisked us over to the bar where the marvellous Ryan smoothly placed two Pacific Margaritas in our hand. As soon as I took my first sip of the El Jimador Reposado tequila, Ginger, Lemongrass, Lime and Agave syrup heaven all my cares floated away. If this was a true taste of how Mexicans celebrate National Margarita day then I couldn’t wait to become a fully paid up member of the club!
A very charming man named Dave Thomas is MEXIco’s new Beverage Innovations boss and told His Nibs and I that he and Johnny Hernandez had been collaborating closely for the evenings events to pair different Margaritas with Johnny’s amazing dishes.
The rest of the guests arrived and it was lovely to catch up with several of our fellow foodies and bloggers as we all munched on bowls of stone ground Corn chips, dipping them into the delicious Salsa Roja and Salsa Verde pots.
Salsa Roja has a lovely texture to it thanks to the finely chopped onion; pair this with the roasted Tomatoes, Jalapeños, Coriander and Garlic and you have a brilliantly zingy taste on your tongue.
No less magnificent is the ultra smooth Salsa Verde. This Salsa has a slightly more citrus note to it thanks to the Tomatillo and Lime juice elements within it. As well as onions and garlic this Salsa has Coriander, Jalapenos and Avocado in it which is what gives this dip its verdant hue.
Chef Johnny Hernandez always says that the key to great Mexican food is the freshness of the ingredients because this is what is going to give you the great flavour that this cuisine is noted for. MEXIco prides itself on the authenticity of its dishes with many of them being recipes from, and inspired by, Johnny’s’ own family. No single taste dominates a dish; all the notes work harmoniously together to just give you that vibrant, zesty, uplifting experience in your mouth.
You can’t come to MEXIco without having the Nachos they are delicious, trust me. Our first dishes were the Chicken Tinga and Picadillo Beef nachos and I must confess to doing a little happy dance in my head as I saw them!
The Chicken Tinga really taps into the Mexican influence of the restaurant with its layers of pulled chicken, refried beans, melted Monterey Jack cheese, fresh Guacamole and grilled Jalapenos all piled high on the crispy nacho.
Everyone was won over by the fresh flavours of this little gem and then moved on to the more San Antonio, southern Texas- inspired Picadillo Beef variety. This obviously has a deeper flavour due to the beef component and it was equally well received by us all.
Dave decided that he was going to keep our senses on high alert and we were served Strawberry Margaritas with a Cranberry sugar rim on them. Wowsers, it was good! Normally I steer away from sweeter versions of Margaritas but the tartness of the Cranberry shone through to counter-balance the sweeter strawberry flavour and I thoroughly enjoyed the contrast.
At this point Johnny introduced us to one of his newer dishes, Prawn Ceviche, that he hopes to introduce to the new lunch menu in due course. This is a brilliantly simple dish, just begging to be enjoyed in spring and summer; juicy King Prawns are cured in Lime juice for about 20 minutes until they become opaque then served with plenty of fresh Coriander, tomato and onion. The result is a stunningly fresh, light, flavoursome dish that showcases its Peruvian heritage to great effect.
We were then served Pulled Pork Tostados, another classic dish from the MEXIco kitchens. The crispy corn tortilla was fully loaded with Yucatan spiced pulled Pork, refried beans, pickled onions and Queso Fresco cheese.
This flavour filled dish was paired with a classic Margarita from Dave made with El Jimador Blanco tequila, Lime and Agave. Again, Dave had sprinkled his magic sugar rim dust on the glasses; a very cheeky Tamarind and Chilli one this time! Subtle it ain’t, flipping fantastic is certainly is.
At the beginning of the evening Johnny had given us all a shot glass of El Jimador Blanco and because it is immediately bottled after the Blue Agave juice is collected its naturally peppery taste with citrus hints and clean, warm finish can truly be appreciated when you drink it. When we had tried it neat and then drunk it in Dave’s classic Margarita we could really discern its character, and it is easy to see why it goes so well with Lime.
For his last dish of the evening Johnny had revisited the central region of Mexico, and the stuffed roast Peppers were very well received by us all. After roasting, the peppers’ skins are removed then they’re halved and stuffed, in this case with minced beef and topped with vibrantly tasty Feta cheese. Again, the simplicity of the dish belies the impact of the flavours on the tongue and when it is introduced to the lunch menu you are going to love it. This dish is the ambassador for great food that satisfies you but isn’t going to leave you struggling with a food-coma when you return to work post-lunch.
Mr Innovator, Dave, gave us a brilliant liquid finale to the evening with his Hot Paloma (love the name) Margarita. This is composed of “Zapatista” 5 chilli infused El Jimador tequila, Grapefruit and soda. I have never tasted chilli infused tequila before and it is amazeballs, I am now addicted! You get a wicked hit of the chilli in your mouth and then the zing of the Grapefruit kicks in and it is just gorgeous. Dave put a Grapefruit sugar rim on this one to really crown it all off and there is no other word to describe it than amazing.
Sweet Churros calmed us all down again and allowed us the chance to finish off our drinks and chat about the fantastic variety of food we’d tried. I love creamy Dulce de Leche and spent ages scooping every last bit of it up with bits of Churro, finally resorting to using my fingers to get every remnant of it from the plate.
What a phenomenal evening it had been! I am so jealous of people that live and/or work in Derby and especially those that can take advantage of the brilliant “lunch for less than £10” that MEXIco do. Little ones have their own”menu de Ninos” that offers them 2 courses and a drink for£5.49 or 3 courses and a drink for£6.49, so they can experience the friendly atmosphere of MEXIco too.
Chef Johnny Hernandez was also telling me that he wants to do a MEXIco-to-go menu too because the dishes travel fantastically well. Can you imagine a warm evening with your mates; no one wants to cook but wants something really tasty, and tequila cocktails that are calling your name? Just a simple phone call to MEXIco could see you eating delicious food in no time at all, leaving you to get on with having a cracking night with minimal fuss. If only I didn’t live so far from the city centre; jealous doesn’t come close to how I’m feeling right now!
I can’t wait for the next Mexican festival to come along; hopefully the MEXIco team will want to celebrate that too!! Go and sample Johnny’s dishes for yourself, they are superb, very much deserving of Hot Wings :)
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