Mexican Supperclub Recap

Last Wednesday was our second supper club at the Vegetarian Cookery School. This time we went with a Mexican theme to take advantage of the season's fresh hot chillies, sweetcorn, squashes and the last of the tomatoes and tomatillos.

The whole evening was spectacular, thanks largely to a great turn out from our keen supper-clubbers, many of whom had never before eaten Mexican food! I think they'll agree that our chefs Helen Lawrence and Jo Ingleby, both former head chefs of Demuths Restaurant and current tutors at the cookery school, gave them a pretty stellar introduction to Mexican cuisine in their smashing tasting menu:

Mexican Supper Club Menu

Totopos

(Homemade tortilla chips)

Green Tomatillo Salsa

Chipotle Salsa

Tequila Guacamole

Sopa de Maize

(Sweet Corn Soup)

with green chilli and sour cream

Tamales de Rellenos de Calabacin (recipe)

(Tamales filled with squash)

Served with mole sauce (recipe)

Handmade Corn Tortillas

With

Hongas con chilli

Frijoles Negros Refritos (recipe)

(Refried black beans)

Ancho cream

Poblano Chillies

Filled with Mexican rice

Tequila & Contreau Sorbet

Dark Chocolate Torte (recipe)

with mango chilli slices

With so many people new to Mexican cuisine, and a handful of oddly shaped hot chillies decorating the table (courtesy of our friend Dan who came on our Mexican cookery course the week before), the food provoked so much fabulous conversation. What's in mole sauce? How do you make a tamale? How do you season the black beans? What are these bizarre chillies? And how do you do a tequila slammer? (Jo stepped in to demonstrate that one.)

A few dishes seemed to inspire more "mmm"'s and "aaah's" than others - sweetcorn soup, tamales with mole sauce, refried black beans, and the chocolate torte with mango chilli slices. Lots of diners wanted recipes, which we've been dutifully posting on the Vegetarian Cookery School website with our other Supper Club Recipes.

We're still new to the supper club scene, but so far the experience just keeps getting better and better. As I said in my recent Vegetarian Living column, supper clubs are such a fantastic way to meet like-minded people - it's like going to a dinner party with friends. And as one of the few vegetarian supper clubs in the UK - and currently the only supper club in Bath - I'm so happy that ours seems to be filling a much needed gap for people who like this style of dining and our style of food.

But enough gushing. The important thing is: we like this supper club thing so much, we're doing it again. Our next supper club will be on 7th December where we'll be serving a Festive Feast. Menu, as always, will be a bit of a surprise, but will always be vegetarian, and always cater for vegans and anyone with dietary restrictions.

Related Links:

Flickr Photos of our Mexican Supper Club
Supper Club Recipes
Festive Feast Supper Club on 7th December 2011
Otomi - Fantastic source of Mexican ingredients in Bristol, including the masa and corn husks required for tamales!