British Cooks Try REAL Mexican Snacks & Ingredients

TL;DR

Michelin-star Mexican chef Santiago from Kol introduces British home cooks Jamie and Barry to authentic Mexican snacks, mezcal, hibiscus agua fresca, and chilies.

Key Points

• 1.Pelon Pelo Rico is a tamarind-based childhood sweet with a syringe mechanism. Made with tamarind, lime, chili, and salt, it delivers a sour, sweet, and spicy flavor the British cooks found surprisingly complex and fresh.
• 2.Hot Nuts are a Mexican snack with a crispy caramel-spiced coating. The cooks compared them favorably to British Nobby's Nuts, noting the double crunch texture and chili-lime flavor variations available.
• 3.Santiago's Kol restaurant makes its own mezcal called Primavera from pizorra agave in Puebla. Unlike tequila, mezcal is made over open fire pits and can be produced anywhere in Mexico; Santiago says 'we don't shot mezcal, you kiss it.'
• 4.Hibiscus agua fresca is considered 'the queen of the waters' in Mexico. Made from dried hibiscus flowers boiled with piloncillo or brown sugar, it is served ice cold and enjoyed by all generations alongside horchata and lime-chia lemonade.
• 5.Fresh habanero chili delivers heat around the tongue, while dried pequin chili coats the entire mouth and throat. Santiago uses both to 'customize the heat experience' at Kol, blending fresh and dried chilies deliberately.
• 6.Mexican cuisine varies dramatically by geography, with distinct chili traditions across regions. Habanero is eaten fresh in Yucatan, pequin is used with seafood on the west coast, and larger dried chilies for infusing sauces are central to Mexico City cooking.