Santiago Lastra
Originally from a small town outside Mexico City, Santiago made his name following stints at restaurants including Mugaritz in San Sebastian and the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen, before he was headhunted for the Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum in 2017 alongside world-renowned chef René Redzepi.
Over the past three years Santiago has cooked in more than 25 countries, earning him the title of ‘The Nomadic Chef’. His soon-to-open hotly anticipated new London Bridge restaurant, Kol, will bring Mexican soul to British ingredients. We are desperate to try their new flavour combinations - from gooseberries and tomatillos to pistachios and avocado – delicious.
MUSHROOM TACOS WITH PUMPKIN SEED SALSA
Ingredients (4 tacos)
Salsa
4 Green Cabbage leaves
½ cup Pumpkin seeds
1 clove Garlic
1 pc Green Thai chilli
15ml Rapeseed oil for cooking
Water or chicken stock for blending
Flake salt for seasoning
Tacos
150g Oyster mushrooms
1 clove Garlic
1 Pointed cabbage
½ cup Sour Kraut
1 piece of Scotch bonnet chilli
Fresh herbs (watercress or other)
Flake salt for seasoning
¼ cup Toasted pumpkin seeds
Salsa
Blanch the cabbage leaves in boiling water for 2 minutes. Leave to the side in cold water.
In a pan at medium heat with a splash of oil, toast the garlic with the chilli and the pumpkin seeds until golden. Blend with the blanched cabbage leaves, water or chicken stock, strain and leave to the side.
Tacos
Cut the fresh pointed cabbage in discs of around 15cm and leave in cold water. Mix the sour kraut with the sliced scotch bonnet and leave to the side in a container.
Shred the mushrooms with your hands. In a pan at medium heat roast the garlic, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 min, when they are nice and golden add the salsa, cook for a couple of minutes and turn off the heat.
Plating
Place two spoons of the sauerkraut mix in the middle of the cabbage leaves and then add the hot mushroom filling, finishing with the herbs and some toasted pumpkin seeds.