mexican food hamper

heretolearn_2

Hi

Want to do a Mexican food hamper for my son; he loves it, and loves cooking. He is, however, an absolute food snob so the big brand name 'kits' that are probably as authenticly Mexican as a plate of pie and mash are not going to do the job.

What should I get for 'authentic' ingredients and where can I get them? Or is there any special equipment/pans/gadgets that would be good?

I thought this book would be a good start. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wahaca-Mexican-Food-at-Home/dp/1444722395/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

fawd1

hmm. The only thing with that book is that its by the worlds most english woman. I know with me, it really irritates me when you get Spanish cookbooks by famous British chefs and they've messed with all the classics. She actually did a book about Spain and none of the typical Spanish stuff was there properly. She'd added all sorts of rubbish to it. How about this one?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dos-Caminos-Mexican-Street-Food/dp/1616082798/ref=pd_sim_b_3/279-0639446-3314763

Oh, and here for the groceries
http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/

Amanda65

Just seen this online. Have never used them so no idea about service or quality but it looks more authentic than Ol El Paso

http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/

Cross - posts!

kjmtidea

There are a few ideas on this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2791296

I would say put some skewers in to make chimichangas.

Uniscots97

What about getting chillis and drying them and putting them into a nice jar?

Archiebear

Don't forget the tequila, shot glasses and a Sombrero (even a fake moustache if he's up for a laugh)!

lika_86

Has he got some decent knives?

porlock

The Wahaca book is a great start - it's only £6.99 from The Book People at the moment.

Order it, and read it. There's a lot of stuff about the basic 'storecupboard' ingredients that are useful for Mexican cooking, and has a list of mail-order stockist at the back. I think if you take the time to go through the book, everything will fall into place.

heretolearn_2

Brilliant ideas, thank you, got a recipe book now so can glean some ingredients ideas from there and find them thanks to the suppliers recommended here. And the other ideas for bits to go with it all, thanks for those. And yes, how could I have forgotten the sombrero (have to go on a charity shop hunt) and mustache!

TylersMummy

I did a food hamper for my food-snob-foody Dad last year, it went down extremely well and he was so over the moon with it, so I'm sure your Mexican one will go down a storm too.

The Wahaca cookbook is an excellent one, I can recommend it, and even though she's a Brit, she is the first chef that springs to mind when I think of Mexican food.

I have no idea about Mexican food really, but maybe take a look at some recipes and see what the commonly used spices/herbs are and buy packs of them on Ebay? When I did my Dad's hamper, I went on Ebay and ordered a few grams of things like Star Anise, pink peppercorns, smoked salt and they were only a couple of pounds and came in cool little cellophane bags, labelled.

I like the idea of the dried chillis in a jar. How about a grow your own chilli kit? There are some neat little 'grow your own' boxes on places like I Want One of Those. I bought one for my step-dad last Christmas as he loves spicy food and he got a glut of chillis from it this year.

How about different flavoured tequilas? I'm sure somewhere last year I saw a Tequila gift with lots of miniatures but they were each flavoured with different things. Take a look at the BHS website - last year they had a Mexican/Chilli gift range with tonnes of foody stuff.

Maybe you could theme the hamper around the colours of the flag too, with the tissue paper, ribbon etc.

A little recipe book on Salsas could be a good one to throw in there too. I'm sure The Works had a little neat book on 'salsas and sauces' and it was only a couple of quid. I do have a habit of seeing things and forgetting where I saw it though

HTH!