Time to warm to chillis says Wahaca's Thomasina

Called Mexican Food Made Simple, it's packed with recipes encapsulating Thomasina's passion for the food of a country where she lived for several years and learned to cook, as she told The Wharf.

She said: "The book is all about being able to bring the vibrancy and colour of Mexican food into your home really easily. It's full of really simple recipes, but they're fun and full of flavour, completely different from anything else out there.

"Mexico is inspirational. It's an amazing country, hugely regional and full of people who love to eat and love to cook.

"As someone who loves food that's completely addictive and captivating. It's why I fell in love with Mexico years ago. So many people love food there.

"It's full of incredible ingredients, it's just the most amazing country. The food is so varied, much more than we know about in this country, so the book is just trying to explain that a little bit.

"It's kind of a toe in the water for people wanting to learn a bit about the food."

For newcomers to Mexican food, what would Thomasina recommend they try from the book?

She said: "There's an amazing grilled steak recipe in there. But there's also lots of lovely fresh vegetable recipes for people who don't eat meat. Really easy salsas.

"I'd definitely encourage anyone to go into the salsa chapter and start playing around with chillies. I'm trying to demystify the chilli and explain a bit about dry chillis and fresh chillis. How they are not all about heat but rather flavour. It's so easy to get that into your cooking at home. Hopefully people will give it a try."

Thomasina, 34, shot to national prominence when she won Masterchef in 2005. She revealed she has an indirect involvement in the latest series of the hit BBC show.

She said: "Wahaca's going to be on the show later in the series, in the quarter or semi finals. They filmed at Canary Wharf and Covent Garden, so look out for that.

"Unfortunately, I haven't had time to watch much of the series, although I've heard it's absolutely addictive viewing."

Tuesday was a busy day for Thomasina, and her Wahaca partner Mark Selby.

They officially opened the cocktail and mezcal bar on the terrace of Wahaca's Wharf restaurant, with Mezcal maestro Ron Cooper giving a masterclass on the long-overlooked Mexican spirit.