How Mexican Food is a World Leading, with Martha Ortiz

Ella Canta means, 'She Sings' So, Ella a woman i'm very proud of being woman and being mexican and i think you can see it feel it and try it for food you try this dish i think you feel these very feminine foods with sensualness with beauty you feel like the mole you know the holy moly that we call it in mexico you feel all the ingredients the richness the color the sensualness of having 50 ingredients in your mouth that explodes and you say wow this is the perfect sauce we are in a Ella Canta restaurant that it's a beautiful one with authentic mexican food we try to honor all the mexican heritage and all the beautiful and sensual food that has defined my gastronomic world we are in mayfair london in this beautiful location that recreates this design of mexico from the 50s and the 60s in a modern look designed by david collins he made a big research designer like escudero that were very famous in mexico at that time and do this kind of very elegant but mexican international look and i think he did a beautifully we have these rooms that there are different colors like in the houses of mexico and you have the pink room the blue room the green room and i think that that ambience goes here in Ella Canta the tables with this beautiful skin you know like maybe a jaguar where they were big part of our porter that's why we have this beautiful logo and you feel the power you see the sun in these wonderful lamps because i think that mexican food is from the sun so i think it's very poetic and fantastic people sometimes have a misunderstanding about mexican food they think that it can be like a tex-mex but i think it's more than that you know we have these beautiful dishes that it's not just tacos you know and tortilla shell i think mexican food we have the inventory of plates and the inventory of flavors through chiles through beans through maize it's fantastic if you imagine what mexico have give to the world you won't believe it things even that it's modern like chia like amaranth like avocado like cacao like tomatoes so i say wow mexico we have a crown in mexico we use fresh chilli's and dried chilli's and they are mostly the same. These are our fresh chilli's we have different colors this is our where dry and i love them we have washio we have morita we have arable we have pastilla we have cascadel if you smell it they all smell different they have this kind of different perfume that will announce the flavor there are some parts of mexico like oaxaca when we have pasilla nike that's one of the most delicious dry chilli's where the people put the chilli's to dry over the roof of their homes then they smoke it but they smoke it with the seed so nobody can have that seed just then and I think that's a wonderful way to to keep a secret and to take care of your economy in a way mexico has given to the world tomatoes imagine the world not just the italians without tomatoes i think tomatoes is one of the most fantastic things and what is very interesting in mexico is that we have all these kind of tomatoes everything with different shapes colors and flavors other great thing in mexico is the green tomatoes we make salsas with them cooked and uncooked they're fantastic with chilli's and herbs eat it you know just with lemon salt but we really adore is part of our our food culture other important part of mexican culture prehispanic was the insects they eat a lot of insects as protein and i think that gives you a lot of strength. They are so crunchy and so delicious salty with this very strange of flavor and for me what is very interesting is that it's ancient food that's going to be modern everybody's talking about that the future will be the insects. Here in Ella Canta we paint it in gold as a mexican jewel and i think you can wear it if you want it looks chic. It's like a fashion thing we really adore it you know i like UK and i love London i think it's so an interesting city with so much flavors if you are in a mexican restaurant in uk you have to use local products so we buy the fish you know salmon that is great in scotland and meat. In mexico we eat lamb in barbacoa in a lot of local dishes and lamb here is exquisite elegant delicious you know the red meat is fantastic now we're using cheese that it's local and and we put two or three together to get the mexican taste because we need you know this kind of smokiness at the same time we need that they melt at the same time this big flavor and freshness and i think that's delicious to make a perfect quesadilla we bring things from Mexico because we need it what is very interesting is that people want to grow herbs like in mexico you know epasote santa all these wonderful delicious very exotic flavors and i think we're making an impact you know in the world like we have made it with the tomatoes i think it's the perfect mix it's like the mexican cuisine the old and the new world together in a perfect symphony i grew up in a very academic family my father is a surgeon he performed the first kidney transplant in mexico latin america my mother is an artist she's a painter she's you know more in this art world and the colors and all the mexican every touch of great women as artists which I adore and I think these two worlds together you know the science in cuisine and the artists world combined perfectly. At the same time I was very blessed because my father received you know through lunches and dinner wonderful people very intellectuals you know the nobel prize the great painters like rufino tamayo octavio paz all these great writers poets painters politicians and i start thinking that food put people together that in mexican food our flavors are identity and that through food you can find a conversation and find the richness of the thoughts so i think that i recreate that moment every time that I serve. At the same time the Mexican flag has an eagle and the eagle is eating a serpent so imagine over nopales a cactus fruit you know and when i saw that flag and i was seven i said this flag is gastronomic i must be a cook you know this flag is talking to me so i'm inside with the years by i will be a cook but my father believed in this formal education so i went to study political science that i adore because he gave me a matter of investigation about what is moving in society what is the heritage and what is the future so we were talking about local products and we're gonna make this delicious tostada that it's make of salmon what i always advise is to cook a little bit of salmon and get different flavors from citrus. It can be lemon it can be orange it can be a mixed then we use this delicious black salsa that is made with ashes of habanero and we put it inside then we put these delicious fantastic profound chili oil we're gonna move it so we can have this black salmon elegant and chic then we're gonna use this beautiful tutostadas we're gonna use this mayo made of chipotle then we're gonna build this beautiful wonderful delicious salmon tostada we adore it so we're gonna put this delicious chile to look the fantastic thing then we're gonna use beautiful petals and if you like you can top it too with the onion in mexico we call it escabeche that is this onion made with herbs oil vinegar and we will put a little bit more flowers in different colors so you will have all the beauty that we need for this wonderful tostada then we're gonna go through the other flavor you use your tuna we put a little bit of lemon we put this delicious mayo that is made with sesame seed sesame seed come to mexico through spain because they used to have this arabic influence as you may know look granada you taste it with salt this is gonna be very simple but delicious we're gonna make one more sesame seed and to put a little bit of contrast i will put a radish and we're gonna use coriander crust it's gonna look elegant and beautiful 50 years ago mexican food was more in the houses more in more domestic restaurants you know run by two or three people but it wasn't fine dining i was very brave because i i opened a restaurant that it was called Águila y Sol, eagle and sun these Mexican symbols when I was very young everybody was telling me don't do mexican food and find dining nobody will go in mexico but i decided it was a great idea so i have this vision and the restaurant was more than too successful it it became you know something very important even in mexico city everybody has to be seen there and and i felt very proud of of doing that now is the biggest scene even in mexico people goes to fine dining restaurants mexican restaurants and i think all over the world now we are making a big steps and i'm i'm so proud for my colleagues i'm so happy for mexico and for mexican culture because food is culture is fantastic I just opened Dulce Patria we have been part of the America 50 best we have been part of la list twice we have win the first place of the best restaurant in Mexico, Dulce Patria so for me that's fantastic i have won prizes for my books you know and I have a new baby born that the name is Filigrana in roma neighborhood in mexico who is more you know relaxed friendly vegetarian even we have you know food for dogs that we help different associations i have worked all my life with a wonderful team i always said them that i'm just the director that they play the music I just say louder or let's make it more elegant and i think all recognitions are responsibilities that's what i say to my team let's go for more and let's keep it what I think now in the UK is that the Mexican scene is building very strong. I have tried very good tacos like in Mexico I have tried another view of tacos that more than modernity are more kind of American but I think there are very good places and shows with authenticity what is Mexico I always think imagine we will not have chocolates without the cacao we will not have even a pizza or a pasta without the tomatoes avocados that they are so in fashion today they come from mexico and i think that's a wonderful heritage to build the most beautiful as i was telling you sensual profound dishes and I think chilli picante you know it's making a conquest in the world i think it's so good you know it's delicious I think when you try a chilli It's like a kiss you will remember always

Channel: Fine Dining TV

Views: 9,430

Keywords: martha ortiz, best woman chef, feminism food, woman food, ella canta, mexicos best restaurant, mexican food, fine dining restaurant, fine dining mexican, best mexican in london, best mexican restaurants, best mexican food, restaurant produce, green tomatoes, mexican tomatoes, good mexican food, mexican food recipes, how to make a tostada, vegan mexican food, dulce patria, fine dining, michelin star, gordon ramsay restaurant, Travel destinations, feminist food

Id: feC9rFK3VlA

Length: 15min 24sec (924 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 22 2020