a recipe for mexican food heaven
30 METRO Thursday, January 4, 2018
News | Deals | Round-ups
Good week
For… Red kites
The endangered bird of prey’s population is taking off across Denmark, according to the Danish Ornithological Society. ‘We could have 500 breeding pairs in a few years,’ cheered expert Per Rasmussen.
For… the Parisian homeless
Italian chef Massimo Bottura, whose restaurant Osteria Francescana has topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, has mooted plans to open a community canteen to serve Paris’s homeless. He hopes to open below the Madeleine Church in March.
Bad Week
For… Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar
Legendary for its brutal zero-star New York Times review, the Times Square restaurant served its last mac-and-cheese-topped burger on New Year’s Eve. No reason was given for the closure.
For… Agnes Chen
Thursday, January 4, 2018 METRO 31
The head of Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, Chen resigned after 200,000 new passports mistakenly included an image of Washington DC’s airport rather than the country’s own. Having cost £2.5 million, the passports are to be swiftly pulped.
News | Deals | Round-ups
a recipe for mexican food heaven
M
Get your taste buds tingling on a three-city trip for the culinary adventurous. By Richard Mellor
atter-of-factly called Mexican Street Food, this new nine-night trip from Journey Latin America uses a trio of urban bases – Mexico City, Puebla chilli-and-chocolate mole sauce. ‘Traditionally, this was served with and Oaxaca – to showcase the roadside delicacies of three different turkey on special occasions,’ regions. As well as the familiar tacos explains product manager Rafe and quesadillas, travellers will also Stone. ‘I prefer to eat it with chicken indulge in a host of new snacks and nopal cactus leaf, which tastes rarely encountered in the UK. a little like avocado.’ First comes the capital. Other Pueblan specialities Home to a mind-boggling include camotes (candied 20 million people, sweet potato), Mexico City also shortbread-like biscuits with a boasts food-focused San Juan market. pumpkin-seed glaze, chiles en nogada – Chiefly aimed at chefs and foodies, the pork and fruit-stuffed exotic offerings here peppers in walnut sauce – and borrachitos, include crocodile and wild boar, insects and which are tequila-infused countless cheeses. Among .Lethal: Dare to down. gumdrops. The final stop is the staple snacks are blue- .some local pulque. Oaxaca, a mountain city corn tlacoyos stuffed with fava beans and milk-coloured where beautiful arcades and artisan workshops are the norm. You’ll pulque, a lethal relative of tequila. wander around epicurean Benito Unesco-protected for its baroque churches, colonial mansions and Juárez market and have the chance to try the pre-Hispanic delicacy of hand-painted tiles, Puebla is also famed for unlikely sweet-andgrasshoppers. ‘Personally, I recommend the savoury culinary combos such as
central tlayuda stand, which is always buzzing,’ says Stone. ‘Messy to eat, tlayuda is a huge, toasted tortilla topped with stringy cheese and chillies.’ Guests will also shop with a local cook before learning how to prepare a four-course meal of plates particular to this corner of southern Mexico and finish by visiting a family-run mezcaleria to sample different varieties of the punchy liquor distilled from blue succulents. Also included are guided sightseeing walks around each city and an escorted visit to Teotihuacán’s mysterious pre-Hispanic pyramids. The tour is available privately, for whenever you want to travel. There’s seasonal food whenever you book but spring and autumn offer the most pleasant temperatures. From £1,751pp B&B, including transport, three lunches, excursions and accommodation in mid-range hotels, journeylatinamerica.co.uk
L at e d e a l o f t h e w e e k I s l a n d o f d r e a m s The mid-December arrival of new direct flights from Bangkok makes getting to Phu Quoc heaps easier. The Vietnamese holiday island has also welcomed new luxury resorts like Fusion Phu Quoc, a wellnessfocused bolthole offering free daily spa treatments.
Other perks include a thatched pool villa, the adjacent sandy beach, a seafood restaurant and large winter savings (when temperatures average 27C). Save £335pp on a ten-night trip, B&B, including return flights from Heathrow, transfers, two nights in
Bangkok and eight on Phu Quoc. Valid for travel between January 6 and March 20 (excluding February 15-24), book by January 31. From £2,630pp, turquoise holidays. co.uk
.Taste sensation: Try grasshoppers in. .Oaxaca, explore the pyramids in. .Teotihuacán (right) and marvel at the. .architecture in Puebla (bottom right).
Escape Escape Escape Escape
See the lights on Arctic tour
pictures: shutterstock
Escape Escape Escape Escape
Up your chances of witnessing the Northern Lights by taking a five-night, two-country Arctic Circle tour. Utilising a newly launched flight from Norway’s Tromsø to Luleå in Sweden, you’ll get to ‘aurora hunt’ in two separate snowy locations where displays are common. By day, the small-group trip promises a sea safari, huskysledding, snowmobiling and snow-shoeing. It ends, memorably, with dinner in a pop-up wilderness restaurant – hopefully as the Lights blaze above. Regular departures all winter until March 23. From £1,995pp half board, including transport, internal flights and activities, theaurorazone.com
News | Deals | Round-ups
Good week
For… Red kites
The endangered bird of prey’s population is taking off across Denmark, according to the Danish Ornithological Society. ‘We could have 500 breeding pairs in a few years,’ cheered expert Per Rasmussen.
For… the Parisian homeless
Italian chef Massimo Bottura, whose restaurant Osteria Francescana has topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, has mooted plans to open a community canteen to serve Paris’s homeless. He hopes to open below the Madeleine Church in March.
Bad Week
For… Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar
Legendary for its brutal zero-star New York Times review, the Times Square restaurant served its last mac-and-cheese-topped burger on New Year’s Eve. No reason was given for the closure.
For… Agnes Chen
Thursday, January 4, 2018 METRO 31
The head of Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, Chen resigned after 200,000 new passports mistakenly included an image of Washington DC’s airport rather than the country’s own. Having cost £2.5 million, the passports are to be swiftly pulped.
News | Deals | Round-ups
a recipe for mexican food heaven
M
Get your taste buds tingling on a three-city trip for the culinary adventurous. By Richard Mellor
atter-of-factly called Mexican Street Food, this new nine-night trip from Journey Latin America uses a trio of urban bases – Mexico City, Puebla chilli-and-chocolate mole sauce. ‘Traditionally, this was served with and Oaxaca – to showcase the roadside delicacies of three different turkey on special occasions,’ regions. As well as the familiar tacos explains product manager Rafe and quesadillas, travellers will also Stone. ‘I prefer to eat it with chicken indulge in a host of new snacks and nopal cactus leaf, which tastes rarely encountered in the UK. a little like avocado.’ First comes the capital. Other Pueblan specialities Home to a mind-boggling include camotes (candied 20 million people, sweet potato), Mexico City also shortbread-like biscuits with a boasts food-focused San Juan market. pumpkin-seed glaze, chiles en nogada – Chiefly aimed at chefs and foodies, the pork and fruit-stuffed exotic offerings here peppers in walnut sauce – and borrachitos, include crocodile and wild boar, insects and which are tequila-infused countless cheeses. Among .Lethal: Dare to down. gumdrops. The final stop is the staple snacks are blue- .some local pulque. Oaxaca, a mountain city corn tlacoyos stuffed with fava beans and milk-coloured where beautiful arcades and artisan workshops are the norm. You’ll pulque, a lethal relative of tequila. wander around epicurean Benito Unesco-protected for its baroque churches, colonial mansions and Juárez market and have the chance to try the pre-Hispanic delicacy of hand-painted tiles, Puebla is also famed for unlikely sweet-andgrasshoppers. ‘Personally, I recommend the savoury culinary combos such as
central tlayuda stand, which is always buzzing,’ says Stone. ‘Messy to eat, tlayuda is a huge, toasted tortilla topped with stringy cheese and chillies.’ Guests will also shop with a local cook before learning how to prepare a four-course meal of plates particular to this corner of southern Mexico and finish by visiting a family-run mezcaleria to sample different varieties of the punchy liquor distilled from blue succulents. Also included are guided sightseeing walks around each city and an escorted visit to Teotihuacán’s mysterious pre-Hispanic pyramids. The tour is available privately, for whenever you want to travel. There’s seasonal food whenever you book but spring and autumn offer the most pleasant temperatures. From £1,751pp B&B, including transport, three lunches, excursions and accommodation in mid-range hotels, journeylatinamerica.co.uk
L at e d e a l o f t h e w e e k I s l a n d o f d r e a m s The mid-December arrival of new direct flights from Bangkok makes getting to Phu Quoc heaps easier. The Vietnamese holiday island has also welcomed new luxury resorts like Fusion Phu Quoc, a wellnessfocused bolthole offering free daily spa treatments.
Other perks include a thatched pool villa, the adjacent sandy beach, a seafood restaurant and large winter savings (when temperatures average 27C). Save £335pp on a ten-night trip, B&B, including return flights from Heathrow, transfers, two nights in
Bangkok and eight on Phu Quoc. Valid for travel between January 6 and March 20 (excluding February 15-24), book by January 31. From £2,630pp, turquoise holidays. co.uk
.Taste sensation: Try grasshoppers in. .Oaxaca, explore the pyramids in. .Teotihuacán (right) and marvel at the. .architecture in Puebla (bottom right).
Escape Escape Escape Escape
See the lights on Arctic tour
pictures: shutterstock
Escape Escape Escape Escape
Up your chances of witnessing the Northern Lights by taking a five-night, two-country Arctic Circle tour. Utilising a newly launched flight from Norway’s Tromsø to Luleå in Sweden, you’ll get to ‘aurora hunt’ in two separate snowy locations where displays are common. By day, the small-group trip promises a sea safari, huskysledding, snowmobiling and snow-shoeing. It ends, memorably, with dinner in a pop-up wilderness restaurant – hopefully as the Lights blaze above. Regular departures all winter until March 23. From £1,995pp half board, including transport, internal flights and activities, theaurorazone.com
