Breddos: The London Taqueria that’s Got Every Juan Talking

Breddos: The London Taqueria that’s Got Every Juan Talking

SUITCASE caught up with Nud and Chris to hear all about their new space, their plans for the future, and to generally shower them in love for making perfect tacos a part of our new daily routine.



Not
long ago, proper tacos were almost impossible to come by in
London. Mexican
food has often been reduced to a caricature of Tex-Mex – messy
platters of sour cream, sizzling steak strips and unidentifiable
grated cheese. The light, zesty flavours and rainbow-palette that
defines true Mexican cooking has been lost on us. But ever so
slowly, that’s beginning to change. And as any lover of this joyous
cuisine will know, good Mexican
food
begins with good tacos.

Best friends Nud Dudhia and Chris Whitney fell in love with
Mexican cooking after travelling around the country, grazing at
roadside food trucks and feasting on traditional recipes cooked by
fiercely proud locals. They spent the next decade returning to
Mexico to learn the ins and outs of the cuisine, the core flavours
of which are rooted in indigenous ingredients like chilli, limes,
buttery avocados, corn and bitter chocolate. They found tacos at
every turn – soft corn tortillas heaped with marinated pulled
meats, fried fish and citrus.

Back in London, they set up their first Breddos stand in 2011 in a
Hackney
car park, to the sweet relief of hungry taco fanatics
across the capital. Since then, they have become the star stall at
Dinerama street food market in
Shoreditch
, hosted endless pop-ups and released a critically
acclaimed cookbook. Last week they opened the doors of Breddos
Taqueria, their first permanent space in
Clerkenwell
.

The menu will mirror their street food offerings, with their
signature combination of classic Mexican recipes, global twists and
British ingredients. Tacos include baja fish with cabbage and lime
mayo, fried chicken with fermented habanero, catch of the day with
salsa verde and pig’s head pibil with sour orange. All come with a
range of fresh salsas, muddled up each day. Their tortillas will be
made from corn ground in-house using a machine imported from
Mexico, and the drinks list will include local beers, Mexican cola
and craft cocktails drenched in mescal. There will also be
inventive sharing dishes like chicharrón (braised pig’s skin), beef
tartare with black pudding mole, Mexican ‘tortilla pizzas’ and
mutton barbacoa. Mother may we.

SUITCASE caught up with Nud and Chris to hear all about their
new space, their plans for the future, and to generally shower them
in love for making perfect tacos a part of our new daily
routine.


Tell us how this all began. What gave you the idea to start
selling tacos?

I [Nud] travelled through Mexico and just fell in love with the
cuisine. Years later, when I met Chris at uni and we started to
think about a food business together, it was a no brainer – we had
to open a taco shack!

You describe your tacos as ‘non-traditional’. How are they
so?

We’re not Mexican and so we don’t have access to ‘Grandma’s
traditional recipes’! We have taken what we have learnt from
travelling around Mexico and with that, used our own culinary
heritage and ingredients to create something different. This means
we aren’t being limited to traditional Mexican recipes and it
allows us to use ingredients that we find interesting such as
sichuan pepper or soy.

What traditional Mexican elements are you sure to keep in your
food?

All of our dishes do use traditional ingredients and spices from
Mexico and most are based around a traditional dish. We follow
traditional processes such as making marinades and salsas or
charring the ingredients over coals.

Do you think Mexican food has been misrepresented in
England?

For a very long time it has been but it seems that there’s now a
new wave of interesting and ‘respectful’ operators that are
bringing the vast and complex cuisine to the UK.


What was your first ever taco experience?

A fish taco a beach in Puerto Escondido – it was revelatory!

Tell us about the street food in Mexico. What kind of thing can
you expect to find at the roadside there?

Mexicans, rich or poor, will eat one street side meal a day. The
culture of street food is so ingrained in Mexico that it really is
a part of daily life over there. Every region has a different style
of cuisine and way of cooking. For example in Yucatan, the food is
made using marinades called recados and the use of Seville oranges
and habaneros is widespread. In the North, they cook over wood and
use flour instead of corn for their tortillas. One thing is for
sure, wherever you go you’ll find taqueros (taco vendors) on the
streets selling meat that is cooked or stewed on a corn tortilla
with an abundance of salsas to choose from depending on whether you
like it spicy, zingy or just plain meaty. My favourite is the Al
Pastor which you find in DF Mexico – spit roast pork with roasted
pineapple and salsa verde.

What do people tend to drink with their tacos in Mexico?

Beer, agua frescas (fruity water) or mescal!

Could you sum up the flavours of Mexican food?

Sweet, spicy, salty, sour, umami – all in one mouthful!


And what is the food culture like there?

I think visitors are opening up a lot more to eating street food
when in Mexico because of the quality of the traders out there
using great meat and seasonal vegetables and introducing the masses
to new styles of food.

In what way do you think British produce lends itself to this
kind of cuisine?

We have some of the best beef and pork in the world. Our meat at
Breddos Taqueria comes from Warrens in Cornwall where the cows are
looked after very very well, with great diets.

Why is the music at your restaurant such an important
feature?

Music has always been a part of Breddos from the back in the
days when we were in a shack in a car park. It’s something that
keeps the vibe going and the customers happy. It’s also a big deal
in Mexico where you can’t escape the sounds of the country.

What kind of experience do you want people to have when they
eat at Breddos?

Fun, relaxed and totally informal. We want Breddos to be a place
where people are comfortable coming in for a quick breakfast taco
and a coffee, a boozy lunchtime meeting or a cozy evening date.

What’s next for you guys?

Right now, we want to focus on making the taqueria the best it
can be and eventually open another taqueria! But before that, more
travelling to Mexico and maybe another book.

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