Shownotes Transcript
Huge news from off-menu towers, James. We've just added extra dates for Off Menu Live, the tasting menus at the Royal Albert Hall. We will be there on Sunday the 15th of March, 2026 at 2pm. Sunday the 15th of March at 7.30pm. It's on Sunday the 15th of March. Two shows, 2026. Tickets from royalalberthall.com and ctickets.com.
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Welcome to the Off Menu Podcast, taking the egg of conversation, wrapping it in the sausage meat of friendship, rolling it in the breadcrumbs of humour, and baking it in the oven of the internet. Or frying it, actually, in the oil of the internet. Scotch egg. That's Scotch Ed Gamble. My name is James A. Caster. Scotch James. And together we own a dream restaurant. Scotch James Egg Caster. Egg James...
Egg caster. And every single week we invite in a guest and we ask them their favourite ever start, main course, dessert, side dish and drink. Not in that order. And this week our guest is Santiago Lastra. Santiago Lastra is an amazing chef, James. Yes. One of our favourite chefs, it would be fair to say. We've been talking about him on the podcast for a long time. We have. Since the early days. I'm sure we'll talk to him about the meals that we've had that he's made us.
both in his restaurant and once in his home. Yes. He has Cole, which is one of the best restaurants in London, fine dining, tasting menu, Mexican restaurants in London. But he has now opened Fonda, which is a more casual affair. And we are very excited to try it. Yeah. And we're very excited to speak to Santiago about his dream menu. We love having chefs on. We love having chefs on. You always get a little, you know, it's interesting to hear what the, you know, it's like,
Who cuts the barber's hair? Yeah, that's a good idea for a podcast. Write that down, Benito. Good idea for a new edition. We'll get barbers on and ask them who cuts their hair. Who cuts their hair? Benito's saying the other barbers. I don't know if that's true. Yeah, so there's a good idea for the podcast. We get a barber in, we say who cuts your hair, we get that barber in. Eventually, we're going to find a barber who cuts his own hair. Because who watches The Watchmen? Listen, I know that we're messing around.
But I'd do that. Yeah. If you want to make the barber podcast. Yeah. And it can be a limited series. I don't, you know, we'll see how long. Yeah. Because I say we record all of them before we release any of them. Yes. So we keep going until we get to the barber who cuts their own hair. Yeah. And then we release all of them as a series. Yeah. And it's one thing and it's who cuts the barber's hair. Yeah. And it's a quick podcast. So for you, Benito, in the edit, there's not a lot that you'll have to cut. Yeah.
He's agreed to it. Santiago Lastra is a wonderful chef, but if he says a secret ingredient, an ingredient which we deem to be unacceptable, we will kick him out of the dream restaurant. We will. And this week, the secret ingredient is Dairy Lee Cheese Slices. Alan,
Danny Dyer. Danny Dyer, yes. If you listen to the Danny Dyer episode, you'll know that he talked about eating a whole pack of Dairy Lee cheese slices sat on his sofa with a fan blowing the little wrappers everywhere. And look, I'd do it. Yep. But it's a good secret ingredient. Yeah. This is something that we can do now is we can just pluck secret ingredients from other guests' episodes and do that as well. So, you know, because look, is it the format point we regret the most in the podcast? Sure. Yeah.
But actually, Ed probably regrets more the fact he has to come up with a little intro every single episode and come up with a different meal. Well, I've definitely repeated some, haven't I? I must have done lasagna about eight times now. And if you can find all those episodes, tweet Benito and he will send you a side chopping board.
hopefully santiago will not say i'd be surprised but sometimes chefs come in and they're like yeah i don't have time to cook properly at home i don't have time to do the fancy stuff so when i get back i'm just going to have a pack of dairy cheese slices this is true shift and that's my dream yeah so it might come up it might come up if he says cheese slices we'll push him for the brand yes if it's derelict he's out i'd be look he's been in the uk for a while now but you
you know he is a mexican chef he was brought up in mexico i'd be surprised if dairy lee has reached its long udders over to mexico yeah this is the thing about this podcast is that we we can find out yeah we can find out how culture spreads around the world and how different cultures embrace other good title for different good title for another podcast do they have dairy lee in mexico a great question a great question a great that's like no such thing as a fish
It's going to be top of the charts, do they have dairies in Mexico? Yeah. Second will be who gets the barber's hair. I guess old off-menu will be in third place. This is the off-menu menu of Santiago Lastra. Welcome, Santiago, to the dream restaurant. Thank you so much. Welcome, Santiago Lastra, to the dream restaurant. We've been spending you for some time. Thank you, thank you. It's a big honour to be here. That's what we like to hear. Not enough people tell us it's an honour.
No, not at all. That might be a first, actually, for the podcast. We'll have to go back and listen to all of them. Benito just dropped his pen on the floor. Benito, we've just been told it's an honour to be on the podcast and you're dropping your pen.
Maybe you got too excited. You get too excited. I'm so excited to hear that it's an honour to be here. Let's hear what you think at the end. Why don't we double check at the end whether you still think it's an honour. Let's think at the end. It's an honour for us to have you on the podcast. We've spoke about you numerous times on the podcast about how much we love your food.
The skate wing tacos have been shouted out more than once. And the lovely meal that we had at your house, which was like, you just moved to London at that point? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was in London for about a year and a half or something like that.
until we found this place when we were doing some research to find out what will be the food of a restaurant and invite a few people when we believe that we're ready. When we're ready. Yeah. And I remember you guys were one of the first ones to try the crazy experiments. Yeah. Yeah. So then that's why I think that is an honor because it's just like, it's one of those things that you don't really know when you have like a vision of something that doesn't exist. And you kind of like,
you don't know how to do it. You don't know how to really make that happen, but you're thriving to create it. And the people that you meet along the way that support you at the beginning and at the end, all the time, it just really feels great how it comes back into being here, you know? - Yeah. - Which is great. - I mean, it happened, from my perspective, happened quite quickly from going from the house and then you did a pop-up and then Cull opened
And now you've got a new place opening called Fonda. It's not been that long that this has all happened. No, it's about like five years. That's a lot to happen in five years. Yeah, I think so. It's been quick. We also have COVID in the middle. So it's been, yeah, it's just so crazy. But yeah, it's good. Most restaurants in five years open and close forever.
So like to open and then open another one and do all that, you know, when there's a pandemic kicking off as well is pretty nuts. Is there a secret? Is there going to be other chefs listening to this wanting some tips of how to keep their restaurants thriving in the modern day? And this guy has opened two restaurants in five years in London.
During COVID. Yeah, I think the secret is to be able to have an open mind in a way. And I have the support of my business partners as well. And we all believe that you have to kind of be flexible and adapt. I think something that COVID really, really teaches us all is that you have to adapt.
And, uh, and that is what we did from day one. It's just like, okay, well, how can we do this better? How can we do this in the less complicated way? But we still trying to, you know, be successful. And London is such a competitive city and you have to adapt to the market as well. I just to adapt to the guests, adapt to whatever is happening, the produce, uh, the,
the media, everything, you know? So I think, and I think we are part of a generation that it needs to have that. Like, it's not about...
okay, well, things used to be that way. And like people have like a specific way of doing things and it's going to work forever. It's more like, okay, well, what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. So it's about adapting and having this mentality of change and evolving, you know? I think work. I think you did fill a massive gap in the market though as well, certainly within the UK. Like sure, Mexican cuisine exists in the UK, but not particularly, you know, there's not like...
I think there's an idea of what Mexican food is in the UK and it's not necessarily what Mexican food actually is. Is that fair? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like it's, um, it's one of those things, um, that there was a few concepts, um,
that the Americans came out with and they kind of take over the world with them. And one of them, I guess it was, I don't know, chicken wings. And then you have burgers and then you have, you know, like this kind of fast food from pizza to different things to burritos, you know? And, uh,
Even the pizza is like, originally from Italy, you get like Domino's and Pizza Hut and all these things. And then at the end of the day, Mexican food, like Tex-Mex food was one of those hundreds of concepts that they came up with. And it's food from Texas. Like Texas used to be Mexico.
a long time ago, but then they come out with their own cuisine and there is amazing Tex-Mex food in Texas. There's amazing Californian food in California, but it's a cuisine of its own. And I believe what the Miss message is that
that's not really Mexican food. And that is, Mexican food is made from scratch. You know, you can't get cans and just put them all in a burrito and wrap it. I mean, you can make an amazing burrito, but it needs everything to be made by hand on the day.
And that's something that I guess is lacking around the world. And there's a few people that are starting to do it properly. And it's just a cuisine on its own. And it's a story to be told, you know, in a way. And we want to be part of that.
kind of movement. So Cole, the original restaurant is like more of a fine dining experience, right? But then this new restaurant Fonda, is that more of a sort of casual, a casual space? Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then the idea is that we still work with a really high quality, really high quality ingredients. The same suppliers that we work with
Col we use them in Fonda, but it's not a tasting menu restaurant where Col is a fine dining experience. So now we're doing around 17 courses. So then you sit down at either you for lunch or dinner, you will have 17 dishes that every dish will tell a story
And we're using 100% ingredients from the UK. Well, almost just the chili and the corn we bring from Mexico, but everything else is from Britain. And we're in Fonda. It's more of an a la carte menu and it's inspired in regional Mexican cooking, but you will have dishes like a quesadilla or like a...
gringa or fish tacos and stuff like that, that are made, like are dishes that already exist, but they are our take on those dishes. Sprinkle some amazing ingredients from, and seasonal ingredients from Britain, but also we will use like olive oil and stuff like that. I mean, like in a way, like fonda is the food that I would make in my house here in London, you know, basically.
We always start with still a sparkling water, Santiago. Do you have a preference? Amazing. Yeah, so I actually was thinking about it. I used to be a really sparkling water person when I go to restaurants. But then I think now I'm getting old now. So I'm
I'm going to be a little bit more of a... You don't look old at all, Santiago. I look very old. I'm going to do a combination. So that's what I do normally now. Oh, do you? Yeah. So there is... Always cooking. Interesting thing. Always pushing the envelope. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
There is a very interesting thing about sparkling water that the gas that is in the water has, it gives you the feeling of some sort of acidity. So the fact that the sparkling water is slightly more sour will give you a little bit more pleasure, let's say, you know? Okay.
plus the bubbles, obviously. So what I will do is to have still water with a little bit of sparkling water, like half and half. Yeah. And a dash of seabuckthorn juice. That is this sour berry juice from England that I really like.
You'd be surprised to hear that's the first time that's come up. What did you say? What is it? It's called seabuckthorn juice. It's a berry that is the colour of your shirt, actually. Orange for the listener. Seabuckthorn. As soon as you walked in, I thought, he's wearing a seabuckthorn t-shirt. A little seabuckthorn boy coming in. Yeah, exactly. And it's the equivalent of having a thousand orange juices. So it has a lot of vitamin C. It's insane.
And it's really good. It grows here all over the coast in the UK. Very good. So you've got a drop of that. Yeah. And still water in first, and then the... Yes, and you top it off. For people wanting to make this at home, is it still water in first, and then you're putting in the sparkling water? Yeah, exactly. And then instead of the seabuckthorn juice, you can put a little bit of, like a squeeze of lime juice, or like a slice of... Or a thousand oranges. Yeah. Yes, exactly. That's right. Juice of a thousand oranges, put one drop of it in. Put one drop in. Yeah.
Sea buckthorn, I'd say, is one of those ingredients that I've seen on fancy menus. It's not really made the transfer into the mainstream. Exactly. There's some shops in Somerset that they sell sea buckthorn jam or sea buckthorn. So it's definitely going to get its moment at some point, I believe. But probably this will help sea buckthorn to...
become a thing. I mean, like at the end of the day, it's really healthy and it's really delicious. It's very sour. But at the same time, I mean, who has lime juice on its own? You know, like lime juice is very sour. No one will have lime juice on its own, but they just squeeze a little bit. So that's why a dash. The fact that you know that some shops in Somerset sell it, like
I think everyone, like, if someone comes to visit them at their house and is like, where can I get, you know, whatever food it is, whatever drink it is, they might know where locally it is. Because you're a chef. Yeah. If someone says to you, where can I get that? You know where in the whole country, because it's your job to know where to get stuff and where to get the best version of it and the best. So when we brought it up, you're like, yeah, there's some shops in Somerset. Yeah, exactly. In Somerset, which is nowhere near where I live. LAUGHTER
that sell this stuff and I know where to get C Buck for jab and juice and everything yeah exactly I mean at the end of the day it's the job the job is to know because you have to do a lot of these recommendations all the time so it's like oh where can I get this you're like but
But at the same time, you can always get it online. So you can buy Seabuck Turnjuice online. And they get it delivered. Like you can get it from Amazon or something. On the dark web. Yeah, on the dark web. No, the orange web. Oh, yes.
That's lovely stuff. That's harmless. I much prefer you saying there's some shops in Somerset rather than just going online. Just go online. Amazon is one of those things. But then you can just make it a whole trip. Just ask ChatGPT, where can I get Seabuckthorn in a shop in Somerset? And plan my trip. All based around that. I'll tell you what, if ChatGPT knows where to get Seabuckthorn, we are in trouble.
It is advancing too fast. It's taking over your job. If it knows where to get the best sea buckthorn, it is already overtaking most human beings. We are fucked. I'm sure he does. He does know. That's crazy. I use it quite a lot, actually. Well, not a lot, but I use it just to ask things about my job, like cooking and stuff. If you want a recipe, before, you used to ask
like watch like 50 YouTube videos that you don't know which one is the good one, you know, where now you can just ask whatever I'm going to make, like custard sauce, but I only have cream and eggs. How can I do it? And then it will tell you a recipe and then you can say, oh, well, I want a recipe that is lighter or I want to put mescal on it.
you know, and it will tell you. Does it work though? It works. And then you can adjust it. And then you can ask as well. I mean, I have an R&D chef as well. So don't worry Dan, you're not going to lose your job. It's good to have the tool of asking things that you normally would Google, basically. And it helps, you know, like also if...
If you think that something is impossible or possible, you can ask as well. Is that possible? And say, oh, well, that's not possible. Maybe next time. Chat GPT is like your Remy the rat. You can put it under your chef's hat, put your hat on top of it, and then as you're working, just be like, how do I make the best custard? And then it moves your hands for you.
I mean, not there yet. Not there yet. Not there yet. No, just like a references. References. Also for us, it's quite difficult for the team to research about, well, things in Spanish, you know, because a lot of information of Mexican cooking, Mexican food is available in Spanish, like not a lot in English. So then like that, you can ask something and it will just search in every language. So it doesn't search...
search only in English where that is something that you will normally struggle or if you want to buy a spoon you know like I want to buy a spoon so you know like you're going to buy like a beautiful spoon yeah then if you type it's really interesting because if you type I mean it's going to be very boring but anyways the thing is that the old pen dropping boy will edit this out if he wants to they can always take this out but anyways the thing is that if you want to buy like a beautiful small spoon it's more difficult in English
You have to search like in Japanese or in like, or in Dutch. Like Dutch are really good at cutlery. So if you search for cutlery in Dutch, you will have more options. Or in French, you'll have different options. In English, you will have like a bigger cutlery. I have just played that my whole life. That is interesting.
I had no idea that if you want a nice spoon, you can't search in English. It explains everything. All our spoons are shit. Ed, with all due respect, I've been to your house. You can't enjoy the travesty.
It is. It makes me ashamed to know you. No offense to English moons. You know, I love English moons. Publums or bread! Publums or bread, Santiago Lastr! Publums or bread! I always say bread. In Mexico, obviously, we have tortillas. So they are a bread made with corn. Yeah, so that's something that I love. But something that you could probably get a little bit more of a...
of like a dish I like is going to sound really niche. I don't want to be too niche in this conversation. You're the chef! No, no, niche away, please. Yeah, so there is this Georgian bread that is called Hachipure. It's amazing. So it's like a, it looks like a boat. That is a bread baked in the shape of a boat. And in the corners you have a stuffed crust.
of this like amazing fresh cheese that is like a mozzarella, but a little bit more like stringy and with more acidity. And then in the middle of this boat, you have egg yolk, more cheese and clarified butter. And then what you do is to take the crust without like breaking the boat and then kind of dip it
into the egg yolk. And if it's my last meal, I was thinking to pimp that up with sea urchins. - Wow. - Yeah. So that's what I was thinking. I never try it, but I think, I mean, if you just can just dream whatever you want. I've been in Georgia a few times. I used to live in different places in Eastern Europe.
and making research. And that was one of the things that you're like, oh my God, like if you haven't had a Hachipuri, I recommend you because it's like life changing. I've had it a couple of times. There's some good Georgian restaurants in London, actually, in North London. And it is just because, you know, you look at it and you go, why have I been eating just plain bread? Yeah, exactly. Get an egg in it. Pop some cheese in it, for God's sake. Yeah. And butter. Yeah. And the butter. And sea urchins. Yeah.
And sea urchins. That's your addition to the sea urchins. That's you pimping them up. See, what I love about this already, Santiago, is quite often when we have problems
proper high-end chefs on or food critics, you know, people of your standing, they'll often go like, I just want simple, just something simple, you know? But I like that you've come in here and you've gone, I'm putting sea urchins on it. I like that you're not a liar. All those other people are liars. I'm like, oh, if you love them so much, why aren't you making that all the time? Yeah. No, but that's the thing that I was thinking because I eat quite a lot of Japanese food all the time. Yeah.
And I was thinking like, well, should I just have sushi or like, I don't know, like a miso soup or like tacos or something? But then fried chicken, you can have that all the time. So if it's your last meal. Well, this isn't your last one. This is your dream meal. But it still is. It's the same thing. If your dream meal is your last meal, then that's fine. Yeah, if you want to die at the end of this.
We can make it happen. Can we do that? Yeah, sure. How do you want to die? Yeah. Okay, that's fine. How do you want to die, mate? No, it's fine. Okay, well, we don't die then. It's fine. Well, I feel better now already. I still think it's a good way to approach it. Of going like, just really go for it. Your dream meal, I think, needs to be some sort of your last meal. Because otherwise it's just so hard to think.
what's the dream meal? Yeah. So then if you're like, okay, well, that's the ultimate. Yeah. The ultimate meal. Because then you'll never top it afterwards. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's it. Yeah. What's the point of living after you've had this meal? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's the one. Yeah. What, um...
Is it similar, this bread? I had something when I was in, I think, Washington, D.C., that was like this, but it was called like Pied or something, P-I-E-D, it was. Yeah, the Turkish. Pida? Maybe, no, what? Pida bread? No, not Pida bread. No, P-I-D-E is Pida bread, but it is Turkish. But it had the similar thing in it, it was like. But it's more like flat, maybe similar. No, it was like a boat, man.
Like a boat? No, I'm going to search food in my photos. In the middle. Was it like canoe shapes? Yes. So maybe that's the one. Yes, I think it was like a canoe. Fast food. Wow. If you search food in my photos, it comes up with a load of stuff. There you go. That's what I had. Yeah, that's similar. But then you will have like an egg yolk.
in the middle and then instead of having the cheese like so much cheese yeah it's less cheese so you don't really see it and the egg yolk is floating in clarified butter but it's similar it's similar i guess there's good you know i think it's just there's different types but that's what's exciting about world cuisine sometimes is that there's countries that are near each other or that you can see how things have been taken to other countries and changed and there's like
Yeah, so that must be a similar thing. Yeah. But that's good memory skills down there. Well, over there. Talk us through the addition of the sea urchin as well. That's your idea, right? Yeah. Why did you want to add the sea urchin? I was just thinking, I just love sea urchin. Yeah. And, uh,
And it's one of those things that, like, I think the seer ching had this like egg yolk kind of texture that it melts in your mouth, but it also had this intense sea flavor. And there's this, like, sometimes when you think about food, you...
have references as you have reference. So sometimes you have these, I don't know, these like flat breads with anchovies, you know, that's really like traditional around here. So then you have this bread with an intense fish flavor. So what I was thinking is to, why not to add more creaminess to the creaminess?
and this incredible sea flavor to make it more luxurious. You know what's going to happen now is the people who listen to this, that sounds delicious. They're going to go to your restaurants and be like, where's that amazing Georgian sea urchin bread that we heard about? Is it on the menu? You're right, it's not on the menu. But I mean, maybe open request. I could do it.
At home, probably. Well, you need to store some cereal chips. You do a special night at Fonda where you cook this entire dream menu. Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, that would be sick. For a small... That would be sick. A small, selective dining audience. Yeah, that would be sick. Only people who can keep hold of their pens are allowed in. Like when we... So just for the listener, we have mentioned this before. So you were renting a house in... Was it in Ealing? East Acton. East Acton. And you were doing research and development for all the dishes for Cole. Yeah. And...
what you did was is you ripped out the whole kitchen and put a professional kitchen in it yeah and you didn't tell the landlord yes just like when I ripped out my living room and put a comedy club in there laughing
- Yeah, so I didn't have a kitchen. I moved here and I had like couple of years, well, like one year and a half of like just putting the concept together and traveling around the UK just to find, just understand a little bit more of the ingredients, the nature, meeting people, and then going to restaurants, et cetera. And then after that, I met my business partners and they were like, "Okay, well, we need to try the food." And I was like, "Well, I don't have the food yet."
The food is going to happen, but I need to do some research. While we were finding this location, because here in London it takes forever to get a site. Yeah. I was like, okay, well, I need to move somewhere where I can have like this kitchen space.
And that's what we did. So then I moved, my brother and I, we moved to that place. And then downstairs, yeah, we transformed this like kitchen, living room and dining room into one kitchen. Yeah. So we put like some professional fridges there and there's some tabletops and the kitchen
of the house became the pot wash area. So that was only for making pot, like washing the dishes. And then in the backyard, we put the, we set a tent with like a wooden floor and, uh, and there was the dining room. So it was like a whole thing. At the end of the day, it was our, you know, just like a pimped. It's like the same as the Hachipure, you know, we put searching on it. It's cooking at home, but with some professional kit. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, you need to get immersed in
when you are creating something, you need to be there. So I remember I had this chalkboard downstairs, just waking up and just writing ideas and maybe blending something at three in the morning. So it was like this immersion process because at the beginning, nothing really tastes good. It took...
I will do in like 14, 16 dishes a week. Wow. And it's just, it was just not good until, I mean, I guess it happens similar with the jokes, no? Like sometimes, no, like not good at the beginning, but then you have to like train yourself to be able to, you know, like, uh, pull out a joke, let's say, you know, and, uh, and that is kind of what happened in that place. Yeah. Just this, this training. And then after that, we just started doing these dinners and, uh,
And I remember my PR company was like, what? Like, you're going to bring like a bunch of like high profile people and journalists to East Acton, to this house. And me and James. And two idiots. Who literally couldn't believe their luck. Yeah.
And they will. And but like, thankfully, everyone said yes. And everyone was really like it was really unusual, you know, because he wasn't like, OK, well, we're going to go to this pre-opening of a restaurant in Mayfair. You know, it was more like, OK, well, you guys going to get your way into that location in this random house and and then we'll see what happened with no
It was like IKEA furniture outside and some things that we bought in Facebook market, you know, like to have like this, like a couch and, you know, like whatever cheap glasses we had. Like it wasn't like anything fancy, but the idea was the important thing. It felt pretty fancy to us, I'll be honest. It was quite early in the life of this podcast as well, I think. It was. We weren't, and you know, we actually, we don't get invited to loads of like stuff.
stuff like that very regularly anyway even now but like Ed does Ed's on Instagram there's something in it it's through email normally yeah yeah yeah but they they know you're going to post about it yeah yeah yeah yeah right you know you've got to scratch their back
You've got to play the game. That's why I only say yes to ones that I know I'm going to like anyway. Yeah, good stuff. Yeah, but I think it's very important to be part of a wider community, like not only inviting people that are like restaurateurs or chefs or journalists, also to get to connect with other people because at the end of the day, the restaurant is not going to have only...
chefs eating there you know like it's not I mean like it's amazing when someone from the industry comes because we get excited because you know like we are you know part of the same industry but at the end of the day you have like guests that are like from all different backgrounds you know so and then also it's just great to meet cool people like you guys you know so yes yes it is
Your dream starter, Santiago. So the dream starter is a combination. So we have one that is just like a very simple agua chile. So agua chile means water and chile. And it's this, is this like a seafood? Like traditionally, is this seafood like bucket of like, it's like a big bucket or like a water glass with like big jug of seafood with cucumber juice and chile in it.
and lime juice and different things. So then I will, I will say I would love to have it with, I mean, it's going to sound really strange, but not strange, but,
Anyways, it's a pink snail. So we have in Mexico, we have this amazing snail that is the conch. So you know, these like big snails, sea snail. So inside the flesh is pink and it's, and the texture is like having like the creamiest melon, you know, that you can imagine. So then that and a little bit of onion and maybe avocado.
And then that will be kind of my agua chile. So this is something fresh. You have to have something fresh. And then that's just on the side. Okay.
And then the main starter will be these lobster tacos. So in Baja, in Baja, California, it's one of the best experiences I ever had. So there is a place called Puerto Nuevo that is around 40 minutes south of Tijuana.
in Baja California. So what they do there is they go and fish the lobsters and they cut them in half. And then they have this big wok, like massive wok, where they put pork fat on them, on the wok. And they cook it in the open fire on the beach. And then they open the lobsters and they cook them from the shell side first.
And then when they're like almost perfectly cooked, they flip them over. And then the middle of the lobster gets like crispy and super golden, but still super juicy. So they give you a whole lobster like that with some flour tortillas that they do with wheat flour and pork fat that they roll in there in the beach as well. And they cook them there with some rice and some beans and salsa. The idea is that they give you a plate. You take the lobster, you scoop it out whole.
the whole half of the lobster and you make like your own kind of wrap and you put rice on it, beans, and then the salsa on top and you eat it and it just, you cry. Yeah, it's just tears, you know, like tears of joy. I see Ed, so my peripheral vision now, I was looking at you, but every time you would get like to another detail, Ed's body would just move.
as one like he was like oh my he nearly cried at the description man oh man no he's really he's real he's real I was there I was there with you yeah at the campfire I was the mobster at one point
I was completely, I was the lobster, I was you, I was someone else, I was the sea. No, but it is just a real experience, you know, and it's something that sometimes I'll be like, oh, I wish I was there. And it gives you hope, you know, it's just a great, great thing. And, you know, like you can't do it anywhere else. But I mean, I think in this dream meal, you can travel to different places. Yeah. So then if you go there to have the starter, then we go somewhere else. Yeah. Yeah, of course.
Ed, can you guess what I want to ask about? The main thing I'd like to ask about out of all of the things Santiago just said? Oh, I don't know. Sorry, I was so transfixed. The conch. You want to know about the pink snail? Yes. The creamy melon snail. Yes, because how long have people been eating that? Because I would guess the big snail that lives in the sea for ages was getting away with not being eaten.
I imagine for a while he was like at the bottom of the sea massive snail safe in his shell going no one knows I taste like a creamy melon no one has any idea I taste like a creamy melon but you think the snail knows instinctively that it tastes like a creamy melon maybe in between snails they know yeah he's like I taste like a creamy melon and no one knows it
I'm a little gross. No one's going to scoop me out of it. No, it's a very traditional thing to eat in the Caribbean. Right. There's people that, you know, like in these different islands that what they do is to just like...
Like, just find these snails and just scoop them out and eat them in the... Like, they actually... You just spend some time there. Like, they take you in the boat. And they find the snails. They open them up. And then they make you, like, a ceviche in the boat. Wow. It's amazing. But in Mexico, it's not so traditional. But it's been...
now there's places where you can fish them for a little bit of time, like three, four months a year, and then you have to stop so they reproduce and then you can eat them again. I mean, you can use clams as well for that or...
shrimps. You know, you can just put whatever you want in there. You'll have a 100% conch. I have the snail. Nothing but the snail. I mean, we're off to a flying start. That's absolutely delicious. I want to try all of that, and I'm glad that you've immediately hacked it and had a side dish for your starter as well. I think you might be the first person to use the phrase, for my main starter. Yes.
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- Your dream main course, is there a main main here and a side main? - It is also, I think this is also an experience. One of my favorite things to do is to cook like whole animals, like a roast whole animal. And one of my favorites is the lamb. So you have these lambs that you cook in the cross, like a Patagonian style, and you make a bonfire, you open the lamb, so it's like nice and tight.
in the cross and then you just salt it. Like you put loads of salt in it, you rub it for like about two, three hours and then just leave it. And then after that you made a bonfire and then you basically stick the cross close to the bonfire
So the lamb starts cooking really slowly, first from the inside, and then you flip it to make the skin crispy. And while you're cooking it, you make a mix of like chopped garlic, water, lime juice, and maybe some herbs like thyme or rosemary.
And then you can put it literally in a plastic bottle or just like a squeeze bottle or whatever. And then just kind of squeeze the, spray it with that while you're cooking it. So it takes around three hours to cook, three and a half hours, something like that. So while you're having your starters and, you know, like having some sparkling still water and having a laugh or something, you're cooking that. And then when it's ready, what you do is to pull the meat out of the lab, right?
And then I'm laughing because Ed just slumped forward. Like, just like, I literally thought Ed's entire microphone was going to go down his throat and into his tummy. Like, he just, like, it was like,
It was too much for him. As soon as he minds pulling the lamb, he's like, you pull the lamb, he's like, oh. You know when the lamb is ready? Yeah. You press the skin. So when it's already crispy, you press it and you hear the crackling, but also all the juices are like dripping down. Like,
So then when you pull it out, then you can literally just squeeze the piece of meat and it will be like lots of juice, you know? So it's amazing. Anyways, that's like the main thing. And then you can have like some fresh tortillas to make your own tacos of lamb. In Mexico, normally you will have like a piece of wood, like a chopping board, you know, and then with like a big cleaver.
And then you, I will put the lamb and then just pull the meat out and then just chop it with a cleaver like, and then
and then have different sites that you can decide, because I don't know who am I with. Are we together? Whoever you want. It's up to you. It's your dream. It's your dream slash last meal. You're about to die, remember? We're not going to be offended if we're not there. No, it just depends, because some people... It's the best meal Ed's ever had, and he's just hearing about it. That's sad.
So it depends, you know, but you can have mashed potatoes or you can just do like tacos with it. Or you can have it like as a main course with like some roasted braised purple cabbage and mashed potatoes and like a lamb sauce. Or you could have like a more Mexican thing, just like tacos of lamb. So yeah, so that's the main course. Incredible. Have you ever buried a lamb? What? What?
Have you ever dug a pit and then put the fire in there and then let it go out a bit and put some damp hay on there and then put the lamb in there and bury it and then cooked it that way? Yeah, it's barbacoa. So that's a different thing. So then for that one, you have to break down the lamb first. So you just separate by different parts. And then there's two different styles in...
in Mexico, birria and barbacoa. So with the birria you have to do like a chili paste, like with different chilies and like maybe tomato, garlic, onion, you blend that into like a paste, like a marinade, and then you marinate the lamb with it.
Normally in Mexico we wrap it with agave leaves. So like burned agave leaves. It looks like aloe vera but like really big. And then you wrap the lamb with that and then underneath you put a pot and like a steaming tray. So then all the juices from the lamb and the agave drip into the water underneath so it becomes a broth. So you will normally have that and then you cook that with stones. You put wood, then
then stones, then with the wood, the fire consumes, then the stones are really hot so it can keep the heat. And then you close that down with like leaves and soil. And so then it becomes like some sort of pressure cooker and it cooks for a long time. And then you have that in the morning. So you have breakfast, you just like normally in the fields, you just open that up, take the lamb out,
And then you have people doing tortillas in the side. And then you just have that as a breakfast with the broth in the side, you know? Yeah, of the juices. So that's barbacoa. So that's how you do it. Yeah, that's beer. Yeah, exactly. There's a lot of steps in that that I think a friend of ours didn't do. Yeah. Really? Yeah. And that might be why his lamb came out raw. Yeah.
Like as well as when he him and his best friend did a soft touches garden. Yeah, really? Yeah, I was let me know I can I can go next time and just do it. Yeah, sure. I think yeah, we'll let him know. Get it's good. Like if anyone does like one of those things, I like to go you know, like, it's good to do it. You know, like it's not you normally don't have like a big whole lab. Yeah. And like a lot of people.
So it's good to do it. There's not a lot of garden space. Yeah, exactly. This is not something that you do every day. Like in Mexico, the restaurants will have like a backyard on their ground oven, some restaurants, and they will do the lamb there.
But we don't have that here. We can't dig holes in marlin bones. Unfortunately. I also like the sound of this Jesus lamb. Yeah, I like that one. I just think it's easier. And also, I like the roasted flavor of the skin. Like the caramelization that you don't get when the lamb is cooked under the ground. You don't get that because it's steamed. I mean, it's still really delicious, but you don't get this roasted flavor. I rather the roasted flavor.
So also when you're describing it and I'm, you know, obviously I just got my friend here next to me, like flopping his body all over the place and all over the shop. And it's the whole thing. But like when you were saying about you had it there for a long time and you can go up and then you just pull the meat and you test it and stuff. The bit in the Jesus crucifixion story that has never really made sense to me is that the, uh,
The Roman centurion goes over to him at the end just to check that he's dead. He sticks a spear in his side and does that. And it sounds like quite a similar thing. They're like, right, I think he's done now. And he goes over and just puts a spear in him. And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's done. That's all the juices coming down. Yeah, I'm not sure about that.
As a kid, I was always like, I don't get why they're doing that. Surely they know. Yeah, but the lamb was dead already. They know if they've done the job or not. Why is the centurion going over? Santiago makes a good point. The lamb is dead already before you put on. You're not checking to see if it's dead or not. Yeah, exactly. You're checking if he's cooked or not. You know?
Like, if he's cooking to perfection. No, I thought you were just getting a lamb. Please never do this, because you are going to get a live lamb, put it on a crucifix. Yeah, exactly. You can't do that. And then check if it's dead or not before serving it raw.
It takes about 10 minutes for the wool to burn off. You need to get it dead first. That's important. Hard to get a... Yeah, but I think I wasn't specific about that. Yeah, the lamb was dead and had a good death before he was marinated with the salt.
Yeah, yeah. I wasn't as specific about that. Do you put two other criminal lambs either side? Two criminals. That's very important. Depends how many guests come. Yeah. But I mean, I think one lamb is enough for like 12 people. 12 fucking people. Disciples. The Last Supper. It is the Last Supper. It is our Last Supper. Yeah, there we go. We need more people. This is great.
Your dream side dish, Santoro? We've obviously had some side dishes. We're going to allow those as part of the main course. You can have the mashed potatoes as part of the main course. We'll let you have a different side dish. It was like a really good, really well-made guacamole.
So in the south of Mexico, and in different places, actually, in Mexico, you have this avocado that is... You know what avocado means, by the way? Can we guess? Have a guess. Is it something rude? Are we walking around going, oh, avocado is such a delicious... Something rude. What do you think it's like? It means like goblin jizz or something. Interesting. So goblin jizz is Ed's guess.
I think we should make a poll. I don't think there's any need for me to guess after that. No, but what about, like, what do you think avocado looks like? Well, I guess, I mean, now he's made me think it's rude. So testicle? Yes. Yes. Yes. There you go. So it was rude. It's not rude. Not as rude as goblin jizz, you absolute maniac. But testicles are not rude. Yes, testicles are medical. Depends where they are. Depends where they are.
Yeah, true. We're popping these in our mouths. On the body and geographically. We're popping these testicles in our mouths, Santiago. That's rude. Yeah. We're covering them in lime juice and gobbling them up.
No, it does mean that. So avocado in Spanish is aguacate that comes from the word aguacatl and means testicles because, you know, I don't know why. But anyways. I guess if you put two of them next to each other, it could look like a couple of big old swangers. Absolutely. Yeah. Anyways.
Apart from the definition of the word. If yours do look like that, go to a doctor. Yes, do go to a doctor. That was the same in the package. Every time, it's important also, like if you're ever checking yourself, you know if they're ripe or not. Yeah.
So when we go around the supermarket and people squeeze the avocados, it's like they're checking themselves. Oh, they're checking it. No, they're checking. They're checking. They're just checking. Checking someone else. Someone else. Checking someone else. Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I think we went to a different direction with this. But it's guacamole. So guacamole means... Bollock paste. No, not yet. No, it's...
Mole means blend. Yeah. Right? So avocado, aguacato. So then it's mole, it's blend avocado, basically. So that's what guacamole means. So there is an amazing avocado from different parts of Mexico that is the criollo avocado that you can eat the skin. Oh, wow. And the skin tastes like licorice. So it's like incredible. So then I will do a guacamole with that kind of avocado. And guacamole normally has...
the avocado. If you have this avocado, you can eat the skin. You can chop the skin and then mix it with some chopped onions and lime juice and then leave that for a little bit and then add it to the avocado and then some chopped coriander and chopped serrano chilies. And that's it. Yeah. With maybe some chopped tomatoes as well. Yeah. So then that's it. Like our guacamole doesn't have any olive oil.
or any mayonnaise or anything like I don't know like some people are those some of the biggest what are the what's the worst mistake you've ever seen what's the worst thing people adding mayonnaise to it yeah you had mayonnaise no no I don't do it but like I'm aware that we constantly get it wrong in this country and I can only imagine how you feel when you see the kind of
potted guacamole that's in like yeah like creme fraiche stuff like that no dairy no yeah so it's like it's really simple and really good so then that's that would be the the side dish it's like a really beautiful guacamole that's a bit of the lamb as well yeah exactly exactly needs to come together you know yeah we don't need to invite 12 people to this I reckon I could do three quarters of that yeah yeah
Ed's got this covered easily. And there's no like tortillas or anything with the... Yeah, some tortillas. We've got tortillas with the lamb. Of course. But you also have some of the hachipure left. So you can also put lamb in there. And yeah, just for the brave, just some lamb and... I'm brave. I've got a massive set of avocados. Well, congratulations, man.
Do you remember the first time you had a dish like guacamole? You must have had your whole life. But can you remember having it for the first time and it being like, wow, this is like... I think it's just something that you just grow up with, you know? Yeah. You don't think about it so much. But when you start thinking about it is when you don't have it. I've been living out of Mexico for now 14 years. And I remember the first two, three years, it was like, man...
I need avocado, you know, like it's something that you just really miss. And I think 14 years ago, like it wasn't as easy to get avocados from like in somewhere else. Now you can get avocados from like Portugal and Spain that they grow there like naturally. But yeah, it was like when you miss it is when you're like, oh, and then you go back to Mexico. You're like, yes, yeah. So it's one of those things, but it just,
In a way, it kind of keeps it special. It's hard to get really good avocados here in the UK. At the moment, actually, in Col, we do courgette guacamole. So we just slice courgettes and we cook them and mix them with hemp seeds to give a creaminess and...
some fermented gooseberry juice and chilies, and we do this like guacamole, like avocado-free guacamole that is amazing. And is that because you can't get the right sort of avocado? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So the thing is that when you reference up something is so good, you don't want to do something that is not good enough because then it's just like, oh, why am I doing this? So then that's why, that's one of the reasons why we don't use...
from Mexico in coal because it's just not going to be as good. So then we'd rather to find something else that could be its own thing. Maybe it's not the same, but similar and it's good in its own unique way. Your dream drink.
Mezcal. Of course. We knew this would come. Yeah, I mean, like I was thinking something a little bit different, but I think it's the flavor, but also it's just the fact that it just makes you be really open-minded. I think something about mezcal that like not a lot of people know is the way that it makes you feel. Like how drinks make you feel. I mean, like obviously like drunk, maybe.
maybe if you drink too much, but in which James' stomach is going crazy right now. And it has been for the last 10 minutes, James' stomach, and I'm the one who's freaking out about the menu over here, and James' stomach is going insane. My stomach sounds like a haunted well. LAUGHTER
It's absolutely... A haunted world. It's insane. Just like... Sorry for the interruption, Santiago. No, it's okay. It's no problem. I'm trying to get it to shut up. Maybe your stomach wants to get involved. Yeah. Oh, it absolutely does. That's what I hear. We need an extra little microphone. Yeah, yeah. So what does the stomach say? Oh, that's very interesting.
So this is the way that makes you feel, you know, like which, or think about how drinks make you feel. I think that is something that we normally don't think about too much. And mezcal makes you feel like,
joy, also it gives you a boost of energy and it also allows you to be more open in your conversation and stuff like that. So that's how normally have mezcal. We have mezcal with food as well. It's not a digestive. It's a drink that you have with your food, that you have with your lamb, and it will allow you to just keep having a great time and feel great
And also, if you survive this meal, you don't get a hangover the next day, you know?
So I can have like a lot of mezcal. And then the next day, as soon as you drink water, it's important, before you go to sleep, just a little water. And then the next day you're fine. It's a miraculous drink because it's made from natural ingredients. Yeah, but I hear this about a lot of drinks. I hear this about natural wine. I hear this about, oh, you don't get hangover. It's not true. But do you drink water before you go to bed? I always drink water before I go to bed. Oh, really? The problem is I don't think I've ever had to drink water.
Had a night where I've drunk one type of alcohol. Yeah. It's the problem. Yeah. It's all about one type. Yeah. Yeah. It's all about one type, but then the right type with natural things that don't have chemicals. So mescal, it's a, yeah, it's the one, but anyways, also it tastes delicious and it's great. Cause let me tell you, when we came for that meal at your house, we definitely had to hang over the next day. Yes. James left early. He tried to leave me.
The mascot made me feel scared and confused. I had to get out of there. I was like, what the fuck am I doing in the stranger's kitchen? This is fucking nuts. He fed us ants when we arrived. I'm getting out of here right now. Ed went to the toilet and while Ed was in the toilet, I was like, I'm going now. I'm immediately leaving. That's the one guy I know. He's left me. He's in the toilet. I'm fucked.
I came out and I caught you getting into an Uber. You caught me getting into the Uber. I was like, bye, Ed. You're like, what are you doing? You're going to leave me here with Professor Green? Yeah, that's true. That's true.
But that night we had some crazy like coffee mezcal. Yeah. Yeah, that was good. That was the thing, like mezcal can be also infused with different things and it will give you whatever you want. You know, like a great experience, you know. There's so many different types. There's one that is called the pechuga mezcal that means breast. You are a pervert. This whole menu is all over the place. I'm going to say right now, you're a pervert, mate.
Everything you're ordering, this means testicle, this means breast. I want it all. No. I'm just saying what it means. Yeah. No, but I have a point. I have a point. Yes. We need to Google these afterwards. And if it doesn't mean these things, you're in big trouble. You're in big trouble, man. What does call mean? What's Fonda mean? Wait. So it means because we are using a turkey breast. Yeah.
Yeah. So what you do is to make the mezcal and put this turkey breast into the mezcal. The mezcal has normally two distillations. So you take the plant, cook it for like, the plant has in the middle some sort of pineapple. So you
It looks like a pineapple, the core. So then sometimes you have to wait for that plant to be 12, 14, or sometimes like 30 years old for you to be able to take it and use it so it has enough sugars developed. And what we do is to take out the leaves of the plant and then these pineapples, they get cooked for seven days and then you crush them and fill them with water. And then it has this natural fermentation. Like it becomes like a mead.
And then after that, it gets destillate twice. So then pechuga means that you will add something else to get extra flavor and then you destillate the third time. So traditionally you use turkey breast with fruits. So you put maybe some mandarins, maybe some sugar cane, other like local fruits and a turkey breast.
and you make a distillation and then you get the liquid. It doesn't taste like chicken, but it has the oils of the turkey breast. And it's really, really rich. And then what they do with this coffee mezcal, what they do is instead of the turkey breast, they use coffee. So they put the coffee for the distillation. And you can also infuse it with coffee as well. So yeah, it's funny because you go to these places and they have always a turkey running around.
And it's like friends of the family, everything, you know, but they wait for Christmas or for a wedding to...
basically use that turkey for making that special mezcal for the celebration. And is that the mezcal you want on your dream menu? Pechuga. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do a pechuga. You don't want the coal mezcal because you do your own mezcal. Yes, of course. I mean, we'll have a lot of different ones. I have a feeling that throughout your meal there'll be mezcals circulating. Yeah, I think we'll have like, yeah, maybe later as well for the after party. We need to have an after party with meal, no? Yeah, of course.
Nice.
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Your dream dessert? It will be cheesecake. So it's a little bit of like a nostalgia kind of thing because I used to sell cheesecake when I was like 15 years old. No, less. I think it was like 14 or 13 years old. 14. And I came up with this recipe of cheesecake, like really traditional. I think someone told me like, oh, you know what? Like,
you can make cheesecake like this oh right i just did it at home and then i used to sell it and then it became like this family recipe and then my mom used to sell it as well like it's cool like she's a teacher and then i would sell it to the teachers and stuff like that and if i'll sell 10 slices i could go out on the friday you know so then i was like counting the slices that i could sell and um and then my brother got the recipe and start selling to restaurants like after i left
my hometown, he kind of like put his own, like he, when he, I was 14, my brother, he was 11 and he learned the recipe. Wow. And, uh, and then when he was 15, he, he's more of a, of a businessman. So he will go to like, I mean, he was 14 years old, but he will go to the restaurants and,
to sell the cheesecake. So it was like famous there in my hometown. And, uh, and then when we left, my mom made the cheesecake herself. And then now we are doing this cheesecake actually in Fonda. We're going to have the, Oh, great. The, the Santiago's cheesecake in the menu. And, uh, and it's just like one of those things like with desserts, I'm not really a dessert person as much. And I could ask for like something really strange, but, or just like a piece of watermelon. I really like watermelon. But, uh, but I think,
It's nice to remember the good old days, you know? Definitely. Of cheesecake. I'd love to know what your sales pitch was when you were selling the slices of cheesecake to the teachers. When you were 13. I don't remember. I think it was more like word of mouth. I gave some cheesecake to try to the teachers and to the students. Like a drug dealer. Exactly.
Let's just call it what it is. Yeah, you don't have to pay for that. Yeah, exactly. Lovely cheesecake. You're not going to come crawling back shivering. You'd be up and watching. I need some more cheesecake, man. Yeah, exactly. I mean, like, it wasn't supposed to be a business. It's like one of those things that I wasn't like, oh my God, I got to like make money. It was more like, I just want to share it. Like I made it. I brought it.
I bring it to my school and I share it. But then suddenly people were like, oh, you don't have a little bit more of that cheesecake. And I'm like, yeah, sure. I can make some more. So I will come like the next day with cheesecake. And then suddenly people will be like, oh, I want to buy some.
for my wife, you know, like the teacher. Oh, the teacher. Yeah. I was just thinking of a little kid being like, I've got to buy something for my wife. So my vision of Mexico was like, you're a little businessman. Wives. Yeah. Everyone's got the teachers are kids. It's like Muppet Kids. Muppet Kids.
Yeah, so then like that, then suddenly I was like, okay, well, maybe I'm going to sell by the slice. Yeah. You know, so you make more money with it, like if you sell it by the slice. I think the slice was like...
maybe like 80p the slice or something like that which it was that's cool yeah it was good and then suddenly then people got a bit obsessed with the cheesecake so then I will bring like I will make quite a lot of cheesecake which it was good yeah so it's one of those things that I think there's like when I was a kid as well I will bring even like homemade like agua fresca like horchata or like sharing things that you make
with your friends or with people that you know. It's something that I remember enjoying a lot since I was like eight years old or something, you know, but then suddenly you can actually cook something. And then if you actually can make money with it, it's like the dream. I was like making my cheesecake. So I'm like, yes, you know, like I'm just living the dream, you know, like. Was it a baked cheesecake? Yeah. Yeah. It's a bake. It's a baked cheesecake. And
And it has this cookie, like really traditional cookie base that is a bit similar as the DJ Steve's cookies that you have here. And they're just blended as a powder with butter, with like melted butter. And then you make the crust. And they have condensed milk, evaporated milk, and fresh cheese, like Philadelphia cheese. And a little bit of vanilla and eggs. You blend that and put it in the middle, bake it.
And then we use blackberry jam on top. And that's it. It doesn't really have anything else, but it's just, yeah, it's just iconic. Imagine your mum just being like, my kids have started a cheesecake business. Where's my kids started wearing a Rolex? Where's all this money coming from? Make it into their phones horizontally. Walking around.
Yelling at people. That's incredible. That sounds delicious. And do you know what? I'll throw in a slice of watermelon for you. Nice. As well. I think, you know, I'll send that over at the end. For the after party. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like watermelon after party. Yeah, yeah. Watermelon theme after party. You got a fact about watermelons? Do they mean something rude? You perv.
I just love it. Just love watermelon. I think it's just the fact that like my, my dad, my family's dad, um, uh, from there from Spain. Yeah. And, I remember going to Spain and I used to live there. I lived there for four years and they do these parties in the streets where big truck will come with watermelons. I was like, what the, and it's just, it's free watermelon for everyone. Wow. In the little town. And they just like big truck, like huge watermelons. It's hot. Yeah.
Like today, it's a hot day. And then they put like a big table. They cut the watermelons in big slices. And then you just eat it. Like you just like literally just like bite into it. And like, it's just incredible. So...
I love watermelons. What are you doing with the pips? There's some people that have problems with the watermelon seeds. Like phobia kind of thing as well. So I think I just... Sorry about those people. I'm just necking them. You like... Yeah, the seeds. Yeah, they're going down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think my grandmother used to say that a watermelon will grow in your stomach if you eat one of those. Great. Love watermelon. Yeah. Don't even have to eat it. Grows in my stomach. It's already there. That's where it was going anyway. Yeah.
And I used to think that the pregnant ladies ate watermelons. So I was like, oh my God. So I thought that that was people that had that, you know, like victims of the watermelon seeds. Yeah.
Yes, Benito has a question about the cheesecake. Now, he doesn't involve himself in the edit. So he's going to ask it and I'm going to have to repeat it to you. Even though you can hear him when he says it. But he thinks people will want to know. Okay, ask away and hold on to your pen, little man. What is the ratio of biscuit base to cheesecake? Benito says people will want to know how much biscuit to cheesecake we're talking here. Not a lot of biscuits.
I mean, like, I think the ratio will be around probably 80% cheesecake and 20%. But it's coming up the sides as well. Yeah, exactly. On the sides and on the bottom, you know? Yeah. So in total, it will be around 20% biscuit and then 80%.
Happy Benito? Yeah, yeah. We know that by people you mean you. How you guys? You're the one who asked it and there's absolutely no one was ever going to tweet the podcast saying, what are the ratios? Which ratios do you guys like? I'm happy with anything, to be honest. Yeah, I'd say... Take it as it comes. I'd say I don't...
If the base is too thick, upon looking at it, I'll be like, oh, that's a bit. But then, if it's delicious, if the base is like, they've really put a lot of effort into making it taste really nice, great. I'll tell you what I don't want. I don't want it to be so thick that when you're putting a fork through it, you get to the biscuit and you're pushing and then you hear the clink of the fork on the plate because it goes through. Oh.
Oh, right. I don't want that. Interesting. Now, that doesn't happen. I want a bit of... I like the crumble. Yeah, a little bit. But it's a little bit crispier in the edge. Yeah. But not crazy. The one in fondant doesn't have the one in the side. Okay. So it's just the bottom. I can't wait to try it. I can't wait for you to try it. Yeah, absolutely. Delicious. Well, I'm going to read your menu back to you now, see how you feel about it. This is going to be what I would describe as a festival of mispronunciation. Yeah.
I have to mispronounce this because if I get them all right, Ed's going to be flipped into space by his own boner. If I'm able to pronounce all of this...
He's so delicious that he's not going to be able to hack it. So I owe it to the listener to not be able to pronounce this. Otherwise, I think this podcast is getting censored. We won't be able to release it. Water, you would like 50-50. Still and sparkling with a dash of sea buckthorn juice. Popped on some bread, you would like kachapuri with sea urchins. Starter, lobster tacos. And aguachile with pink snail. The conch. Main course. I mean, I can't believe...
We've had all, oh, avocados means testicles. This is breast mescal. And you didn't say anything about the pink snail. What are we talking about? Main course, you would like the bonfire lamb with mash and purple cabbage. And tortillas. And tortillas. So people make tacos. And salsa. And salsa. Don't forget those. Yes.
Because I think I'd go tortilla. Yeah, you will have the lamb tacos on one side and then you also have for the people that don't want tacos, you will have the mash and the cabbage. Don't invite those people.
I want mash as well. Yeah, he wants some mash. You go and eat your mash in the corner, man. We're having tacos. I'll have tacos too. Can't you have both? You can have both. Why are you saying no? You're going to turn around. He's going to put mash in a tortilla. I know what he's going to do. You can't put the mash in a tortilla. I won't do it. I won't do that. Okay. Fair enough.
Can't stop me once I'm in. Side dish, you would like beautiful guacamole with tortillas. Drink mezcal, and that's throughout the whole meal. And dessert, you would like your very own cheesecake, and then afterwards, a slice of watermelon at the after party. And more mezcal. And more mezcal. And more mezcal, obviously. That's never stopping. That's flowing constantly, every single type.
that you could wish for of mezcal. That's great. I think the only thing is the guacamole will have totopos or tostadas, like crispy tortillas, basically. Not soft. Yeah, yeah. So it's like crispy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, imagine. But yeah, that sounds lovely. Sounds very good. Yeah. Sounds absolutely delicious. Thank you for your food descriptions as well. There's going to be a few people re-listening to those. Mainly Ed. Yes.
Do them again now. I'm glad you like it. Fantastic. So pop along to Fonda, go to Cole. Absolutely. You're going to have an amazing time. Santiago, thanks so much for coming to the Dream Restaurant. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks, man. Bye.
Thank you so much to Santiago for coming in. What a menu. What a man. Wow. Delicious. I'm glad that we video these episodes now because it will have your reactions. And Benito can do a super cut of you just like... I think I just completely glazed over. I was there. I was in the dishes. You were. You felt like you were by that fire on the beach. I was the lobster. I was the lamb. I was eating myself. Wow. That's a good song lyric, man.
I was the lobster. I was the lamb. I was eating myself. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's beautiful. Thanks man. Thank you to Santiago. Thank you for not saying dairy, the cheese slices as well. Although as soon as we heard, uh, as soon as he said the water course, I was like, yeah, they're not coming up. We'll have a dairy cheese slices on this. No one's doing C Buckthorn juice in a half and half water. And then the starter being a pack of dairy cheese slices. Yeah. There was never any danger of it. Yeah.
But that means we can tell you all to go to Fonda. It's just opened. And also, if you haven't been to Cole, the tasting menu restaurant, you should go there as well. Both delicious. Both delicious. Cole, good for, I guess, a special occasion. Yeah. If you've got room for 17 courses. Yeah.
Which you will, by the way. Yeah, you will. Because they're all delicious and you want to keep eating them. Yeah. Go to Col and then Fonda for a more casual affair. Absolutely. But still, I mean, that cheesecake, man. That sounds good. Everyone knows that's as good as in my belly. Yes. The thing is, when we do good menus like that, I do think I've got to go home and have something like that. Yeah, that's the problem. I ain't going to be able to do any of that.
You sure? Could you like a version of it? A version of what? I don't know. Is there another, is there a smaller animal you can put in a crucifix and like just put in your oven? Yeah. Maybe like, I don't know, like I could do a snail probably. I could do a snail aguachile, but it would be from sort of snails that are outside in the garden. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that might be nice. No, no, no, it would not be nice. I might do a slow roast lamb and put it in tacos. There you go. You can do that.
That sounds delicious, Ed. Thank you. And thank you. We will see you next week on the Off Menu Podcast. We're very happy.
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