I'm a life-long carnivore but I loved Wahaca's Meat Free Mexican Supper Club

Under the more than expert stewardship of former Masterchef winner and Wahaca co-founder, Tommi Miers, the popular Brighton restaurant hosted a one-off event on Wednesday evening (January 18) featuring creations from Tommi’s most recent book Meat-Free Mexican.

First up on our veggie supper was a serving of Wahaca’s excellent air-mile friendly alternative to guacamole – Wahacamole, an avocado-free creation made from organic British fava beans (also known as broad beans) whizzed up with fresh lime, coriander leaf and green chilli, and, of course, some Totopos (aka tortilla chips).

The above was served with a brilliantly mixed classic Margarita, a tumbler full of sweet, sour and salty joy on an evening when the thermometer’s mercury was dropping below zero.

There was also the option of a non-alcoholic variant for those hardy souls who choose to forego grog during January, the grimmest, poorest and often coldest month of the year…

We continued without the hair-shirt and absolutely loved the next course of tenderstem and squash tempura.

The slithers of squash were covered in a perfect, light tempura bubble-flecked batter, and ripe for dunking in a red mayo with a lively tamari jalapeño mayo.

It’s worth noting that although the dish had a bit of a chilli hum it was, like all of the creations on our menu, delicately done and wasn’t going to lead to anyone desperately reaching for a glass of milk.

Similarly, the fruity guajillo chilli used with the pickled mushroom tostada, in no way overpowered the dish and was nicely cooled by a thick spreading of goats’ cheese.

As Wahacalytes and fans of Tommi’s cooking will know, the wide range of chillies used will include dried chillies (which I’d guess included the guajillo) which are dry-fried to release the flavours, then rehydrated and used sparingly as not to overload the dishes with heat, or combined with spices and other ingredients to make a relish or sauce.

Next up was the visually impressive grilled hispi. Two hefty wedges of colourfully dressed cabbage, with a celeriac confit and a traditional green mole, not only single-handedly doubled my nutrients for the week, but also provided the savoury surprise of the evening.

The smoky leaves were given a huge flavour injection, and all-round umami loveliness, by the addition of ancho chilli relish.

This relish is often used with chicken and in this instance worked wonderfully to give extra depth to the greens.

Last up on the savoury front was a spinach tamale, a substantial meat-free take on a very traditional dish.

The spinach-filled corn parcel with a restrained but tangy amarillo and feta mole was very good but, given it’s relative stodge, might have benefitted from appearing earlier in the menu.

Pudding was a fantastic affair too, in a break from tradition from Wahaca’s usual churros the supper menu offered orange ricotta doughnuts, quite possibly the best and certainly the zestiest doughnuts around.

As light as they were zingy, the dusting of hibiscus sugar was also a bit of a treat. In short – wonderful.

They were served with a pot of tequila chocolate dipping sauce, but it was difficult to gauge the strength of that sauce because alongside the pud we were given the last treat of the evening – two glasses of primo Gran Centenario Tequila. One white, one aged and both smooth and aromatic and a world away from the firewater of the nation’s nightclubs.

The oak-aged and refined drinks were the idea end to a satisfying menu with more than enough invention and variety to keep everyone happy: vegan, vegetarian, meat-eater, drinker and month-long abstainer…

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