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Mexican food while in Leeds? Of course!

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When I was about to travel to the UK to start my MA in International Communication at the University of Leeds, one of my most recurrent questions was about food. Was there going to be stores to buy Mexican food? Will I miss enchiladas, tacos and churros? A whole year without those amazing dishes was tough to imagine, but I was ready to pay the price.

The first days in Leeds I was trying to eat the local food: fish and chips, pies and mashed potatoes, etc. They were delicious, but soon I started to crave my home country food. In this blog, I will tell you about how I deal with those cravings.

The first thing I did (that I never imagined I could!) was to cook my own traditional Mexican food. Many of the ingredients are easy to find at the Kirkgate Market, in here you can find fresh fruits and vegetables, many options of meat, chicken and seafood at really good prices. The first time I cook something “Mexican”, of course having the help of my mom through skype, was for my 27th birthday. I decided to cook “Caldo de camarón”, a dish that in English would be something like shrimp broth. This dish is made (of course) of shrimp, zucchini, onion, corn, cabbage and the broth is made with blended chile. I invited some of my friends to eat this fantastic dish. It was like being in Mexico. 


The second time with me trying to be a chef was when I cook for one of my best friends in Leeds, Intan; she is from Indonesia and also an ambassador! For me, cooking is a fantastic way to show somebody you care, so I decided to cook for her some enchiladas and agua de horchata. Of course, I warned her about the intense flavours and the chile. This dish is similar to a taco but is filled with chicken, onion and cheese, and they are covered with red chilli sauce (not too spicy for Intan). The agua de horchata is a delicious sweet water made of rice and cinnamon. Amazing combination if you ask me. Of course, I cooked more times, but these two are by far my favourite dishes given the distance from Leeds to Mexico. 



Many of the ingredients for these two Mexican dishes were easy to find in supermarkets and in the Kirkgate market. But if you don’t feel like cooking, you can also go to the Mexican restaurant in Leeds or to the Mexican store in the Kirkgate market; they have sweets and some seasonings for you to prepare the dishes. Also, there is always the online option. My advice for you and if you’re a foodie like me is that when you’re about to travel to Leeds, pack in your suitcase some ingredients that might be hard or too specific to find in the city. In my case, I packed some dry chillies and some sweets to give my friends to try.

Some other dishes I cooked were:
- Chilaquiles (Tortilla chips covered with chilli sauce and melted cheese, onion and cream)
- Ceviche (Shrimp with onion, tomato, cucumber and coriander)
- Churros (Salty snack that you can make more delicious if you put valentina, a spicy sauce)
- Tacos (Tortilla with meat and grilled onion)



In the city there are countless options to go to eat and to have fun with friends, so yes, you might be feeling homesick about the food in your country but also be open to try new flavours, and you might end up having a new favourite dish. In my case, now one of my favourite breakfast dishes in Leeds is the English breakfast, guess which one was my plate?