reasons why. And that's the beauty and richness of Mexico. It is a living, breathing, historical documentation and is more about the personality of the people than the ingredients or the recipes. When the project finished, he knew that he would be welcome to join the team at Noma, but he was ready for something different. “I decided I wanted to open a restaurant that could share and promote the meaning of Mexican culture to the world,” he says. While relaxing on a beach during a vacation, he listed all the qualities a city needed to have for his restaurant and made the decision to open his place
in London. He started doing pop-ups to gain experience and knowledge of the market. Eventually, he opened the doors to Kol (which means “cabbage” in Spanish) in 2021. He was intent on representing Mexican culture and cuisine through the lens of British ingredients. That meant that apart from dried chilies, corn, and a few ancillary products, everything came from within Great Britain. This concept created a lot of issues as well as opportunities. How can typical Mexican ingredients like tomato and lime be replaced? To answer that question, Chef Lastra imagined
that the United Kingdom was a Northeastern extension of Mexico and thought about how the people would adapt to the terroir by focusing on the flavor. Take mango, for example. It is creamy, yellow, and fleshy. It has a little bit of tartness and sweetness as well as a floral aroma. It is also juicy, so some form of liquid is necessary. As such, the substitution started with sweet yellow peppers baked with elderflowers and their preserves. An elderflower vinegar was added to the mix, then blended for smoothness. Finally, a finishing touch of kombucha was added for additional acidity and sweetness. Other such examples
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