Enrique Olvera

Published on October 16 2012.

Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico

Rene Redzepi says that Enrique’s restaurant Pujol is “one of the most interesting places to eat in the world right now”. Pujol is attracting crowds and accolades for its combination of contemporary and millennia-old culinary technique and the use of traditional ingredients ranging from coffee and flying ants to toasted pumpkin and corn leaves.

Visit thanks to Pei Modern

Q. Who did you learn to cook from?
 A. My family.

Q. What grows in your backyard?
A. I have a roof garden where I grow aromatic herbs and tomatoes.

Q. Name the one ingredient you can't live without and how you would cook it?
A. Corn. It's so versatile and you can do so much with it. To only do one thing with it would just be wrong.

Q. What's your favourite dish on the menu right now?
A. Right now it's the escamoles (ant larva) tostada.

Q. What do you do when you're not in the kitchen cooking?
A. A little of everything: Read, play on the internet, exercise; spend time with my family and friends. But lately it's been about Mesamérica, a food summit we're going to have in Mexico City in July.
 
Q. No 1 cooking tip for the amateur cook?
A. Follow your calling—figure out which kind of cooking is your true passion.
 
Q. What are you looking forward to experiencing in Melbourne?
A. I was there a few years ago and I had some extraordinary experiences. I'm very excited to go back.

WEB: http://www.enriqueolvera.com/

TWITTER: @enriqueolvera