Is Jeremy Corbyn enjoying an Enrique Olvera taco?
The Labour leader was trying the food on offer at the Day of the Dead celebrations in London this weekend
When Enrique Olvera came to London to launch his new book, Mexico from the Inside Out, on Saturday night, nobody expected the new leader of the Labour party to turn up. In fairness, Jeremy Corbyn just happened to be at Wahaca's Day of the Dead festival with his Mexican wife, Laura Alvarez, enjoying the Dia de los Muertos festivities.
We'd like to think that the taco he was tucking into was one of Enrique's - after all, the chef did cook up a load of his signature smoked mushroom street snacks at the event's taco stand, and Corbyn is a vegetarian - but whether they were sampled by the Labour leader or not, we know that Olvera's food was a huge hit on the night.
The Day of the Dead celebrations might be a national holiday for most Mexicans, yet Enrique Olvera has been working hard during the first week of November, popularising his nation's cuisine.
The event, staged at the Tobacco Dock in London's East End, also featured a more exclusive supper-club event, with a five-course meal prepared by Olvera and his team, as well as Wahaca's own Thomasina Miers and James Lowe from Lyle's.
There was also Mexican wrestling, a surprise appearance of Helena Bonham Carter dressed as Frida Khalo, and live bands, including performances from the suitably deathly British group The Horrors and the Mexican Morrissey tribute act Mexrissey.
Olvera credits Miers with introducing new diners to authentic Mexican cuisine – an accolade he also extended to chef Barcelona Paco Méndez, a few days earlier.
Last Wednesday, Olvera joined Méndez, the head chef at Hoja Santa, the Barcelona restaurant founded by elBulli’s Albert and Ferran Adrià, to cook a gala lunch for the Spanish press. The meal marked the restaurant's first anniversary; working away in the kitchen beside Albert Adrià and Méndez, Olvera served guests a few of his signature dishes, including beef tartare; and baby corn with Chicatana Ant, coffee, and chile costeño mayonnaise – ensuring the first birthday event was as Mexican as anything Enrique has cooked back home.
To find out more about his dishes, beloved by culinary stars and (possibly) political leaders alike, get a copy of Mexico from the Inside Out here.