In the kitchen with Sarah Ginella and Nico Mendez of Barulho

This week, we're in the kitchen with Sarah Ginella and Nico Mendez of Barulho. We spoke to them about their current favourite recipe, what they always have in the fridge and their secret guilty pleasures.

What is your favourite recipe you cook for yourself?

 We  love to BBQ, and slow cook meat and vegetables over charcoal most weekends. 

The one thing you always have in your fridge?

Some fresh made salsas  - chimichurri, macha, alioli

If you could impart one piece of cooking knowledge to everyone, what would it be?

Nico - Start with good quality, fresh ingredients.

Sarah - slow down and follow each step to build the flavours. 

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Nico – eggs, I start every day with some form of egg breakfast

 Sarah –  broccoli, chopped finely in a slaw, flicked through a pasta, roasted… I never get sick of it, but everyone else at home is!

Can you recall the moment when you knew you wanted to pursue a career in food?

Nico – I’ve always been involved with food from since I was very young, my mother has an organic vegetable garden, and my father hunted, and I would help with planting, harvesting and preserving and butchering the game. It was a natural progression to start cooking professionally.

Sarah – I remember eating dinner at a friends house when I was a kid, and suddenly realising that food could be delicious! My mother wasn’t interested in spending time in the kitchen and mealtimes at our house would be an ordeal – mainly finding ways to get rid of dinner to the dog under the table.  I started cooking at home and just continued from there

Your go-to dinner party meal?

Depends on what our current obsession is! At the moment if anyone comes over its naan cooked over charcoal, curries, dahl, chutneys and salads.  

The one thing you can never take off the Barulho menu?

Beef empanadas

Who is your food hero?

Our local food growers and producers - curious croppers, secret garden – growing beautiful ingredients

What music, if any, do you like to listen to while cooking?

Our Barulho Spotify playlists  - mainly  latin music

Biggest kitchen disaster?

We set fire to our food trailer while catering a wedding, spilt a tray of duck fat in the oven and we couldn’t put it out, had to use the fire extinguishers, everything was covered in chemicals and black grease including us.   Number one most stressful moment in the kitchen so far!

Your guilty pleasure?

Turrones, chocolate 

In all your travels, where have you experienced the best food (and what was it)?

We both love Mexico – amazing ingredients, cooking techniques and flavours.  We’ve  had so many memorable dishes there – fresh nopales tacos, suckling pig, moles…

Is there one cookbook you go back to time and time again?

Sarah – Gjelina, simple, rustic, nutritious food that makes you feel good.

Nico – Mexico – loads of recipes, I flick through it to jog my memory and make something we haven’t had in a while

The kitchen utensil you can't live without?

Sarah – a sharp knife and a board

Nico – a good set of heavy bottomed pans

You're currently craving?

Sarah – new season asparagus

Nico – going fishing

Any advice to new cooks?

Don’t over complicate, keep it simple and have fun