Meet the Maker: Thomasina Miers
In 2024, Thomasina went back to live in Mexico with her family, thirty years after her first visit, to introduce them to the country she loves and to work in some kitchens.
Following the sabbatical, Thomasina wrote Mexican Table, her ninth book, a mouth-watering collection of vibrant, vegetable-forward recipes showcasing the 12 everyday ingredients she used time and again in her cooking. From courgettes and tomatoes to sesame and pumpkin seeds, plentiful herbs, chillies and chocolate, the book is brimming with delicious things to eat.
Here, Thomasina reflects on her work with Chefs in Schools, her six month sabbatical in Mexico and how she prioritises sustainability at home and at Wahaca.
1. What is one Mexican ingredient that you wish more people knew about?
The guajillo chilli. Its sweet, fruity and mild and adds wonderful flavour to chilli oils, soups and stews. I throw it in with braising vegetables, or meat AND its delicious with fish. It is easy to buy online and opens up a world of delicious flavour.
2. How do you prioritise sustainability at home and at Wahaca?
I try to shop from people doing the right thing. I like the idea of my money being spent on people who care about making good food, who care about not putting unnecessary additives and preservatives in everything. I am lucky to have a brilliant local farmers’ market which I go to 2-3 times a month, buying a mass of beautiful, seasonal vegetables from people I have now known for over a decade. Their produce is full of flavour and goodness; their meat, cheese and fish, of incredible quality. At Wahaca we buy pulses from Hodmedods which are grown without being sprayed with pesticides and insecticides; we buy delicious beans from Bold Bean; wonderful vegetables for some of our dishes from Riverford; half carcasses of beef from farms we know are looking after their biodiversity. Half our menu is vegetarian. I guess I live by the 80/20 maxim. If I can eat mainly vegetables, mainly in season, largely local with some great quality meat, some fish, then I won’t sweat it when I go off course once in a while. We only live once. I think we try to eat deliciously, with as much flavour as possible, whilst knowing where our food comes from.
3. What is your ultimate comfort food?
Good sourdough, a fried egg, chilli oil, a good pickle, shaved cheese, lovely leaves and some good coffee to wash it down….
4. Can you tell us a little about your work with Chefs in Schools?
I sat around a table with Henry Dimbleby and Nicole Pisani many moons ago and we discussed setting up a charity to put trained chefs into school kitchens. I was snowed under at the time, and with young children, so they went off and founded the charity and did all of the hard work whilst I advised and helped from the sidelines, as trustee. I am still trustee, 6 years later and a huge fan and advocate of the work that is done in that incredible charity. One trained chef in one school can transform how 600-1000 children think and feel about food. We call them chef-educators because half of their role is about educating young people about the joy of good food, the pleasure of cooking from scratch, the deliciousness and affordability of real food, if you have the skills to know what you are doing in the kitchen. It is the most amazing charity, putting the most amazing, affordable, great tasting food into schools across the country.
5. You recently spent six months in Mexico on sabbatical, which inspired your new book Mexican Table. What were some of the biggest challenges - and the most rewarding parts - of moving your family to a new country?
There was so much admin involved in moving our family to Mexico: finding somewhere to live, a school that suited my children; uniforms, how to get to school, what to do with our house in the UK, how to get it ready to rent. The list of things to do often felt insurmountable. But we managed it somehow and had the most incredible 6 months living in sunshine, eating incredible food, the most wonderful mangoes, pineapples, tomatoes, courgettes, meeting wonderful people, catching up with old friends, seeing my children improve their Spanish and flourish in a different culture. It was the most magical adventure that we were all in together, at times hard, but incredibly bonding. It was the most wonderful 6 months. We felt so lucky to have managed it!
6. Did you always want to be a chef?
I always, always cooked. I never had any idea I could be a chef.
Thomasina Miers Ox Barn Restaurant Takeover
Wednesday 1st october 2025, 17:30 - 22:00
This October, cook, writer, and MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers OBE joins Chef Director of the Ox Barn Charlie Hibbert for a vibrant, Mexican-inspired restaurant takeover at Thyme.
Thomasina will also be signing copies of Mexican Table, which can be pre-ordered when booking your table or purchased on the night.
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The £70 ticket includes a four course set menu. Bookings start from 5.30pm.