Beyond the fajita: Three Mexican chefs take over Vancouver kitchens

José Manuel Baños is one of three top chefs from Mexico who have come to Vancouver to expand people's views of this cuisine by taking over local restaurant kitchens.

"People, they think Mexican food is only fajitas, nachos and chili con carne, guacamole and that's it," said Baños, who travelled more than 5,000 kilometres to change that perception.

Until Saturday night, Dec. 10, he'll be at the helm of the Homer Street Cafe's kitchen, serving a set menu of traditional dishes from his home of Oaxaca, Mexico. The restaurant is serving its usual menu alongside his.

Event organizer Sabores CDMX brought two other Mexican chefs to Vancouver. including Gerardo Vázquez Lugo, who will be at Cacao, a restaurant located at West 1st Avenue and Cypress Street, and Chef Mario Espinosa who will be at Main Street's Burdock and Co..

Those chefs will both work until Saturday night.

152 herbs and spices

In constructing his menu, Baños sampled just a fraction of the herbs and spices traditionally used in the Oaxaca region.

"Simple question. How many herbs do you have in the Canadian kitchen for cooking?" he asked CBC's The Early Edition host Rick Cluff.

"Maybe 20? In Oaxaca we have 152."

Baños's menu includes garnachas' — small, fried corn tortillas with shredded meat, cabbage and Oaxacan cheese — as well as three unique tacos of his own creation, meant to give diners a culinary tour of his home country.'

For dessert, Baños serves Mexican 'piloncillos' with a twist. Usually, piloncillos consist of melted cane sugar pressed into cone shapes.

Baños adds a holiday latte spice to create pumpkin piloncillos.