We were treated to a little preview of the special Dia de los Muertos festival menu at Benito's Hat last week. Celebrating the Mexican Day of the Dead, the menu features festive specialties including Pan de Muerto with chocolate sauce, a 'Vampiro' cocktail - a twist on the Margarita with tomato juice - and tamales, of course.
They have two varieties on offer: Pork with salsa roja and veggie with salsa verde. The addition of salsa and cheese to the top of the tamale - finished in the oven to melt the cheese - was unusual but very tasty and added an extra layer of flavour. The pork was tasty but not so strong to outdo the taste of the tamale. The enchilada-style tomato salsa was a great complementary flavour that we'll will definitely try when we cook tamales at home. Chef Felipe told us he used balsamic vinegar in the pork marinade, a seemingly unexpected ingredient that according to co-owner Ben is actually quite common in Mexico.
The sharing plate of veggie quesadillas, potato taquitos and black beans nachos was delicious as well, the irony-rich spinach quesadillas a particular highlight.
Try the festive menu yourself at Benito's Hat on November 2nd. Tamales might also make an appearance at other times of year, although as chef Felipe explained to us, they are quite time-consuming to make to order, which might account for the success of its cousin, the easy-assembly burrito.
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