Depending on the time and day you caught me on, I could easily declare any cuisine to be my favorite. I do, however, always have a soft spot for Mexican food. Fortunately Mexican food in the UK has taken a turn for the better over recent years; gone are the stodgy, deep-fried or microwaved dishes and they have been replaced with fresh, made-on-the-spot items that are only heavy on the flavor.
I’d fully witnessed this change for myself but what I hadn’t realised was that Barburrito was the first of its kind and pioneered this change when they began ten years ago. Still a relatively small chain that has grown organically across the UK, Barburrito has blessed Leeds with two establishments and they’re easily my pick for Mexican food in the city center.
How do they Mexican food in your part of the world?
I’ve always marvelled at how they manage to fit quite so much into a perfectly wrapped burrito, so I was especially excited when Barburrito invited me along for a burrito masterclass at their Leeds Headrow restaurant (since it’s one of Pete’s favorite spots in Leeds, full stop, I’ve never seen him so eager to be my plus one!).
Before we got started on making burritos for ourselves, we were presented with a tray full of samples of all the fillings. I mean, we couldn’t make our dream burrito without exploring all of the possible options, right?
There was an impressive array of vegan fillings – two varieties of bean, two varieties of rice, garlic mushrooms, peppers, a crunchy coleslaw (not a mayonnaise smothered one either, I might add, but a fresh mix of shredded carrot and purple cabbage), homemade guacamole, a whole host of salsa, and then cheese and sour cream as additional vegetarian fillings.
Once we’d got to grips with all of the possible fillings, we had to learn about how to roll a burrito. Now, it’s kind of a trade secret so I can’t share the exact instructions but let’s just say it’s all in the fold and tuck.
Once you’ve spread the filling out over the burrito, you need to fold the tortilla in half until the edges meet, pinch the sides, tuck the top half right inwards and roll tightly. I definitely didn’t know to fold so far and tuck at all, so no wonder I can only fit a fraction of the filling in my homemade ones!
When it came to making my own burrito, I opted to make a vegan one with coriander rice, spicy black beans, garlic mushrooms, LOTS of guacamole, coleslaw (the mayo-free one mentioned above!), salsa and lettuce. I also went for a drizzle of medium salsa and that’s the only thing I’d change next time; I should have gone for hot as my burrito didn’t quite have the kick I’d wanted!
What would be in your dream burrito?
I was invited to Barburrito for a burrito masterclass and try out the food, but all thoughts, opinion and photos are my own and I have paid for plenty of meals at Barburrito in the past!