Humming and swaying to Bob Marley’s popular song Redemption, Raul Martinez Ramirez, executive chef at La Bodega, a recently opened restaurant in Khan Market, was packing away his knives for the day when we stepped into the kitchen. Next day, he tells us, will be his first off in weeks, and he is determined to not cook. That’s fair, considering ever since this Mexican haven opened, it has seen throngs of people visit each day, and Ramirez has not had a free moment. “Diners today are smart. They value authenticity. In this playground of all kinds of offerings, they know how to skillfully identify the pure temptation,” says the chef, sounding very confident about his product.
At 17, when Ramirez realised he disliked studying, he started looking for work. A friend who was a chef at a Mexican restaurant asked him to lend a hand in the kitchen. That experience set the tune for his life and he became a chef who loved his native cuisine—Mexican. “The cuisine is primarily a fusion of indigenous Mesoamerican cooking with European, especially Spanish, elements added after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. The basic staples still remain items such as corn, beans and chili peppers, but the Europeans introduced a large number of other foods, the most important of which were meat from domesticated animals (beef, pork, chicken, goat and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese) and various herbs and much spices. While, the Spanish initially tried to impose their own diet on the country, it couldn’t last long. Eventually, foods and cooking techniques began to be mixed, especially in colonial era convents. African and Asian influences were also introduced into the mixture during this era as a result of African slavery in New Spain and the Manila-Acapulco Galleons, he says adding, that keeping all that in mind, he has brought back the real Mexican nuances onto the plate, so that it doesn’t disappear altogether.
Needless to say, with that kind of dedicated focus on original recipes, the experience at the restaurant could be one to savour. Additionally, with a chef who prides in his cuisine makes the entrees even more enticing. “When one combines tradition, techniques, respect for the produce and spontaneity, it generally produces good results. Mexican cuisine is over 9,000 years old and was added by Unesco to its list of the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, as it’s also one of the most diverse. I love that I have the opportunity to share this rich culinary history with the world with you,” he says.