News

Bringing the real taste of Mexico to Montrose, El Tajin a truly authentic Mexican restaurant, has teamed up with Scotland’s only craft tequila, UWA, to create a limited-edition anniversary cocktail, celebrating the eatery’s first birthday.

Martha Doyle from Veracruz Port, Mexico moved to Scotland in 2010 with her Scottish husband and last year gave life to El Tajin, a delicious slice of North America in Montrose.

Martha said: “The way I express my love for my country is through my food and educating people about the diversity and complexity of Mexican food. I love bringing together local produce and giving it my own twist. treatment. We use goat from Myreside Farm just a few miles away for our goat tacos, seasonal vegetables such as asparagus, Arbroath Smokies, goose eggs from Fare of Scotland and Turrifs of Montrose who manage to find me all the Mexican vegetables I request.

“When it came to celebrating our first year of business, I wanted to create a drink that was steeped in Mexican culture but with a Scottish influence, mirroring El Tajin’s ethos. UWA is the first Scottish tequila and so there couldn’t be a more perfect fit.”

UWA combines specialised barrel ageing techniques in Speyside single malt casks within small artisanal batches in collaboration with Distillery La Cofradia, Mexico, owned and operated by the Hernandez family for over 50 years.

“In my home town, the guanabana fruit, also known as soursop, is extremely popular and is one of the most common flavours of ice cream. You can hear the vendors in the Boulevard calling the tourists with cries of ‘wera wera’, which means blonde person or person with light hair, to attract their attention to buy their ice cream. I’ve taken that flavour, a cross between a creamy strawberry and pineapple, which typifies the Mexico I know and love and fused it with UWA to create a totally unique and mouth-watering margarita. I love being able to use Scottish produce, that has been lovingly made to create food, drink and flavours that show Mexico in Montrose is alive with a passion.”

Michael Ballantyne, founder of UWA, said: “We have true appreciation for Scotland and Mexico, two very unique and beautiful places with two very iconic national drinks. We’ve taken elements from each and blended them to create a craft tequila that is like no other.

“When Martha suggested using our UWA as part of a special anniversary cocktail we were more than happy to let her work her magic with our tequila. Her passion for creating something that brings excitement and joy is evident and we’re always excited to see how people take UWA and mix it and drink it.

Martha said: “In the year since we’ve been open we’ve found that customers come back time and time again as our menu is ever evolving. We use as much seasonal produce as possible and I’m always trying out new dishes and new combinations and I just want to share them with as many people as possible.”