Chef Interview: The Loco Group’s Jason Jones Talks Mexican Cuisine in Singapore

PUBLISHED October 24th, 2018 01:02 am | UPDATED March 26th, 2019 06:08 pm

If you still think that Mexican food is all about soggy tacos, frozen margaritas, and guac, you’re so very wrong. Mexican restaurants might be few and far between in Singapore, but among them, it’s those from The Loco Group — Super Loco and Lucha Loco — that has our heart. And the man behind it? The group Head of Culinary, Jason Jones, who’s devoted his career to the country he fell in love with: Mexico.

Hi Jason! Tell us, what inspires your cooking?

I believe inspiration comes from many different places – everything inspires my cooking. I’m inspired by ingredients I see at the wet market, and by the constant evolution of the customer’s palate. But I’m also inspired by books I read, cooking shows and documentaries on TV, and online publications. I also draw inspiration from my innovative peers in the industry who are always creating new dishes. I look for new inspiration because I love food, I want to do a good job, I want people to be happy, I want my family to be proud.

 

You started your first restaurant, Mamasita, in Melbourne. Why choose Mexican, though?

There were a handful of small restaurants serving up classic authentic Mexican cuisine, and a bunch of Tex-Mex places, but, at the time, there wasn’t a Mexican restaurant in Melbourne doing a modern approach to authentic Mexican food. We saw a gap in the market and seized the opportunity to start Mamasita.

The Mexican food scene in Melbourne seems a lot more vibrant than what we have in Singapore. What’s different there?

Most Australians grew up eating a Western diet, which makes the spices and flavours of Mexican cuisine very different, exciting, and desirable. Melbourne has a very vibrant food scene serving up a variety of cuisine, including Vietnamese, Japanese, Italian, Greek, and South American. Singapore is a multicultural city and most people grew up with a fantastic variety of interesting cuisine, ranging from Chinese, Malay and Indian. Mexican fare here is loved, but it’s not as different as it is to Aussie palates.

Working with traditions is not easy. How do you balance that when developing new dishes for your restaurants?

Research and development is something we spend quite a lot of time on. We start off with a traditional Mexican dish, study its main flavour profiles and core structure, then tweak it to add our Loco touch. After that, we’ll conduct robust feedback sessions with the team and refine the dish from there. The final result will be something we are all proud to serve and that is still rooted in the original dish.

 

What are some beloved ingredients that you absolutely must use all the time?

Corn, one of the main staples in Mexican cuisine. We use it for so many things – tortillas, sopes, tlayudas, tamales. It’s used fresh in salads and ceviches, or cooked on and off the cob. We even use the husk for ash and the silk for tea. Chilli is another big one for me. If it doesn’t have chilli, then it’s just not exciting for me. Mexico has so many varieties it’s crazy. We use as many as we can get our hands on. My last must-use ingredients are any items that are grown locally.

For a while, the perception of Mexican food in Singapore was just guac and frozen margaritas. Surely there’s more to the cuisine?

Mexico is home to one of the most diverse cuisines in the world! The country is made up of many regions – coasts, deserts, and mountains – and draws from many great civilisations such as the Mayans, Aztecs, Spanish, and Americas. As a result, Mexican cuisine varies significantly from region to region due to differences in climate, geography, and past influences. For instance, Veracruz-style dishes are heavily influenced by the Spanish; Northern Mexico is renowned for beef and their distinctive style of grilling meat; and the South Pacific coast of Mexico is noted for chicken, pork and Oaxaca cheese, which is similar to mozzarella. The food landscape in Mexico is so diverse that our menu can only represent a fraction of the core dishes found in the whole of Mexico.

What are some things a first-timer must order at Super Loco and Lucha Loco?

Try the elotes, which is barbecued corn on the cob smothered with chipotle mayo, cotija cheese, lime, and chilli. It’s our version of a classic Mexican street food, and people love it! It goes great with a margarita or a beer. You should definitely have a taco, too. Our Baja taco is one of the most popular options, although all the tacos are tasty. For sharing dishes, I’d recommend cerdo, which is roasted pork belly with agave, habanero pineapple, pickled red onions, and apple slaw, as well as mariscos veracruzana, which has clams, snapper, chilli, olives and lime.

Do you think you were born to cook?

I believe that the careers we choose out of passion stem from the environment we lived in during our childhood. My interest in food began growing when I was I lived on a large property that had gardens where we’d grow our own vegetables and an orchard for fruit. I worked in a local store on weekends cooking spit-roasted chickens. Since then, I’ve spent more than half my life in the kitchen. I chose cooking because I love travelling. I am extremely grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to pursue what I love. It’s provided an unbelievably adventurous life. I wouldn’t change a thing.