When Thomasina Miers first arrived in Mexico aged 18, she fell so in love with its food that she went back to live there, opening up a cocktail bar in Mexico City and using her free time to travel the country and cook with some of Mexico’s top chefs. After returning to London and winning BBC2’s MasterChef in 2005, Thomasina opened the Mexican street food cantina, Wahaca, which won the Observer Food Monthly’s ‘best cheap eats’ award, and has now opened three branches. She writes a regular recipe column in the Times and is co-editor of Soup Kitchen (2005) and the author of Cook (2006) and Wild Gourmets (2007). She is also the presenter of Mexican Food Made Simple.