Alma Flores is Mexican, born and raised in the state of Jalisco. She came to Sri Lanka back in May 2012 with her husband, who is Sri Lankan, and even though it was a big change, she adored the people, the food, and the island (except for the endless humidity!)
Talking to Flores on her first impression of the country, she said: “When I came here I was totally clueless about the lack of my known products and the difference of cuisines.” She assumed that she could find her spices and cooking equipment anywhere she went so when she moved here, she came only with her luggage and nothing else, only to find out there was no way to get any Mexican cooking-related products off the supermarket shelf. Then, she assumed that she could get her home cuisine at Mexican restaurants but to her dismay, there were no Mexican restaurants in the country. “The few times something close to Mexican food restaurants opened up, they would close within a year! I visited many other places and tried their ‘Mexican dishes’ only to be completely disappointed that it was just “Mexican” because it sold, not because it tasted or looked like it,” Flores lamented.
She was also shocked to find out that people were very clueless about authentic Mexican food and they related it to Tex-Mex or Taco Bell. For Flores, It was heartbreaking and sad. That is when she decided to take matters into her own hands and start up her own Mexican food cloud kitchen: “I decided that there was no better way than to show Lankans the real taste of Mexican food through my small home business.”
This is how Sabores, her small business, started two years ago. Sabores is the Spanish word for “flavours”. When thinking of the name, she wanted something that related to what she wanted people to notice about her food.
The very first time Sabores was out there was at a pop-up sale organised by Pages and Coffee down Stratford avenue, and Flores told us that the response was amazing. She exclaimed: “With the help of another Mexican friend of mine Bety, my bestie Nabeela, and my sisters-in-law, Shazna, Rukaya, and Rishada, we pulled through the day and I never expected people to like the food so much!”
Flores found it lovely and overwhelming to see that Sri Lankans were willing to learn the real deal and were encouraged to continue.
She added: “I’m very grateful for the support from my husband Akram, as he has always been by my side and cheers me up whenever I feel like giving up. My kids also sacrifice a lot of their time with me because they understand it is no easy task to run a business from home, but they like their mother doing her work.”
Her menu is currently limited, as she has only two people working under her and it's a bit difficult to introduce new items as much as she wants, but she currently offers Tacos, quesadillas, and tres leches cake in vanilla and chocolate flavours as well as salsa jars, tortillas, and refried beans.
We tried their beef tacos, chicken tacos, vegetable tacos, cheese quesadilla, and the chicken and cheese quesadilla.
Both taco shells are made from wheat tortilla wraps and are vastly different from the crunchy shells. Flores told us that the tortillas are homemade; quite impressive considering the standard of the wrap. Previously, she had made the tortillas with corn, since it was a staple vegetable in Mexico. She added that they consume corn as much as Lankans consume rice. After the pandemic, the imports got affected and she had to switch to wheat flour tortillas, which has been very well received and is also much more appealing to the Sri Lankan palate.
They all come with one salsa, which is spicy and adds a kick to your tacos, and a side of fresh cream that is obviously more bland and neutralises the flavours.
Starting off with the beef taco, we must say that the beef itself was quite juicy and had absorbed all the flavour of the spices added, that left it with a pleasant salty flavour. “The beef is actually made with a spice mix from back home (Mexico) which my mother sends down to me from there,” explained Flores. So when ordering from Sabores, you're actually getting a taste of Mexico.
Next, we had chicken tacos. There wasn't much of a change, since the mix of vegetables were the same, but there was still a generous spreading of chicken pieces. The chicken didn’t have the same flavour notes as the beef, yet the flavour was one we had known all our lives. “The chicken tacos are made with more locally grown ingredients, so it has a Sri Lankan flavour to it, and so the Sri Lankan tongue gets accustomed to it easily,” she added, on the topic of the familiar flavour. Previously, she did use more authentic ingredients, but with the pandemic, sourcing ingredients has become increasingly difficult for Flores.
The bottom of the shell of the vegetarian is lined with refried beans, which we learned does not mean that the beans are fried twice, but is actually a mistranslation of the Spanish word: frijoles refritos, which loosely translates to well fried or intensely fried. Refried beans, in actuality, is a dish of cooked and mashed beans and is a traditional staple of Mexican. This mix was topped with an array of vegetables and closed off with cabbage. Now generally, I’m a big vegetable hater, but when topped with the salsa, we almost couldn’t tell that this was veg! Flores also informed us that this particular taco is made including chipotle peppers, which is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning in most Mexican food, again giving it a hint of authenticity.
Although I had high expectations for the cheese quesadilla, since it’s one of my all-time favourite Mexican dishes, I wasn’t all too pleased with this one. When eaten hot, it has an irresistible cheesy pull and when bitten, the cheese is chewy and has flavour and texture, but it does go cold very fast, and it became tough and lacked any flavour. We personally felt that the tortilla was too doughy for cheese of this calibre. All we can say is eat it while it’s hot. The chicken and cheese quesadilla was a lot better since there was a blend of spices on the chicken that was infused with the cheese; the doughiness of the tortilla was also lessened because of the texture of the chicken. When eaten hot, this is an absolute delight.
Sabores is available on Uber and PickMe every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Instagram: sabores_mex
Talking to Flores on her first impression of the country, she said: “When I came here I was totally clueless about the lack of my known products and the difference of cuisines.” She assumed that she could find her spices and cooking equipment anywhere she went so when she moved here, she came only with her luggage and nothing else, only to find out there was no way to get any Mexican cooking-related products off the supermarket shelf. Then, she assumed that she could get her home cuisine at Mexican restaurants but to her dismay, there were no Mexican restaurants in the country. “The few times something close to Mexican food restaurants opened up, they would close within a year! I visited many other places and tried their ‘Mexican dishes’ only to be completely disappointed that it was just “Mexican” because it sold, not because it tasted or looked like it,” Flores lamented.
She was also shocked to find out that people were very clueless about authentic Mexican food and they related it to Tex-Mex or Taco Bell. For Flores, It was heartbreaking and sad. That is when she decided to take matters into her own hands and start up her own Mexican food cloud kitchen: “I decided that there was no better way than to show Lankans the real taste of Mexican food through my small home business.”
This is how Sabores, her small business, started two years ago. Sabores is the Spanish word for “flavours”. When thinking of the name, she wanted something that related to what she wanted people to notice about her food.
The very first time Sabores was out there was at a pop-up sale organised by Pages and Coffee down Stratford avenue, and Flores told us that the response was amazing. She exclaimed: “With the help of another Mexican friend of mine Bety, my bestie Nabeela, and my sisters-in-law, Shazna, Rukaya, and Rishada, we pulled through the day and I never expected people to like the food so much!”
Flores found it lovely and overwhelming to see that Sri Lankans were willing to learn the real deal and were encouraged to continue.
She added: “I’m very grateful for the support from my husband Akram, as he has always been by my side and cheers me up whenever I feel like giving up. My kids also sacrifice a lot of their time with me because they understand it is no easy task to run a business from home, but they like their mother doing her work.”
Her menu is currently limited, as she has only two people working under her and it's a bit difficult to introduce new items as much as she wants, but she currently offers Tacos, quesadillas, and tres leches cake in vanilla and chocolate flavours as well as salsa jars, tortillas, and refried beans.
We tried their beef tacos, chicken tacos, vegetable tacos, cheese quesadilla, and the chicken and cheese quesadilla.
Both taco shells are made from wheat tortilla wraps and are vastly different from the crunchy shells. Flores told us that the tortillas are homemade; quite impressive considering the standard of the wrap. Previously, she had made the tortillas with corn, since it was a staple vegetable in Mexico. She added that they consume corn as much as Lankans consume rice. After the pandemic, the imports got affected and she had to switch to wheat flour tortillas, which has been very well received and is also much more appealing to the Sri Lankan palate.
They all come with one salsa, which is spicy and adds a kick to your tacos, and a side of fresh cream that is obviously more bland and neutralises the flavours.
Starting off with the beef taco, we must say that the beef itself was quite juicy and had absorbed all the flavour of the spices added, that left it with a pleasant salty flavour. “The beef is actually made with a spice mix from back home (Mexico) which my mother sends down to me from there,” explained Flores. So when ordering from Sabores, you're actually getting a taste of Mexico.
Next, we had chicken tacos. There wasn't much of a change, since the mix of vegetables were the same, but there was still a generous spreading of chicken pieces. The chicken didn’t have the same flavour notes as the beef, yet the flavour was one we had known all our lives. “The chicken tacos are made with more locally grown ingredients, so it has a Sri Lankan flavour to it, and so the Sri Lankan tongue gets accustomed to it easily,” she added, on the topic of the familiar flavour. Previously, she did use more authentic ingredients, but with the pandemic, sourcing ingredients has become increasingly difficult for Flores.
The bottom of the shell of the vegetarian is lined with refried beans, which we learned does not mean that the beans are fried twice, but is actually a mistranslation of the Spanish word: frijoles refritos, which loosely translates to well fried or intensely fried. Refried beans, in actuality, is a dish of cooked and mashed beans and is a traditional staple of Mexican. This mix was topped with an array of vegetables and closed off with cabbage. Now generally, I’m a big vegetable hater, but when topped with the salsa, we almost couldn’t tell that this was veg! Flores also informed us that this particular taco is made including chipotle peppers, which is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning in most Mexican food, again giving it a hint of authenticity.
Although I had high expectations for the cheese quesadilla, since it’s one of my all-time favourite Mexican dishes, I wasn’t all too pleased with this one. When eaten hot, it has an irresistible cheesy pull and when bitten, the cheese is chewy and has flavour and texture, but it does go cold very fast, and it became tough and lacked any flavour. We personally felt that the tortilla was too doughy for cheese of this calibre. All we can say is eat it while it’s hot. The chicken and cheese quesadilla was a lot better since there was a blend of spices on the chicken that was infused with the cheese; the doughiness of the tortilla was also lessened because of the texture of the chicken. When eaten hot, this is an absolute delight.
Sabores is available on Uber and PickMe every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Instagram: sabores_mex