Thomasina’s perfect recipe for a great life – get cooking

She has gone on to open four Wahaca restaurants, write multiple books and now star in TV show, Mexican Food Made Simple.

“I was a VAT consultant for nine months of my gap year, and utterly miserable,” she says. “So I went to Mexico where I travelled around, drinking a lot of tequila, dancing and eating.”

Thomasina, who’s just given birth to a baby girl, admits she was a “very arrogant 18-year-old”.

“I had been cooking since I was six and thought I knew everything. But on the third night, I went to a party where this woman cooked a spread and I didn’t recognise any of the flavours... or chillies... or anything. I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of this food before.”

But like with so many childhood dreams, Thomasina assumed her passion for food was just a bit of fun.

“By 2003, I had tried all these different careers and was miserable because I couldn’t find anything I could stick at,” she explains.

“I did some marketing, advertising and modelling. In fact, I was literally going down the catwalk in a bikini helping out a mate, when I met Clarissa Dickson Wright.

“In those days I didn’t think cooking could be a career. She really opened my eyes and sent me off to cookery school.”

With a qualification in her pocket, Miers ducked straight back to Mexico, beginning a proper exploration of the cuisine, and even opened a cocktail bar.

“The majority of Mexicans live below the poverty line. They slow-cook their meat to get the most out of the flavour, using herbs like oregano, thyme and bay leaves.

“Then they use fresh herbs on top to get the fresh notes and chillies to add a lovely light heat. Not all chillies are burning hot though, some are sweet, some smoky and others have tobacco notes.”

After a blissful year of eating, she returned, as student-poor as ever, and signed up for Masterchef as a last resort.

“I remember rocking up to the studio on the first day feeling a bit cocky, thinking it was a bit of a joke and then seeing Greg [Wallace] and John [Torode] being polite and mashing potatoes in these massive pans. I thought, ‘Oh my God’ and started to shake.”

Luckily, her South American-inspired food wowed the critical pair.

After landing a job with a restaurant kitchen, she quickly moved on to food writing, before establishing her own chain of restaurants.

In her new TV series, Miers sets off to the markets of Mexico City in search of the perfect traditional dishes such as tacos, tamales and tastadas, before whipping up easy versions for viewers.

Mexican Food Made Simple, Tuesdays, Channel 5. The book by Thomasina Miers is published by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £20.