Cooking Class Tortillas and Nixtamal. The food systems and dynamics around corn in territories like Mexico or Central America are related and have a multidimensional impact in the population in all its sectors. We’re going to approach these topics with a decolonial and critical approach based on CRT (Critical Race Theory).
Join us in a fun ride to our kitchen in the Etla Valley, north of Oaxaca City to share the table over some stories, especially from how corn was domesticated in what today we know as Oaxaca and other parts of the continent. Finally, we all are going to enjoy the meals we cooked. Mexican food, thus, Oaxacan cuisine has a significant foundation on corn, so we are going to learn about this cornerstone ingredient of the gastronomy here. One important topic that will be covered it’s the Nixtamal process, which is the cornerstone of Mexican gastronomy and culture.
We are going to start buying our ingredients at the market to use later for the cooking class and explore the local fresh options we’ll have. Then we’ll drive to our cooking studio in the Etla Valley to get a deeper introduction to the ingredients, process, and dishes we’ll prepare.
Once we are settled and refreshed with a traditional drink, we are going to start preparing the food, I’ll assign to the participants different tasks and responsibilities in order to achieve our main goal; having our three-course-meal menu prepared. When the food is ready, we are going to share the table and finish the journey while enjoying the delicious things we worked on.
This workshop, Cooking Class Tortillas and Nixtamal, in Oaxaca City shares this ancestral practice and made it useful for your home cooking. We will discuss the relevance of corn in food systems and how the dominance of corporations are putting in risk life and techniques like Milpa. The importance of how ingredients like corn, beans, pumpkins, and Quelites (greens) are grown. The significance of ecosystems like the Milpa, which is a virtuous technique developed centuries ago..
As we learn and discuss those topics, we are going to cook and prepare corn-based traditional dishes that are the result of those ancestral practices.
In a scenario like this, Oaxaca is one of the last bastions in Mexico’s food autonomy. Here is one of the places where we can still find locally grown corn while maintaining the ancestral traditions and practices like the Nixtamal process.
$1,800.00 6 hours
Price in Mexican Pesos.
Discount will apply in checkout depending on number of students.
We had a beautiful time cooking with Luis. My partner and I were keen to deep dive into Oaxaca’s rich food culture, and Luis was able to teach us about local plants and recipes to give us a true experience of Oaxaca. We were guided through the intricate nixtamalization process (and made tortillas from scratch) as well as making delicious salsas, salads, frescas, and soups to complete an amazing meal. We also shopped with Luis and the market and made lovely homemade champurrado to start the day. Importantly, I myself am vegan and my partner lactose intolerant – which can often be tricky to navigate in Mexico more generally – but it was no problem with Luis. We cooked up an authentic vegan/veggie Oaxacan feast that worked for us. A big thank you Luis! We’d wholeheartedly recommend.
Ellie
I’ve been to several cooking workshops in Mexico, and I can confidently say that the cooking workshop with Luis is one of the best experience I’ve ever had so far. As a veteran teacher, I can tell that Luis is a great instructor. He is well-organized, caring, patient, fun, and knowledgeable. He also gives clear instruction step-by-step to make sure everyone is following up.
The whole workshop is well-paced, from buying the fresh ingredients at the local market, learning about the local ingredients, the food culture and the history of the indigenous people and language, teaching us how to prepare the food, taking us on a field trip to the local mill, to finally finish cooking and sitting together to enjoy the delicious and healthy food.
You can tell Luis’ love and passion for cooking and sharing his knowledge of indigenous culture. He is conscientious about the environment, social justice, and the right of the indigenous people. I’ve learned so much from him. This is not just a cooking class. It’s truly an authentic cultural experience that you do not want to miss if you are ever in Oaxaca.
Simiao
Mexican food doesn’t have to have meat. From pipian, to enchiladas, passing by soups and salsas. All of them can be prepared with a plant-based list of ingredients. Vegan options are available too.
Let’s prepare the traditional moles of Oaxaca (Mole Negro, Pipian, Amarillo, Coloradito) leaving out the lard and the chicken broth. The flavors of the peppers, seeds and fruits are the ones giving us the real taste of the moles.
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