Cooking classes in Oaxaca, Mexico, Oaxaca, Mexico Articles

La Casa de los Sabores Cooking School
Alvin Starkman, M.A., LL.B.
If visitors to Oaxacan cooking school La Casa de los Sabores came away with nothing more than great recipes and a gastronomic meal rich in unique herb- and spice-accented flavor combinations that are the hallmark of Oaxacan cuisine, they would leave fully satisfied. But a visit with owner and chef extraordinaire Pilar Cabrera also inspires and sates travelers with a sensual day-long immersion into sights, sounds, smells and, yes, tastes and time-tested recipes of southern Mexico.
As always, a recent culinary odyssey with Pili, as she is known, began at La Casa de los Sabores first thing in the morning – at 9:30 a.m. Over the next few hours, she introduced me and the others in the class to the wisdom and experience of her great matriarchal culinary tradition. Pili learned the basics and the subtleties, including the mysteries of the famed seven moles, from her grandmother, who learned from her grandmother before her. She is a Oaxaca-born master of southern Mexico cookery as well as international epicurean trends, capable of sharing the secrets of preparing the most multifarious meal with novice and expert alike – in English and in Spanish.
Our day began with Pili's informal talk about the menu and the foods she was going to introduce us to in one of Oaxaca’s colorful markets. The extra attention to the key ingredients of Oaxacan cuisine kept us spellbound. “What we will achieve today with the chilis," she told us, "is hot and tropical … with the Chile de agua, you will see we use it not only for flavor but color as well, and I will teach you how we keep this beautiful, brilliant green.”
Once prepared with this knowledge, we all embarked on a shopping trip to the well-known marketplace, Mercado de La Merced, armed with multihued bolsas – market bags – to carry the compras – purchases. Pili had readied a partial shopping list, but, she advised us, she always adds "surprises," such as fresh foodstuffs which peasant women from the mountains sometimes bring down.

“When you have a chance to find something real special or unusual, you buy and incorporate into the comida," she explained. "Today, for instance, we look for mushrooms, because they grow so beautifully in the rainy season. Also, we will see what kind of fresh fruit we can use for the dessert.”

Her insights into the unique stores and small factories enriched the short walk to the market. A rich bouquet drew us into a mill that was making chocolate from scratch. As Pilar told us about the ingredients – cacao, cinnamon, almonds and sugar – the owner welcomed us with, “do you want to taste?”

The lesson began in earnest when Pilar began methodically searching through the indoor and outdoor portions of the marketplace and exchanging pesos for its plethora of fresh produce.

“Look at that lady sitting there, what she has in those bowls," she said. "She just brought those raspberries and blackberries from the Sierra Juarez. We can use them for the dessert. Notice how fresh and beautiful. The mushrooms beside them, see the size, how big and the bright orange color … this is the time of year, but not for our recipe today … Over here, we don’t buy the big green tomatillos. I prefer the little ones grown locally because they are not acidy like the others, and they have much more flavor, perfect for the salsa we are preparing today.”

She encouraged us to smell the herbs as she explained their use in particular Oaxacan dishes. “Today we use this hierba santa for the mole,” she said as she was examining samples of the fragrant leaf until she'd found the best and freshest for storage in one of our bolsas. “But we also use it to wrap fish and make tamales."

Lynet who had been in Puerto Escondido on the Oaxacan coast for six months, expressed the wish of many as she lamented, “I wish I’d been in this class at the beginning of our trip.”

Our enthusiasm and our appetites grew once we returned to Doña Pili’s well-equipped, spacious kitchen. Its wide counters, food preparation island and eight-burner gas stove opening onto the lush courtyard dining area made this cocina into an ideal classroom.

While we were reviewing printed recipe sheets for the dishes we were about to prepare, she displayed our purchases in baskets filled with the components of each recipe to help us learn why we bought what. Then we spent the next two hours preparing a sumptuous four-course meal.

Mary, her sous-chef, did preparatory work such as halving limes, slicing chilies and preparing chicken stock and poultry for the mole, freeing Pili to teach us the rituals and secrets of Oaxacan culinary seduction. Sparks from Pilar’s hearth of experience ignited even the most learned in the class as she pointed, touched, and passed around each item we purchased, telling us how it would be incorporated into the meal.

Once the actual cooking began, she put her bilingualism to good use, giving instructions and asking questions in one language, then repeating it in the other, as required by some of her visitors. “Necesito otro ayudante para quesillo, I need another helper for the cheese.” Pilar might as well be a Maestra de Español, a Spanish teacher to boot.

Everyone learned each task and participated in the preparation of virtually all menu items. And as the group peeled, diced and sautéd, Pili's gems of information flowed on.
We learned much more than how to achieve flavor. Pilar taught us techniques on how to attain desired tones and textures: “A lot of people ask me about cleaning mushrooms,” she said at one point, demonstrating the correct technique. “Now watch to see how we clean and seed this kind of chili,” she pointed out while preparing chile guajillo for the mole. “Once we start cooking these chile de agua, we need to remember to always check them and turn them constantly.”
“Look for the hot part of the comal … now this is when you know when to turn it over,” she said while demonstrating the art and science of making tortillas.

Every once in a while a new recipe rolled off the tip of her tongue as we worked … other dishes we could prepare with this particular mole; different fillings for the quesadillas such as potato, chorizo or huitlacoche, the exotic corn mold ... the texture we would want for the corn masa if we were making tamales rather than tortillas.

Soon, aprons removed, we were ready to feast. But first – “now before we sit down, remember in the market I told you there were two types of gusano worm? Here they are, so who wants to try?" she asked. “Now know about mezcal. Taste this one Alvin brought, and tell us how it seems to you. Here’s another kind. What do you think is different about this one?”

We sat down at a table exquisitely set with local hand-made linens, dishes and stemware. Bottles of Mexican and Chilean red wine were already breathing. The fine music of Oaxacan songstress Lila Downs serenaded us in the background.

Pilar reminded us that her grandmother and other relatives usually prepare their comidas with meat and all vegetables mixed together in the mole, a plate of rice on the side, and a bowl of broth. But our meal, like all the recipes she prepares with visitors at La Casa de los Sabores, would be her modern take on all the elements and flavor combinations of the best that contemporary Oaxacan cookery has to offer.

It was a celebration of every ingredient. We began with wild mushroom, onion, tomato, chili and cheese stuffing in the quesadillas de champiñones (mushroom quesadillas), complemented perfectly by smoky salsa verde asada (green sauce from the grill) served in its molcajete. Then it was time to calm our palates with bright yellow crema de flor de calabaza (cream of squash blossom soup), garnished with a drizzle of real cream, toasted calabaza seeds and indeed fresh squash blossoms. The main course or plato fuerte was mole amarillo – tender slices of chicken breast atop a sea of aromatic deep saffron-colored mole, accompanied by a medley of crunchy-fresh steamed vegetables. To conclude, arroz con leche (rice pudding), speared with a length of wild vanilla bean and crowned with berries that had been picked only the day before.

I left convinced that the grandest chefs at the most trendy Manhattan beaneries would be hard-pressed to compete with this petite Oaxaqueña's ability to marry the region’s complex cooking with post-modern attention to color, texture and flare. For Pilar Cabrera, it comes naturally. For the rest of us, it comes with a visit to her home.

La Casa de los Sabores Cooking School is located at Libres 205, in downtown Oaxaca. Maximum class size is 8, with private lessons available upon request. You can register for Pilar’s classes by calling (951) 516-5704 or e-mailing her at: bbsabores@prodigy.net.mx. ( Websites: http://www.laolla.com.mx ; http://www.mexonline.com/sabores.htm )

Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ). Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984. Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement. He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and when they became permanent residents in 2004. Alvin reviews restaurants, writes about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, and tours couples and families to the villages.

CASA MACHAYA OAXACA BED & BREAKFAST is unique among Oaxaca bed and breakfast accommodations in that we rent an entire spacious level of our modern yet traditionally styled Mexican home to only one set of guests at a time…a couple, family or individual (second rental unit available upon request). Completely private and with your own separate entrance, you’ll enjoy all amenities: fully equipped eat-in kitchen; landscaped patio with comfy lawn chairs, stone hand-hewn table and four chairs, and free-standing umbrella; bedsittingroom with double bed, large futon, cable TV with DVD, 3 piece wicker settee, night tables; optional extra bedroom with full size bunk beds and chest of drawers; 3 piece washroom. Your Canadian hosts spent four years building their hillside home with spectacular panoramic vistas using a Oaxacan architect, so you’re assured of traditional Mexican flare, color and design, yet with all the conveniences of home without any cultural surprises: an abundance of hot water for showering; complimentary 19 liter jugs of purified drinking water; ceiling fan; as well as the little things like for the kitchen such as microwave, electric juicer, coffee maker and blender (as well as the usual appliances); and even a comfy cot for taking a late afternoon snooze. If traveling with children, we have a good crib with all accessories for toddlers and infants, as well as stroller and high chair and car seat. We can also arrange for babysitting services so as to enable you to get away for a quiet evening, or spend a hectic day touring without concern for boring the kids. We have made special arrangements with a local hotel for use of their swimming pool by our guests. We provide the comfort and services of the large Oaxaca hotels, with the personal touch and quaintness of the best of bed and breakfast Oaxaca. Awake to the rich sounds of rooster calls and Mexican music echoing across the valley, yet you’re only minutes from the zócalo. We supply the following breakfast foods for those on our weekly plan: eggs, cereal, fresh rolls and pastries, seasonal fruit, tea, coffee and condiments. We offer internet and laundry facilities at a nominal rate to cover our costs. Bring your own laptop and the internet is free, 24 hours a day. We include in our rate weekday morning drives to the downtown location of your choice (about 10 minutes) be it to a Spanish language school, market, museum or gallery. Taxi and bus service is available a couple of blocks from the house. Our Guest Guide is comprehensive in that it provides valuable tips about how to stay healthy in Oaxaca, recommended restaurants including reviews, touring advice and safety tips. In it you’ll also find articles on topics you’ll not find in any tour books or travelogues. Tour guide services are available to the ruins, villages on market days and other sites such as the black pottery, rug and cotton textile towns, Hierve el Agua, 16th century churches and monasteries, and more off-the-beaten-track destinations such as full day treks up the mountain roads to visit mom and pop mezcal operations where you can learn the age old production techniques and subtle flavor nuances of the state’s famous alcoholic beverage. If you’ve rented a car or are driving your own vehicle, feel free to avail yourself of our touring advice. Also available on request are private cooking lessons in our large, traditional kitchen by one of Oaxaca’s pre-eminent chefs who for years has been receiving praise and recognition from novices, seasoned chefs, and the international culinary community including well-known food critics and restaurant reviewers. Oaxaca is our passion. Our goal is to make your vacation as culturally rich as possible.

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Two minutes from the ISSSTE Hospital, Medical School, Civic Hospital and Fountain of the Seven Regions

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