Tepoztlan Mexico. Cooking Classes, 2
The main reason we went to Tepoztlan Mexico was for a week of cooking classes at La Villa Bonita taught by Chef Ana Garcia. She is a great cook and teacher fusing traditional and modern techniques with her dishes. The first night we arrived from Mexico City with another couple from Michigan and were greeted with a killer margarita (which we really needed after travelling for 12 hours), fresh ‘totopos’ (or tortilla chips) and guacamole. It sounds really simple but it was so good and was just an appetizer for the famous chef’s dinner that Ana does for guests the first night. What followed was modern interpretations of Mexican classics from soup, rice with scallops, stuffed peppers in walnut sauce (chiles en nogada) and more. It was delicious and further increased my anticipation for the cooking classes the following days.
The next day we woke up to a fresh cooked breakfast prepared by the staff that works with Ana and after a walk to the market (which I’ll talk about separately later) we began to cook. This was a common routine while we were there, eating a hearty delicious breakfast, a walk to the market to pick up the days ingredients (and work off the breakfast), and then to the kitchen! The group we were with was a perfect size, 7 people from all over the United States and all different backgrounds.
Chef Ana listened to what interests we had (‘I’ve always wanted to make tamales’ or ‘how do you know what peppers to use’) and worked the lessons around those but also added recipes to teach is a variety of Mexican cooking style techniques. It was fun and educational at the same time, most days lessons would last about 3 hours and filled with wine, beer and great conversation!
Some of the highlights that we learned:
– tamales, all sorts from using banana leaves to corn husks, sweet versus savory tamales, and even preparing our own masa for the dough
– chicken mole, which it seemed consisted of hundreds of individual ingredients
– cecina, which quickly became my favorite, thin, raw salted beef left to marinade with just simple ingredients
…and so much more!
Besides the main courses we learned a lot of small techniques that have made such a difference back home cooking Mexican food like the proper way to cook fresh tortillas, soup stock, cleaning and roasting peppers (and which peppers add what flavor to dishes), soups and sauces, beans that will beat any I’ve ever ate… thinking about this brings back so many good memories and I yearn to go back!
Which brings me to another aspect of the experience, meeting people and lifelong friends from Chef Ana herself to the people we cooked with and explored the city alongside. It was truly a memorable experience!
To be continued…
Tepoztlan Mexico. Cooking Classes, 3
Tepoztlan Mexico. Cooking Classes, 4
Tepoztlan Mexico. Cooking Classes, 5
