Saturday October 30, 2010
Oaxaca, Mexico
Gorgeous Day
Today, we slept in as we both were pretty exhausted from the trip and from work. Surprisingly, we slept in until 745am! So both had about 10 hours of sleep.
The morning started with a traditional breakfast at our B&B - Fresh orange juice, coffee and homemade tortillas smothered in a spicy black bean sauce sprinkled with Oaxacan Queso Fresco. Great way to start the morning.
We then power walked to the Bentio Juarez market, just to check it out as it is Oaxaca's oldest market. It was bustling with people buying food but not all the stalls were open. We are going there again so we just got a quick preview of what the market is like as we had to hustle to our next destination which was Casa Cresspo for our first cooking class!
Scenes from the Benito Juarez Market
The cooking class is located at Casa Crespo restaurant and is run by a soft spoken and very nice guy named Oscar. We were joined by 2 ladies from Portland, Oregon, 1 lady from Seattle and another one from San Franscisco. Over coffee we had to decide what to make. After some discussion ( we all wanted to make everything), we decided on a traditional Oaxacan black mole as a main dish, squash blossom soup, Chilis with Cream and Cheese , a traditional quesadilla, and guacamole as an appetizer and sweetened loquats as dessert. For our beverage, we made hibiscus water.
We first went to a local market to buy our ingredients which Oscar patiently explained to us. We had to wait around a bit though at the market as a group of ladies from Houston showed up quite late so they had to catch up with us. I learned a lot about chilis and the different herbs that are used to flavor the local dishes. I had no idea that even avocado leaves can be used in Oaxacan cooking. Oscar took us to a market that most tourist do not know about and had arguably the largest selection of organic produce in all of Oaxaca (more than the Organic Market written in the guide books!) The market was also so colorful as many vendors were selling marigolds, dahlias and chrysanthemums as folks were getting ready for Day of the Dead Cerememonies. Day of the Dead bread, chocolates and sugar figurines were sold everywhere as the Oaxacans prepared their altars. I bought some local Oaxacan dried chilies to bring home and to try and replicate what I learned to make today.
The entrance to the market where we shopped for ingredients
Sugar cane ladies
Day of the Dead bread
From left to right: red mole, black mole and candied pumpkin. On top are fruit drinks
A fabulous vegetable stand
Unusual spices
Beautiful tomatoes that are used for soup
More unique fresh spices
Oscar explaining things to us
An elegant lady shopping
Oaxacan chilies. I bought some of these.
The medicine woman. Those are turkey eggs. She said that if I rub a raw turkey egg all over my body all the germs in my body will disappear.
Agave worms
After shopping it was time to work. We first made tortillas. No, we did not make it from scratch which would have taken all day. Instead we bought fresh masa and learned how to use a tortilla press and how to toast them. It's quite easy once you know the technique. We also made a small tortilla flavored with black beans and spices. After the tortilla, we made the mole with chocolate. It was suprisingly easy. The chocolate used is local Oaxacan chocolate made from Oaxacan cacao, sugar, almonds and cinnamon. Oaxaca is the center of chocolate production in Mexico. I didn't buy any chocolate but definitely have to so I can replicate the Mole Negro recipe at home. The mole was made first as we had to cook it slowly for about an hour until it turns into a paste. We then moved on to making Oaxacan quesadillas flavored with local Oaxacan string cheese which is salty and good, squash blossom and for some, agave worms. We also made 4 different types of salsas: fresh tomato salsa, fresh tomato salsa with agave worms, passion fruit salsa, roasted tomato salsa and a tomatillo salsa. The passion fruit salsa was so unusual but good! It will be a wonderful side dish for roasted fish. Next was the soup, followed by the dessert which was very easy but a bit of a pain as we had to peel the skin off the loquats. And then finally made the chilies with creme and queso fresco. The chilies were pobano chilies that were roasted. I'll post another blog on how we made the dishes. The aroma coming out of the kitchen was just wonderful.
After about 2 hours in the kitchen it was time to eat. Everytyhing was delicious, including the salsa with the agave worms. I actually tried one worm and found it to just be salty. We had a wonderful time at the cooking class although I thought there were too many people and have to admit found the folks from Houston a bit obnoxious as they showed up late, did not apologize and did "hog" a lot of time during the cooking class. Oscar was getting a bit stressed at one point because things were taking too long. But we did meet a very nice woman from San Francisco who shared a common passion for travelling so we exchanged emails and hope to stay in touch and share hints and tips on our travel adventures.
Guacamole: Have to get that molcajete (mortar)
The salsas we made
Oaxacan quesadillas
Roasted poblano chiles with creme and queso fresco
Squash blossom soup
Mole Negro with roasted chicken
Candied loquats
Sandra and I were STUFFED after lunch which ended around 2pm. So after lunch we went to the Culture Museum which is located in the beautiful Santo Domingo convent/church. We went through the very ornate and beautiful church where a wedding happened to take place. The architecture of the church is classic Spanish Colonialism architecture. Very rich and ornate, showcasing how rich Spain was until the Kings and Queens wasted all the riches on wars. The museum was beautiful and also had a wonderful cactus garden. I was a bit disappointed though as I thought they would have more on Oaxacan culture than on Spanish culture. But since this is the 100 year anniversary of the Mexican revolution, there was a special exhibit commemorating the exhibition, so it was worth it.
The bride and groom getting ready for their wedding ceremony.
The Church
An altar in the museum decorated for Day of the Dead.
The museum used to be a convent. It's huge and beautiful
The cactus garden was the highlight of the museum
We then headed to the main market in search of a nice mortar and pestle that Oscar used. It took us forever to find one! And when we found then, it was not what we wanted. We wanted a black smooth one made from volcanic rock. Apparently, it's expensive so we have to go a specialty store. We then went to the Zocola for a bottle of wine and some people watching. The Zocola is the main square where the town hangs out. Concerts were going on and many folks were preparing for the Day of the Dead parade that was happening in the evening. We found some children begging for money but did not find them too annoying and pushy. Next time, I'll bring some candy so don't feel guilty not giving them anything.
Drinking wine at the Zocalo
Day of the Dead Altar at the Zocalo honoring those who died for the revolution
A very cool girl dressed to go to a party
The El Camino Real Hotel: A restored former convent of Santa Catalina
The Altar for Day of the Dead at Hotel Camino Real
One of the huge skulls that will be paraded around town
We then walked through town, did some more window shopping and I decided I want to buy a pitcher, mortar/pestle and one of the gorgeous wood carvings of Oaxaca. We'll be spending the next few days exploring the markets and sights outside the town so should be fun. We also stopped by Casa Crespo again to see Oscar to find out where to buy the mortar/pestle. He showed us the market where to go to which we will explore tommorrow.
We spent the evening with another bottle of wine at the B&B and practiced our Spanish with one of the employees who is a very nice college kid studying criminology at the local university. We found out he is from the Mixteco indigenous group and speaks the language along with Spanish.
After a long day where we were on our feet for at least 9 hours, we called it a night as we had another full day on Sunday.
Comments