The next day in Oaxaca we took a class in Zapotec cooking, offered by Casa de los Sabores. Our instructor, chef Reyna Mendoza, is a native of Teotitlan del Valle, a Zapotec village where she grew up learning traditional cooking techniques from her mother.
Our class began with a trip to a market nearby, La Merced, where we could find the freshest ingredients for the meal that we were about to prepare.
At the market, Reyna showed us the differences between several kinds of chile. I believe the two shown are guajilla (left) and ancho (right).
Oaxaca is known to be the “land of seven moles.” Chocolate, which is a component in some of these moles, is an ingredient commonly sold at the markets. These chocolate chunks are usually made of chocolate mixed with cinnamon and sugar.
We picked up some fresh chicken,
tomatoes,
tomatillos,
cheese,
squash blossoms,
and homemade flour tortillas from a woman who comes to the market to sell her steaming hot, towel-wrapped tortillas.
We also got to sample empanadas de huitlacoche con quesillo (empanadas with corn fungus and Oaxacan string cheese), cooked on a large comal.
Huitlacoche is harvested and available fresh only during the rainy season.
We returned to the kitchen, where the five of us, along with our instructor and assistants, created the following menu. We were not allowed to take photos during the class (too distracting), so here are photos of the completed dishes.
Enchiladas de Mole con Pollo (mole enchiladas with chicken)
Ensalada de Nopales con Aderezco (cactus salad with dressing)
Indias Vestidas (figurative name for fried, cheese-stuffed squash blossoms)
Salsa de Miltomate y Chile Pasilla de Oaxaca (tomatillo and Oaxacan pasilla chile salsa)
Helado de Frambuesa (raspberry ice cream)
We are excited about recreating these recipes someday, and sharing the recipes and results here.
