Join us on an extraordinary culinary journey to learn of Mexican culture through its culinary heritage. This unique cultural travel experience begins in Oaxaca, where the earliest pre-domesticated corn was found over 6,000 years ago. Known as "teosintle", this precursor to corn was domesticated by means of human engineering. Corn was the crop that provided the means for civilization to develop and flourish in Mesoamerica. Learn about the present-day threats to native corn varieties and travel to villages to make our own masa, tortillas and delicious tamales. In Oaxaca, enjoy a cooking class and learn to make simple and complex moles, so famous in the region. Travel to Puebla to learn of the regional delicacies such as red and green pipian, sopes de tinga, tamales de comino and more. Finally, in Mexico City, we visit the "chinampas" floating gardens and dine at Mexico City's finest contemporary Mexican restaurants. Join us!

• Learn of First Mesoamerican Foods
• Make tamales and tlayudas in a Oaxaca community
• Explore and make various mole types in Oaxaca
• Travel to Puebla to learn about and make pipian
• Visit markets to learn of the vast variety of peppers and other ingredients
• Savor contemporary Mexican cuisine in Mexico City
• Meet extraordinary chefs in Oaxaca, Puebla and Mexico City

• Friday, Day 1: Arrive Oaxaca: Welcome dinner, Los Pacos: Exploring moles
• Saturday, Day 2: Introduction to Mesoamerican foods: Focus on Corn: Presentation on CORN: a.)Earliest corn: Teosintle, b.)Domestication: Human Engineering, transition from hunting/gathering to agricultural settlement c.)Veneration, d.)Legends and Myths (Popol Vuh)e.)Corn Varieties, f.)Present day challenges and threats: Visit Botanical Gardens, City Orientation Tour: Lunch at Itanoni, Presentation and Tasting of Indigenous Corn Varieties. Here we learn of efforts to preserve and revalue domestic corn varieties. Our afternoon is free to explore the city independently. Enjoy an evening with Alejandro Ruiz, Casa Oaxaca, Exploring Chiles, Herbs, Cheeses and other surprises! Mezcal demo and tasting included!
• Sunday, Day 3: Mitla, Tlacolula, Teotitlan del Valle, Overnight Oaxaca: Explore the Ancient Ruins of Mitla with Pablo Gonzalez, followed by a visit to the sprawling Sunday market at Tlacolula. We enjoy the day in Teotitlan del Valle, where Rafaela Ruiz, of the Centro de Artes Textiles Zapotecos, Bii Dauu, will show us what nixtamal is and she will lead us in preparing masa to make tamales de coloradito and tlayudas. Our evening is free in Oaxaca City
• Monday, Day 4: Cooking with Oscar Carrizosa of Casa Crespo: Mole negro and mole amarillo, Monte Alban, Overnight Oaxaca: We will visit the market with Oscar to purchase our ingredients and begin our cooking lesson with Oscar on how to make a complex mole: negro; and a simple mole: amarillo. Oscar has other surprises in store for us! Eat our afternoon “comida” with Oscar and friends Afternoon visit to Mesoamerica’s first urban center: Monte Alban, with Pablo Gonzalez, Evening Free
• Tuesday, Day 5: Transfer from Oaxaca to Puebla, Overnight Puebla: Depart Oaxaca 7:30 a.m., arrive Puebla 11:30 a.m Welcome to Puebla: regional Poblano appetizers presented by Alejandra de la Riva of Mural de los Poblanos: Enjoy a cooking class with Alejandra de La Riva, of Mural de Los Poblanos where we will receive coaching and instruction in the preparation of green and red pipian and other regional specialties. Following our cooking, we will enjoy our meal with Alejandra and Luis Javier Cue de La Fuente (restaurant owner and lifetime “foodie”). After lunch, we walk off our food by taking a brief city walking, city orientation tour, where we will learn of Puebla’s history and see its highlights, including the Main Cathedral, the Temple of the Rosario and the spectacular world class Amparo Museum where we will learn of pre-hispanic Mesoamerican art from the Preclassic to the Postclassic periods. 3:30-on. Spend a fun and relaxed evening in the company of Jose Luis and Hector, the talented architects, designers and proprietors of Hotel El Sueno, where we will enjoy contemporary regional appetizers and innovative cocktails. Overnight at Hotel El Sueno
• Wednesday , Day 6: Atlixco, Cholula, Transfer to Mexico City: Depart for Atlixo, (8:30), a small community on the outskirts of Puebla, where we will meet Armando who will treat us to the delicious regional tamales de comino and atole. Accompanied by Armando, we will visit the local Franciscan Convent up on the hill and learn of other local points of interest in this town that lies at the foothills of the imposing Popocatepetl volcano. “Popo” for short, is still steaming and red molten mass is occasionally spotted by the locals. We pay a visit Porfirio to learn of the cecina tradition, where we will learn of this tradition in processing thinly sliced and cured beef. Similar to beef jerky, cecina is how meets were cured and dried prior to refrigeration. Porfirio will fire up his charcoal grill for a sampling of these delicious tacos. Often times, one can see cecina hanging from the clotheslines!!
• Moving to Cholula, we visit the indescribable regional churches of Tonantzintla and Acatepec, where we can see a fusion of prehispanic beliefs and catholic tradition. We make a special visit to a wonderful talavera workshop and showroom, Talavera Sta. Catarina, where we will learn of the talavera tradition, process and of course we can buy some of these beauties in the showroom. Talavera tile is a high temperature fired glazed ceramic that dates back to the Islamic cultures, who introduced it during their occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. Adopted by the Spanish, they later introduced this technique in Mexico during the colonization period. Then, we visit the massive pyramid of Cholula, the largest pyramid in Mesoamerica, and the educational on site museum, where we will learn of the extended period of occupation and phases of Cholula and the devastating massacre by the Spaniards that occurred in this city. We have a light supper / buffet and one of Cholula’s charming hotels, before we depart for Mexico City.
• Thursday, Day 7: Zocalo, Cooking with Patricia Quintana of Izote, Overnight Mexico City: Our day in Mexico City begins with getting our first impression of this mega metropolis by visiting the Zocalo, the largest city square in the Americas. It is here that we can see the great clash of cultures that occurred in the 16th Century with the arrival of the Spanish on Mesoamerican soil. We will see the ruins of Templo Mayor of Tenotchtitlan the former capital city of the Aztecs, and will see how the Spanish strategically built their cathedral and government buildings atop of this ancient capital, in order to obliterate its memory. We visit the imposing and ornate cathedral, and will spend some time reviewing the Diego Rivera murals in the National Palace. Travel to Lomas where we will be treated to an amazing day and opportunity to cook with Patricia Quintana in her home. Patricia Quintana is among the early pioneers in the research and publication of the history and traditions of regional foods and recipes of Mexico. Evening Free, Overnight in Mexico City
• Friday, Day 8: Xochimilco, Dolores Olmedo, UNAM, Ricardo Munoz: Today, we travel to the southern region of Mexico City, where we will explore the ancient hydraulic and agricultural masterpiece of the Aztec empire, the chinampa system of canals and built up land where they developed sophisticated systems to sustain agricultural production in the middle of a lake! Today, innovative and creative farmers are using this land to grow organic produce to supply area markets and restaurants with lovely and delicious produce. We will visit these farmers to learn of their initiatives. While in Xochimilco, we will get a treat and visit the sprawling former Hacienda and home of the patroness of the arts, Dolores Olmedo. In his final days, Diego Rivera enjoyed the support and care of Dolores Olmedo. Today, a large collection of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo masterpieces of her collection are on display at this museum. We see strolling peacocks and mischievous xolo’s (Mexican hairless dogs) running around! We visit the UNESCO Cultural Heritage site of the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) campus, the America’s largest public university. Here we see innovative artistic and architectural masterpieces of Juan O’Gorman, David Alfaro Siquieros, and Diego Rivera. On campus, we are treated to an evening with Ricardo Munoz of Azul y Oro, overnight Mexico City
• Saturday, Day 9: Museum of Anthropology, An evening with Enrique Olvera of Pujol: Saving a national treasure for last, we visit the Museum of Anthropology, where we can see the artistic expressions of the Mesoamerican cultures depicting important gods, such as the god of corn, water, sun, etc. A very special treat is in store, as we are lead in an extraordinary culinary tasting event with master chef and culinary artist, Enrique Olvera. Here, we will experience innovative food creations that defy description. We will enjoy a Mexican wine paring, as well.
• Sunday, Day 10: Depart

America's First Cuisines, Sophie D. Coe