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Culinary Tours
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A series of culinary tours are offered around the state of Oaxaca, visiting some of our friends and locations from the television series: Seasons of My Heart; A Culinary Journey through Oaxaca, Mexico. We also offer an exciting and mouth watering tour in Veracruz to celebrate the Spring Equinox and the yearly vanilla harvest as well as an exotic tour to the states of the Yucatan Peninsula to savor the exciting days of Carnival.
This tour is an in depth look at the Mayan culture and gastronomy that covers the three southern most states of México: Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. For easy access and affordable airfares, the tour starts and ends in Cancun. After arriving in Cancun you will transfer to the enchanting Caribbean beaches of Isla de Mujeres. We travel in an air-conditioned van to the colonial city of Valladolid to have a cooking class and learn about the unique foods from this area. Then we continue on to the archeological site of Chitzén Itza to learn about the Mayan culture; Later, we'll enjoy a cooking class in an archeological camp nearby. In the capital city of Mérida, we stay in a hacienda for several days. We will study the traditional foods and cooking techniques with various chefs, visit markets, swim, watch artists making beautiful handicrafts, and best of all, taste the various foods of the region in many different restaurants and market stalls. We will also visit the eco-paradise of Celestun to look at the many species of birds including the exotic pink flamingos. On the beach we will learn to cook fish in the pibil style. 
Along the Mayan Puuc Route, we visit many villages, caves and cenotes, the sacred cooling waters of the Yucatán. We will be guided through the ages of history at various archeological sites ending in Uxmal. In Campeche, we will cook with local friends, eat seafood specialties and have a food tasting in a very popular restaurant. 
I have had many wonderful visits to the towns of the Isthmus, but nothing was quite as magical as attending the Vela Zandunga last May. We were visiting our friend, Julin Contreras, who invited us to go to the celebration. Upstairs in the bedroom, women were dressing with a flurry of anticipation. One pulled out incredible costumes and doled them out to me and my amigas to wear. Another woman did our hair and lent us heavy gold necklaces and jewels. In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the whole month of May is dedicated to the ritual dance of the vela. A Vela is a ceremonial gathering where the women come together to show off their beauty and grace. Elaborate costumes inspired by the fashion of the early 1900s are created months in advance. At each vela, a young woman is chosen to be the princess. In Tehuantepec, the final and most important event of the season is the Vela Zandunga. It is at this dance that a young woman is chosen for the highest honor of Queen. That night I felt like Cinderella at the ball, and dancing with the other zandungas, young and old, I felt the unity, sisterhood, and sense of belonging that a woman has in the Isthmus. The meaning of a true zandunga is a woman who radiates beauty, enthusiasm and pride - and these women truly bear that honor. 
The Northern mountain range of the Sierra Madre has a moist microclimate perfect for producing many types of wild mushrooms. On this trip we gather mushrooms in the mornings and turn them into delectable treats with the local cocineras in the afternoon. We travel in air-conditioned vans and lodge in cozy wooden cabins in picturesque villages in the mountains. My co-maestro, Mark Thomsen, from the Mycological Society of San Francisco, is an experienced mushroom identifier with interesting stories and anecdotes about each variety. It was a great exchange of information with local experts last year and we expect more guest local experts to participate this year. We must have cooked over 20 different hongo dishes, complete with the mother load harvest of black chanterelles that we introduced to the locals for the first time. 
This tour is an unusual look into the matriarchal society of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in particular, the Muxes of Juchitán de las Flores. This group of men, called Muxes, from a rather young age, decide they want to live their lives as women and are encouraged to do so. They age to be prominent women figures in the society, with jobs in politics, education, and esthetics, and are accepted by many walks of life.  |
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| ** Gay Vela tour, Isthmus of Thehuantepec photos by Stephen Schumm | |
CHILE LOVER'S TOUR! LA CAÑADA, CHILE CHILHUACLE HARVEST AND THE MIXTECA
This tour celebrates the fall harvest of the chilhuacle chiles, the esteemed chiles grown in the Cañada region and dried for use in the revered Negro and Chichilo moles. These exceptional chiles are wonderful when dried but are real delicacies when available fresh, only in the month of November. They are made into a fabulous stew that we will eat with an agronomist and his family on his ranch and see the many other fruit and vegetable orchards in this exceptionally fertile and rich microclimate of Oaxaca. Starting in the Valley of Oaxaca, we will travel through three distinctive areas on our way north. Leaving the ranchos of the valley of Etla behind, we will travel on a curvy road through the mountains and into a dry, arid climate, and then down into a canyon, studded with frangipani and organ cactus into the Cañada. The first night of the tour is spent in the town of Cuicatlán where we enjoy spicy food in the restaurant of the late 105 year old abuela and the five generations of women who cook there.
The next part of the journey continues north to the picturesque mountain village of Huautla de Jimenéz, high in the mountains, where we will stay two nights and cook with an old friend of Susana's, Choli, and her Mazatecan family. The Sunday market is not to be missed. We will go there and see the local embroidery crafts and try unique indigenous foods. After touring the market we will make a special traditional dish featuring their local dried chiles. We will learn the cuisine, culture, music and dance of these people. In this high altitude village people still practice shamanism so we will visit a curandera, and everyone will participate in a "limpia".
Next, we will travel to the Mixteca region. After stopping in Teposcolula to see the impressive church, we will spend two nights in Tlaxiaco to learn about the costeño rojo chiles of this area. We will travel to Chalcatongo to learn the famous dish of that village and cool our palates with the ancient drink, pulque, sweetened with miel de maguey. Returning to Oaxaca, we will have a cooking class at Seasons of My Heart Cooking School at Rancho Aurora and prepare our farewell feast.
This tour starts and ends in Oaxaca City.
This culinary tour is a 6 day-7 night adventure in early November. See schedule for exact dates.