The idea of taking a cooking class came from a television cooking show of all places. One of the TV chefs mentioned learning all about Mexican mole (moh-lay)sauces from one particular person who lives and cooks in Oaxaca. So the notion of taking a cooking class was born.
The artist in Layne expresses her voice in cooking so what had been a mere idea, a notion became fact once we arrived in the city of Oaxaca. Not only was she going to cook; she was going shopping.
With a lifetime of shopping in exotic markets under her belt Layne wasn’t sure about the market part of the course. The idea was for the students to gather just outside Oaxaca and have a market walk through to meet and discuss ingredients.
The class took her by surprise with the depth of knowledge. Who knew there are 18 different types of mangoes? Or some avocados are grown with edible skins?
Obviously peppers are an important ingredient in Mexican cuisine. Which peppers are best for stuffing…for mole sauces…the costeño Amarillo which is unique and rare and she is still looking for it…and the best of peppers to make salsa.
You may have heard of chipotle peppers which are the quintessential smoked peppers of Mexico. However it turns out there are many more types that can be smoked for different dishes. These are edible avocado skins, which taste like regular avocados but don’t need peeling:
Mixing peppers for new flavor combinations was also stressed in the class.
Rate edible flowers were for sale in the market though they are endangered and not supposed to be for sale. Who knew? And they are not edible so don’t eat them!
In the market sweet potatoes are boiled for sale not baked. Mexicans prefer the fibrous texture when boiled. (Layne prefers them baked!).
Above the teacher was explaining terroir of peppers. The same peppers grown in different souls taste different.
The white limestone demonstrated above is put into cold water and that stone brings the cold water to a boil! Then the water is used to boil corn which is kept on the boil with a regular flame under it. The stone takes the starchiness out of the corn. The stone van be re-used but it has to be kept wet to not lose it’s unusual properties.
These unnamed flowers get peeled and the outer stem is chopped and cooked, not the petals. Odd.
The teacher Yolanda demonstrates the class the properties of amaranth one of those vegetables which is one of those wonder plants good for your health and is cooked like spinach. Since then Layne has never again seen it for sale so we await to discover its flavor said to be nutty, and it’s health giving properties.
Here we see tamarind pods which you can buy in a bundle and open up to snack on the sweet seeds inside.
Tamale with black beans chile de arbole and sassafras as part of a tamale taste test.
Sweet tamale with raisins and red sugar for color:
Fermented corn drink which we will pass over as none of the students liked the stuff.
And then the drive out to the school…
“Seasons of my Heart” is the name of Chef Trilling’s ranch and her cookbook
Where the famous mole saucier Susan Trilling had prepared dishes for the students to cook.
Chef Trilling leading the class.
How to clean and cook cactus by grilling so it doesn’t feel slimy.
The comal is made of baked earth to resemble an oven and the particular cast iron pan on the top is also part of the comal. If you lack a comal in your range an iron skillet will do, luckily.
The pan on top has a slight depression around the sides.
Much cooking underway. Layne was nervous about showing up by herself but the other students really made her welcome and they had a good time learning.
Every technique was explained and Chef Trilling didn’t assume anyone had any cooking skills to start with, just as well as Oaxacan cooking has its own skills.
Soup making.
Sauces. A pepian sauces is a mix that is used to actually cook the porous in with the sauce.
Technically a mole is made first and is added to the protein which is cooked separately.
This will become Christmas Eve soup (Caldo de Vigilia) with lentils, cactus and smoked fish:
Chorizo prepared for moletes which are corn flour fritters deep fried with the sausage meat inside.
The corn hush puppy type moletes being prepared…
…and fried in the strangely shaped pan atop the earthen oven.
The building blocks of soup:
And the fritters;
The final dishes. The class went way later than planned and it ended up being a twelve hour day.
The dessert not so far mentioned, pay de queso ( farmers cheese pie).
And at the van it was cold sandwiches and tea all day.
The best, lasting tourist memory of our week in Oaxaca.
