I had one of the best cooking experiences in Cancun. This was my second Cooking Class with Cookly, and the first was in Bali, Indonesia.

I did not know what to expect while getting ready to attend the class. The description stated that the class would be based on Mexican Gastronomy through History.

From the little knowledge I have of cooking, when I hear people talk about gastronomy, it usually involves the relationship between culture and food. I don’t know much about Mexican dishes except the typical tacos, salsa and guacamole I have been introduced to at Mexican restaurants in America. As a result of this, potentially learning more about culture and it’s relation to food piqued my interest.

When I got to the class, we had a brief introduction about what we would be making and I was already hungry at the end of the introduction.

Chef Tejada

On the menu:

• Cafe de olla & pulque bread
• Endemic fruits from Mexico
• Salsa and guacamole made in molcajete
• Jicama, apple and carrot salad, orange and chía vinagrette.
• Chile Poblano creamy soup
• Chicken breast with pecans, chile ancho and prune sauce.
• Tamarind and chipotle shrimp
• Hoja Santa fish filet steamed in banana leaves
• Buñuelos (crispy rossettes) with home made coffee liquor and vanilla ice cream.

Quite the extensive menu right? I thought so too! The cooking class lasted 5 hours and it was very interactive.

Cafe de olla & pulque bread

Cafe de Olla is delicious coffee made with molasses and citrus and pulque bread is homemade and aromatic. Pulque is an alcoholic beverage which is popular in aztec culture so it definitely added a kick to the bread.

Endemic fruits from Mexico

I tasted 3 different types of fruits commonly found in Mexico. The fruits are:

• Dragon fruit
• Mamey fruit
• Tuna fruit

It was my first time trying Mamey and Tuna fruit and they tasted really good. Mamey fruit is semi sweet and tastes almost like an avocado.

Salsa and Guacamole made in Molcajete

Making the salsa and guacamole was the best part of the experience in my opinion. Everyone has a different way of making Salsa and Guacamole but I really love Chef Tejada’s method. He uses a Molcajete (Mexican mortar and pestle from volcanic rocks) to blend the ingredients together. The end result was creamy and delicious salsa and guacamole which I ate with chips and pulque bread!

From the left to right: Metate (used for grinding corn and making chili paste), Molcajete (Mexican mortar and pestle made from volcanic rocks), Comal (used for roasting tortillas),

Ingredients used for the salsa

Finished product

Ingredients used for the guacamole

Finished product

Main course

Chef Tejada preparing the Hoja Santa Fish Filet Steamed in banana leaves. I also prepared one!

Preparing the prune sauce to accompany the chicken breast

Ingredients for Tamarind and Chipotle Shrimp

Chile Poblano Creamy Soup (DELICIOUS!)

From left to right

Chicken breast with Pecans, Chile Ancho and Prune sauce

Hoja Santa Fish Filet steamed in Banana leaves

Tamarind and Chipotle shrimp

Desert

For desert, I had Buñuelos (crispy rossettes) with home made coffee liquor and vanilla ice cream. Buñuelos is a fried dough ball. It has a light and airy taste, and it tastes better with ice cream!

Metal mould used for making Buñuelos

Buñuelos (crispy rossettes) with home made coffee liquor and vanilla ice cream.

Drinks

The cooking class included water, beer, wine and my favorite- Tequila and Mezcal tasting. Chef Tejada and his wife talked me through the history of Tequila, and the difference between Tequila and Mezcal. This part of the class was very informative. The drinks were paired with fruits, dried grasshoppers (YES!) and grasshopper salt.

I tasted 5 types of Tequila and Mezcal

Pairing with dried grasshoppers

Only 130 bottles of this Mezcal are made in a year so it is very rare!

Would I recommend this cooking class? Absolutely!

It will be a great addition to a trip to Cancun. Cancun could be very overwhelming but this experience was authentic and educational plus the food was very delicious!

Chef Tejada and his beautiful wife

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The post Cooking Class with Chef Tejada- Cancun, Mexico appeared first on The Stylish Trotter.