Cooking School Number 2!

Note about pictures. Both Robert and Pame took photos during the day. But they are in two separate groups, and it’s easiest to just download them like that.

So, the first group of pictures will be Pame’s and I’ll identify things as best I can. The second group is R’s, and I will try to put them in the blog where appropriate!

Wow! We just returned from our second market/cooking day, and we are both exhausted AND full! I have also come to the conclusion that people who sign up for cooking classes are really on the nice and interesting side of the spectrum! Out this morning a bit before 9 am to Uber to Aura Cocina Mexicana. We had no problem getting a ride – the difficulty was that the Uber location for the school is incorrect! I asked a nice young man for assistance, and between the three of us, we discovered that we were on the right street (thankfully!) but about 10 minutes walk away from where we needed to be … oh joy, I hate being late!

At any rate, we got there eventually; found the right place and were welcomed by Pame who was to be our instructor for the day. We all gathered around a large table that had been set with place cards and introduced ourselves. Talia and Steven were from North Carolina and were celebrating their 40^th wedding anniversary. Channing and Cooper were newly transplanted from Scottsdale AZ to NYC (and not enjoying winter!). Dwight and Lauren (who was really lovely!) were from Cottonwood, AZ. Pame talked about what we would be doing today, and as we discussed likes/dislikes/allergies, etc. we were treated to a blue corn quesadilla filled with either cheese or corn mushrooms or both, with a spicy salsa. I had the combo quesadilla, and it was wonderful! There was coffee, tea, aqua fresca and water to drink.

Getting acquainted: Dwight, Talia, Steven, Channing

R's cheese quesadilla

From there, we headed first to a tortilleria, where large quantities of corn tortillas of many sizes and shapes were made daily for the markets. Getting fresh tortillas right off the hot machine, adding salt to them and rolling them up is really a delicious treat! From there, we headed to the Mercado Medellin, so named as the Roma Norte community in which we were has a large Columbian population, and thus the market has many Columbian and Venezuelan products.

Pame led us through various stalls – including one stop that both R and I could have done without! That was where we all had the opportunity to try BUGS in many forms! And before anyone asks, NO, neither R nor I took the opportunity to try crickets, grasshoppers, ant larvae, beetles or any other crawling or flying insect. Sorry. Just not happening in this lifetime! Most but not all the others were way more adventurous than we … but as I say, we passed.

Pame and her plate of bugs! Yum!

Stunning flowers!

We did try some lovely fruit that is indigenous to Mexico and had a very interesting visit to the market. Nothing will ever compare to our last visit a few years ago, though, where we tried many different things, but this was enjoyable and informative.

Back to the cooking school, where we all washed and aproned up, and got ready to go!

The first two things to be made were the white mole – very unusual, we thought, and the corn cake. Pame wanted us to split up so that one person from each couple could do each thing, but being the resistant type, I basically said, I’m the mole person, and I don’t bake! So R and I were on the same team with Cooper and Steven. It turns out that Steven doesn’t really cook, but he did just fine. By this time, Dwight had left us at the market, unfortunately with Montezuma’s Revenge, so missed the rest of the course, leaving Lauren, Talia and Channing to make the corn cake, which was delicious!

The mole group did seed and nut browning (almonds, sesame seeds, peanuts, and raisins) – not letting them really get brown, as the mole was to be white, as well as browned the onions and garlic while Robert and Cooper used the mortar and pestle to grind the salt and spices together. We all had a great time taking turns doing different things, while the gals mixed together fresh corn and other ingredients to make a batter for the corn cake. This was covered with amaranth seeds and popped into the oven to bake.

Once that was underway, we all returned to the table to cut and chop ingredients for our tamales-without-masa; interesting concept! I chopped zucchini; others chopped nopale (cactus) and tomato, onion, jalapenos and white cheese. Then we all cleaned and deseeded both large banana peppers (roasted) for the white mole, as well as other peppers for the salsas we were putting together. We were broken into three groups – mild salsa, medium salsa (Lauren, Channing and me) and spicy salsa, Robert and Cooper to grind spices first, in the stone mocajetes, adding in the garlic, and finally, the tomatoes and seeds, depending on the level of heat. Very fun!

Then, once everything was chopped and the salsas were made, we were given corn husks that had been heated in boiling water, and shown how to fill them up with the chopped ingredients, as well as beans, roll them, and fold them up to make masa-less tamales! These were then put into the oven to bake for about 20 minutes.

After this, we moved on to making tortillas. Robert, being the expert from a couple of days ago, did a great job, both with making the tortillas as well as cooking them on the griddle over the open flame. We made small, thick tortillas (they have another name) as well as regular size, all out of white corn this time.

Once these were finished, we moved back to the table for our meal! And it was wonderful! To start, we had our small tortillas. These were spread with a base of refried beans, then topped with lettuce, sour cream and then salsa – really yummy! From there, we moved on to our masa-less tamales! Wow! The combination of flavors in the corn husks was amazing, especially when we added one of our home-made salas that we had made earlier in the afternoon!

Our sopa with home-made salsas

Masa-less tamales; really excellent!

Chicken breast with white mole!

Corn birthday cake!

After that, we had some truly wonderful chicken in our white mole sauce. That was incredible! The chicken breasts were so tender, and the white mole was so flavorful without being overpowering! I’d never even heard of white mole before, but this was wonderful!

Unfortunately, even though most everyone was full by this time, we still had the luscious corn cake to come! That also, served with little cups of hot chocolate, was great, although I didn’t even come close to finishing my portion! Some of the folks took theirs with them, but I was so stuffed I didn’t want to look at any more food!

And, some of the couples were talking about dinner reservations tonight! Cooper and Channing have plans for 9 pm – to which we announced that I for one would be asleep by then! But then, they’re young, and we are not! Cooper was also talking about getting something “small” before dinner…UGH! No way!

Said a happy and very full farewell to our newfound cooking friends. It was really a delightful experience today, and we would absolutely recommend it to anyone coming to Mexico City!

Got an Uber at the front door, and back to the apartment in about 20 minutes. R sleeping soundly on the couch at the moment, and I will be following shortly! Tomorrow, our last day here, will include the Anahuacalli Museum – Diego Rivera’s museum that houses his collection of ancient artifacts that he collected over the years, and hopefully the Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo’s house. We’ll see how much energy we have!

At any rate, love to all!

xxx

Pame's photos of our class and activities!