263954 Thu Feb 05 11:56:55 -0800 2004 3 26 International 0 1394116 I just spent a delightful two weeks in Mexico City and Valle de Bravo (State of Mexico) and was very impressed with the cuisine of both areas. I now have the hankering to return to Mexico on a culinary oddyssey. I am looking for a hacienda style accomadation while learning to cook the regional cuisine. Ideally spending the morning walking through the open air markets learning aobut local produce etc.... and spending the afternoon cooking. Any suggestions? Much appreciated. Steve Thu Feb 05 11:56:55 -0800 2004 0 Steve Jennings 1 1394123 I thought I saw an article in the past year or so that said that Diana Kennedy does some classes from her home in Mexico. I could not find it but I did Google "Mexican Cooking Schools" and a whole bunch of stuff about cookng school vacations came up. Thu Feb 05 17:26:23 -0800 2004 1394116 0 Candy 1 1394161 Steve, I totally understand your fondness for the food of Central Mexico :-). Finding structured cooking schools and classes in Mexico is a little more challenging than in other areas of the world. But you do have some options. 1) The CIA Greystone offers an annual, 1 week long class in Oaxaca. This isn't Central Mexico, and the food is different, but this tour is pretty good. I went on it last year and had a great time. The price includes: a) Your lodging at the Camino Real Hotel in Oaxaca, which is an old convent dating from the 16th century. It is a great facility. b) Almost all meals c) Your entrance fee to Monte Alban and other historical sites d) Now here's the really good part, it includes at least 5 classes with Rick Bayless. He is a phenomenal teacher, and a lot more low key in person than it appears he is on his PBS cooking shows. He also conducts walking tours through the Abastos Market and Noviembre de 16 markets e) It also includes 3-4 classes with Ricardo Munoz Zurita who is 1 of only 7 Master Chefs in all of Mexico. He is also a very, very good teacher and totally passionate about the cuisine of his native country. f) The tour also includes a day at Susanna Trilling's cooking school. On my tour we learned how to make Oaxacan cheese and several types of mole, including the infamous Black Mole. The Black Mole she made for us was truly awesome. The depth of flavor and texture was just so incredibly deep and clear. g) A tour of the Del Maguey Mezcal facility along with lunch at Abigail Mendoza's acclaimed Zapotec restaurant. h) Chocolate session with Elaine Gonzales (an acclaimed chocolate authority) and a tour of the Mayordomo facility. This is a pricey tour - $4,100 this year excluding air fare - but it is jammed packed and really, really worth the price. The tour for this year is sold out, but it usually is the last week of February or first week of March. The URL is - www.prochefcia.com then click on the link to culinary tours 2) Check out Marilyn Tausend's web site - Culinary Adventures. Marilyn puts together several small group cooking tours each year. She has one starting this weekend that will go from Mexico City to Acapulco. It is already sold out, but she will probably do it again. She has been friends with Diana Kennedy for years and does a summer trip to Michoacan for a week of cooking with Diana. I think this trip is limited to only 5 or 6 participants and is very hands on. The food in Michoacan is incredibly good and is probably closer to that of Central Mexico than Oaxaca is. I'm sorry I don't have a URL for Marilyn's web site, but if you Google on Marilyn's name you'll find it. Don't Google on her company name - Culinary Adventures - as there are several other companies by that name and you'll get them instead. 3) There is a web site called Mexico Connect that has posting boards similar to these. One of the boards is devoted to Mexican food. Cristina, who posts on the California and General Boards here on Chowhound is the moderator for the Mexican Food board on Mexico Connect. I should probably warn you that Mexico Connect does require that you sign up for the boards and the cost is $5/month. It's $5 well spent as it will give you access not only to the posting boards, but to many articles and the archieves on all types of things related to Mexico. There are numerous articles on Mexican food on this site. 4) There is an ex-pat American in Cuernavaca that runs a cooking school. I found the link by accident and did not bookmark it, so I'm afraid I can't be of more help than that. I'm pretty sure I found the link on the web site for El Centro Bilingue, a language school in Cuernavaca. But then finding the web site for El Centro Bilingue can be challenging too (sigh). I think if you Google on cooking classes in Cuernavaca you may get a hit on it. 5) Finally, there is a Mexcian woman in Puebla that runs week long cooking classes out of her home. The cooking in Puebla is also excellent. I've read comments from people that have attended her school and they have been uniformly good. Unfortunately, I don't recall her name or the name of her school. Shaw Guides has cooking schools on their web site, but usually the only thing you get when you try and search for cooking classes in Mexico are links to the Mexico branch of Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School. But it's at least worth checking out because they do update their site on a regular basis. That URL is - www.shawguides.com - and you'll have to find the link for cooking or culinary schools. Whew, I think that's it for what I know about cooking schools in Mexico. Cristina may have some other suggestions, especially for around the Guadalajara area or the state of Jalisco. Specialized cooking schools do not abound in Mexico like they do in other countries, and finding those that do exist isn't always the most straighforward task. Most of what I've found over the years I've found because I followed links that looked promising. Good luck. Fri Feb 06 12:52:25 -0800 2004 1394116 0 Gayla 2 1394565 I was reading your trip description and thought, 'that sounds just like the trip I was on', then I realized it WAS the trip I was on. Just got back from another trip with Marilyn, Rick and Ricardo. We were in Mexico City, Tepoztlan, Taxco and Acapulco. I strongly recommend the trips run by the folks at Culinary Adventures. Wed Feb 18 15:19:58 -0800 2004 1394161 0 Daniel