A Tasty Way to Travel

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It was early on a sunny morning in Southern Mexico that my family gathered in an outdoor kitchen, ready to convert a mountain of ingredients into a four-course feast. Sun-dried chili peppers, fresh nuts, chunk chocolate and a score of other ingredients were waiting to be blended into a spicy mole sauce. Crisp jicamas (roots of a local bean plant) had been set aside for salad. The buds of Castilian roses would be transformed into ice cream. It was an ambitious menu—especially since none of us had any idea how to make those dishes. But that was the point. We had enrolled in a daylong cooking class during a family trip to Ciudad Oaxaca, a city as renowned for its cuisine as for its baroque architecture and the magnificent Zapotec ruins on nearby Monte Albán.

Before long, Pilar Cabrera, the affable proprietor of Casa de los Sabores B&B and an experienced cooking instructor, had put us all to work. My mother and sister cleaned peppers, I chopped cilantro, and two family friends who had accompanied us on the trip hovered over a pot of simmering milk. My father, as is his custom, absolved himself of cooking duties, although he stood by to sample anything ready for testing.

Classes like this one represent a growing trend in travel to destinations including Italy, France and Mexico. Within Mexico, the state of Oaxaca is the culinary standout. Celebrated for its complex stews, bold flavors, unusual ingredients and intricate cooking techniques, the area has long attracted gourmets from around the world (the most daring will munch on chapulines—fried grasshoppers). Cabrera began offering lessons after getting repeated requests for recipes from travelers who ate in her family's restaurant, La Olla. But what began seven years ago as an occasional class has turned into a semiweekly event often sold out a month ahead in high season, from December to March. Across town, chef Iliana de la Vega has had similar success with the courses she offers at her acclaimed restaurant El Naranjo.

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"There's no question that there's a growing interest in this type of travel," says David Iverson, who runs A Cook's Tour, a Seattle-based agency specializing in culinary trips. He launched his business with a single trip for eight people to Italy in 2001. This year the company will offer more than 30 international excursions for 400—including four to Oaxaca, where travelers spend a week cooking at Casa Oaxaca restaurant. "It's a new way to travel," he explains. "For the person who is on their 10th trip to Mexico, they're going to see another side of the country."

They will see a more intimate side as well. A day of cooking can offer more insight into the local culture than a week's worth of museum visits. Cabrera began our session with a trip to a traditional market—not the main one most tourists visit—where we got to know local produce, taste handmade cheeses, and meet the growers who supplied our ingredients. Later, as we prepped the two dozen items for a Oaxacan mole negro (chicken in a dark-brown spicy sauce), Cabrera explained its origins. The dish was developed during the Spanish colonial era and contains ingredients from as far away as India. "My class isn't just about making recipes," she says. "I'm sharing a tradition."

The experience couldn't have been more delicious. At the end of class, we sat down to a table laid with earthenware plates and colorful napkins. Cabrera distributed shots of mescal, a distilled liquor that is a cousin to tequila. Under her direction, our meal ended up being extraordinary: a mango-jicama salad drizzled with tangy cilantro-garlic vinaigrette, fiery mole paired with Mexican rice and a delicate rose-petal ice cream to cool the palate. The best part? None of us had to do any dishes.