Full Day Tortilla Food of the Soul Tour
Oaxaca, Mexico
Trip Type: Food Tours
Duration: 8 hours
A fascinating cuisine tour that takes you off-the-beaten path through indigenous villages in search of the roots of the tortilla! Visit a traditional Zapotec corn farmer, an artisan who makes stone corn grinders, a family of potters who craft clay griddles and try our hand at making tortillas. We’ll also learn about the hidden ingredient in tortillas so important that without it the great civilizations of Mexico never would have existed (no, it’s not fluoride!). The tortilla was invented in Oaxaca 2,700 years ago according to archaeologists, so what better place to learn about this true Mexican food of the soul?
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A fascinating cuisine tour that takes you off-the-beaten path through indigenous villages in search of the roots of the tortilla! Visit a traditional Zapotec corn farmer, an artisan who makes stone corn grinders, a family of potters who craft clay griddles and try our hand at making tortillas. We’ll also learn about the hidden ingredient in tortillas so important that without it the great civilizations of Mexico never would have existed (no, it’s not fluoride!). The tortilla was invented in Oaxaca 2,700 years ago according to archaeologists, so what better place to learn about this true Mexican food of the soul?
You will be met at your hotel by the guide between 8:30 and 9am and get ready to time-travel into the Tlacolula valley in a private, air conditioned vehicle. To learn about a food invented over two-thousand years ago we need to head back in time. Easy enough in Oaxaca were old ways are still current!
First stop is about 45 minutes down the road at the farm of a traditional Zapotec corn farmer. With turkeys, donkeys, chickens and perhaps an oxen or two milling about, he’ll explain how he teases corn from the red soil with a plow design that dates back to the 1500’s and 200 generations of farming knowledge in his family. We might even lend a hand, shucking, de-kernelling or contributing to the laughter. There will be time to chat and absorb this unique world, which clearly isn’t Kansas anymore!
Next, a country road takes us to a village with an old red-stone church. You’ll meet a family of traditional potters, all women, who learned from their mothers and grandmothers going back countless generations. Using techniques little changed in thousands of years they’ll show us how a comal is made, the essential clay griddle that sits over the fire and on which tortillas are cooked.
Then a drive through fields of agave to another village where you’ll visit a woman who hand-makes tlayudas for a living. Tlayudas are enormous, firm, corn tortillas unique to Oaxaca. Nearby we’ll visit the home of a village cook and walk with her to the mill to make masa, the corn dough that we’ll then use for making our own tortillas over a hot comal. Harder than it looks, but flat or wrinkled, they’ll still be an excellent part of a home cooked meal with our village chef.
You’ll wrap up the day by visiting a stone mason and seeing how metates, or corn grinding stones, are made. This has been a trade in this village for the last 2,000 years and is still going strong.
When it’s all said and done you’ll have spent the day visiting, tasting and joyfully learning the way into the culture of Oaxaca and the heritage of Mexico, traveling beyond the standard tourist routes and, while learning about Mexico’s food of the soul, you’ll also meet the big-hearted, deeply-rooted people that are this country’s heart.
First stop is about 45 minutes down the road at the farm of a traditional Zapotec corn farmer. With turkeys, donkeys, chickens and perhaps an oxen or two milling about, he’ll explain how he teases corn from the red soil with a plow design that dates back to the 1500’s and 200 generations of farming knowledge in his family. We might even lend a hand, shucking, de-kernelling or contributing to the laughter. There will be time to chat and absorb this unique world, which clearly isn’t Kansas anymore!
Next, a country road takes us to a village with an old red-stone church. You’ll meet a family of traditional potters, all women, who learned from their mothers and grandmothers going back countless generations. Using techniques little changed in thousands of years they’ll show us how a comal is made, the essential clay griddle that sits over the fire and on which tortillas are cooked.
Then a drive through fields of agave to another village where you’ll visit a woman who hand-makes tlayudas for a living. Tlayudas are enormous, firm, corn tortillas unique to Oaxaca. Nearby we’ll visit the home of a village cook and walk with her to the mill to make masa, the corn dough that we’ll then use for making our own tortillas over a hot comal. Harder than it looks, but flat or wrinkled, they’ll still be an excellent part of a home cooked meal with our village chef.
You’ll wrap up the day by visiting a stone mason and seeing how metates, or corn grinding stones, are made. This has been a trade in this village for the last 2,000 years and is still going strong.
When it’s all said and done you’ll have spent the day visiting, tasting and joyfully learning the way into the culture of Oaxaca and the heritage of Mexico, traveling beyond the standard tourist routes and, while learning about Mexico’s food of the soul, you’ll also meet the big-hearted, deeply-rooted people that are this country’s heart.
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