Barbacoa
The economic and cultural hub of the Sierra Sur, the Miahuatlán area is a biodiversity hotspot. It boasts an immense variety of mezcal producing agaves endemic to the area, resulting in some of the most complex and rare mezcales in all of Mexico. The region's cuisine creates a perfect complement to its traditional drink resulting in regional specialities like shobatá, chichilo, or barbacoa de chivo, or goat roasted in an earth oven. Barbacoa de chivo might as well be the official party food of December in the southern mountains of Oaxaca. Goat or lamb barbacoa is served to a crowd of anywhere from 15 to 1,000 guests in celebration of an end-of-year baptism, wedding, or quinceañera. During this experience we will immerse ourselves in the culture of mezcal country, preparing a traditional earth oven barbacoa with a maestro mezcalero and his family.
We will leave Oaxaca City and head to Miahuatlán where will learn how to slaughter and butcher the goat from our teachers, local mezcal producers. On Day 1 we begin the preparations for the barbacoa: prepping the oven, chopping vegetables for the consome, and nixtamalizing dried corn for freshly made tortillas. On Day 2 we arise early to heat the oven and make tortillas. Once we put the animal in the oven we will head over to a mezcal producer´s home and sample mezcal made on site. Day 2 ends with a group feast and enjoying the countryside in the heart of mezcal country.
2026 dates: Sat-Mon, March 21-23 2027 dates: Sat-Mon, Feb 13-15
Sat-Mon, Nov 14-16 Sat-Mon, March 20-22
Sat-Mon, Dec 12-14
Itinerary: 3 days, 2 nights
Price per person: $800 USD/15,000 MXN Groups: 4 minimum, 8 maximum
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city (2 hours each way)
7 meals
Two nights stay: 2 nights accommodations at Rancho Los Nahuales (double occupancy)
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to future community youth center
Activities planned:
Two days of traditional cooking classes, including learning how to butcher a goat with a maestro mezcalero, how to prepare and cook with a barbacoa oven, the nixtmalization of heirloom corn, and how to make tortillas by hand
Visit to 2 traditional mezcal palenques where will learn about the history in the region and production from a mezcal producing family
Tasting of traditional mezcal at the palenques. A chance to buy mezcal directly from the producer (price not included), our help packing in for travel
Dishes learned:
Tortillas (blandas)
Barbacoa de chivo
Consomé
Blood sausage
Salsa for the barbacoa
Nixtamalization using cal (calcium hydroxide)
Skills learned:
How to grind nixtamalized corn with an electric stone mill works (molino)
Have an understanding of how to form tortillas with a press and by hand
How to build and heat a traditional barbacoa oven
How to butcher a goat
Maíz Criollo & Nixtamalization
This intensive workshop is geared towards chefs and serious cooks who want to learn in depth about heirloom corn and its uses in Oaxacan gastronomy. During our cooking classes we focus on nixtamalization and two grinding techniques in two different communities where we will be cooking with regional varieties of heirloom corn. We will also visit local markets, learning about the food system and the role corn plays in everyday life and diet.
In Teotitlán del Valle we will learn to do a quicker nixtamalization process to make tostadas de maíz quebrajada, ground by hand on the stone mill (metate) and make three textures of tortillas: blandas, tlayudas, and tostadas. We will also prepare the pre-Hispanic drink tejate, whose main ingredients of corn and cacao are some of the most important in the region. We´ll also learn to make a traditional dish amarillo (often referred to as yellow mole) which is thickened with heirloom corn masa. During this class we will work with four types of heirloom corn grown on site by our teacher who is a traditional cook, natural dyer, and weaver.
In Miahuatlán we cook on a traditional mezcal farm with a team of cocineras tradicionales, where heirloom corn, beans and squash are grown alongside agaves for small scale mezcal production. We will cook a dish that features dried corn (següeza, cracked corn mole) and nixtamalized corn masa (tamales). Here we will learn the long form of nixtamalization (letting our nixtamal soak overnight), perfect our tortilla-making skills, and learn about the five different types of atole in the region and choose which to prepare.
2026 dates: Sat-Weds, Sept 19-23 2027 dates: Sat-Weds, Sept 12-22
Itinerary: 5 days, 4 nights
Price per person: $1,335 USD/24,440MXN Groups: 4 minimum, 8 maximum
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation service (English/Spanish)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca City (40 minutes each way to Teotitlán, 2 hours each way to Miahuatlán)
Cost of all mentioned activities over the course of 4 days, 5 nights (3 fulls days of classes)
4 night stay: 3 nights accommodation at El Diablo & La Sandia (or equivelant accomodations) and 1 night accommodation at Rancho Los Nahuales
8 meals featuring corn
Drinking water and light snacks
Take home kit of essential tools for tortilla making
Donation to future community youth center
Donation to women’s cooperative annual project
Activities planned:
Three days of intensive cooking classes with cocineras tradicionales in Teotitlán and Miahuatlán
Hike to visit the cave where the oldest piece of corn in the world has been carbon dated
Visit to a local market learning about the local food systems
Visit a traditional mezcal palenque to learn about the traditional agriculture system (milpa) and taste up to 20 unique mezcals made on site
Dishes learned:
Tortillas: blandas, tlayudas, and tostadas
Main and side dishes: yellow mole, tamales, segueza, espeso de guías
Drinks: tejate, atole
Skills learned:
Short-form and long-form nixtamalization techniques with cal (calcium hydroxide) and ash used by cocineras tradicionales in Teotitlán and Miahuatlán
How to grind nixtamalized corn by hand on a metate (stone mill) and how an electric stone mill works (molino)
How to create different tortilla textures based on grinding technique and heat control (blandas, tlayudas, and tostadas) on a clay comal over a wood burning fire
Have an understanding of how to form tortillas with a press and by hand
How to work with dried corn, nixtamalized corn, and fresh corn
Mole Workshop
Mole, the most emblematic dish of Oaxaca. Depending on who you talk to mole is prehispanic, mole is post hispanic, there are three moles, there are seven moles; mole is thickened with bread, mole always has chocolate; you should only toast mole ingredients, you should fry mole ingredients; Oaxacans invented mole, Poblanos invented mole; and so on and so forth. In this intensive workshop we explore myths and truths, taste and prepare well known moles as well as moles rarely tasted outside of Oaxaca. We prepare the classic mole negro (also known as mole dulce, sweet mole) essential for Day of the Dead and other important ocassions like funerals. We´ll also prepare everyday moles such as yellow, green, and criollo as well as the more complex and rare moles like següeza, chichilo, and mole de castilla as well as tamales made with mole.
2026 dates: Thurs-Tues, June 18-23 2027 dates: Thurs-Tues, Feb 11-16
Fri-Weds, Oct 23-28 Sat-Thurs, Oct 23-28
Itinerary: 6 days, 5 nights
Price per person: $1,525 USD/27,500 MXN Groups: 4 minimum, 8 maximum
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation service (English/Spanish)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca city
Cost of all programmed activities over the course of the workshop
10 meals
Five nights stay: 4 nights accommodations at El Diablo y La Sandía (or equivelant accomodations) and 1 night accommodation at Rancho Los Nahuales (double occupancy)
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to future community youth center
Donation to women's cooperative annual project
Activities planned:
Intensive cooking classes in Teotitlán, Mitla, and Miahuatlán
Visit a traditional mezcal palenque to learn about the traditional agriculture system (milpa) and taste up to 20 unique mezcals made on site
Natural dyes and weaving demonstrations
Visits to local markets to get an understanding of the local food system and try local produce
Visit to the Mitla ruins
Visit to the Tule tree
Dishes learned:
Mole negro (mole dulce) and tamales de mole negro
Següeza
Mole de castilla
Amarillo and tamales de amarillo
Mole criollo
Verde
Chichilo
Tortillas
Skills learned:
Identify and work with more than 10 types of chiles
Grind mole ingredients on a metate, traditional stone mill and with an electric mill, molino
Thicken mole with bread and masa
Cook mole over gas and wood burning fire
How to use different leaves for making mole tamales (corn husks, leaf from the corn stalk, and banana leaf)
Nixtmalization process
Wild Mushroom Foraging in the Sierra Sur
We are excited to offer this overnight mushroom foraging and cooking experience in the southern moutains of Oaxaca! We lucky to be working with local mycologists as well as hongeros-community members with a vast knowledge of local mushrooms, and traditional cooks who will learn all about the mushrooms of the region with. Join us for our group trip to the Sierra Sur for a weekend of immersing ourselves in the beautiful landscape of the high pine forests where wild mushrooms flourish during the summer months in Oaxaca. In past years we´ve found over 150 unique varietals of mushrooms and had the pleasure of cooking dishes like yellow mole with mushrooms, mushroom soup with epazote, and locally grown potatoes with mushrroms.
2026 dates: Fri-Mon, July 24-27 2026 dates: Fri-Mon, July 23-26
Fri-Mon, Aug 7-10 Fri-Mon, Aug 6-9
Fri-Mon, Aug 21-24 Fri-Mon, Aug 20-23
Itinerary: 4 days, 3 nights
Groups: 4 minimum, 8 maximum
Cost per person: $1,500 USD/28,200 MXN
Activities planned:
Talks by a local mycologist teaching us about the local mushrooms of the region and Oaxaca and their uses
A guided walk in the high altitude (2440 m/8000 ft above sea level) pine forests of the region where we will collect different kinds of mushrooms with the mycologist and local guide from the community
Create an identification table to learn about the varieties of mushrooms we collect, their scientific classifications, and their uses
A cooking class with a cocinera tradicional learning local dishes like amarillo or hongos a la mexicana that use edible mushrooms
Learn how to make traditional mountain bread in a wood fired oven
Group meals featuring edible mushrooms of the region
Traditional mezcal tasting
Temezcal
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (English/Spanish)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca City (3 hours each way)
Cost of all programmed activities over the course of the trip
10 meals (most featuring edible mushrooms)
3 night stay at Puesta del Sol cabins (double occupancy) or accommodations of equivalent quality
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to local elementary school for much needed school supplies
*Option to add a stay at Rancho Los Nahuales mezcal farm or take trasportation to the beach after the experience (additional cost).
Chapulines
Join us for chapulines season! We venture out in the into the agave and corn fields surrounding Rancho Los Nahuales and search for grasshoppers. We hand select them and bring them back to the ranch to learn how to process them and cook them with a cocinera tradicional, and finally feast on Oaxaca´s favorite snack! The rumor is that if you eat chapulines in Oaxaca you’ll keep coming back.
2026 dates: Fri-Sun, Oct 19-20
Itinerary: 2 days, 1 night
Groups: 4 minimum, 8 maximum
Cost per person: $400 USD/7,520 MXN
Includes:
Personalized guide and translation (Spanish/English). Pick up and drop off from your hotel or vacation rental (Centro, Jalatlaco, Xochimilico, Reforma, San Felipe)
Comfortable transportation round trip from Oaxaca City (2 hours each way)
Breakfast at the Ocotlán market of regional dishes
Tour of the Ocotlán weekly Friday market. Some historians estimate that this weekly market has been happening in this town for the last 5,000-7,000 years. Today the weekly market continues to be an important economic and cultural hub of the Ocotlan valley. Many vendors come from the surrounding areas only on Fridays to sell organic vegetables, native chilies, aguamiel, smoked fish from the coast, and handmade crafts such as embroidered blouses, clay chilimoleras, and rope made of agave fibers. Sample of local delicacies such as boiled camotes with local honey and jamoncillo, a coconut and brown sugar dessert
Visit to a traditional mezcal palenque, learning about the process and history of the mezcal of the region directly from the producing families who have been distilling their mezcal in copper for 4 generations
Learn about and see the biodiversity of different types of agaves used to make mezcal
Tasting of traditional mezcal made on site
A chance to purchase mezcal directly from the producers (price not included), our help packing it for travel
Farm to table lunch of local delicacies prepared by a cocinera tradicional
Dinner and optional bonfire at Racnho los Nahuales
Early morning rise to learn to collect chapulines
Farm to table breakfast at Rancho los Nahuales
Learn to prepare chapulines salt with a cocinera traditional, take home some of the chapulines we prepare
Cooking class at a mezcal ranch which grows agaves as well heirloom varieties of corn, squash, and beans. Our teacher will show us how to make regional dishes with ingredients grown on site such as següeza, amarillo, and hand made tortillas
Enjoying the lunch we cook accompanied by a selction of traditional mezcal mad on site
Head by to Oaxaca city after lunch
Drinking water and light snacks
Donation to future community youth center
Please review our Overnight Workshops Cancellation policy before booking.