On your way to Tolantongo, discover traditional cooking in Hidalgo, a side of Mexican cuisine few travelers ever experience. Visit the Mezquital Valley and cook alongside traditional women using seasonal flowers, wild herbs and local ingredients.
On your way to the Grutas de Tolantongo? Make the journey through Hidalgo part of the experience. Leave the usual tourist route behind and step into the kitchen of traditional Mexican cooks in Santiago de Anaya, a small community in Hidalgo’s Mezquital Valley.
Here, Mariela and Porfiria will introduce you to a completely different side of Mexican food, one shaped by the semi-desert landscape and by generations of women who have learned to cook with what nature provides.
This is the traditional cuisine of the Hñähñú people, an Indigenous community whose culinary knowledge has been passed from generation to generation.
Discover seasonal ingredients rarely encountered by visitors, from wild herbs and quelites to edible flowers and local insects. Learn where these ingredients come from, how they are traditionally used, and why the seasons determine what arrives in the kitchen.
Then, roll up your sleeves and cook. Instead of watching a cooking demonstration, you’ll prepare food side by side with Mariela and Porfiria, learning traditional techniques and transforming local ingredients into dishes that reflect the flavors of the Mezquital Valley.
Feeling adventurous? You’ll also have the opportunity to taste local edible insects and flowers, an important and fascinating part of the region’s culinary heritage.
Once the cooking is finished, gather around the table and enjoy the dishes you helped prepare. Share a complete homemade meal with your hosts while hearing their stories and learning more about life, food, and traditions in this part of Hidalgo.
This is more than a Mexican cooking class. It’s a chance to meet the women preserving an Indigenous culinary tradition and experience Mexican gastronomy in the place where these recipes and ingredients belong.
If Tolantongo is your destination, don’t just drive through Hidalgo. Taste it.
1:00 PM — Welcome by Mariela & Porfiria
Arrive in Santiago de Anaya and receive a warm welcome from traditional Hñähñú cooks Mariela and Porfiria. Discover their stories, their relationship with the territory, and how culinary knowledge has been passed through generations.
1:15 PM — Discover & Taste Ingredients from the Mezquital Valley
Explore some of the ingredients that define Hñähñú cuisine. Learn about seasonal herbs, quelites, flowers and other ingredients gathered from the surrounding landscape while enjoying traditional aguas frescas. For adventurous food lovers, this is also your chance to taste local edible insects and learn how they are used in traditional cooking.
1:45 PM — Hands-On Hñähñú Cooking
Step into the kitchen with Mariela and Porfiria for the heart of the experience. Prepare traditional dishes together while learning techniques and culinary knowledge that have been preserved within the community for generations. You may work with seasonal flowers, native plants, herbs and other ingredients characteristic of the Mezquital Valley. Because this cuisine follows the seasons, ingredients and preparations may change throughout the year.
3:15 PM — Taste What You Prepared
Gather around the table and taste the dishes you have just prepared. Discover how the ingredients you learned about earlier in the day come together through traditional Hñähñú cooking techniques.
3:45 PM — Traditional Meal & Time with Your Hosts
Enjoy a complete meal together with Mariela and Porfiria. This is a relaxed moment to eat, exchange stories, ask questions and learn more about Hñähñú culture and the traditions surrounding food in Santiago de Anaya.
Hñähñú cuisine is the traditional cooking of the Hñähñú people, an Indigenous community in Hidalgo’s Mezquital Valley. Shaped by the semi-desert landscape, it uses seasonal ingredients such as wild herbs, quelites, edible flowers and local insects, with culinary knowledge passed from generation to generation.
The class takes place in Santiago de Anaya, a small community in Hidalgo’s Mezquital Valley, so you can make it part of your journey to the Grutas de Tolantongo.
The 3-hour experience includes a hands-on cooking class with traditional cooks Mariela and Porfiria, an introduction to Hñähñú cuisine and local ingredients, a tasting of seasonal edible flowers, herbs and local insects, traditional aguas frescas, and a full homemade meal featuring the dishes you prepare.
No. Round-trip transportation from Mexico City to Santiago de Anaya or to Tolantongo is not included and has an additional cost. Entrance fees and activities at the Grutas de Tolantongo are not included either.
Yes. Adventurous food lovers can taste local edible insects and seasonal flowers, an important part of the Mezquital Valley’s culinary heritage, and learn how they are used in traditional cooking. Because this cuisine follows the seasons, ingredients and preparations may change throughout the year.
