Step into the heart of Mexico City’s Historic Center for a hands-on culinary experience that takes you beyond the typical Mexican cooking class and into the traditions that have shaped Mexico’s cuisine for generations.
Your host is a traditional Mexican cook who will introduce you to one of the most important ingredients in Mexican culture: native corn. You’ll discover more than 10 varieties of corn grown in Santiago Tianguistenco and learn why corn is much more than an ingredient in Mexico—it is part of the country’s history, identity, and everyday life.
Then it’s time to cook. Using the same traditional tools that have been part of Mexican kitchens for centuries, you’ll learn to grind corn by hand on a metate, work the masa with your own hands, and prepare some of Mexico’s most beloved antojitos, including fresh tortillas, tlacoyos, quesadillas, and gorditas. You’ll cook your creations on the comal and prepare a traditional salsa together using a molcajete.
But Mexican gastronomy goes far beyond food. The experience also includes a guided artisanal mezcal tasting, where you’ll discover different expressions of Mexico’s agave and distilling traditions. Taste espadín and tobalá mezcal alongside sotol, each paired with carefully selected Mexican ingredients. For the curious, the experience also includes a tasting of traditional edible insects such as chapulines, chinicuiles, cocopaches, and ants—ingredients with deep roots in Mexico’s culinary heritage.
Finally, sit down and enjoy what you have prepared together. More than a cooking class, this is an opportunity to meet one of the women keeping Mexico’s culinary traditions alive, hear her stories, cook using ancestral techniques, and understand Mexican food through the people who preserve it.
All of this takes place in Mexico City’s Historic Center, surrounded by centuries of history and just steps away from some of the capital’s most iconic landmarks.
Come hungry, get your hands into the masa, raise a glass of mezcal, and experience a side of Mexican cuisine that most visitors never get to see. This is not simply about learning a recipe. It’s about experiencing Mexico’s living culinary heritage—from metate to comal, and from corn to mezcal.
4:00 PM — Welcome & Meet Your Hosts
Begin your experience in the heart of Mexico City’s Historic Center. Meet your traditional Mexican cook and mezcal expert, who will introduce you to the flavors, stories, and traditions you’ll discover throughout the afternoon.
4:15 PM — Artisanal Mezcal Tasting
Enjoy a guided tasting of three Mexican spirits: espadín mezcal, tobalá mezcal, and sotol. Each is paired with traditional ingredients, including an optional tasting of edible insects such as chapulines, chinicuiles, ants, and cocopaches.
4:55 PM — Discover Mexico’s Native Corn
Explore more than 10 varieties of native corn grown in Santiago Tianguistenco. Learn about their different colors, characteristics, uses, and the essential role corn has played in Mexican cuisine and culture for generations.
5:10 PM — Grind Corn on the Metate
Now it’s time to get hands-on. Learn how to use a traditional metate to grind corn by hand, an ancestral technique that has been passed down through generations of Mexican cooks.
5:25 PM — Make Your Own Mexican Antojitos
Work the masa with your hands and learn how to prepare fresh tortillas, tlacoyos, quesadillas, and gorditas under the guidance of your traditional cook.
6:00 PM — From Masa to Comal
Cook everything you’ve prepared and discover how simple ingredients, traditional techniques, and the heat of the comal transform masa into some of Mexico’s most beloved foods.
6:20 PM — Make Salsa in a Molcajete
Gather around the molcajete and prepare a traditional Mexican salsa together, learning another essential technique of the Mexican kitchen.
6:35 PM — Sit Down, Taste & Enjoy
The best part: enjoy the tortillas and antojitos you made yourself, accompanied by your freshly prepared molcajete salsa. Share the table, flavors, and stories that make Mexican cuisine so special.
7:00 PM — End of the Experience
Leave with much more than new recipes—you’ll take home a deeper understanding of Mexico’s living culinary heritage and the people keeping these traditions alive.
Duration: approximately 3 hours. Timing may vary slightly depending on the group.
The experience includes hand-grinding corn on a metate, preparing tortillas, tlacoyos, quesadillas, and gorditas on the comal, and making a traditional salsa in a molcajete.
A guided artisanal mezcal tasting and an optional tasting of traditional edible insects are also included, followed by a shared meal of everything prepared.
No. The tasting of traditional edible insects, such as chapulines, chinicuiles, cocopaches, and ants, is offered for curious guests but is not required to enjoy the rest of the experience.
You’ll explore more than 10 varieties of native corn grown in Santiago Tianguistenco and learn why corn holds a central place in Mexican history, identity, and daily life.
The class takes place in Mexico City’s Historic Center, close to some of the capital’s most iconic landmarks.
The class is led by a traditional Mexican cook (cocinera tradicional) who shares her knowledge of native corn and ancestral cooking techniques passed down through generations.
