Oaxaca: Cooking Class & Market Tour with Chef Oscar

4.66

(322 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“Try this one,” Oscar grinned, handing me a little green fruit at the market in Oaxaca. I had no clue what it was — he called it miltomate — but I popped it in my mouth anyway. Tart, almost citrusy, and somehow familiar? The stalls around us were loud with voices and clinking bottles of mezcal. Oscar knew everyone; he’d stop every few steps to chat or joke in Spanish (I caught maybe half), pointing out chilies and herbs I’d never seen back home. We picked up everything for our cooking class right there, which honestly made the kitchen feel like an extension of the city itself.

Back at Casa Crespo, sunlight slanted through the windows onto big wooden tables scattered with bowls of seeds and dried peppers. There wasn’t any set menu — we all voted on dishes together (I pushed for mole negro because, well, how could you not?). Oscar showed us how to toast spices until they popped and let us grind them by hand. My fingers smelled smoky for hours after. He laughed when I tried to pronounce “hoja santa” — I definitely butchered it — but he just smiled and kept stirring. No one stood around watching; everyone chopped or stirred or tasted something. Even the shyest person got pulled in eventually.

I didn’t expect how much singing would happen while we cooked (Oscar’s rule: if you want). Someone hummed along while flipping tortillas on the comal. The salsas were different than any I’d tried before — bright, layered, not just spicy for the sake of it. When we finally sat down together to eat what we’d made, I felt weirdly proud (and really full). There was this moment when the late afternoon breeze came through the kitchen door and everything went quiet for a second except for people chewing and nodding at each other — that still sticks with me now.