Oaxaca: Zimatan Street Food Cooking Class & Lunch with Pickup

4.99

(129 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We stepped off the van into the middle of Zimatan, and it was quieter than I expected—just a couple of dogs trotting by, the smell of corn already somewhere in the air. Our guide, Ana, waved us over to a shaded patio where a few women were patting dough between their hands. “This is masa,” she said, and handed me a warm ball. It felt softer than Play-Doh, kind of sticky. I tried flattening it like they did but mine came out lopsided—nobody minded. They just laughed and showed me again.

The fire under the comal was real wood, not gas, so there was this smokiness that got into everything—my shirt still smells like it. We made tacos first, filling them with whatever salsa we’d just ground up in a stone molcajete. I thought I could handle spicy but wow—one bite and my eyes watered. Ana grinned and poured us hibiscus margaritas (I never had one before; sweet but tart). She told us about how corn isn’t just food here—it’s history. I kept thinking about that as we pressed empanadas shut with our fingers.

Lunch was all of us crowded around a long table, tortillas stacked high, everyone reaching for more salsa or laughing at someone’s attempt at Spanish (me). One of the cooks—her name was Lety—showed me how to fold an empanada without everything falling out. The sun shifted through the leaves above us and it felt like time slowed down for a bit. I didn’t expect to feel so at home in someone else’s kitchen.