My husband and I have now been in Mexico for a week and time is flying by
far too quickly. We neither one are into lounging by the pool and baking in the
sun so we’ve been immersing ourselves into as much of the Mexican culture as we
can, while still enjoying all the perks provided in a lush, plush resort. I
have to admit that the extensive pools, the palm trees and the jungle-like
plants surrounding us helps to remind us that we are “not in Kansas anymore,
Toto”.Our immersion has included tastings and classes providing us with stories of food and drink traditions, and culture as well as taking private classes in Español by the pool. Our Spanish classes aren’t meant to be our own little private sessions-it’s just that we seem to be the only two people who are interested in learning. I've also made up challenges such as food shopping from a list that's entirely in Spanish. That shopping list combined with shopping in an unfamilar store is a great challenge.
Our food and drink classes started off with a cocktail making class just a couple of days after arriving. Our Bar Chef, Rene Ramos, has created several cocktails that you’d never think of drinking in Mexico. He mixed six of his favorite recipes, all made with fresh local produce without the aid of a blender and only half of which were based around the infamous Mexican Tequila. Each of his drinks contains two of the same basic ingredients, fresh lime juice and simple syrup. Rene entertained us with a story for each of the recipes; he certainly was charming. It didn’t hurt either that he was young and very cute!
Our second class was the Tequila tasting a couple of days later. Our
Tequilier (who knew there was even such an occupation) led us through the
history and culture of making Tequila. He covered the two types of agave-the
green and the blue plant. For the novices, agave is the cactus that lies at the
source of tequila's euphoric buzz. We learned that the best Tequila uses 100
per cent agave and uses the blue plant, which is between five to seven years
old. Our Tequilier gave us loads of information along with our tastings but his
accent was so strong that we had a really hard time trying to understand him so
I’m sure that I missed a great deal. Never mind, I got the most important bits
such as the number of distillations needed for a good Tequila, the reasons
behind using the salt and lime, and the use of a sangrita along with a younger
Tequila. Although the salt and lime are tradition is used with younger
Tequilas, the salt is placed around the mouth and followed by the lime. Both are taken after drinking the Tequila, not before as in the shots of Tequila that are often played out in American Bars. A good Tequila should be sipped the same as a good whiskey or cognac.
Our third class was a Mexican cooking class starting at 9am. Cooking is a
great way of learning about the culture and history of the food that we
American’s think of for its hot, spicy kick. It can be hot and spicy but we
learned that the foods have much more to offer than just the “heat”! The
recipes that the Chefs demonstrated can be made by a complete novice; however,
maybe the Shrimps Flambés with Tequila and the Napolitan Flan might require a
bit more experience in the kitchen. We definitely shouldn’t have eaten any
breakfast because our “tastings” of the recipes were fuerte (hearty helpings)!
I loved all the tastes and also loved the Chefs’ explanation of the chiles. I
learned that it’s not just the seeds in a chile that makes it so hot, it’s also
the veins. So you can use a chile to make a dish as hot as you want or you can
just use a bit to give it flavor. The Chefs prepared, and importantly we got to
sample, five dishes ranging from the world’s best guacamole to the flan and
each one was paired with a vino excelente. Can’t think of a better way to start
our day.
We have another week to explore and immerse
ourselves in Mexican culture and we have trips to Mayan ruins planned. We’ve
been to most of the ruins before so our visit this time will be a revising and
a refresher in Mayan history. I have to say that this coming week is going to
be hard to surpass this past week in tastes and experiences.
Buenas nochés -- happy hour and a sunset are both calling!
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