Cocinar Mexicano Hosts Farm To Table July Workshop

New York-based Cocinar Mexicano is pleased to announce a special Summer Feast to celebrate our forthcoming program on PBS, hosted by Ruth Reichl. Join us from July 3-10th for a week of hands-on classes and experience authentic Mexican cuisine just as Reichl did with village women as your teachers and local experts as your guides.

We'll take you to the fields to see corn and squash coming up and to a nopal orchard that's a vision of paradise in any season. You'll meet with farmers, savor roasted corn and nopales in the fields, and then plunge into Tepoztln's amazing outdoor market to shop for the ingredients that will make this workshop a real summer feast.

July is the emerald month in Tepoztln, one of Mexico's official "magic villages," a time of radiant, springlike days and late afternoon rains that turn the lush vegetation even lusher. It is the perfect month to experience this legendary village, which offers an! abundance of cultural and leisure activities that complement Cocinar Mexicano's culinary offerings.

Our menus for the week feature the bounty of the season, with an emphasis on cooking with wild mushrooms, squashflowers, nopales, and huitlacoche, the silvery corn fungus known as the trufle of Mexico. Through hands-on classes and technique sessions, participants will cook with village women, experiencing a culinary immersion that ranges from the traditional dishes of the region (tamales, antojitos, moles and mixiotes) to contemporary fare that pays homage to the country's creativity and spirit of renewal.

This workshop runs concurrently with Word of Mouth, a unique food writing workshop taught by distinguished food critic Betty Fussell. Participants in both workshops will meet for the main meal each day and share in such excursions as an art trip to Cuernavaca and a trip to the beautifully preserved 10th century citadel of Xochicalco.


Additional recreational options include a climb to the 14! th centu ry pyramid that overlooks the town, horseback riding, massage, yoga, side trips to the museums and sights of nearby Cuernavaca or the pottery village of Tlayacapan, as well as a day trip to the silver town of Taxco and the spectacular ruins of Xochicalco.

Press packages are available for this and other workshops. Please see our website for details: www.cocinarmexicano.com