Meet Martha at home and then walk together for 10 minutes to the neighborhood market. Enjoy a guided tour of Mercado de San Pedro de los Pinos, a bustling market hall filled with vendors of produce, meat, fish and prepared foods. Walk through this market with Martha and learn about local ingredients used in Mexican cooking and get a chance to meet with her favorite vendors. Buy a few ingredients before walking back to Martha's home for your Mexico City cooking experience.
Discover traditional Mexican cuisine with a cooking class at Martha and Arturo's cozy home in Mexico City. Martha specializes in "pre-Hispanic" dishes, using ingredients like huazontle and flavorful moles, drawing inspiration from her Chihuahua roots and family traditions. Join Martha in her small kitchen for a 1.5 hour hand-on cooking experience in Mexico City. Help her prepare an appetizer and a main dish from scratch in your Mexico City cooking class. While you peel the onions and cut the peppers, learn secret tips, tricks and hear about the origins of the dishes.
This cooking experience in Mexico City with Martha is perfect for anyone looking to explore authentic Mexican cuisine in a warm, inviting home setting.
The best Mexican food is found in a local's home, so don't miss this unique dining experience in Mexico City with Martha and Arturo. Their home is very cozy and filled with artifacts they have collected from around the world. Each piece of furniture has a story and you can look forward to some very interesting conversations! Martha not only loves to cook family recipes for her guests, but also likes to pay special attention to the way it is served – matching her flowers, table cloth and napkins to her Mexican china! You can expect to share a traditional Mexican meal at Martha and Arturo's beautifully set table, a few dishes that you might try are sopecitos de pollo (chicken sopes with beans) or tlacoyos de frijoles (similar to corn tortillas stuffed with cooked ground beans and cheese); cochinita pibil (a traditional Mexican slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatán peninsula) or rajas poblanas con crema (roasted Poblano peppers in a cream sauce) and frijoles charros (pinto beans stewed with onion, garlic, and bacon) or arroz Mexicano rojo (red rice). You will end your meal with a sweet dessert such as flan or arroz con leche (rice pudding plan) or capirotada (bread pudding).
Martha can accommodate dietary restrictions and requests so please let her know your preferences when booking.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Dessert: Flan and arroz con leche (rice pudding plan) OR Capirotada (bread pudding)Side: Arroz Mexicano rojo (red rice) OR Frijoles charros (pinto beans stewed with onion, garlic, and bacon)Appetizer: Sopecitos de pollo (chicken sopes with beans) OR Tlacoyos de frijoles (similar to corn tortillas stuffed with cooked ground beans and cheese)Main: Cochinita pibil (Yucatán-Style barbecued pork) OR Rajas poblanas con crema (roasted Poblano peppers in a cream sauce)Martha learned to cook at an early age from her very talented grandmother and has a wealth of knowledge about Mexican cuisine - dating back to the pre-Hispanic era. Martha’s husband, Arturo, was a diplomatic representative for Mexico in many parts of the world, so they have wonderful stories to share! Having lived abroad for 35 years in 11 countries, Martha took cooking courses in each of these countries, to learn to cook a new cuisine and develop new cooking skills. She also proudly represented traditional Mexican food and it's culture when they hosted people in their home. Hosting and entertaining comes very naturally to Martha and Arturo, and they love having people over.
“I love to received people from all over the world and I love to share with them my culture and culinary experience. I would like to show and teach our varied and splendid Mexican cuisine!”
"Martha and Arturo are fantastic hosts and conversationalists. They have lived all over the world, and can connect with people very easily. We had a great time cooking and enjoying margaritas together. I felt like an old, dear friend being welcomed into their home as we talked about our travels, plus what we loved about Mexico and its cuisine. All of the food was nice, great dishes - and a LOT of food :) Their home is like a living museum, with little treasures from their time around the world, each one with an interesting story. I genuinely feel like I made two new friends through this experience! I highly recommend it for fellow travelers who want to learn more about Mexican cuisine and culture, and are looking to connect with other worldly, like-minded people."
"Martha was a fantastic host to learn from! My wife and I enjoyed our time with her and her
husband Arturo. They took us to the market and then back to their home/kitchen. We had so
much fun!"
"It was beyond amazing. There are not enough words to describe the experience. The food was just delicious. We learned so much about ingredients, history, culture, tequila and so much more. We had the pleasure of meeting her husband who made us feel at home. Their sense of humor and warmth made us feel that we would be friends forever. We want them to visit us in NY to stay with us — this is how wonderful they made us feel. Her price is way less than what she gives you in return — lots of food, knowledge, tequila, wine and warmth. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to be back!"
"Marta and Arturo treated us like family. I'm not exaggerating. We've hosted many friends and family visiting us overseas. Taking her cooking class felt like the mirror image. We would - will - recommend this adventure to anyone coming to Mexico City.
Marta welcomed us in her home in a quiet neighborhood outside the center of Mexico City. A pudgy, golden bundle of love named Layla greeted us at the entrance of her apartment. We'd seen hundreds of dogs and their owners during the week; it was only fitting another was there to welcome us. Marta and her husband took my family to the market, where she engaged sellers in friendly conversation and explained about unique flavors and preparations of pre-Hispanic cuisine.
Back at the apartment, Marta took my wife, daughter, and me through the history and art of pre-Hispanic cooking. She drafted my daughter into shredding Oaxaca cheese and preparing tortillas, while showing us some secrets to incredible food. She walked through the importance of the epazote herb, the versatility and unique flavor of huitlacotche (corn fungus, try it), and interactions of chili, oil, lard, avocados, and more. We gnawed on jicama and spiced broad beans while we cooked.
After preparing the meal, we sat down to eat together. A premade blue corn sope almost stole the show till the next dish arrived, our tortilla soup topped with chicharron and chapulines (crickets, again, try it!). Then came the quesadillas stuffed with a blend of Oaxaca cheese, huitlacotche, and onions. Finally - ok this was the real winner - she brought out a nutty flan dripping with caramel. Costarring with the flan was mamey, a native fruit halfway between a papaya and an avocado.
I can't say enough about this experience. Yes, the food was fantastic, but the company was better. Marta and Arturo really treated us like family, showing off family photos and talking about their careers spanning the globe.
Outside, the city observed Good Friday - a day when Christians recall the Last Supper and later crucifixion of Jesus. A small procession walked by as we returned from the market. Dedicated to mothers of the disappeared, it not only commemorating the holiday, but providing a somber reminder of Mexico's past and present. As we broke bread with Marta and Arturo, we thought of what made up Mexico's identity - through sacrifice, pain, joy, and optimism. As Americans breaking bread with a couple who had devotes their lives to their country, we thought of what kindness we owed them, ourselves, and each other."
