Before leaving Australia I knew I had to get a cooking class sorted in Mexico and it didn’t take long to zero in on Oaxaca. A culture hub well known for their botanical gardens, textiles, coffee and of course culinary joy.
Upon arriving at our relatively sketchy but more than adequate Airbnb and going through the usual ‘we’ve just arrived chores’ of; unpacking, making the mentalists snacks, getting a supermarket shop in, we eventually dragged them out to Rocio’s dinner recommendation. I knew we were in the right place for good nosh as we passed heaps of foodie restaurants and bars, market stalls and arty farty shops, tell tale fodder for the tourists with pesos to burn. Even the helado shops looked schmick and the fact that every sign said ‘artesano’ and looked wicked filled us with confidence.
Archie made the wonderful dinner experience one to forget which was standard however, the rest of us really enjoyed his discarded quesadillas, made with Oaxaca cheese, oh shit this is the real deal. It’s like mozzarella but not as soft and milky. If you can find it in your local, it’s what cheese toasties have been waiting for. With a full belly and a few cheeky mezcal margaritas, Im well up for this cooking class. As we dragged them home refusing to buy toys, bracelets and god knows what else, it didn’t take long for the fun to come back as the heavens opened and we danced our way home in the rain, avoiding certain death as the Grand Prix now became wet and the roads even more fun to navigate. Roads in Mexico are chaos….
There were four of us at Casa Crespo for the class, a well travelled Mother daughter combo from the states, and a Canadian traveller. When I arrive at the restaurant courtyard the chef and owner Oscar had laid out some toast, homemade marmalade and coffee to nibble on whilst we decided the days menu. Oscar, such a cool cat, speaks and acts with the air of calm and grace I know you need to run a kitchen. It was soon obvious he has been an artist all his life before 10 yrs ago turning in his brushes for the knives. The walls of the alfresco courtyard adorned with Oaxaca style paintings and the kitchen with very stylish and quirky portraits from contemporary to abstract works. I felt right at home when I looked down and the mat I was standing on said “This Kitchen is for Dancing”.
After we agreed on a pretty solid menu of; three salsa’s, crema de aguacate (avo soup), ceviche, tamales de chambray, two mole’s; Almendrado & Amarillo, two tortillas (from scratch), and a banging helado de chocolate Oaxaqueño to finish her off, we threw a few toms and chillies on the stove for the salsa and jetted off to the market. Very interesting stopping by a tortilleria, where the stall and restaurant owners have the tortillas made. They also have mixing machines to churn out the dough for the tortillas and other delights.
The market is a shock at first as you see unrefrigerated meat and a different level of OH&S issues but you soon settle in and it’s at this point I wonder why I didn’t bring pen and paper to keep track of the endless amounts of data I was enjoying on herbs, spices, fruit, veg and countless unknown fodder. One guy just sold massive slabs of chicharrones (pork crackling)!!
20 minutes in the market was enough and we made the 10 minute stroll back to crack on with the menu.
Oscar has this routine down pat, soon he starts rolling us through chopping and blending duties all evenly dished out to the group. Everyone was keen to get amongst it and due to the simplicity of the recipes and guidance of Oscar it was a very enjoyable cook off. Avo soup took 5 mins to make and was a great starter, so too the ceviche which I’ve never made before and will now be a staple entree at Casa Franco.
Now the tamales turned it up a notch, not so easy but an enjoyable challenge and they all came out well. Half way through as the heat turned up a selection of Coronitas arrived (210ml beers) plus mezcal arrived in the kitchen - I knew I wasn’t in the right company for high fives and chest pumps as I held back my whooping as the alcohol arrived…finishing the mini beer in two pulls. I’d been wanting to try the Victoria beer and even though a small bottle it didn’t disappoint.
No sooner were we making the mains Oscar swiftly moved us back to the courtyard to use the dough we had made to make our two styles of tortillas, one with zucchini flowers diced into the mixture. Quite robust the tortilla dough as toasted they become tostadas, and according to the sauce you put on them, they can be turned into enmoladas, entomatadas, enfrijoladas or enchiladas.
Ever the artist Oscar has his own stamp from the Mexican flag to brand them with using beetroot juice as a die. What a legend. The almond mole was a joy to make and delicious, although like Guinness and other other dark and deep flavours takes a while to appreciate. Oscar tells us he is working on his own book of over 100 mole recipes! He also has a wall of his own Casa Crespo branded Oaxaca chocolate which is great for mole and of course our chocolate ice cream. I’d say half his clients leave thinking about buying an ice cream maker as it’s a doddle and delicious.
The four hours had passed, we sat at a beautifully laid out table and made quick work of the 6 courses and mezcal chasers. We even had the recipes in our inbox before we left the table.
It was a pleasure to spend time with the group under Oscars tuition, we received a certificate at the end which was a nice touch, and a few weeks after the day I can say I have already enjoyed making the avo soup, ceviche and mole for friends in CDMX.
If you are in Oaxaca be sure to pop in to Casa Crespo for lunch, dinner or a cracking cooking class. http://casacrespo.com/
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