Escape to Mexico for some beach and kitchen school action at the Riviera Maya’s Andaz Mayakoba resort
For our typical post christmas trip – we didn’t venture that far – we opted for the mexican caribbean coast between Cancun and Playa del Carmen on the “Riviera Maya” at a resort development that houses 4 distinctly different resorts. The area is called “Mayakoba” and we booked a stay at the Andaz Mayakoba.
We had been here before so we knew what to expect – which was perfect because all we wanted to do was have no plans, other than taste-testing mezcal in between long periods of just lying on the beach.
Of course, we had to eat, and this hotel offered some great options from typical Mexican fare to gourmet level Mexican fine dining to an entire vegan/vegetarian bar. But… most importantly, the Mayakoba resort property offers a cooking school experience at the La Cocina Cooking Schoole in their little Mexican “village”, El Pueblito. Here you can spend a couple of hours learning a few signature dishes in a professionally equipped Mexican kitchen taught by a professionally trained chef.
I’ve noticed that often resorts offer some sort of cooking class with a Chef, and we have taken it several times at different places. If you’re interested in local food, it’s a great way to make and taste local foods with someone who’s much more knowledgeable than you. Also, thus far – every time we’ve done it, it has been fairly underattended which means you have more one-on-one time with the Chef.
This time was no different – in fact, we were the only ones there. It was Chef Sandy de la Mora (IG: @sandy.delamora), her assistant Migel (IG: @mig_gelange) and us! We basically got a private cooking class with Chef Sandy, while Chef Migel not only prep’d some foods and our equipment – but also made us hibiscus margaritas!
From a large menu of options, we were instructed to select two dishes to make one day before the class – which gives the Pueblito Cooking school time to source the necessary ingredients. See below the entire menu of options. We chose the Tortilla Soup and the Green Enchiladas.
By the way, all these dishes from the menu seemed like pretty “basic” general mexican fare – there was nothing on the menu that we didn’t recognize – so I suppose this is my only criticism. I really would have loved a deeper dive into some Yucatan cuisine – perhaps some dishes that were a bit more obscure. Alas…this is when you’re reminded that we’re at a vacation resort catering to mostly North Americans – so unsurprisingly, the menu is a set of safe options that would have mass appeal. HOWEVER, that said – despite being “basic” dishes.. These dishes were 100% made from scratch with some truly authentic methods. For me, this was the biggest take away. The way the guacamole was prepared, the way we made the green verde sauce, the way we made the tortillas and the tortilla soup, the inclusion of a Mexican herb (one that I had never heard of!), Epazote… all contributed to a great and authentic cooking experience that resulted in a 10 out of 10 meal… zero complaints. It was delicious. See our dishes and recipes below.
Click here for our Guacamole Recipe
Click here for our Tortilla Soup Recipe
Click here for our Green Enchilada Recipe
The hospitality of the experience is something worth highlighting – Chef Sandy and Miguel basically treated us as house guests in their home kitchen. They were both so warm and funny and talkative – we had such a great time spending our afternoon with the two of them! The two and half hours flew by.
We even had a bonus surprise party at the end of our cooking class with them – Chef Sandy brought in a handful of other staff from around the Pueblito to celebrate Three Kings Day, which was coming up. They provided a massive Rosco de Reyes cake from Costco! (that’s a thing) This is the Mexican version of the King Cake, and of course as is with all the different King Cakes in the world – this one has its own unique qualities. Most interestingly there are MANY baby Jesuses hidden in the large cake (not just one) – and the cutting of pieces is essentially played as a game – the knife is passed around the group and each person goes up and carefully cuts their sliver of cake and hopes to not get the Jesus! For anyone who gets a Jesus, they have to bring tamales to the group’s next party which is supposed to be Dia de la Candelaria or Candlemas Day which is on February 2nd. I suppose having many Jesuses ensures there’s plenty of Tamales for the party – Smart.
See my post on the history and traditions of King Cakes here
