Eating well in Oaxaca
La Olla and Las Bugambilias in Oaxaca City
If Oaxaca City isn’t on your bucket list, it should be. Incredible cuisine? Oaxaca has it. Culture? Check. Art? Tons. Natural beauty? Yep. I could go on (walkability, history, sunshine…), but you’re here to read about the world-class, unique, artfully presented food, which is abundant in this southern Mexico town.
One of my goals this year is to learn how to more competently cook Mexican food. So my friend Angela, always happy for a reason to travel, invited me to try out Casa de Los Sabores cooking school in Oaxaca City. I thought that would be the culinary highlight of our trip, but in fact every day had its own scrumptious highlight, and I’m excited to share them with you.
Day 1
We arrived in Oaxaca the right way: hungry. So we quickly unloaded luggage at our bright and charming B&B, Casa De Las Bugambilias, made our way to nearby Pan:am, and sat in their lovely courtyard. My Spanish is rusty and I was overwhelmed by the menu until I noticed an option for chilaquiles with queso AND quesillo. Two types of cheese? Can’t go wrong with that. Quesillo, I learned, is a type of cheese that is overboiled to develop a stiffer consistency. If the string cheese I ate growing up in Cleveland had a glow-up, it might taste something like quesillo. Angela ordered a different version of chilaquiles (one with less cheese) and both our meals were delicious previews into the increasingly impressive dining experiences yet to come.
We burned off our chilaquiles walking Oaxaca’s tree-lined cobblestone streets, shopping in buildings over 300 years old, stopping to taste chocolate- and coffee-flavored crema de mezcal, and admiring Miércoles de Danzón, an open invitation to dance in the city square. The tradition of dancing to live music in the Zócalo was started by journalist Don Luis Santiago in the 90s, and apparently still continues every Wednesday. Angela and I were as enamored by the dancing couples, young and old, as we were by the idea that people can have fun on Wednesdays.
While most of our visit to the Zócalo was all sunshine, we could not ignore the caravan of protestors carrying walking sticks, the occasional machete, and banners titled “Pueblos unidos contra el despajo capitalista” (Peoples united against capitalist oppression). These indigenous groups sought to “make visible the struggles for water and the defense of (their) territory” and fight against the exploitation of their land and natural resources for economic profit. Protestors also called for the release of Fredy Garcia, human rights advocate and spokesperson for Comité de Defensa de los Pueblos Indígenas (CODEDI), who was detained in 2019. These were peaceful protests and at no point did we feel unsafe during our visit, but I think it’s important to acknowledge and learn about the struggles of Oaxacan people if you’re going to take advantage of the abundance the state has to offer. Read more about the challenges faced by indigenous groups across Mexico on Minority Rights Group International’s website.
After a morning of flying and an afternoon of meandering along the pedestrian-only street Andador de Macedonia Alcala, we were ready for an evening snack. La Olla, one of Oaxaca City’s top restaurants, happened to be next to our B&B. We walked up the iron stairs and were seated next to a balcony overlooking the vibrant street. I ordered the margarita con mezcal (mezcal is one of my favorite liquors, and most of it is produced in the state of Oaxaca), Angela ordered a red wine, and we split guacamole and comal de maiz (a plate of memelitas, quesadillas, and taquitos dorados–basically, corn heaven). Memelitas, little fried corn masa cakes topped with beans, cheese, veggies or other ingredients, are highly adorable and one of my new favorite foods. Our “snack” was more like a meal due to the generous portion sizes, and we were soon stuffed and ready for bed.
Day 2
The next morning, and every morning at Casa De Las Bugambilias, we walked down to the courtyard and were greeted with a colorful table setting. We sat between ivy-covered magenta walls while the friendly staff brought coffee, fresh juices, homemade breads, yogurt, artfully arranged fruit, and a different egg dish every morning. One morning our breakfast dish was covered with orange squash blossom petals fanning out from the center, and Angela likened the experience to eating sunshine.
Another morning I declined coffee and was offered homemade hot chocolate instead, to which I emphatically responded “¡Si!” Turning down hot chocolate in a region that’s been drinking it since ancient times would have been a missed opportunity. The hot chocolate in Oaxaca is made with ground chocolate, cinnamon, and offered with water or milk. It is not cloyingly sweet like instant American brands, but it is comforting, frothy and delicious–a definite highlight of the trip.
Day two involved more meandering, this time into art galleries, museums, markets and boutiques. One of my favorite stores was Marias Arte y Diseño, filled with trendy goods like enamel pins, stickers and graphic-printed mugs in addition to local art. Later at Origen Textil, I bought a frayed cotton huipil dress, naturally dyed in a vivid shade of marigold.
We spent some time at Mercado 20 de Noviembre, a buzzing market full of artesanal goods, produce, meats, cheeses and prepared food. I was hungry (noticing a theme?) so I stopped at a booth with a long menu and ordered what I thought was elote (Mexican street corn) and mango yogurt. What I actually got was elote-flavored nieve, a water-based Mexican ice cream, and frozen mango yogurt. Turns out I was at a nieve stand, and everything on the menu was a nieve flavor. Despite my mishap, I happily devoured my corn-flavored ice cream like the born Midwesterner that I am, grateful that I didn’t accidentally order the “tuna” option.
Elote nieve and mango yogurt
We also stopped at Texier, a gourmet Oaxacan chocolate shop. As with most food in Mexico, the chocolate was far more delicious and affordable than what you’d typically find in the U.S., so we stocked up on gifts for our friends…and ourselves. The chocolate-covered cardamom was the most interesting thing we tried, although I preferred the simple chocolate lollipops.
Surely we did something between eating ice cream and chocolate and then stopping for lunch, but I can’t recall what, so fast forward to lunchtime where we sat at yet another one of the magnificent courtyards Oaxaca City has to offer, at Las Nubes Restaurante in Hotel Casa Vértiz. I had a tostada with guacamole, tomato, queso fresco and quesillo (again with the two cheeses) and Angela had a lovely corn soup and enchiladas with green mole. I gathered from my visit that Oaxacans are very proud of their moles (sauces), and while the popular claim is that Oaxaca has seven moles, our tour guide later joked that any grandma would tell you there are many more.
We did our best to save room for what would come that evening: a 9-course meal at El Destilado. While I was initially unsure I could eat nine courses, I should have had more faith in Angela’s idea to book the event, and in my gut’s tremendous ability to expand for the sake of Mexican food. This experience is a must if you’re visiting Oaxaca for the cuisine. To our delight, they started by serving us a complimentary welcome drink (which is apparently a thing–I’ve just been visiting the wrong restaurants all my life). “Do you eat insects?” was one of the first questions the server asked us. We couldn’t help but laugh at a question so foreign to us, but we were up for the challenge. Our courses were as follows:
Masas, another plate of corn-based deliciousness. One of the tamales contained grasshopper, which marked my first time eating bugs, but the dish had so many other flavors I couldn’t tell exactly what our grasshopper brought to the table.
A warm tomato salad with sundried tomato pesto, vanilla of all things, and probably baby unicorn tears because there was something inexplicably magical about it.
A mushroom taco served on a leaf instead of a tortilla, with additional ingredients that Google Translate doesn’t understand. Ear of lion? Ants? It tasted great so I don’t care.
A quail egg, leg and wing. I’m not a huge fan of eating things that are still in the shape they lived in, so this was my least favorite dish.
A mysterious but delicious palate cleanser served in clam shells. It had the texture of an uncooked egg yolk, but fruity, with “sour foam” on the side. The only ingredient I’m confident it contained was guanabana.
Fish (I think mackerel) with garlic black mole and charred fish skin on top.
Foie gras, which we declined to eat because, as I learned from Angela, the process for creating it is unnecessarily cruel. Graciously, they replaced our foie gras with guava sorbet, coconut cream and ginger crumble served in a coconut shell.
Chocolate bavarian cream and a dollop of pixtle ice cream. After a little internet research, I’ve deduced that pixtle is the seed of mamey, a Latin American tropical fruit.
An adorable array of chocolates, macarons and complimentary mezcal bottles to take home in the world’s tiniest canvas bags.
We ate like queens. El Destilado’s food quality and expert attention to presentation details matched what you’d find at top gourmet restaurants in big U.S. cities like New York or Chicago, but in Oaxaca, the service was friendly, the flavors were unique, and this 9-course meal (with booze) cost a fraction of what you’d pay here. But there was still more to eat in Oaxaca…
Day 3
The next day was our cooking class with Casa De Los Sabores. We and five other students from the U.S. and Germany met renowned chef Pilar Cabrera at the terrace of her restaurant La Olla, which we had tried on our first night. The views of the city from the rooftop bar, however, convinced us we’d have to return later. Pilar offered us coffee, asked us about our dietary restrictions and how spicy we liked our food, and laid out an agenda. First, we’d walk to a local market to buy ingredients. Then we’d meet at her house, cook together, taste mezcal, and share a meal. Sounded like a perfect day.
Mercado De La Merced was smaller, tidier, and less crowded than Mercado 20 de Noviembre. We guessed it was more oriented towards locals than the latter. Pilar led us through the market, negotiating with vendors for ingredients and allowing us to sample foods like chile paste and pan dulce. At the end of our shopping trip, she gave us ten minutes to explore on our own. So as not to go two hours without eating, Angela and I bought and shared a creamy fruit pudding.
We taxied to Pilar’s place, which happens to be the biophilic, modern, art-filled home of my dreams. There, we made homemade salsa (with grasshoppers), vegetarian and chorizo memelas, squash blossom soup, chicken with mole, and Oaxacan chocolate ice cream. My duties were to remove corn from the cobs, roll corn masa, press tortillas, peel the skin off roasted chiles and de-seed them, and shave the chocolate. My biggest takeaway from the class was that making homemade tortillas is easy provided you buy the premade masa, and I’ve already made some since I’ve been home. They were far better than store-bought tortillas but didn’t quite have the taste and texture of the tortillas we made under Pilar’s tutelage.
After we’d prepared most of the food, Pilar took us to her living room where she taught us about the various types of agave and let us taste Oaxacan mezcal and Chihuahuan sotol (I much preferred the smoky-sweet mezcal). Her kitchen helpers, clad in floral La Olla headscarves, finished the cooking and prepared the table.
When it was time to eat, Pilar offered us beer, wine and sparkling water. Her staff served us the wonderful dishes we helped cook; my favorites were the memelas and the fresh Oaxacan chocolate ice cream with fried plantains. At the picnic-style table, we learned about our fellow students, in particular that the young German couple was on a three-week tour of Mexico. They shared that they’d heard the stereotype that Americans don’t like to travel. We lamented that most American businesses would not allow us a guilt-free three week vacation, and that the pressure to focus on work at the cost of cultural and family experiences is high in the U.S.
When our meal was over, some of us decided to make the 15-minute walk back downtown, as a penance for our gluttonous sins. I had intentions to explore the city more that afternoon, but my body had different plans. I instead took an hour-long siesta.
That night, as we promised ourselves, we revisited the rooftop patio of La Olla. I ordered enchiladas with two types of mole, and Angela ordered hibiscus tacos. We talked about our previous travels and enjoyed the view of the city until the sun set over the Sierra Madre peaks.
View from the rooftop terrace of La Olla
Day 4
On our last full day, we decided to take a tour with Oaxaca Conmigo Tours. Our fantastic tour guide Tony customized the tour to suit our interests and schedule, as we had a 7 p.m. dinner reservation that evening. We visited Monte Alban, where we saw the excavated remains of the pre-Colombian economic center of the Zapotecs. It’s a massive site, and Tony shared tons of knowledge about what this spot meant for ancient Oaxacan ancestors. We then visited the world’s widest tree in El Tule, another quaint town in the state of Oaxaca.
Monte Alban
El Árbol del Tule, the tree with the widest trunk in the world
Understanding the assignment, Tony took us to lunch at Azucena Zapoteca, which “presents a traditional food that reflects the aroma and flavor of the Zapotec land,” as they state on their website. I tried a huge mug of hot chocolate with leche, agua fresca, and the enmoladas recommended by Tony. As with nearly everything we ate in Oaxaca, it was delicious, and the tucked-away restaurant in a less dense area south of the city was homey and charming.
Our next stops were Zoológico Mágico, where artisan Rosario and her family hand-carve and paint alebrijes, brightly colored fantastical wooden creatures. Rosario told her inspiring story as she skillfully hacked away at a log with a machete–her father did the carving when she was a child, and resisted her pleas to learn, as this part of the creative process was strictly considered a man’s job. Not to be deterred from her dream, she watched intently as he carved and secretly tried the craft on her own. Now she runs her family’s business, which sells alebrijes out of their very remote workshop, and may be the only woman who carves them. Her patience for the months-long process of creating a single animal is incredible, and the results are apparent in the superior craftswomanship of her figurines.
Finally, we stopped in Teotitlán del Valle, an indigenous village whose primary income has been weaving since pre-Hispanic times. When we arrived, we got a demo of the weaving and dying process from a young man who said he was among the tenth generation of weavers in his family. The beautiful textiles made by this family use all-natural dyes from sources like indigo, pomegranate and cochineal. Unfortunately we had to shorten our stay at this quiet, surreal town that felt like a trip back in time in order to make our dinner reservations at Casa Oaxaca.
Casa Oaxaca’s rooftop patio was a perfect place to spend our last evening. We shared a winning appetizer, which is listed on their menu as “pumpkin flowers stuffed with cottage cheese, wrapped in crispy sweet potato and mashed banana.” I also ordered the mezcal sour, cauliflower barbacoa, and a chocolate “sphere filled with creamy Oaxacan chocolate, caramelized jamaica and pasilla mixe,” which I continued to fantasize about after I returned to Texas. It’s worth mentioning that at this fairly fancy restaurant, our drinks, appetizer, entrees, and dessert totaled $61 USD for the two of us–in case you needed another reason to put Oaxaca at the top of your bucket list.
The next morning we enjoyed one last bittersweet breakfast at Las Bugambilias before stopping at Cafe Brujula for a cajeta. I frankly didn’t know what I’d ordered and thought it was simply coffee with milk, but what I got tasted like sweet cappuccino. It was a perfect end to a trip that offered many pleasant culinary surprises.
At the airport, Angela and I used our remaining pesos to stock up on Oaxacan chocolate tablets. And while I’ve tried to recreate Oaxacan hot chocolate at home, it doesn’t quite have the special quality I found in Las Bugambilias’ cinnamon-infused, frothy drink. There’s something about the magic of the city and the people who live in it that makes the food taste better. If you want to truly experience Oaxacan food, you’ll just have to visit.
Oaxacan hot chocolate