My husband and I met Miriam two trips ago as she was selling her hot sauce at the farmer's market. At that time she told us about her cooking class, but we couldn't fit it in during that trip. When we started planning our next trip (last December), the first thing I did was book a cooking class. It was very hard to choose which week, as all of the menus looked amazing! I ended up choosing the taco class because I thought I would be most likely to be able to recreate those recipes at home.
We were joined by a large family, and started off with a great margarita demonstration by Kyle. He gave us some great tips including making our own simple syrup and using fresh limes instead of using triple sec or other mixers. Our margaritas were delicious, and a perfect way to loosen up before the main event. While we were enjoying our drinks, Miriam took center stage and gave us her background, which is quite interesting and impressive. I won't spoil it for you! Next, she had all of us describe our relationships with food and cooking, to get a better idea of how to work with us throughout the class. It was a great way to start.
We then moved over to the kitchen, where we paired up in front of our stations - with cutting boards, molcajetes, and the food items for our first step, which was a tomato sauce for our potato tacos. Miriam gave us some background information about molcajetes, since most of us had never used one before. She then gave us our instructions and we started working away at our salsa. She made her rounds and made sure we were all feeling comfortable and having fun. Next, we worked on a pineapple salsa for our al pastor tacos, an avocado sauce for our fish tacos, and a fresh veggie salad. Miriam made everything fun and easy, and used our stories to personalize the experience for each of us.
Next, we sat down at the beautifully set table, and Kyle poured us wine while explaining Mexico's history of winemaking. All the while, Miriam's assistants were prepping the rest of our meal. We were served our salads, then tacos dorados (cheese and potato tacos) with our tomato salsa. Next, we enjoyed al pastor tacos with the pineapple salsa we made. For the items that we didn't make in their entirety, Miriam explained the process, and pointed to the recipe books we would be taking home. Then Miriam did a demonstration on how make a simple breading to bread fish for our fish tacos. We then got to enjoy our fish tacos with the avocado sauce we made. Finally, we finished our meal with a demonstration of how to make an easy mousse with lemon curd, fresh fruit, and meringue.
All the while, Kyle kept our wine glasses full, the conversation flowed, and Miriam made sure that we left with a new bag of tricks. She talked about balancing flavors (acid, sweet, salt, etc.) and textures (crunchy, soft, etc.), and encouraged us to talk about the food we made in terms of the components, bringing about a new appreciation for savoring each bite!
I can't say enough about how informative this experience was, and how much fun we had! Miriam and Kyle and the rest of the team made us all feel at home. I am certain that we will take another class from Miriam on a trip in the future. read more