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8 - 12 Travelers
8 Days, 7 Nights
Mar 10 - Mar 17, 2024
$4,000 USD per person
Rich mole, fresh fruit paletas, warm corn tortillas: these are the flavors of Oaxaca. In this weeklong trip available only to the Milk Street and Culinary Backstreets audiences, you’ll get a perspective on Oaxaca that casual tourists never get to see. Your guide this week is Maria Itaka, a Oaxaca native who has guided Christopher Kimball on his trips there. Resident chef Iliana de la Vega, a regular at the Milk Street Cooking School and on Milk Street Radio, will show you the secrets of shopping like a local at Oaxacan markets and will guide you in two hands-on cooking sessions.
We begin with a walking tour of historic Oaxaca structured around corn, a key pillar of Oaxacan cooking and eating. You’ll see corn’s journey from kernel through processing all the way to a warm tortilla coming off the comal. You’ll appreciate modern interpretations of Oaxacan cooking at spots like Sabina Sabe and Zandunga. We’ll spend two days exploring markets, cooking, drinking and eating alongside Iliana de la Vega, who will welcome you into a private Oaxacan home and treat you to meals served in a quiet courtyard. We’ll get out of town to visit traditional producers in the village of Etla, famous for its Oaxacan cheese, and get a glimpse of a huge collection of rare mezcals. You’ll visit the Tlacolula market, a once-a-week event where you’ll sample everything from hyperlocal chocolate to crunchy chapulines. At the home of ceramicist and agricultural advocate Isabel Sanchez, you’ll get a rare glimpse into her seed bank of heirloom corn varieties. And you’ll meet multiple Cocineras Tradicionales, the women keeping Oaxaca’s culinary traditions alive.
Join us to experience Oaxacan home cooking, tradition and innovation up close.
We are firm believers in the power of local knowledge. Our guides and the culinary masters and other artisans who are part of our trips all deeply reflect that. Meet some of our local heroes:
