Oaxaca, MX

Study Abroad in Oaxaca, Summer 2015

I studied abroad for a month in Oaxaca, Oaxaca in southern Mexico, and lived with a wonderful host mámá, Aurea, who was an excellent cook. Oaxaca is divided into seven regions: Valle, Sierra, Costa, Cañada, the Mixtecas (Alta y Baja), Papaloapan, and Istmo.  Known as Land of the Seven Moles, Oaxaca is a gastronomical mecca with specialties such as tamales, quesillo (stringy cheese similar to Monterey Jack), chapulines (grasshoppers fried with garlic and salt) and mezcal (smoky tasting alcohol made from maguey, a type of agave).

My mornings were spent in a Spanish language class and Mexican Nutrition and Culture class. We learned about the history of Oaxaca and Mexico and traveled to historic sites such as Monte Albán and Mitla.  We also visited different nutrition related places such as DIF, a food program for low-income women and children. We toured a nearby Liconsa clinic and learned about the milk distribution system for low-income families.  One week, a family benefitting from Heifer International invited us into their home and showed us their chickens and garden.  This year, the program was even able to arrange a tour of a local Oaxacan hospital, ISSTE.  To top off all these wonderful experiences, my group of Nutrition students got to attend several cooking classes, where we learned how to make traditional Oaxacan and Mexican food, such as tamales, memeles, tortillas de maiz, posole rojo, chalupas, salsa rojo y verde, flan, mole coloradito, enchiladas, horchata, garnachas, y pure de papa al horno con pollo.

In Oaxaca, we had breakfast around 7:15 because we had to leave the house at 8 am for school. Breakfast consisted of a plate of fresh fruit, yogurt, and an entrée that usually had a variation of eggs and black beans with quesillo and some version of a corn tortilla. I usually had some fruit around 12 at school, then our big meal of the day, la comida, was between 2:30 and 3.  Dinner was small, consisting of salad and a quesadilla, or just a plate of fruit and yogurt.  Sometimes we just skipped dinner altogether if la comida had been particularly fuerte.

In terms of exercise, I walked back from school everyday (about 40 min of speed walking), which was actually faster than taking the bus back because afternoon traffic is so bad!  Oftentimes I would take another walk in the afternoon around the neighborhood or walk back to the downtown area (30 min, one-way) to meet friends or my Oaxacan Spanish speaking partner, Aurora.  I just loved watching all the people and observing the architecture and landscape of Oaxaca, a vibrant city and state with LOTS to do and see, especially in July, which is the time of the Guelaguetza, a special festival celebrating the diversity of its various regions and cultures.

La Cocina de Aurea
Mañana 1: Huevos con Salsa
Tarde 1: Un Cumpleaños (sopa caldoza con chile de arbol, mole negro, mezcal, molenillo demonstration)
Noche 1: Mole Rápido y Ensalada, plus a tour of the arbustos formas
Mañana 2: Omelet (i.e. "huevos en torta", Oaxacan coffee)
Noche 2: Yogurt de Mango Ataulfo (the week we had pepitas on salads)
Mañana 3: Tamal con Pollo (plus picture of Aurea's house)
Mañana 4: Chorizo con Huevos (huevos revueltos, frijoles negros, beans from different regions FYI)
Tarde 4: Costillas de Puerco (fried plantains, appearance of pecans in salad, pitahuaya or dragon fruit, amaranth lecture)
Mañana 5: Enfrijoladas (plus the secret to frijoles negros: HOJAS DE AGUACATE!)
Tarde 5: Mercado y Sopa con Nopal (cuajinicuil, estómago de rés, soup with cactus & chickpeas, marinated onions with habaneros, fried chicken breast, appearance of beets and avocados in the salad!)
Mañana 6: Huevos Planos y Mamey (epazote leaves in the frijoles negros, description of MAMEY)
Tarde 6: Salsa y Tostada (note on blenders in MX, salad with ataulfo mango, chepiche, steamed carrots & chayote, chickpea cactus soup, tostada with Oaxacan sausage and chapulines)
Mañana 7: Quesadilla con Nopal (favorite quesadilla with avocado, fresh cactus salsa, description of QUESILLO, hotel in Puebla)
Mañana 10: Huevos Pajaritos (description of a MEMELE tortilla)
Tarde 10: Guisado de Filete de Rés (visited Liconsa clinic, mango salad, fried plantains, beef stew, EXOTIC FLOWER)
Mañana 12: Tamal de Pollo y Jalapeño (tamale celebration and memorial for Aurea's husband)
Noche 13: Tlayuda de Costilla (succulent street food + roasted mini onions )

Tarde 17: Mole Amarillo (important role of cumin in certain moles)
Mañana 18: Memele con Huevo (favorite breakfast)
Tarde 18: Sopa de Conchitas y Tasajo de Rés (shell shaped pasta)
Tarde 19: Mole de Olla (one of my favorite lunches)
Tarde 23: Sopa, Ensalada, y Flan (Ivette's baking talent on display)

La Comida de Restaurantes
Tarde 2: Restaurante Hacienda Cuilapam (traditional Oaxacan food, buffet-style)
Tarde 3: Restaurante Los Adobes (pollo con verduras, enchiladas con papas y mole amarilla + discussion on enchiladas, costillas con flor de calabacita, plátanos fritos con amaranto
Tarde 9: La Parrillada (Great Pyramid of Cholula, salsa, pan de agua, spicy fish soup with guajillo chiles, mushrooms with ajillo chiles)
Noche 12: La Popular (birthday celebration and worst rain storm of the month, zucchini rolls with cheese, toasted blue corn tortillas, olive oil, blue corn tlayuda with shrimp and octopus), quesadilla with octopus, quesadillas with braised pork, mint mousse cake and chocolate cake with flan)
Tarde 14: Hacienda Santa Martha (sampling of the 7 moles, taco station!, potatoes with poblano chiles, perfect papaya, tomatillo soup, chicken, chile, potato soup, lime forest & amazing CLOUD PANORAMA)
Noche 15: La Popular (visited local hospital, picture with Hector, the owner, traditional mezcal margarita and mango mezcal margarita, fabulous SEAFOOD soup with shrimp and octopus)
Tarde 25: Mariscos en La Popular (favorite was camarones con ajo frito)
Tarde 26: El Tule en Mitla (tried empanadas con mole verde y amarillo)
Mañana 29: El Vuelo de Regreso (huevos con frijoles negros)

Clases de Cocina
Noche 5: Tamales! (Menu: tamales colados de pollo, tortillas de maíz, memelas, ceviche vegetariana, pizza de frutas)
Noche 8: Puebla (quote by Sir Edward James in reference to surrealist garden, description of Puebla + Chile en Nogada, menu: salsa rojo y salsa verde, chalupas, posole rojo, hierbabuena, rajas poblanos con champiñones, mole poblano (LOVED), pan de agua)
Noche 8: Puebla (postre= flan cooked in a pressure cooker)
Noche 21: Clase de Mole Coloradito (made mole, tortillas, y horchata)