Mexico City (One): Cooking with Chef Raja

How is that I am so busy and go so long between posts?  I don't know.  But Mexico City definitely calls for its own series.


Karla & Kevin: Ciudad de México

We recently visited Mexico City for the first time.  Would a week be too long? Is a weekend enough time?  So we split the difference: five nights, with four clear days plus a little time on each of the travel days.  In this series, I'll talk about a few of the places we visited and experiences we had.  Food, of course, as always, was a priority!

My husband and I love to cook.  Last year, we took cooking classes in Baton Rouge and Budapest.  This year, we added Mexico City.  But which foodie opportunity to choose?

After much research, we decided to try the AirBnB experience called "Tacos Al Pastor with Chef Raja and Antonio."  Tacos al Pastor is a special way to make tacos: up to 200 pounds of meat is first marinated in a sauce of peppers and pineapples, and then it is stacked and cooked on a vertical spit.  In Chef Raja's class, though, we learned to make individual servings of Tacos al Pastor by stacking smaller portions of meat (in our case, pork) on a skewer inserted in a pineapple.


Our Class: Michel, Chef Raja, Kristy, Kevin, and Karla

The class was limited to four people, and we all met at Chef Raja's kitchen studio in the Guadalupe Inn neighborhood of Mexico City.  After introductions, Chef Raja called an Uber for us to go to the market to gather our ingredients.  We each carried (and filled!) our own market bag.


Kristy, Karla, Kevin, and Michel: ready to fill our market bags!

Outside the Market

At the market, Chef Raja introduced us to some of his favorite vendors.  He took the time to describe each of the ingredients we would need for our dish.  With his final approval, he let us take turns choosing items for the group.  We bought peppers and pineapples and tomatillos and pork and so much more! 


Choosing peppers

Habaneros, anyone?

While at the market, we were all impressed by the number of piñatas and the huge size of some of them.  Some were at least six feet across!!


The students with giant piñatas behind them.

After gathering all necessary items, we headed back to Chef Raja's kitchen, where we all were involved in every step of the cooking process.  We were each assigned a work station.  Chef Raja offered step-by-step examples of what to do, consistent instructions and verbal guidance as we tried things on our own, and hands-on instruction to improve our techniques.


Kevin and Karla skewer the pineapple base of the tacos al pastor.

Everyone works on salsas!

Karla basting her tacos al pastor, about one hour into the baking process.

We sliced our pork sections, prepared our marinades, and assembled our stacks.  After placing those in the oven to bake for 1.5 hours, we moved on to salsas: one rojo and one verde, both delicious!  We each got to choose the spice level of our salsa, Kevin and Karla created spicier versions while Kristy and Michel opted for less heat to accommodate their own taste buds. 


Karla, working on a salsa verde.

Sampling the salsa rojo: YUM!

Finally, we prepared our tortillas, and then it was time to eat!


Karla and Kevin, preparing their tortillas.

Taco Cheers!

We assembled our tacos, while Chef Raja (and his wife, Pilar) offered us hibiscus tea and horchata to drink.  We toasted with our tacos, and then we dined like royalty as a group of friends.  It was hard to believe that not four hours earlier, we were strangers with empty market bags.

If you go to Mexico City and want to learn to cook a true specialty item, consider Chef Raja's class.  Chef Raja is multi-lingual, making this an easy class for Americans who speak only English.  The class is a great way to see a Mexico City market in action without the intimidation of wading through one by yourself (and trust me: it's plenty intimidating!).  Both Chef Raja and Pilar take lots of pictures so that the class participants are not distracted (as evidenced by the most of the photos here).  And it's just a delightful - and delicious! - way to spend a few hours of a day.

¡Buen Provecho!