8 Day Land of Eternal Spring Cooking and Culinary Vacation in Tepoztlan, Morelos

Facilities

Day 1: Sunday - Make yourself at home!

Guests arrive at Mexico City International Airport (MEX) with airport pickup provided. The trip takes one and a half hours from Mexico City to La Villa Bonita and guests will be greeted upon arrival with a delicious homemade cocktail such as Chef Ana’s famous Margarita made with her own Calamondine Orange liquor as well as snacks such as guacamole, cheeses, home-made salsa, and tortilla chips.

Later that afternoon/evening, guests will enjoy Chef Ana’s 4-course chef’s table gourmet dinner made from primarily local ingredients grown in the garden or from local providers. Dinner is served within an ample open-air kitchen with a view of the valley below or above the kitchen in the elevated dining area with a 360-degree view of the mountains. Chef Ana will explain her dishes to the guests and also discuss how the week will unfold.

Day 2: Monday - Mexican comfort food

The day begins with Chef Ana’s famous big breakfast with fresh fruit, biscuits, homemade jams and jellies along with a new traditional Mexican main dish each morning. Guests will go to the local Tepoztlán market to select the best ingredients from Chef Ana’s local providers and bring these ingredients back for the cooking session in the open-air kitchen.

Today is a day to enjoy Mexican comfort food with a focus on the famous tortilla Azteca with chicken, refried beans, and Mexican vegetable soup, ensalada casera. The dessert will be sherry rompope gelatin. Cooking generally takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon with lunch of dishes prepared in the open-air kitchen or the elevated terrace with wine and beer service as well as coffee or tea with dessert. An “agua fresca” of the day will be prepared such as mandarin water.

Each day, you will make a different agua fresca with different fruit, Jamaica flower, or tamarindo to accompany each lunch. As well each day, you will have a new signature cocktail which is a Mango Margarita. Today, you will also learn about the process of nixtamalization so that you can make your own tortillas during the week from ancestral corn grown in the area.

Day 2: Tuesday - Let’s learn about Tepozteco Cuisine

The day begins as always with a fabulous breakfast, optional yoga class (15 USD), and a trip to the market to select ingredients and to meet the local butcher and cheese vendor. Guests return to LVB to cook up a storm.

Today is a day to learn how the locals eat on a daily basis with Zompantle or Colorin flower cakes and green bean cakes in a guajillo chile sauce with green rice and fried plantains along with mushroom quesadillas and chile Morita salsa. For dessert, you will make a delicious Tejocote pie.

The agua fresca of the day cantaloupe water and the signature cocktail is Chef Ana’s classic margarita made from her homemade calamondine liquor. Learn how to use red, white or blue masa made from ancestral corn varieties produced locally and make your own tortillas and place them on the comal with Mari your “ama de llaves” or mayordomo during your stay at La Villa Bonita.

Guests enjoy lunch of dishes prepared with drink service in the open-air kitchen or the elevated terrace. After late lunch, guests will have an opportunity to take a walk into the downtown, relax around the pool with a good book or take a great nap! You are on vacation, it is up to you!

Day 4: Wednesday - “The Walking Locavore”

Breakfast starts a day of pottery and incredible local cuisine. After breakfast, guests will witness a demonstration of how to make traditional lead-free artisan pottery from a producer in Tlayacapan by the name of Dona Chayo. Her family has produced pottery in the traditional way for generations. Almost all of Chef Ana’s earthenware in the house Dona Chayo. Learn how these noble vessels are made! Guests will have an opportunity to purchase his traditional rice and bean pots, flatware, cazuelas among many other great items.

Today, guests will join Chef Ana on a walking/eating tour of the Tepoztlan market, visit the Ex-Convent and museum as well as try a wide variety of local delicacies in the market. Walk, learn and eat like a native, delicacies such as itacates, pancita, cecina, and traditional Morelos quesadillas. This is the farmer’s market day in Tepoztlan with an opportunity to see the wide variety of ingredients and dishes that Tepoztlan has to offer.

Day 5: Thursday - Cochinita Pibil, a Yucatan classic

After a hearty breakfast and an optional yoga class (15 USD), guests will dedicate the day to the production and use of masa with a trip to the Masa Mill to produce your own masa from corn grown locally. Guests will then return to prepare a Yucatecan classic - Cochinita Pibil.

Learn the technique that you can use to create this traditional favorite. Along with the cochinita guests will make xni-pec red onion relish, tortillas, white rice, seasoned black beans, a Yucatan Lima soup, a jicama salad with avocado and oranges and a delicious local ice cream for dessert. The agua fresca of the day is Agua de Chaya and the signature cocktail is a Jamaica flower mezcalita.

Day 6: Friday - Tamale day

You start with a fabulous breakfast as usual and begin your preparations to enjoy the grandeur of the tamale. Today is dedicated to the production of different types of tamales in both banana leaf and corn husk such as chilpan rojo pork, picadillo with chicken, cheese as well as strawberry and pineapple tamales for dessert.

The meal will be accompanied by a nopal salad and a variety of salsas like chile de arbol, roasted tomato and raw green salsa. The signature cocktail of the day is a Gavilan Ancho Reyes (grapefruit) and the agua fresca is horchata.

Day 7: Saturday - Free day

After your delicious breakfast, you have a day to enjoy on your own. Take a hike, enjoy the weekend artisan market, go out for lunch or just relax. Today is a day to do whatever your heart desires.

In the evening, enjoy an optional farewell dinner (additional fee) with Chef Ana as she prepares a 4-course chef’s table dinner. Feel free to come up to the kitchen as Chef Ana prepares the gourmet meal and enjoy a glass of wine as you reminisce about the week you had at La Villa Bonita.

Day 8: Sunday - Departure

After breakfast, La Villa Bonita will organize your return to the Mexico City airport and count the days until you see each other again for a new culinary adventure.

Tepoztlan, a “Pueblo Magico” (magic village) and one of Mexico’s most unique destinations is located about 5,280 feet above sea level and roughly one hour 15 minutes south of Mexico City making transportation easy. Because of its incredible “eternal spring” climate, Tepoztlan is a year-round destination where this award-winning package take place.

La Villa Bonita is located on the upslope of the Tepozteco mountains with a privileged perch above the town and an incredible view of the ex-convent below. It is a 15-minute walk to the central downtown circuit so there is not an excessive amount of traffic in front of La Villa Bonita but it is just minutes away from the centro and zocalo.

Due to its year-round average daily temperature of 83 degrees Fahrenheit or 28 degrees Celsius, Tepoztlan has become an off-the-beaten-path destination for those who want a wonderful climate with a picturesque, authentic, and traditional Mexican backdrop. Tepoztlan’s temperate climate with prevailing sunshine, its wonderful adobe facades, incredible local festivals, and ancient cobblestone streets attract Mexicans and foreign tourists from all over the world who seek a traditional, small-town environment.

Tepoztlan is one of the most unique, authentic, and safest places you can visit and has a lower crime rate than most cities and towns in the US. You will get this understanding in the first 15 minutes after setting foot in the village. It is a place that time seems to have forgotten with time-honored culinary traditions, wonderful local produce, and a very enjoyable pace of life focused on family and friends.

Tepoztlan is made up of stubborn townspeople and subsistence farmers who vigilantly guard their traditions from change, which makes it an ideal destination for the “foodie” and the traveler seeks to experience rich culture. “Tepoztecos,” as they are known there, appreciate the foreign tourist because you appreciate their culture. You can walk anywhere day or night and people will say “hello” to you, be cordial, but not overburdening.

This Magic Village with its mystical vibe is known as the “Sedona of Mexico” and consists of a very small, tight-knit community where people are very content with their lifestyle - a full social calendar that consists of constant cultural events, celebrations, and festivals during both the week and weekend. Tepoztlan is a piece of art without comparison - exquisite but not commercial.

In Tepoztlan, you will hear the enveloping sounds of the community, the church bells, the rooster crowing, the occasional firecracker and the music wafting through the valley. So, enjoy your stay and when you go home, please tell everyone about your experience in the “hidden culinary jewel of Mexico.”

Distances

• Mexico City - 1 hour and 15 minutes

+−

During this Mexican culinary holiday, you will be served 4-course chef’s table gourmet welcome dinner, daily big breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, biscuits, homemade jams and jellies along with a new traditional Mexican main dish, and lunch of food prepared on all cooking days accompanied with beer, wine, and cocktail.

Cooking and food highlights

• Session 1: Tortilla Azteca with chicken, refried beans, Mexican vegetable soup, ensalada casera, dessert: sherry rompope gelatin, agua fresca: mandarin water, and the signature cocktail: Mango Margarita.
• Session 2: Zompantle or Colorin flower cakes and green bean cakes in a guajillo chile sauce with green rice and fried plantains along with mushroom quesadillas and chile Morita salsa, dessert: Tejocote pie, agua fresca: cantaloupe water, and the signature cocktail: Chef Ana’s classic margarita made from calamondine liquor
• Session 3: Yucatan classic Cochinita Pibil, xni-pec red onion relish, tortillas, white rice, seasoned black beans, a Yucatan Lima soup, a jicama salad with avocado and oranges, dessert: local ice cream, agua fresca: Agua de Chaya, and the signature cocktail: Jamaica flower mezcalita
• Session 4: Different types of tamales in both banana leaf and corn husk such as chilpan rojo pork, picadillo with chicken, Nopal salad and a variety of salsas like chile de arbol, roasted tomato and raw green salsa, dessert: cheese as well as strawberry and pineapple tamales, the signature cocktail: Gavilan Ancho Reyes (grapefruit) and the agua fresca: horchata.
• Food tour: Try delicacies such as itacates, pancita, cecina, and traditional Morelos quesadillas

Vegetarian, vegan, allergies or special diets can be accommodated. Please contact La Villa Bonita Culinary Vacations prior to arrival so that they may accommodate your diet. There is dinner on the first night which is prepared prior to your arrival. Please let them know through Whatsapp if you have anything you do not eat.

• 4-course chef’s table dinner (75 USD plus tax per person)
• Big Mexican appetizer spread and wine (70 USD plus tax for one or two people)
• Day-long tour of Taxco Silver City and Xochicalco Ruins with guide (95 USD plus tax per person)
• Tepozteco Pyramid hike (40 USD per person plus tax)

• 4 hands-on cooking sessions with trips to the daily market, farmer's market, and tortilla mill
• 7 nights accommodation
• Big breakfast every day
• Roundtrip airport transfers
• Walking-eating market tour
• Traditional pottery demo and trip to Pueblo Magico Tlayacapan
• Gourmet chef's table welcome dinner
• PDF manual with recipes
• Lunch of dishes prepared on all cooking days with beer, wine, and cocktail service
• Wi-Fi, daily maid service, and laundry service

• Airfare
• Other meals not mentioned
• 16% Sales tax
• Tips

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• A reservation requires a deposit of 50% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
• The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.