An Authentic Mayan Cooking Lesson

Maria is the mother-in-law of the guy who gave us the local tour of Leona Vicario on his taxi-cycle. (A taxi-cycle is a motor cycle with its front end replaced by a side-by-side, 2-seater bicycle)

His name was Oscar. Our tour guide that is. He ended the tour with a quick stop at his mother-in-law's house and, it may have been the end of the tour, but it was the beginning of something wonderful.

We took a few photos of Maria and, a week later, we brought her the best one, printed and enlarged so she could display it. She was thrilled.

While we were there, handing out our photo gift, we saw a HUGE jack fruit hanging in Maria's tree. So, we asked about it. Maria said it would be ready in another week and, if we liked, we could come back (again) and eat some of it.

We thanked her and arranged to come back the following Tuesday.

Right before we left, I remembered I had purchased a bag of powdery cafe-colored spice, but I didn't know what to do with it. I figured Maria would know, so I asked.

Of course, she knew what it was. She started to explain how to make a special Mayan dish, but then stopped herself and suggested she would just make it for us and teach us how to do it by demonstration.

Wow! Things move right along, don't they? The end of a tour becomes an invitation to dinner complete with Mayan cooking lesson and fresh jack fruit!

Needless to say, we showed up on Tuesday. We showed up with all the ingredients needed to make the Mayan dish. And we showed up hungry!

The video above is of Tuesday and comes complete with a pet bird, lots of laughing (even the bird was laughing), and hand-made fresh tortillas. I think you will enjoy it greatly!

Dreaming of hugs and tortillas,

laura

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