What a treat to travel somewhere new and get the opportunity to learn to cook from a local! Now that’s culinary travel, which is what RealFoodTraveler.com is all about. Writer Carrie Dow visited the El Pueblito Cooking School in Riviera Maya. She gained skills, got to work with native foods, ate deliciously, and came away with two treasures – an El Pueblito guacamole recipe and the other for a salsa verde (green sauce) for enchiladas. Both are courtesy of Chef Karla Enciso, El Pueblito Cooking School, Mayakoba. Read about Carrie’s experience at the cooking school, here.

Chef Karla stresses that fresh ingredients are more important than exact measurements, so consider the lists below an outline that you can customize to emphasize your favorite flavors.

El Pueblito Cooking School: Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 avocados

1 red tomato

1 bunch cilantro with stems

1 clove garlic

1 serrano or jalapeno pepper

¼ red onion

1 lime quartered

Directions:

Place pepper, sea salt, and garlic on a molcajete (mortar and pestle) and smash until completely puree. Add avocados and continue smashing. Add freshly squeezed lime juice. Coarsely chop tomato, onion, and cilantro and place in molcajete. Stir until you reach your desired consistency.

El Pueblito Cooking School: Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

3 green tomatillos

1 clove of garlic

2 serrano peppers

 ½ avocado

Cilantro

Freshly squeezed lime juice

Salt

Olive oil

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in a blending machine and puree. — Photos, except where noted, by Carrie Dow.