Oaxaca
The market first
Mexican cooking for Chef Elliot started in Oaxaca, in the market: heirloom corn in blue and red, squash blossoms, chiles, pan de yema, the papel picado overhead.
Mexican · Mexico City · Oaxaca · Tulum
Mexico
with Chef Mauricio Poblano
Mole, corn and the market: Mexico
Chef Elliot learned Mexican cooking in three places: in Oaxaca, the ancestral cooking, at the market and in a cooking school where moles, tlayudas and caldo de piedra are made the old way; in Mexico City, in the kitchens of Chef Mauricio Poblano at María Trinidad and Trinidad Ritual de Sabores; and in Tulum, where he cooked the Posada dinner, six courses of modern Mexican.
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Corn and blossoms
The milpa on the table
Corn, squash and beans grow together in the milpa and arrive together in the kitchen: squash blossoms for quesadillas, the greens of the season, purple corn for the comal.
The class
A cooking school in Oaxaca
Days at a cooking school in Oaxaca, from the market walk to the clay pots on the fire: moles, tlayudas, caldo de piedra, tortillas pressed by hand.
At the comal
Chef Elliot cooking in Oaxaca
Grinding on the metate, toasting chiles, tasting a squash blossom straight from the basket: the Oaxaca days, hands in the food.
The plates
Tlayudas and caldo
A tlayuda from the comal with tasajo, radish and chile; caldo de piedra, the stone soup, served in clay with corn and greens.
Coyoacán
Trinidad Ritual de Sabores
A morning at the Trinidad stall inside the Mercado de Coyoacán, Mexico City, April 2025: heirloom-corn nixtamal made in house, tortillas pressed to order, salsas ground in the molcajete. Chef Elliot worked the comal beside Chef Mauricio Poblano, from the roasting tomatoes to the first tortilla.
Tulum
The Posada dinner
In Tulum, Chef Elliot cooked a six-course modern Mexican dinner for twenty-five guests at the Posada: beet tartare with corn and apple, chile broth, charred cauliflower on beet cream.
Mole
Slow, dark, poured at the table
Mole is the center of the Mexican menu: cooked for a day, poured around roasted carrot and leek, finished with sesame.
At the pass
Plating the dinner
Twenty-five plates at a time: piping the cake, portioning the garnish, every plate checked before it leaves the pass.
The table
The Posada, seated
A long table under the moss runner, candles down the middle, guests who stayed late. The dinner is cooked for the room in front of it: courses leave the pass together and the plates come back empty.
Mexican dishes from the Roots Alchemy kitchen
Cooked at the Posada and for private dinners; photographed as served.
Mole with Plantain
Slow-cooked mole with roasted plantain, petals and toasted sesame.
Mole with Roasted Carrot
Mole poured tableside around a roasted carrot and leek.
Beet Tostada
Beet tostada layered with tender greens and fresh sprouts.
Apple and Corn Tartare
Beet tartare under sweet corn, a crisp herb tuile, apple and pomegranate.
Tlayuda
From the comal in Oaxaca: a large toasted tortilla with tasajo, radish and chile.
Caldo de Piedra
Stone soup in a clay bowl with corn, squash blossom and greens.
About Mexico
Oaxaca
Seven moles, tlayudas on the comal, caldo de piedra: the market city where Mexican cooking is taught by hand.
Corn
Heirloom corn nixtamalized and pressed into tortillas the same day; the milpa of corn, squash and beans on one plate.
The Posada
A six-course modern Mexican dinner for twenty-five in Tulum, plant-based: tartare, chile broth, mole, cauliflower on beet cream.
More of where I trained