Outside of Mexico, not many people know that on St. Patrick’s day, Mexicans honor the San Patricios, Irish soldiers of the St. Patrick’s Brigade who switched sides to fight and die alongside their Catholic Mexican compatriots in the Mexican-American War of 1846 -1848.

Interesting tidbits of Mexican culture and history are just a part of this fun, hands-on workshop with Chef Erika Araujo, who will walk you through the traditions and recipes of two classic Mexican dishes associated with this holiday: tamales and champurrado.

Tamales are an essential and ancient, pre-Columbian Mexican dish – soft corn meal dough (masa) stuffed with a flavourful filling, wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and steamed. Portable and self-contained, tamales are a popular street food with countless variations found all across Mexico.

But making tamales that are light and tender is a special skill. Erika will be sharing her recipes and demonstrating her techniques for 4 kinds of tamales popular around Mexico City: chicken tamales with salsa verde or a rich chocolate-infused mole sauce, a vegetarian tamale of rajas (a julienne of green peppers) with cheese and red salsa, and a sweet dessert tamale with pineapple.

Erika will also introduce you to champurrado, a hot, creamy beverage made with toasted corn flour, raw piloncillo sugar, Mexican chocolate and spices that is a popular accompaniment for tamales, especially around the Christmas season.

There will be lots to taste, learn and do in this fun, hands-on workshop. In addition to using the familiar Maseca dry corn meal, there will also be an opportunity to cook with, taste and compare an artisanal fresh masa prepared by local molinero Iván Wadgymar of Maizal. Participants will get to try samples in class, make tamales and atole in class, enjoy a meal of the tamales they’ve made and take home extras and recipes.
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$60 +HST

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Erika Araujo is a trained nurse in Mexico who found her passion for Gastronomy once she migrated to Canada. She completed the Culinary program at Humber College, and since then she has been tirelessly promoting Mexican culture and cuisine through her brand Ixiim, at workshops and culinary events like TacoFest, Soupalicious and the PanAm Games.

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Every week, The Depanneur invites TO’s best culinary talents to lead fun, hands-on workshops.
Learn more about Cooking Classes at The Depanneur