Chef Margarita Carillo

After breakfast at the hotel, we went back to El Centro Culinario Ambrosía for a mole class with Chef Margarita Carillo, of Don Emilia restaurant, in Los Cabos. This was by far the most outstanding class for me, as Margarita is a great teacher with an incredible depth of knowledge about the origins of Mexican cuisine, and I learned a lot.

Among this dishes we made, there was a delicious Sopa Oaxaca de Camaron with dried shrimp, an interesting beet mole, a wonderful hazelnut and pistachio mole, and a dessert of prickly pear with anise. (Check out my recipes for Prickly Pear Vinaigrette and Prickly Pear and Celery Agua Fresca.) After lunch at the school, we moved on to dessert class, where we prepared ate de guayaba, guava paste made with fresh guavas and an amazing condiment for fresh cheese; a sweet tomatillo marmalade; peanut marzipan; and a fantastic fruit dessert, Candied Papaya scented with fig leaf.