| David Sterling, chef and mastermind behind
Los Dos Cooking School in Mérida,
has the right idea about cooking in Mexico. Use what's fresh,
use what's local, and try regional recipes.
That's exactly what he teaches in his cooking classes, dished
up twice a week between the months of October and March. Add
a pinch of Yucatec history, a smidgen of Maya culture, a sampling
of fresh spices and you have a tasty recipe indeed.
For Sterling, a Merida resident for the past five years, cooking
came naturally and one thing led to another down the path of
regional cooking. Originally from Oklahoma and "weaned
on chili," Sterling discovered Mexican food early on due
to the large Mexican population where he grew up.
In an interview the chef said his career took parallel tracks
–cooking and design. While in graduate school for a Masters
of Fine Arts in Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan,
he worked part time as a pantry chef at a well-known French
restaurant, Le Bijou. This inspired him to start a small catering
business.
MERIDA BECKONS
After graduation from Cranbrook he moved to New
York City where he lived for 25 years. A friend who lived
in the Yucatan urged him to come to Mérida
to visit and after seven trips, he was hooked on Mexico, finding
it difficult to leave at the end of every vacation.
He did some serious thinking and decided on turning 50, "Why
not shake it up?" He took the plunge, wrapped things up
in New York, and moved to Merida.
On arrival he bought an old mansion in the historic district
not far from the main plaza with 18 foot ceilings, lots of space,
and very much in need of repair. He and his partner, Keith Heitke,
started renovation.
When first in Merida, Sterling designed a gourmet line of Mexico
food products that can be found on his website
and slowly the idea for a Yucatan cooking school took shape.
ENTER LOS DOS
Now Los Dos plays host to 300 students a year, mostly in the
seasonal winter months.
Classes are usually held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the
setting is in the mansion Sterling and his partner restored
which includes the kitchen of his dreams. Designed for people
who love to cook, each class begins with coffee and pastries
while Sterling gives an impromptu presentation of the history
and techniques of Yucatan regional cooking.
Sterling elaborates on the finer points of local food lore
and the importance the Maya played in the development of Mexican
cuisine and culture. The chef's knowledge of Yucatec cooking
comes from an intense interest in the subject. He scoured old
cookbooks and did research through standard texts on the Yucatan,
including books as seemingly unrelated to cooking as Friar Diego
De Landa's Yucatan Before and After the Conquest. But even basic
history books, he explains, have messages on what the food of
the day was like.
MENTORS IN REGIONAL COOKING
He calls his wealth of knowledge on Yucatan food serendipitous,
crediting a long list of mentors, including his friend Marta,
a local anthropologist, and his favorite food writer Sophie
Coe (The True History of Chocolate and America's First Cuisines),
who is married to archeologist and well-known Maya author Michael
Coe (The Maya), and two friends who assist him in his classes,
Diana Silveira and Socorro Rodriguez, who've cooked with him
since he came to Merida. They taught him their skills in preparing
the regional cuisine which for them was just home cooking.
Included in the day's itinerary, which runs from 9 -4 p.m.,
is a tour of the sprawling Merida market, and under Sterling's
tutelage,
students learn to identify first hand the exotic ingredients
that make up Yucatec flavors by shopping for them. Then back
to Los Dos to start cooking.
What do students whip up? Everything from tortillas to salbutes,
panuchos (Yucatan favorites) tamales and much more. The school
caters to a variety of needs and Sterling is flexible in how
the classes are run. Special packages can be designed for high
schools, travelers, groups of all sorts and this season he's
added several new cooking packages to his repetoire.
The grand finale to this epicurean adventure ends with a dinner
the cooking students have prepared under the guidance of Chef
Sterling. It's served in his formal dining room complete with
all the trimmings. A meal fit for a king? Well, maybe not far
from it.
More information on David Sterling's Los Dos Cooking School
can be found on his website.
The Taste of the Yucatan class runs $100 USD and includes all
food, beverages and a cookbook and apron. Reservations must
be booked at least 48 hours in advance.
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