Ancient Delights Foodie Experience

OVERVIEW

Discover the culinary practices of the Mayas at an archaeological site and then learn to prepare an ancestral dish in a hands-on workshop. As an introduction to ancient life in El Salvador, you will visit Joya de Cerén, a Mayan farming community that was buried under ash after a volcanic eruption in the 7th century. When excavated 1,300 years later, petrified food was found among the ruins that revealed much about the Mayan diet. The Mayas lived in what is now Cerro Verde National Park, the setting for your cooking class at the Casa 1800 Cerro Verde hotel. The chef will show you step by step how to prepare pupusas, a traditional dish made with ingredients known to the Mayas. These thick griddle cakes stuffed with meat and cheese are so popular that they have become El Salvador’s national dish. While dining on your freshly made pupusas for lunch, you will understand their attraction.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Browse an archaeological site whose excavation revealed much about Mayan foods.
• Join a cooking class at a luxurious hotel in a national park where the Mayas once lived.
• Learn to prepare pupusas – the national dish of El Salvador – in class.
• Dine on pupusas served with horchata, a sweet milky beverage.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.