Hey amigos!

We’re so excited for our “Photo of the Week” this time around! It’s a snap that brings back such wonderful memories from our cooking class with our lovely group from the Lycée Français de New York last February.

This week’s star is our dear friend, María Luisa from Casa Cruz in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. Now, Casa Cruz is famous for a very special reason: they are master artisans who create some of the highest-quality, most stunning wool rugs in all of Teotitlán! They use only natural dyes to get those rich, incredible colors, and their dedication to quality is just amazing.

But wait, there’s more! While wool is their signature, María Luisa and her husband, Fidel (whose talent elevates their work to pure art!), also incorporate other luxurious materials like Alpaca from South America and even silk into their tapetes. Seriously, imagine the quality and softness of those rugs! Pure masterpieces.

However, during our visit, María Luisa shared a different kind of artistry with us: the traditional way of making tortillas! Our group got a hands-on lesson on how to prepare the dough right on the metate (a traditional grinding stone). It’s a beautiful, time-honored technique, and María Luisa is a total pro!

Speaking of pros, we have a little treat for you! As a “de pilón” (bonus) for the week, we’re sharing a short video so you can see María Luisa’s amazing technique for kneading the tortilla dough in action.

We’re already looking forward to seeing María Luisa again next year—both to learn the art of tortilla-making again and, of course, to admire the incredible wool rugs at Casa Cruz!

Stay tuned for more adventures from Cuernavaca and Oaxaca!

Happy Spanish Learning!

The Ideal Spanish Mexico Team