VACATION DETAILS

Traveling Spoon

Helene is a native Canadian who moved to Puerto Vallarta 15 years ago and immediately began traveling the country with her newly-found Mexican friends. Her favorite part of traveling was tasting everything and returning home to recreate the flavors she tasted and loved throughout Mexico. She loves cooking together with her friends - and has been known to make 150 tamales at a time! She lives in a beautiful hacienda-style house in a typical, modest Mexican residential neighborhood (not an expat neighborhood) so travelers get an authentic experience of the local culture. Her house, on a local dirt road, is furnished with Mexican antiques and has a beautiful garden and pool. Helene speaks Spanish, English and French and is a great host for people coming from around the world. Join your host Helene for a home-cooked meal at her traditional hacienda-style house, with its tiled roof, pool and garden filled with bougainvillea and palm trees. Sip on a refreshing drink and sample snacks outdoors on the patio as your host shares stories about life in Mexico. Weather permitting, you will dine with Helene at her outdoor patio table. Enjoy a traditional Jaliscan meal that includes lots of fresh fish and seafood, simply but lovingly prepared and beautifully presented. Helene loves recreating food that you would find on the streets of Puerto Vallarta with its varieties of chilies and different flavors. Your meal may include dishes such as a seafood ceviche, fried whole snapper (a typical Puerto Vallarta fish) fried in oil with garlic served with a mango and cilantro salsa, carne asada from the barbecue served with tortillas and salsas, or birria, a flavorful goat or beef stew simmered in tomatoes, chilies and garlic served with tortillas and refried beans. Your meal will conclude with fresh fruit or a light and sweet Mexican rice pudding for dessert. If you book a cooking experience, you will join your Helene in her open kitchen and learn to cook an authentic Jaliscan meal from recipes handed down from friends and perfected over the years. The cooking portion of your experience will last about 1.5 hours during which you will learn to cook two to three dishes from scratch. Helene also offers an optional market tour add-on, where you can visit Mercado Cinco de Diciembre, the central, lively market for Puerto Vallarta locals located a five-minute drive from Helene's home. Walk through this indoor and outdoor market and Helene will introduce you to her favorite vendors as you discover the varities of local fish at the fish market and watch tortillas being made from scratch at the local tortilleria. The market portion of the tour lasts one hour.