Workshop Details

“My early childhood memories of the holidays are deeply marked by the coming together of my family at grandmother's house in the small village where she lived in the Dominican Republic,” writes Dulce Maria Perez. “Everybody was included in the preparation of the special meals we cooked.” Join Dulce for a celebration of the sacred and healing properties of food and the special community that forms around the winter holiday meals.
The Caribbean cuisine uses a cornucopia of aromatic, textured, and colorful ingredients, born of a cultural crossroads that brought together traditions from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the indigenous Taino tribes. This hands-on workshop is a journey through all the aspects of creating fresh, healthy, flavor-rich dishes and beverages from the Caribbean. The group will harvest herbs and flowers from the beautiful gardens of Esalen that surround the workshop kitchen. Freshly picked condiments will accompany an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits, and spices such as okra, plantain, achiote, cassava, papaya, mangos, coconuts, and many other Caribbean delights. The dishes include pasteles en hojas, a rich plantain paste stuffed with vegetables and spices, then neatly wrapped in a green plantain leaf; rosca de reyes, known in English as three kings cake; empanaditas, small savory pastries, and many other new dishes to share with your families in the coming years.
($40 ingredients fee paid directly to the leader)