Chicago Chef, Curtis Duffy to Present Closing Dinner
Tour Dates: Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2011 … Four Weeks Left to Book!
MEDIA ALERT
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 25, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tia Stephanie Tours (www.tiastephanietours.com) is offering a Culture & Cuisine tour in Yucatan, Mexico that combines the Festival Kooben (meaning Kitchen/Cuisine in Yucatecan Maya) in Merida,Yucatan with an immersion Culture and Cuisine tour itinerary, November 28-December 4, 2011 with booking deadline as late as November 20th!
In its second year, the Festival Kooben is organized by Merida's celebrated Chef Roberto Solis from restaurant, Nectar and Chef Luis Barocio, Director of Merida's Escuela Culinaria del Sureste (Culinary School of the Southeast). Additionally, each night during the Festival, a special dinner will be presented by other leading chefs from Mexico, including: Alejandro Ruiz from Casa Oaxaca, Benito Molina from Manzanilla in Ensenada, as well as the Festival's invited international chef, Curtis Duffy (www.curtisduffy.com), who will present the highly anticipated closing-night dinner. Chef Duffy is the former Head Chef of Avenues at the Peninsula Chicago, and he will be opening his own not-yet-named Chicago restaurant in Spring 2012.
Stephanie Schneiderman, Owner of Mexican specialist culture and culinary tour operator, Tia Stephanie Tours, based in Ann Arbor, just a few hours drive from Chicago, is delighted to be able to incorporate the Festival Kooben and these renowned chefs into her latest tour program. "We are excited to join forces with the Festival Kooben and the talented invited chefs to showcase the culinary heritage of Yucatan", she announced.
The Festival will offer local day excursions to meet farmers, fishermen, and ranchers to better understand and appreciate the farm-to-table relationships and supply chain of uniquely Yucatecan ingredients. Visitors will travel to the Gulf Coast region to see where baby octopus is farmed, and they will visit a Yucatecan family to discover the traditional pit cooking style called pib. The culinary traditions of Yucatan are like none other in Mexico, given the history and present day contributions of the Maya people. Regional dishes have names such as: sikil pak, poc chuc, tikin xic, all in the Yucatecan Maya language. Ingredients such as recados or dry rubs, achiote, chaya, sour orange, chile xcatic, pumpkin seeds all combine for very distinct and surprising flavors.
Tia Stephanie Tours offers culinary travel programs in Mexico that focus on the historical & cultural context of food and its evolution. "We develop unique tours designed for Culture & Cuisine Enthusiasts who want to learn about Mexico's rich and varied cultural and natural landscape through food", explains Schneiderman. "Our culinary immersion tours take guests off the beaten path, to understand the history and diversity of regional foods in Mexico and the role these foods had in shaping culture. Our guests experience cooking some of these heritage dishes themselves and they learn how these foods have evolved."
Cultural and Culinary Highlights of the Koben Food Festival Tour include:
- Learning about traditional Yucatecan ingredients and dishes
- Participating in a cooking class where we learn to make signature dishes from Yucatan
- Exploring markets in Merida to see the variety of fresh ingredients that the famous recados or rubs that are used in many dishes in the region
- Discovering contemporary Yucatecan cuisine with some of its greatest interpreters, such as Roberto Solis
- Visiting ancient Maya sites, such as Uxmal to learn about the Maya people and civilization in the pre-Hispanic period
- Traveling to Celestun for a day of immersion in nature to witness the Greater Flamingo feeding grounds
- Enjoying day excursions to understand the Farm to Table relationships in the region
- Savoring traditional and contemporary Yucatecan dishes at the Festival Dinners
Tour Arrangements and Amenities:
All ground transport is in a comfortable, climate controlled, licensed/insured vehicle with a fully certified driver. Expert guides and subject matter experts accompany the tour, enhancing the cultural and educational component of this culinary journey. All hotels meet superior international standards.
For more information on Tia Stephanie's Culture and Cuisine tour of Mexico, to make a reservation, or to learn about her other in-depth Mexican cultural journeys, please call 1-734-769-7839, or visit www.tiastephanietours.com.
Note to Editors: High resolution photos of last year's festival, as well as chef photos and local cuisine available upon request.
Other Tia Stephanie Tours, Culture & Cuisine Tours Include:
- The Culture & Cuisine of Mexico: Traditional To Contemporary in Oaxaca, Puebla, & Mexico City.
- The Regional Cuisine of Mexico in Oaxaca, Puebla & Veracruz
- The Regional Cuisine of Veracruz
- The Regional Cuisine of Yucatan & Campeche
About Tia Stephanie Tours
Owned and operated by Stephanie Schneiderman, Tia Stephanie Tours seeks to provide the inquisitive traveler with cultural and educational experiences that offer deep insight into Mexico and the Mexican people. Stephanie is bilingual and bi-cultural, having lived and traveled throughout Mexico for thirty years. Her mission is to take curious travelers beyond the beach destinations to learn more about the rich and complex culture of Mexico and the Mexican people, our neighbors to the south. She has organized cultural and educational travel programs for Colleges, Museums, Fiber Arts Guilds and other organizations.
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