Cooking & Baking

Mexican Street Food at Home

Meets Tuesdays · 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM · on Zoom Fall 2026 · registration open Free to audit

This class runs in the Fall 2026 session. Registration is open now; lessons, materials, and the class discussion board are posted before it begins.

This class is for anyone who loves street food and wants to make it at home without buying special gear. No trompo, no fancy setup. Just an oven, a hot pan, a grill, and a plan.

We'll build tacos al pastor from the marinade up, make a few fresh salsas you can mix and match, and do proper elote that actually cooks through at our elevation. Along the way you'll learn to char things on purpose, warm store tortillas so they're actually good, and season a salsa so it doesn't come out flat.

Here's the thing: you'll leave every night having eaten something you made yourself. That's the whole point. 🔥

What you'll learn

Build an al pastor marinade from toasted dried chiles
Sear and roast marinated pork for real char
Make charred tomatillo and roasted red salsa
Char corn correctly and build elote at high altitude
Plan and sequence a taco spread without scrambling

Lessons

Setup, Plan, and Warming Tortillas
We lay out the whole plan and learn the one skill that matters most before anything hits heat.
Chiles and the Al Pastor Marinade
Toasting dried chiles right and building the marinade that carries the whole dish.
Cooking Al Pastor Without a Trompo
Oven to cook it through, then a screaming hot pan or grill to sear, no spinning vertical thing required.
- Why you dont need a trompo15 min
- Slicing the pork: quarter-inch and even15 min
- Oven stage: cooking it through25 min
- The sear: getting real char in a hot pan20 min
- Pulling it at the right point and resting15 min
Fresh Salsas That Aren't Flat
A few salsas you can mix and match, seasoned properly, with cilantro you can opt into.
Elote at 4,600 Feet
Charred corn done right for our elevation, where the water boils cooler and you give it more time.
- Why your corn came out crunchy up here15 min
- Charring corn on the grill or burner20 min
- The cream, cheese, chile, and lime build20 min
- Lime goes on at the end, every time10 min
Building the Full Spread
Putting every component out at the same time and actually finishing the plate you set out to make.

Class discussion

The class discussion board opens when the class begins this fall. Auditors and enrolled students ask questions and share work here once the session starts.