Oaxaca, Mexico

OAXACA, MEXICO | "The Gastronomic Soul of Mexico"

Oaxaca is the cultural and culinary capital of Mexico — a compact, jade-green colonial city at 1,550 meters in the Sierra Norte mountains where the Zapotec civilization, Spanish baroque architecture, and the most extraordinary food tradition in the country coexist in a density of cultural achievement that makes it one of the most rewarding cities in the Americas. The Centro Histórico is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of wide shaded avenidas, the jade-green quarried stone of the Santo Domingo church, the tiled domes of the colonial churches visible from every hilltop, and the covered markets that produce the chocolate, mole negro, mezcal, and tlayuda flatbread that make Oaxacan cuisine the most internationally recognized regional tradition in Mexico.

The colors are specific and warm: the deep jade of the cantera verde stone facades in the afternoon light, the dark terracotta of the tiled rooftops, the brilliant red of the cochineal dye in the textile markets of Teotitlán del Valle, and the deep amber of artisanal mezcal held up to the light at a mezcalería in the Jalatlaco neighborhood. It is a palette that is simultaneously ancient and alive.