Velas Resorts announced its launch of new workshops for guests to learn about and immerse themselves in Mexican culinary traditions. These particular workshops will focus on salsa and its preparation with molcajete, a Mexican mortar and pestle made from volcanic rock.

The workshop will be available at the resort collection’s properties in Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit and Riviera Maya. Taking place in both oceanfront locations and in on-site botanical gardens on the property, the workshop includes a four-course tableside preparation of local dishes in the molcajete.

© Images c/o Velas Resorts

The complimentary cooking class begins with an intro into guacamole, with each guest preparing guacamole with both traditional and creative options of mix-ins, from onions and tomatoes to papaya and grasshoppers. The creation of the salsa starts with chefs grilling peppers, onions, chiles and red and green tomatoes for guests to grind into the molcajete. At the workshops in the botanical gardens, guests can even cut aromatic herbs and other fresh ingredients to include in salsas. Guests finish the experience with some handmade tortillas, grilled steak, chicken and nopales to try the different salsas and sauces created.

Mar del Cabo’s molcajete workshop consists of a four-course tableside cooking experience, all centered around the molcajete. The first course is a Caesar salad, followed by the traditional “stone soup,” a seafood soup cooked tableside with red hot river stones. The main dish includes local shrimp cooked on a sizzling flat molcajete. Guests can end their experience with sweet tropical fruit ground into salsa and served over ice cream and crumble.