Marilau Mexican Cooking School logoMarilauMexican Ancestry Cooking School · San Miguel de Allende
Marilau and her students cooking together around the class table in San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende · Mexico

Ancestry Mexican Cooking Classes, 200 Years of Family Tradition

★★★★★

Hands-on classes in English with Marilau — recipes inherited through generations, cooked the way they have been for two centuries.

Book a Class on WhatsAppSee the classes

4.9 on TripAdvisor · 224 traveler reviews · #7 of 77 Food & Drink in San Miguel de Allende

4.9224 traveler reviews on TripAdvisor
#7 of 77 Food & Drink in San Miguel de Allende

As featured in

Saveur feature about MarilauSaveurTexas Monthly feature about MarilauTexas MonthlyBetter Homes & Gardens feature about MarilauBetter Homes & GardensGrantourismo feature about MarilauGrantourismoLifestyle + Travel feature about MarilauLifestyle + Travel
Marilau laughing in her kitchen, wearing the Marilau Mexican Ancestry Cooking School apron
Guacamole garnished with chile rings in a stone molcajete
Hola y muy bienvenidos

Welcome to My Cooking School

“As in all cultures, those born and raised in the society are the best source of knowledge about traditions. As a Mexican native, I inherited my Mexican cuisine from my previous generations. And my passion too!”

— Marilau, founder & teacher

Read Marilau’s welcome
The ancient secret

Nixtamalization — Behind Every Genuine Corn Tortilla

Every day, millions of people across Mexico sit down to a meal that begins the same way it has for over three thousand years: a warm tortilla, fresh off the griddle. Behind that humble tortilla lies one of the most important discoveries in human history — a process so powerful it literally made civilization possible.

Explore Mexican cuisine history
The classes

Small Groups, Real Recipes, Fully Hands-On

  • Mornings from 10:30 am, 2–3 hours
  • Groups of 2 to 9 students
  • Hands-on, taught in English
  • $2,800 MXN per person per class
  • Ages 12+ with an adult companion
  • Closed Sundays, Dec 25 & Jan 1
Marilau’s hands opening a freshly steamed tamal in its corn husk

Special Classes

Learn how to cook the most popular Mexican dishes — curated menus built around the classics of the ancestral kitchen.

See special classes
A student holds up her plated dish over a table of fresh Mexican ingredients

Choose Your Own Menu

Make up your own menu — you decide which dishes you want to learn, from moles to tamales to regional soups.

Build your menu
Mole poblano on a talavera plateMoles
Pozole rojo topped with cabbage, radish and limePozoles
Salsas in molcajetes surrounded by fresh chilesSalsas
Tamales in corn husks on a talavera plateTamales

Everything starts fresh — chiles, nopales and herbs, piled high on the class table.

Students speak

Video Testimonials

More video testimonials

What people are saying

Loved by Cooks of Every Level

As we relished the range of savory and sweet tamales, including the delicious Oaxacan tamales wrapped in banana leaves, we began to feel that we were learning not just the techniques but also the aesthetics of Mexican Cuisine.

Rachel LaudanAuthor of “Food of Paradise”

Marilau is a talented teacher, a font of knowledge about Mexican regional cuisine, and a delightful and interesting person. I highly recommend Marilau Cooking School — it greatly enhanced my visit to this magical city.

Leslie HunterJune 2021

Her enthusiasm and knowledge about the cuisine of Mexico are outstanding. I speak from my own experience as a cooking teacher of more than 30 years when I recommend her classes to anyone with an interest in cooking!

Kurt YoungmannCooking teacher, 30+ years
A large group of students posing with Marilau outside the school
A student proudly shows the first tortilla she pressed
A women’s group gathered around Marilau in the kitchen
A student frying chiles rellenos at the stove with Marilau
Three students in Marilau aprons at the class table
Two friends sharing a laugh at the class table
Two students with Marilau in the old kitchen
A student and Marilau laughing together at the class table

More written testimonials

A morning at the school

Cook It, Then Eat It

A student slices nopales while Marilau shows a traditional clay pot
Learning to clean and slice nopales
A student peels a fresh tortilla from the press under Marilau’s eye
Pressing tortillas from fresh masa
A student bites into a taquito she just made, holding a painted clay plate
The best part — eating what you made

Come cook with us in San Miguel de Allende.

Book a Class on WhatsApp
Visit the school

Find Us in Colonia San Antonio

Contact & Location

Address
Calle de la Luz 12 (at 28 de Abril Sur St., behind San Antonio’s Church)
Colonia San Antonio, San Miguel de Allende
C.P. 37750, Guanajuato, Mexico

WhatsApp / Telegram (text only)
+52 (415) 103 8479

Landline (from USA/Canada, 9–10:30 am Central)
+52 (415) 152 4376

The school remains closed on Sundays.

Contact page