Mezcal, Food & Market Tour Guide

Responsibilities

• Lead Oaxacan food and market tours — Mercado Benito Juárez, Mercado 20 de Noviembre (the smoke corridor of charcoal-grilled meats), Mercado de Artesanías
• Guide mezcal palenque excursions to Sierra Norte and Cañada — artisanal mezcal production, agave species diversity, maestro mezcalero culture
• Provide deep Oaxacan culinary context — the seven moles of Oaxaca, tlayudas, memelas, chapulines, Oaxacan string cheese, tejate
• Lead chocolate and cacao history tours — Oaxaca's pre-Hispanic cacao heritage, traditional chocolate production
• Organize cooking class experiences with Oaxacan chefs or market cooks
• Coordinate with boutique hotels on culinary programming

Requirements

• Deep Oaxacan food, market, and mezcal knowledge
• Excellent English
• Genuine passion for Oaxacan cuisine and food culture
• Sensitivity and respect for artisan mezcal producers and their traditional practices
• SECTUR certification or in progress

Benefits

• IMSS, Aguinaldo, vacation + premium
• Tips

Work environment

Oaxaca markets, mezcal palenques, and culinary venues. The food and mezcal guide operates in what the international culinary press has repeatedly named the world's most interesting food city — a market culture that has been continuous since the pre-Columbian period.

About the role

The guide to Mexico's deepest food culture. The tourist who walks into Mercado 20 de Noviembre with a guide who leads them to the right stall — who orders in Zapotec-inflected Spanish, who explains that the mole negro they're eating contains 30 ingredients including four types of dried chili and cacao that has been ground on the same metate for 40 years — has eaten a meal that no restaurant in the world replicates. That access to the real thing is the Oaxacan food guide's essential gift.