Oaxaca: Little Chefs Initiative Aims to Preserve Traditional Oaxacan Cuisine
Tía Jaqui's lifelong mission to save Oaxaca's fading culinary traditions
Oaxaca.—Miniature coffee grinders, scaled-down wooden tortilla presses, small metates (grinding stones), a woven petate mat for shucking corn, and ingredients laid out across four tables fill one corner of Jaquelina Raquel Arellanes Pérez's restaurant. Known affectionately as Tía Jaqui, she is a traditional Oaxacan cook dedicated to preserving the region's culinary heritage.
Children and teenagers gather in groups at each station, immersing themselves in the hands-on preparation of tamales, memelas (thick corn cakes), tortillas, squash vine soup, and coffee grinding.
The goal? To teach, promote, and safeguard Oaxaca's traditional cuisine among young generations—an initiative Arellanes has championed for three years under the name Cocineritas y Cocineritos (Little Chefs).
"I'm passionate about Oaxacan children learning our traditional cooking so it doesn't fade away," she explains. "The key is to start young—from birth to eight years old is the ideal age for them to absorb these skills. Once they learn, they'll carry our culinary traditions with them for life."
A native of San Sebastián Etla, a town in Oaxaca's Central Valleys region about 25 minutes from the state capital, Arellanes inherited her knowledge and recipes from her mother. She has since devoted herself to preserving and teaching these time-honored techniques.
"I learned everything from my mother, and I truly love cooking. People have recognized my work because they've seen my dedication," she says. "Why such insistence on preserving these traditions? Because I love cooking the old-fashioned way. I'm determined to keep our traditional Oaxacan cuisine alive—and I'm succeeding."
Twenty-two years ago, she moved to Oaxaca City to open her own restaurant, Sabor Antiguo (Ancient Flavor), serving moles, atoles (corn-based drinks), desserts, and other local specialties. Her first accolade came from San Sebastián Etla's municipal authorities, who named her the community's official traditional cook.
"I've run Sabor Antiguo for 22 years now," she reflects. "Back then, I noticed these dishes were disappearing—you couldn't find a simple egg cooked on a comal, a memela, or a quesadilla. So I thought, Why not open a little restaurant where Oaxacans can come and support our gastronomy?"
National and international recognition soon followed. In 2021, she received the Traditional Gastronomic Merit Award from Víctor Hugo Gutiérrez Yáñez, president of the Latin America and Caribbean Commission of the Ibero-American Commission on Human Rights for the Development of the Americas. The honor celebrated her contributions to preserving Oaxacan customs, strengthening ethnic identity, and safeguarding the state's traditional cuisine.
Additionally, the Ibero-American Institute for Human Rights Defense and Legal Sciences awarded her an honorary doctorate for her 15-plus years of work in gastronomy, culture, and identity.
"I'm deeply grateful that people have taken notice and trusted in me," she says. "I've carried these traditions since childhood, and now I'm passing them on because I love them—and because our traditional cuisine deserves to be saved. We teach children the techniques and tools so they, in turn, can keep the legacy alive."
Arellanes believes in sharing Oaxacan gastronomy without reservation. Like any craft, each cook develops their own style: "If you want to cook, I'll teach you—but you'll create your own essence because your inspiration comes from within."
She warns, however, that Oaxaca's traditional cuisine has been gradually disappearing for years. The decline is evident in the fading use of clay pots, comales (griddles), and firewood—elements that once defined the flavors of local dishes. Through Cocineritas y Cocineritos, she is fighting to reverse that trend, one young chef at a time.
She explains that to preserve tradition, she has a special pot for nearly every dish she prepares: one for coffee, a pot and casserole for beans, and another casserole for mole.
"For me, it's very hard for someone to come and sway me, to convince me to change."
"I'm a woman of the comal, of charcoal, of the metate, of the chilmolera—I come from peasant parents and a mother who was a cook. And now, here in Oaxaca, all of that is fading away."
Before beginning her cooking workshop for children and teens, Jaquelina Arellanes lights copal resin and bathes the young participants in its white smoke—a ritual meant to foster "good vibes" among them all.
The children shuck corn, grind maize on metates, prepare dough for tamales, fill them with beans, and wrap them in corn husks. They also make tortillas directly on the comal and prepare squash vine soup.
They wear the traditional aprons of Oaxacan cooks, along with headscarves, immersing themselves in an experience that connects them to Oaxaca's culture and identity.
"I say let all children learn this too," she adds. "Seeing them happy as they cook and learn—it brings me great joy."
She emphasizes that teaching Oaxaca's traditional cuisine to children—and stressing the importance of preserving and promoting it—should extend across the entire state to strengthen cultural identity.
In her own family, her husband, son, and grandson have all fully embraced cooking and learned from her. "I love that Oaxacan children want to keep these traditions alive. It's so important for our gastronomy, which is recognized worldwide for its rich flavors and the unique tools we use."
