A Tasty Way To Travel

It was early on a sunny morning in southern Mexico that my family gathered in an outdoor kitchen, ready to convert a mountain of ingredients into a four-course feast. Sun-dried chili peppers, fresh nuts, chunk chocolate and a score of other ingredients were waiting to be blended into a spicy mole sauce. Crisp jicamas (roots of a local bean plant) had been set aside for salad. The buds of Castilian roses would be transformed into ice cream. It was an ambitious menu — especially since none of us had any idea how to make those dishes. But that was the point....