# Must-try food in Oaxaca, Mexico

**Language:** Spanish  
**CEFR Level:** A2  

> Join Elena and Linda for a culinary tour of Oaxaca's best local dishes and markets, one short conversation at a time. Each lesson trains your ear until you can follow every word and answer back.

**Setting:** The bustling aisles of the Mercado 20 de Noviembre and Linda's cozy kitchen in Oaxaca City serve as the backdrop for this culinary exploration. Elena is visiting her cousin Linda to experience authentic Oaxacan gastronomy, guiding their daily conversations about local ingredients, traditional dishes, and market culture.

## Lessons

### 1. Discussing traditional foods

While exploring a market in Oaxaca, Linda encourages Elena to try grasshoppers, a local delicacy, despite Elena's initial hesitation.

### 2. Asking about food ingredients

Linda introduces Elena to mole negro, explaining its unique blend of chocolate, chili, and spices when Elena asks about its flavor.

### 3. Asking how to order food

Elena notices a delicious smell and asks Linda about tlayudas, learning the correct Spanish phrase to order one for herself.

### 4. Ordering food and asking the price

Elena successfully orders a tlayuda in Spanish and asks for the price, comparing the cheap cost to prices in her hometown of Tijuana.

### 5. Describing food texture and taste

Elena shares her delight with the crispy tlayuda and local cheese, while Linda suggests she try mezcal later in the day.

### 6. Asking what else is available

Elena asks about the other items in the market aisle, and Linda points out fresh local specialties like handmade tortillas and hot chocolate.

### 7. Expressing gratitude and making plans

Elena thanks Linda for the wonderful market experience, and Linda invites her to cook a traditional mole together the following day.