Traditional Mexican Cuisine
& Culinary Experiences
Traditional Cook
Hilda Guzman Mijangos
Born in San Miguel del Puerto, a town in the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca, Hilda learned traditional cooking alongside her mother, Laura, who taught her both culinary and ancestral agricultural knowledge.
Hilda is a member of the Association of Traditional Cooks of Oaxaca. Thanks to her daily work in preserving and revitalizing traditional gastronomy, she has participated in events such as the Fourth Meeting of Traditional Cooks in Oaxaca City, the Gastronomic Pavilion of Mexico´s Magical Towns, the Oaxaca Mole Festival, and the First Mole Festival of the Costa and Mixteca regions.
Our way of life
At XOA´, corn is more than food; it is identity, pride, and the heart of our gastronomic culture. For this reason every dish we serve at XOA´is born from our own harvest of heirloom corn.
XOA´s milpa, where dreams are planted
Our love for corn has always been our guide, and in 2019 we began our project to propagate native corn, introducing new heirloom seeds to help preserve and care for our sacred grain.
Each year, the summer rains announce the beginning of the milpa sowing an ancestral knowledge of agriculture passed down from our grandparents.
XOA´s milpa shelters native varieties of corn, beans and pumpkins: the quintessential Mexican trilogy, the very foundation of Mexico's rich culinary heritage.
Our story
XOA´ was born from the dream of preserving and sharing authentic traditional Mexican cuisine through culinary experiences that nourish both body and soul .
XOA´ which means CORN in Zapotec is a cultural and gastronomic space dedicated to honouring and preserving the most important ingredient of Mexican Cuisine.
About us
The family
Chef
Karelia López Guzmán
From a young age, Karelia grew up in the kitchen alongside her grandmother and mother, where her love for cooking was born. It was from her grandmother, Laura, that she learned the processes and techniques of traditional cuisine. On the Day of the Dead, she would assist both her grandmother and her mother, who gradually taught her the family recipe for black mole, a treasured dish passed down from generation to generation.
Her passion for cooking led her to pursue formal studies in what she loved most. She graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor in Gastronomy from the Universidad Anáhuac and a Bachelor of Business Gastronomy from Le Cordon Bleu.
She gained experience at renowned restaurants in Vancouver, Canada, Spain and Oaxaca City.
Today, Chef Karelia has returned to the place where her love for cooking first began. Together with her mother, Traditional Cook Hilda, she shares the richness of Mexico´s gastronomy through XOA´.
Traditional Mexican Cuisine &
Culinary Experiences
70774 San Pedro Huamelula, Oax. México, Huatulco, Mexico
+52 56 6406 5902