Cinco de Mayo

No, it isn't, and that mix-up is the most useful thing you can tell your team. Cinco de Mayo marks the Mexican army's victory over a larger, better-equipped French force at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Mexican Independence Day is September 16, and it commemorates something else entirely: the 1810 call to arms against Spanish rule.

In Mexico the day is observed most seriously in Puebla itself, with parades and reenactments. In the United States it grew into a broad celebration of Mexican culture, music and food, which is why so many teams use it as a reason to eat well together.

That's the version worth knowing before your team spends an hour making street tacos with a chef from Mexico City.

Chef Arturo is the star chef for our Cinco de Mayo events. He's from Mexico City, has more than ten years in the industry, and his specialty is Oaxacan cooking, the region many Mexican cooks will tell you has the deepest and most varied kitchen in the country.

He's one of a team of chefs who run these menus. Every event also comes with a Zoom host who monitors the chat and runs the team-building games, which leaves the chef free to do nothing but teach.

Three Cinco de Mayo menus, each a 60-minute live workshop:

• Mexican Street Tacos with chicken and pico de gallo. Vegetarians and vegans get hearty black bean tacos instead. Add warm tortillas made from scratch, or a margarita, for another 30 minutes.
• Pipian Mole, a pumpkin seed mole spooned over seared chicken. Gluten-free, with vegetarian and vegan versions, and the margarita add-on works here too.
• Churros in cinnamon and sugar, fried to order and eaten hot. Finish with a horchata or coffee pairing.

Every menu has gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options built in, and your planner confirms who needs what before a single kit ships.

Horchata is a cold, sweet, cinnamon-scented rice drink, and it's the pairing add-on for our churros workshop. Rice is soaked and ground with water, then sweetened and spiced with cinnamon, and regional versions bring in vanilla, coconut, almond or lime. The name traveled from Spain, where the original horchata de chufa contains no rice at all. It's made from tiger nuts, a small tuber grown around Valencia. Put it next to the churros and the no-alcohol half of your team ends up with something better than a glass of water.

Chiles rellenos are poblano peppers stuffed with cheese, wrapped in a light egg batter and fried. The pepper is named for Puebla, the same city that gave the holiday its name. Here's the short version:

1. Char six large poblanos over a flame or under the broiler until the skins blister, then seal them in a covered bowl for 10 to 15 minutes so they steam.
2. Peel off the blackened skin, cut a lengthwise slit in each pepper, and scrape out the seeds and membranes without tearing it.
3. Stuff each pepper with Oaxaca or Monterey Jack cheese. A toothpick keeps the opening shut.
4. Beat three egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold the yolks back in. That airy batter is what makes the coating puff instead of sitting there.
5. Roll each pepper in flour, dip it in the batter, and fry in hot oil until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towel.
6. For the sauce, soften a chopped onion and two cloves of garlic in oil, add two cups of crushed tomatoes, season, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Spoon the sauce onto the plate, set the chiles on top, and serve with rice, beans or tortillas.

Would you rather your team made them than read about them? Say so. Customization is free on every menu on this page.

Yes it will, and that's the question we're asked most. The chef teaches every step live, ingredients arrive pre-portioned, and these recipes were picked because they forgive mistakes. Tacos and churros do not punish beginners.

As for the theme: catering puts food in front of your team, while a Cinco de Mayo workshop puts everyone's hands in the same task at the same moment, with a chef explaining where pipian comes from while they work. It travels, too. Remote and hybrid teams get the same kit on the same day, so the person in a home office is doing exactly what the people in the conference room are doing. And the date does the persuading for you. Nobody has to be talked into May 5.

Groups run from 3 to 600 or more, and very large teams are usually split by department or across a couple of days. Zoom is the default, and Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and WebEx all work. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher and no-alcohol versions cost nothing extra when you tell us in advance. Kits ship free anywhere in the US and can be delivered internationally, including to Mexico, Canada, the UK and Australia, and anyone who'd rather skip a delivery can work from a shopping list instead.

Yes — send the invite from your side and we'll join it. Zoom is our default, and Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and WebEx all work, so if your company has standardized on one of those, the workshop can run inside your own tenant with your chef and the Rockoly host joining as guests. There's nothing outside for your IT team to approve, because there's no outside link in the calendar.

Raise it in your first conversation with your planner rather than in May. They own the meeting invite alongside address collection, shipping and dietary requests, so whichever way round you want it, the hold reaches people through the system they already open every day. And if your security team wants to know who is on the call before they sign off, that's a straightforward question three weeks out and an awkward one on May 4.

All three Cinco de Mayo menus are priced the same: $695 for a group under 5, then $139 per person from 5 to 30, $129 from 31 to 50, and $119 for 50 and up. That rate covers your personal chef, a dedicated event planner, a Zoom host, all ingredients delivered, and gratuities.

May 5 is one date on one calendar, and Chef Arturo cannot be in two places at once, so the honest advice is to claim it as early as you can. Three weeks is the working lead time for a cooking event; rush dates are sometimes possible depending on chef availability, and teams that miss the day itself usually run it that week instead without anyone minding.

A $250 deposit holds your date, and you can pay by credit card, ACH bank transfer or check. Cancel 21 or more days out and you are refunded what you paid less any nonrecoverable costs already committed; 8 to 20 days out you choose between a 50% refund and a 100% Rockoly credit; inside 8 days payments are nonrefundable, though one complimentary reschedule is yours if you ask 14+ days ahead. Every event is backed by the Love Your Event Guarantee: your team should have an amazing experience, and if your Rockoly event doesn't live up to expectations, we'll make it right. Fill out the form on this page and a planner will get back to you, or call (617) 939-9732 or email events@rockoly.com.