Holidays in any region bring special dishes to mind. Here in Northern New Mexico, celebratory foods often include posole, green chile stews and tamales. And those are exactly the dishes chef Rocky Durham has on the menu for the "Holiday Foods" class he is teaching Saturday morning at The Santa Fe School of Cooking.

The feast — prepared in the morning and devoured at lunchtime by the students — includes a variation on posole with red chile and chicken, a classic green-chile pork stew, two more unusual kinds of tamales — a savory duck and sweet pumpkin — a salad of pomegranate and winter citrus, and bizcochitos with cajeta ice cream. (In these parts, cajeta is most often a thick syrup or sauce made from caramelized goat milk.)

"Any holiday or gathering in this part of the world is marked with a humongous batch of posole," Durham laughs — "You can't get around that one. And nothing says folks getting together like the preparation of tamales."

It's not that you can't make tamales on your own, he says, but it's more often a social event, with all the aunts and grandmas and others hanging out in the kitchen together. "And you don't make four," he adds. "You make 400."

That's the spirit of a holiday in New Mexico that he was trying to get at in the class, Durham says — homemade food that will feed a crowd.

Some of the cooking will be done in the beautiful black La Chamba pottery from Colombia that the school sells in its shop, Durham says. Micaceous clay pots, traditionally used by some Native American tribes in New Mexico as well, are reputed to produce more flavorful, aromatic soups, stews and casserole dishes.

"It's like frying chicken in a cast-iron pan," Durham says. "Does it actually taste better than if you do it in a deep fryer? Perhaps — but it's also one of those intangible food qualities that you can't really quantify."

While part of the class is demonstration, everyone will have a chance to stuff and roll the tamales. "We'll have some tamales made," the chef says, "because once they are together they have to steam for about an hour, but we are going to have a hands-on tamale-making event, so folks can tie their own and check that out."

The class will also explore the lore, history and cultural influences of the food in our region, the chef says.

Durham, culinary director of the Santa Fe School of Cooking, is highly qualified to teach the class. Chef de cuisine at Santacafé in the late '90s and a native New Mexican, Durham has cooked, talked about, demonstrated and taught Southwestern cooking on four continents. And he's looking forward to sharing his love of New Mexico along with his recipes.

"This is the kind of menu that's like putting on your favorite sweater and getting a big hug from your grandma," he says.

Green-Chile Pork Stew

For the pork:

3 pounds pork shoulder

1 small onion

4 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

Water

For the stew:

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons lard

4 russet potatoes, cubed

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

3 to 4 cups roasted, peeled, chopped New Mexican green chile (remove ribs and seeds for
less heat)

1 (12-ounce) can chopped tomatoes (optional)

4 to 6 cups chicken or reserved pork stock (or a combination)

2 tablespoons chipotle en adobo (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the pork: Trim off some of the fat from the pork shoulder and cut into 1-inch cubes. Place all the ingredients in a large soup pot or slow cooker and cover with water. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, reduce to a simmer and cook until fork-tender. Remove pork and reserve pork and liquid.

Make the stew: In a 6-quart pan, sauté the onions and garlic in lard over medium-high heat for 1 minute stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients, including the reserved pork cubes and pork stock (or chicken stock) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for at least 1 hour.

Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh flour tortillas.