Durango’s dish par excellence is the famous Durango caldillo or stew, which is made with fresh or dried beef and red chili. Durango’s cooking includes an interesting range of dishes, often based on red meat, which is hardly surprising given Durango’s cattle farming tradition.

Among the dishes to savor in the capital are the leg of pork or loin cooked in the sap of the maguey cactus in both its forms:  pulque – which is fermented and aguamiel – which is unfermented, mole de Analco which is an original form of the famous Mexican sauce featuring chili and chocolate, pipian, which is a red sauce made with various spices, chonas, menudo Duranguense – local Durango soup made from beef stomach, herbs and spices and gorditas de huevo perdido – corn dough stuffed with egg, tomato and chili.

Cheese is also part of the Durango diet. This comes from the state’s major Mennonite settlements which produce high quality cheeses, including chihuahua and manchego cheeses.

Then come the desserts of Durango and the regional variants of cajeta, or goat’s milk caramel. Although the latter are very similar to cajeta products sold elsewhere, the goats of Durango are that much better fed, which gives a richer flavor to all the local cajeta confections.

Finally, the agave liquor mezcal is expertly prepared in the Nombre de Dios municipality. If you are a discerning traveler who looks out for such things as Denomination of Origin marks, you will prefer to try this local Durango mezcal.