TRADITIONAL CUISINE

To taste the traditional foods of each region of our country is like journeying through an invaluable collection of maps, where the culinary wealth of different countries intermingles with traditional Mexican cuisine. This integration of diverse culinary richness paves delicious routes of sophisticated flavors that you will be able to savor through your visit to our country.

Enjoy the lingering pre-Hispanic flavors still inherent in exquisite dishes, sauces, fruit and herbs. Amongst these, tamales (a popular snack of cooked corn paste prepared with meat or fruit, wrapped in banana or corn leaves and steamed) together with tomato and chili sauces prepared in molcajetes (querns) and served with tortillas, are particularly remarkable. You should also try pumpkin seeds, pumpkin flowers and huitlacoche (a type of fungus that grows inside the corncobs) while making sure that you do not miss the fleshy nopal (cactus) leaves and succulent prickly pears. During the colonial era, this grand variety of ingredients and local cooking techniques fused with those from Europe and Asia. This was the period of time when the local convents were converted into flourishing centers of culinary experimentation. The fruits of this gastronomic journey are still ever-present in daily Mexican life. The most famous creation of the old colonial chefs is mole poblano, a sauce made from different types of chilies, dried plums, almonds, cinnamon and chocolate and served with turkey or chicken meat. The traditional tortillas eventually transformed into what we now call enchiladas - tortillas in salsa verde (a sauce made with green chili peppers) adorned with cheese and onion rings. Other popular dishes, such as the famous chiles en nogada, stemmed from conventual innovation. This tricolor dish is comprised of green poblano peppers stuffed with minced meat, banana, raisins, apples and pine nuts, and infused with a sauce of white nuts. Everything is then garnished with sprinkled parsley and crushed pomegranate seeds; giving this exquisite dish an unforgettable appearance and incomparable taste. The traditional sweets, which you can find in the southern and central parts of the country, will please your eyes and amuse your taste buds. A good example of such a traditional sweet are the cicadas - sugar sweets that are also known as alfeñiques, buñuelos, camotes and crystallized fruit. You should also taste the charamuscas, morelianas, pirulís and alegrías. These are made of amaranth seeds; a plant that was much appreciated by the Aztecs. Other delicatessens that stand out in this commendable list of traditional sweets are the colorful pepitorias which are made with pumpkin pips and the palanquetas that are prepared with nuts or peanuts, caramel sweets and tamarinds which are either salted or spiced with chilies. With the passage of time, many other recipes were created outside the convents. Though unrecorded, these recipes were passed on verbally from one cook to the next and they have been safeguarded by the same traditions that you will experience with each exquisitely sweet characteristic of its corresponding regional cuisine.

In Guadalajara, which is in the state of Jalisco, you will have the opportunity to savor the delicious tortas ahogadas (translated "drowned sandwiches") which are stuffed with pork and tomato sauce. In Yucatán, on the other hand, you will come across papadzules - tortillas infused with pumpkin-seed sauce and stuffed with scrambled eggs dipped in chiltomato sauce (prepared with tomatoes, chilies, onions and butter). In Veracruz, it is almost obligatory for all visitors to taste the famous arroz tumbada (translated "knocked-down rice") which is seasoned and served with fresh seafood. If you pay a visit to Guanajuato, you should ask for cuete encacahuatado - a dish with beef and peanut sauce. And if you chance by Baja California, do relish the delectable lobster with beans. Chiapas is very famous for its mouth-watering tamales de Cambray, which are made with almonds and prunes. In Oaxaca, you will find seven different types of mole and in the northern parts of the country you will get the chance to taste the machaca tacos containing dried meat and egg. As you enjoy a respite in Nayarit, you should ask for the legendary pescado zarandeado - barbequed fish with lime, salt and an array of sauces. And, last but not least, when you make it to Guerrero, be sure not to miss their pozole verde (a special soup made with pumpkin mole, corn grain, pork meat and accompanied by crispy pork rind, avocado, oregano, onion and lime). Traditionally, this dish is served on Thursdays, which is also when it is most easily found in local restaurants. These are the luscious original dishes that are reborn time and again, awaiting you on your next visit to Mexico.