Durango, San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Queretaro, Mexico, Hidalgo and Puebla
Corn and its byproducts, along with fresh, dried and smoked chilies of various kinds dominate the cuisines of the central Mexican states. There is also a strong baking tradition that can be traced back to the Spanish as well as to the brief French occupation of Mexico. As in other parts of Mexico, here too frijoles and tortillas, along with two or more salsas are eaten on a daily basis. Numerous small restaurants across Mexico City offer a ‘comida corrida’ or set lunch menus, which usually consist of five courses – a sopa or soup, followed by either rice or spaghetti or a salad, after which comes the guisado or main course, and finally postre or dessert, all washed down by large quantities of agua de fruta – a diluted fruit drink. The custom here, as in most of the country, is to eat an early big breakfast; an enormous late lunch and a small snack- usually pan de dulce or sweet rolls – accompanied with hot chocolate or milk for dinner.
A proliferation of American foods – especially fast foods – has found its way into Mexico. However, Mexican fast foods of various kinds are available and extremely satisfying. These include tamales, tortas of various kinds, tacos, and cut fruits that are sold seasoned with a variety of topping and add-ons including chilies, limes, honey, thickened cream, granola and amaranth. Also sold all over are various semillas- literally seeds but the category includes nuts of all types as well – that are eaten plain, salted or with chilies, the small munchies that one might pick up and savor at any time.
Durango
Durango is bound by the Sierra Madres Occidentales mountain range and has a pleasant, dry climate. The state is famous for the large number of Hollywood westerns that have been shot there as well as for its archeological sites, ecotourism, colonial era architecture and gastronomy. The state produces chilies, grapes, guavas, peanuts and maize, and these are also some of the key ingredients that are used in duranguense kitchens. Game is often included in the state’s culinary repertoire, usually served in the form of venado aasdo or grilled venison. Other famous dishes from the region include gallinas borrachas or drunken chicken, which is a chicken cooked with ham, sherry, chorizo, raisins and spices, and pipian – a pumpkin seed and chili sauce served over chicken, beef or pork. Durango produces a high quality queso asadero or grilling cheese, as well as chorizo which is a spicy sausage. One of the most popular sweet dishes from the state may well be torrejas de miel, an elegant desert of bread crumb and egg fritters in honey syrup with almonds and raisins. Bigotes de Pancho, named after Pancho Villa who was born in Durango, are a chocolate or fruit stuffed sweet bread that are worth a try.
San Luis Potosi
San Luis Potosí is geographically placed at almost the center of Mexico, and is the only Mexican state that has borders with nine other states. It has a tropical climate that supports the production of tomatoes, maize, beans, papaya as well as meat and poultry. Tourism-wise, the state offers unique architecture, handicrafts, waterfalls, hiking, and cave diving. As with other states, the food eaten in San Luis Potosi today hints at the indigenous as well as the colonial influences. Amongst the signature dishes of the state are the enchorizada or tortillas stuffed with chorizo, enchiladas potosinas, fried corn tortillas in a tomato, tomatillo and chili sauce served with cheese, cabrito al pastor or roasted goat, carne en chile rojo which is a stew like dish of meat in a red chili sauce, and tamal de carne zacahuil which is an enormous chicken or turkey tamal. For the sweet tooth, there are the jamoncillos – best described as milk fudge – and cajeta, which is a syrupy goat milk candy.
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes, named for the famed hot thermal springs, is one of the smallest Mexican states and is located in the high central Mexican plain. In addition to the springs, major attractions of the state include colonial style haciendas and churches as well as museums and the Feria de San Marcos. Which brings us to food, and specifically the signature dish of the fair and maybe the state – pollo de san marco or saint mark’s chicken – a delightful concoction of chicken with local fruit. Being a livestock raising area, meat is the mainstay of most meals here, and some favorite meat preparations from the region include birria de barbacoa de carnero or barbecued mutton, lechon al horno or baked suckling pig, sopa campesina a soup made with potatoes, carrots and ham, and the region’s famous enchiladas rojas or stuffed tortillas in a red sauce. Aguascalientes produces a fair amount of grapes and also some wine and brandy. A typical sweet of the region is charamuscas.
Zacatecas
Zacatecas is a landlocked state that features arid highlands with a mostly dry weather. The state was an important mining area during the colonial era, and is today Mexico’s largest producer of many of the staples including beans, chilies and nopales which is an edible cactus and a favorite of Zacatecans. As in many of the central Mexican states, meat is the mainstay of the Zacatecan diet and is prepared in a variety of delicious ways. Head and shoulders above most preparations is the caldo or cocido which is a satisfying and nutritionally balanced stew featuring meat, pork and chicken cooked with vegetables, garbanzos and rice and flavored with saffron. Other typical dishes include red pozole – a hominy and pork stew, asado de boda, literally wedding roast, sopa de tortilla or tortilla soup, and pollo alcamparrado, a chicken dish flavored with chilies and capers. The desserts from the state include cicadas or coconut sweets, camote or candied sweet potatoes and a Mexican style bread pudding called capirotada. Aguamiel is a thirst quenching honey flavored drink from the region.
Queretaro
Queretaro is one of the smallest Mexican states that is best known for its charming colonial architecture featuring many plazas, archeological sites, spas and colonial mansions. The capital of the state, Santiago de Queretaro, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Culturally, the colonial period has had a lasting impact on all aspects of life here, including cuisine. The state cuisine is elegant and sophisticated, as is exemplified by the famed pollo en huerto which literally means chicken in an orchard. This is an unusual and delicious dish of chicken cooked with a combination of fruits such as apples, pears and peaches, in addition to spices and seasonings. Acamayas, or sweet water shrimp in a chipotle sauce is another unusual dish from the region. Other staples include taquitos de carnitas which is a slow cooked shredded pork taco garnished with sesame, sopa queretana which is an interesting concoction of chicken with eggs, sweet potatoes and spices, and lengua mechada, tongue cooked with jamon serrano (Spanish cured mountain ham), sausages, capers, almonds and sherry. The region also serves up nieve de leche con fruta which is a local ice cream and limones rellenos de coco or candied limes stuffed with coconut.
Estado de Mexico and Distrito Federal
The state of Mexico lies at the highest point of Mexico, and as such is a region beset with pine trees and mountains. The state is home to two of Mexico’s famed live volcanos – the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Other attractions of the area consist of museums, monuments as well as archeological and ecological sites. The staple foods of the state include chorizo en salsa verde which is spicy sausage simmered in a piquant tomatillo and green chili sauce, and mole verde which is a tongue tingling sauce made of serrano chilies, lettuce, tomatillos and pumpkin seeds, usually served over chicken. For those looking for ‘something different’ there is the sopa de huitlacoche which is a black corn fungus soup with an intensely earthy flavor. The best of mixiotes – exquisitely spicy steamed lamb ‘moneybags’ flavored with axiote, a typically Mexican spice with a brick red color and a slightly bitter earthy taste – are also to be had here.
The most important gastronomic contributions of Mexico City are probably street foods such as tacos of any number of permutations, and tortas stuffed with a myriad of fillings. Favorites amongst these are tacos al pastor, and tacos de suadadero. Tortas are hot sandwiches made with mayonnaise, a liberal spread of warm frijoles refritos (refried beans), tomato, onion, pickled jalapenos and a hot stuffing – such as chrizo, egg, breaded chicken, sausages or hams, and cheeses. Also made popular by the city are a large varieties of antojitos which is a name given to snacks made from masa and many different kinds of stuffings and toppings.
Hidalgo
The first things that come to mind when thinking of Hidalgo are old mining towns with their famed red-tiled roof vistas, historical haciendas that now serve as luxury hotels, and camping and the outdoors, thanks to the temperate year round climate. Gastronomically, the state has been influenced by its prehispanic roots, its colonial past, and to a lesser extent by the British mining bosses who came to live there. And the British influence has lingered in the form of pastes (pasties), the venerable meat and potato turnovers that were originally eaten in Cornwall and are now a culinary staple all over the UK, as well as all over Hidalgo! Some of the other less historically symbolic, but equally tasty dishes from Hidalgo are a large variety of tamales, including tamale de anis – anise tamales, and tameles de queso (cheese) con epazote (a pungent Mexican herb). Hidalgo is also infamous as the state where a variety of insects – gusanos de magauey or the larvae that infest the maguey cactus, and escamoles or ants larvae – are relished. Local fare from Hidalgo that is enjoyed all over Mexico also includes tinga de pollo – shredded chicken smothered in onions and tomato sauce, mixiote de pollo or chicken steamed in maguey leaf bags with spices, and palenquetas or taffy made with various nuts and seeds.
Puebla
Gastronomically speaking, Puebla, Yucatan and Oaxaca form the ‘nexus of eating’ in Mexico, and the cuisine from these states is renowned the world over for its variety, depth of flavor, complexity and sheer sumptuousness. And when these luscious meals are enjoyed in elegant buildings decorated with charming azulezos – glazed blue and white tiles – the meal becomes a favorite memory. Perhaps more than any other dish, chiles en nogada, a poblano delicacy, can be described as Mexico’s national dish. The dish consists of poblano peppers stuffed with a sweet and savory meat, fruit and nut mixture, dipped in whipped egg whites, fried, and served with a sauce of cream cheese, walnuts and sour cream, garnish with fresh pomegranate seeds. Another signature dish from the region is the famed mole poblano, a complex sauce made with a dizzying forty plus ingredients that include bread, tortillas, various chilies, sesame, almonds, raisins and chocolate! Also native to Puebla are rompope, an egg liquor and camotes con crema which is a simple dish of sweet potatoes cooked with cream.
