The history of modern Mexican cuisine appeared 30 centuries ago, and now it keeps a lot of delicious secrets. This smart combination of culinary traditions, products and recipes of pre-Hispanic era was brought by European colonizers. Today, every Mexican State is proud of its exclusive dishes, the real taste of which you can try only coming to Mexico.
Traveling around the country, you should definitely try some very delicious dishes.
Tacos are made of corn tortillas with fillings for every taste: it is either lean beef or tender pork, liver or even the eyes of animals. Each Mexican State has its own unique recipes of tacos. But the biggest variety of this dish you can find in the capital - in Mexico City. Before you try it, do not forget to season it with salt and sprinkle with lemon juice.
Mole sauce has appeared thanks to the nuns who were engaged in cooking in the walls of the monastery. They revived sauce recipe of the ancient Aztecs but added other ingredients: chocolate, cinnamon, sesame seeds and peanuts. As a result, they created the famous mole sauce. To try the original version of the sauce, go to the State of Puebla, to its historic homeland.
Quesillo is a real delicacy made of chees. In Oaxaca State, in local markets, you can try the gorditas, empanadas and tlayuda. These all are Mexican dishes based on soft melted cheese. Here in Oaxaca you can also taste an exotic delicacy - chapulines - fried grasshoppers. They are cooked in different variations: as a snack with beer and as an ingredient in omelet or soup.
Also Oaxaca is the birthplace of Mexican liquor mescal. There are many small factories that produce this strong drink and delicious liqueurs based on it.
Cochinita pibil. Traveling around the Yucatan Peninsula, you have the opportunity to taste many real Indian dishes in the city of Merida. One of them is juicy pork baked in an earthen oven. According to the recipe, you first need to marinade the meat in lime or orange juice, add seasonings, and then place it in a special oven. It becomes so delicious because of banana leafs lying between portions.
Tamale is a dish made of corn flour dough, wrapped in corn or banana leaves. Filling of tamale is diverse: chicken, pork, vegetables, cheese, chili pepper, raisins or dried fruit. It is believed that the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica used tamale as food for hiking. During a long-distance hiking, it was the main food for hunters and warriors. And now it is a favorite food of the inhabitants of Oaxaca and Chiapas States.
Chocolate here is the most natural and fresh because Mexico is the homeland of cocoa. Here it is mixed with sugar and cinnamon. People sell it in bulk or make hot and cold drinks and even mix them with chili pepper. Plantations of these trees as well as the process of making chocolate drinks according to ancient recipes, you can watch visiting the museums of chocolate on the Yucatan Peninsula.
But if you consider yourself being a real gourmet and do not want to miss out any Mexican culinary recipe, you should go on a gastronomic tour to Mayan ranch and learn the secrets of pre-Hispanic cuisine or take a lesson from a master chef in Cancun.
