In a country as massive as Mexico, with a selection of regional cuisine that is just as vast, it can be hard to know what to eat in Mexico. While Tex-Mex exports across the world teach us that every plate comes with refried beans, sour cream, and flour tortillas, spend any time in Mexico beyond the border and you will find that those expectations don’t meet the reality of food stands and Mexican restaurants. So I thought I would put together a list of what I think are essential flavor experiences in Mexican cuisine from my years living here. I hope you will agree with my choices and let me know what I am missing (I can tell you already… a thousand things!).
Corn tortillas
Corn is the essence of Mexican cuisine and the basis for all kinds of dishes and drinks, some of which I mention further down on the list, but the most fundamental corn-based product is the tortilla. The best tortillas are made by hand from dough that has been ground from nixtamaled corn (this the process of soaking the kernels in an alkaline solution, helping to break down the husks and free up the vitamins and minerals within the corn for human consumption). If you see a tortilleria (a small shop making tortillas) and all they have in the back are sacks of Maseca flour they are probably not using the nixtamalizacion process, and while tortillas made from nixtamaled corn are best, even the Maseca flour tortillas here will far outweigh anything you have had in your home country.
Flour tortillas
Just a little plug to flour tortillas. I know that for many of us, our only experience with flour tortillas is the Tia Rosa bags in the grocery store, and that many people brush off the flour tortilla as not “authentic” enough, but a good, homemade flour tortilla is quite possibly one of the earth’s best culinary delights. I had some in Baja California hand-made by a woman at her house and they were fire. So don’t discount flour tortillas and if you are in a place with a flour tortilla mill (like a handful of small markets in Mexico City or Tlaxcala), give ’em a taste.
Salsas
Salsas are the basis for all Mexican street food; all a ho-hum taco or gordita needs is a beautiful salsa to light its way to your mouth. There is no rule for which salsas are spicier – red salsa or green salsa. Every salsa should be tasted for the first time with caution and curiosity. That said, there are a couple general categories to know. Pico de gallo is what people generally think of in the United States as salsa – fresh tomatoes and onions chopped with cilantro, maybe some garlic. Sometimes there is chopped chile, sometimes not. Then there are fresh blended salsas, where the ingredients have not been cooked, only blended – chiles, onion, garlic, and sometimes avocado, don’t misunderstand me: THIS IS NOT GUACAMOLE. It’s a green salsa with avocado which means it can be very spicy and hot and is usually not chunky like guacamole. You can also make fresh salsas with red tomatoes and chiles. Then there is a cooked salsa where the chiles and tomatoes have been charred or boiled (the charred kind can be called tatemado). You also have salsa martajada, which means that it’s rough blended, usually in a molcajete (this is, as opposed to blended in a blender), usually the martajada salsa has charred tomatoes, chile, onion, and garlic in it. There are DOZENS of kinds of chiles, with varying spice levels and while you might not believe it, most have a very distinct flavor once you start to be able to tell them apart. So start with salsas and you will get a whole education about Mexican cuisine in a spoonful.
Street food
I can’t stress this enough. If you come to Mexico and do not eat street food you have not had the full culinary experience. Say what you will about fine dining and family restaurants, you have to eat street food or you won’t understand the flavors or ingredients of Mexico. I know people get nervous about getting sick, but take a tour, make a local friend, do whatever you have to do to try street food while you are in the country. There are too many street food items to list here, so take a look at this street food eating guide I put together a few years ago.
Tamales
Though technically sold as street food, I want to give tamales their own separate mention. That’s because there are hundreds of types of tamales. In the Larousse Diccionario Enciclopedia de la Gastronomia Mexicana, Chef Ricardo Muñoz dedicates 23 pages to them! So that said, you know I am not going to go into all the types here. I will say a few things GENERALLY about tamales. In the center of the country they GENERALLY come wrapped in corn husks and are a little drier, than the version further south in Oaxaca or the Yucatan that are wrapped in banana leaves and are a little greasier, a little more compact. I love tamales from street vendors but they tend to be a lot of corn dough and just a tiny bit of meat/sauce and/or filling (so they can sell them cheaply). More elaborate tamales made in someone’s home or at a fancy restaurant or even just a shop that is dedicated to tamales will likely be more filling. This is an early morning and late night food, good luck finding tamales in the middle of the day. Also, if you get offered a fried tamal, say yes.
Tacos al pastor
A quintessential taco and street food invented in Mexico City, the taco al pastor is a bastardization of the shawarma-style tacos brought by two Iraqi families to Puebla. This is layers of pork meat marinated in chiles, citrus, achiote paste, onion, maybe even Fanta or Coca-cola (everybody has a secret recipe) that is then rotated slowly on a spit (like a shawarma) and charred layers are sliced off to land in a corn tortilla with a slice of pineapple on top. Don’t leave Mexico City without trying tacos al pastor. (Come on a tour with me and I will take you to my favorite place).
Cochinita Pibil
This is a dish created and perfected in the Yucatan peninsula, although now you can get it all over the country. Chunks of pork are marinated with bitter orange juice along with a mix of other spices likely to include pepper and cumin. The meta is wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked in an underground pit oven, but often today in a conventional oven. I have found the version popular in Mexico City for example is kinda saucy and while I love it, the versions I have tried in the Yucatan are more of a spice rub and even a tad bitter without the sweetness that you find sometimes in the recipe in other places. Try this in the Yucatan peninsula for sure, but maybe do a few tastings in other parts of the country as well just to compare.
Chilaquiles
I will admit to calling them breakfast nachos a few times myself but if you want to really piss off a Mexican go ahead and call them that. Chilaquiles are a well-loved breakfast food across the country, where they can have regional toppings like cochinita pibil or simply the standard shredded chicken, red or green sauce, cream (not sour cream, crema which is thinner and sweeter), raw onion, crumbled cheese (most often panela or cotija) and sometimes cilantro. Again, these are general rules, you might find chilaquiles with all sorts of wild additions on them. The most classic preparation also includes at least some of the homemade fried tortilla chips with which they are made (totopos) doused in the salsa and a little flaccid. I like my totopos with a little crunch, but to each his own. Don’t leave Mexico without trying chilaquiles.
Barbacoa
Barbacoa comes from the same tradition as cochinita pibil, and birria, slow-cooked in a Maya-style underground pit oven. In this case the meat is young lamb or goat and it is lightly seasoned with basics like salt and pepper. The meat often sits on the top of a large pot inside on the oven with a grate so it can’t slip through, to collect the juices from the meat to make the consomme or broth that goes with it. The meat is also wrapped in maguey leaves which gives it a special flavor. The older the animal the gamier the taste I have been told and this little delicacy is more often than not paired with a thick and smokey, chipotle salsa, cilantro, and onion, along with the consomme (inside of which you might find garbanzo beans or rice and to which is added salsa, onion, and more cilantro). This is a typical weekend dish as it takes hours to cook and the state of Hidalgo is its most famous birthplace, even though the best barbacoa I have eaten was in Tlaxcala state nearby.
Birria
Once upon a time, birria was mainly cooked in the same way as barbacoa, but over time it’s more likely to be found steamed, baked in the oven, or cooked in a pressure cooker. This is traditionally made from young lamb or goat but you will also find it made from beef, especially in the United States. As opposed to barbacoa, it’s richly seasoned with a mix of chiles and spices that can include black pepper, clove, oregano, cumin, bay leaf, thyme, sesame, ginger, cinnamon, white vinegar, salt, garlic, onion, the list goes on. Its consomme, equally rich and seasoned is its best accompaniment. Birria, like everything else on this list has its regional varieties and changes from kitchen to kitchen at the hands of different chefs. It’s most famous from the state of Jalisco.
Cabrito Asado
Just a small mention of this northern-style goat dish that is made by roasting a baby goat over an open flame on a wooden cross that when done right will melt in your mouth. Try it when you are in Monterrey with a few handmade flour tortillas and some kick-ass salsa.
Pancita / Menudo
Once upon a time I thought these things were different but I have come to understand that although there are variations of this dish in almost every state in the country.pPncita and menudo are the same, a soup made with beef stomach that in the center part of the country where I live has garlic, tomato, epazote, salt, pepper, various types of chiles and is garnished with chopped onion, cilantro, lime and salt. But there are places where it contains orange juice, garbanzo beans, and corn kernels, along with a variety of other things. Just try it wherever you are, it will likely always be different. A warning that this is the gamiest item on the list and if you don’t like anything with a super strong flavor of animal to pass your lips, maybe pass the menudo to someone else.
Chiles en Nogada
My least favorite item on this list but I do think that it’s important to try them at least once, if only to decide, like me, that you don’t like this dish. This is Mexico’s most patriotic dish and you can read some of the creation myths behind it here. Suffice it to say that Independence time in Mexico (September) is also the time of the year when most of the main ingredients in this dish are at their peak, so it’s a logical choice for a national dish. Poblano chiles are stuffed with a mix of ground beef and local fruits and nuts for this dish (that is the part I dislike), and then smothered in a walnut-based cream sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds on top. The colors are representative of the Mexican flag (red, white, and green). Try it at least once, probably best to do so in Puebla where this dish was invented.
Mole Poblano
Another of Puebla’s famous creations, mole poblano is often the only mole people know outside of Mexico (see the Other Moles below) and folks seem to love it or hate it. Honestly, I think it’s an acquired taste, but once you’ve had it enough it grows on you. This is a blend of dried chiles, seeds, nuts, garlic, onion, chocolate, sometimes tortillas, tomatoes, fruit, and other delicious things all ground together into a powder or paste and mixed with stock to make a sauce, then ginger poured over a protein of choice. I cannot tell you the amount of gringos who are over-the-top in describing their disgust of mole poblano to me and I just want to tell all of you – settle down, it’s not liver and onions, just say you don’t love it and move on. (This is another dish that Mexicans are pretty proud of so please, if you are going to complain, at least do it to other foreigners and not your hosts).
The Other moles
Then there are the OTHER moles. Oaxaca is the land of the seven moles, but Muñoz dedicates 15 pages to all the different kinds of moles in ALL of the Mexican states in the Larousse encyclopedia, so let’s just say if you want to know mole you have a long list of tastings ahead of you. My favorite moles are probably a mole rojo (red mole) and a mole amarillo (yellow mole). Yellow mole uses yellow chiles and often includes clove, black pepper, oregano, garlic, tomatillos and other tomatoes. Red mole can be made with a bevy of chiles and tomatoes but doesn’t generally have chocolate in it and so is less sweet than mole poblano in my experience (there are also TONS of moles that could fit into the red mole category with a wide variety of flavors, the one I am describing I have generally eaten in Oaxaca). So even if you don’t like mole poblano, branch out and try some other moles before you write off the entire concept.
Recado Negro and Relleno Negro
A recado (there are many different kinds) is really just a thick block of paste made from spices and chiles that is used to as a kind of marinade or to make a sauce for a protein. Recado negro however, is used in the Yucatan peninsula to make relleno negro from pieces of pork cooked with egg white and recado negro, stuffed inside a turkey which is then boiled until cooked with more recado negro and from the leftover cooking liquid is made a salsa called kool. The recado negro is a blend of blackened tortillas and chiles and is distinctly smoky with a hint of bitterness. For me it’s one of the most unusual flavors in Mexico, definitely try it in the Yucatan, Campeche, or Quintana Roo, in a market is your best bet for a good one.
Conchas
This is a Mexican sweetbread that has grown on me in a serious way since I moved here. A slightly sweet bun with a crust of crunchy sugar on top, it is best eaten right out of the oven, but in a pinch can be purchased at almost any bakery and even the grocery store. They can be dry if they are a little old, but fresh, man, heavenly. All kinds of crazy versions of the concha are now available (concha muffins, concha sandwiches, mini conchas), but I prefer the classic vanilla or chocolate conchas that are ubiquitous in Mexico. Just as a warning, concha is also the word for vagina in Mexico so be sure you are in a bakery before you start going on and going about how you feel about them.
Esquites
A popular street snack served throughout the day but particularly in the evenings, esquites are the equivalent of the elote (which is corn on the cob on a stick covered in mayo, cheese, chile, salt, and lime), but in a cup. I personally like esquites better. The corn kernels are often boiled with herbs and spices making them more flavorful than corn on a cob. The kernels are then scooped from the boiling water and into a cup with intermittent layers of mayo, cheese, chile, salt, and lime, AND a bevy of different kinds of chile powder (chili powder is something else) and salsas. Perfect for a cool evening and when you are craving a warm little cup ó something.
Aguachile
The seafood in Mexico is phenomenal, and there are a hundreds of great dishes that revolve around fresh or fried local fish, mussels, clams, oysters, and lobster. But aguachile is distinctly Mexican, this country’s version of ceviche. You can find aguachile in a lot of places but along the coast of Sinaloa is one of the best places to try it. It’s fish cooked in lime juice (like ceviche) and mixed with tomato, red onion, cucumber and a variety of chiles. Be careful with this one, a lot of people like it blow-your-face-off hot, so always ask the heat level before you order.
Churros
While churros were most definitely brought by the Europeans to Mexico, they have been adopted as a national sweet like none other. Long sticks of dough perfectly fried in hot oil and then doused in cinnamon or sugar – it’d be tough not to be delicious. These are usually served with Mexican hot chocolate (made traditionally with water, but just as creamy as the milk-based) and in modern times stuffed with a chocolate or cajeta (a bit like dulce de leche or caramel) filling – a delicious toothache waiting to happen.
And finally, a few things you should NOT expect to find in Mexico.
Beans and Rice – While absolutely delicious, this is more of a Central American and Tex-Mex item that isn’t found in most places in Mexico (at least not good versions).
A decent burrito – Burritos here tend to be pretty bland, with refried beans as a base, chopped meat, maybe some cheese, then flattened on a grill like a panini – forget whole black beans and rice, sour cream, pico de gallo, cheddar cheese – ain’t gonna happen.
Enchiladas – Alright now it’s not that you can’t find them but they are just not as prevalent as they are in Mexican food representations in the rest of the world.
Chips and salsa as a pre-dinner appetizer – I have never once been offered a bowl of chips and salsa in Mexico. When they bring salsa to your table, it’s for the food, not for eating as a dip.
Chili con carne – this is one of my very favorite Tex-Mex dishes but I have never seen it anywhere in Mexico.
Bread with your soup – Expect tortillas and lots of fixin’s, but not bread.
Sweet corn – For my U.S. readers, Mexican corn (and there are over 60 varieties) are not sweet so don’t expect that in a corn on the cob for instance.
Salads – Mexicans eat plenty of veggies in various forms, but fresh, lettuce-based salads are not their strong suit. You know what is the best salad they serve here? Nopal cactus, onion, cilantro and sometimes a little tomato thrown in there, now that’s good. No iceberg lettuce though.
Next I will make a What to Drink in Mexico list, but for now I’m hungry and need to run out to the street and see what’s cooking tonight. Want to try some of these delicious items? Come on a food tour with me!
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