Traditional Mexican food has a vibrant history and is tied to the heart of Mexican culture and

values. In fact, one of the best ways to understand Mexican heritage is to understand its cuisine.
You should know that many of the flavors, sights, and sounds of authentic Mexican food come
from three main Mexican cultures: the Mayan, the Aztec, and the Spanish, with the latter being
the most widely represented.

Delicious Mexican food traditions go hand in hand with Mexican celebrations. Being the largest
number of Christian holidays, numerous different dishes accompany the special days. Among them
you find the Day of the Three Kings or Three Kings and the Day of the Dead that involve the
making of special sweet breads. Therefore, cooking and celebrating with traditional Mexican food
is believed to be a great way to remember ancestors and understand their heritage.

Tacos

Tacos are corn-based tortillas

This corn-based tortilla is one of the best known Mexican dishes worldwide and is very versatile.
The filling with sauces, dressings and meats depends on the region where it is prepared.

Burritos

Burritos are corn-based tortillas with different fillings of meat, beans, and vegetables.

It has the same base as tacos and belongs to Tex-Mex cuisine, which is the food of Mexican people
who have lived in Texas. These fajitas, which go well for breakfast, are going to be eaten with
different fillings of meat, beans and vegetables.

Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles are a spicy dish, it is prepared with totopos (toasted tortillas in the shape of a triangle)

This dish, which should be spicy, is prepared with tortilla chips (toasted triangle-shaped tortillas),
mixed with different ingredients and meats, covered in chili sauce.

Pozole

The Pozole is a soup prepared based on large corn grains, to which chicken or pork meat is added.

This kind of soup is prepared based on large corn grains, to which chicken or pork meat is added
and the other ingredients depend on the region. As usual, in Mexico you cannot miss chili and
tortillas with guacamole.
Quesadillas

This traditional Mexican dish is prepared with corn or wheat tortillas, folded in half and stuffed
with cheese as the main ingredient.

This traditional Mexican dish is prepared with corn or wheat tortillas, folded in half and stuffed
with cheese as the main ingredient. You also find them with ground pork or beef and other
ingredients.

Mole Poblano

Mole is a typical sauce prepared with different types of chili, spices with strong flavors, bitter
cocoa

This typical sauce from Puebla is a complement to dishes that contain meat and is one of the most
recognized. It is prepared with different types of chili, species with strong flavors, bitter cocoa and
seeds that are ground in a mortar or metates.

Enchiladas

They are corn tortillas that are served crispy and stuffed with beef, chicken, turkey or pork and you
can't miss the cheese.

They are corn tortillas that are served crispy and stuffed with beef, chicken, turkey or pork and you
can't miss the cheese. They are accompanied with beans, chiles, cream, some type of mole, fresh
vegetables and a sauce.

Cochinita pibil

Chochinita Pibil is one of the most traditional dishes in Mexico.

This is one of the most traditional dishes in Mexico. It involves wrapping pork in banana leaves,
previously seasoned with achiote before being cooked in an underground oven. They will serve
you accompanied by a purple onion sauce marinated in sour orange juice and habanero chili.

Ceviche

Mexican ceviche is prepared with fish or shrimp marinated in lemon, spices, salt, onion and
pepper.

It is one of the typical dishes of the coastal regions of Mexico, which is prepared with fish or
shrimp marinated with lemon, spices, salt, onion and pepper.
Refried beans

Refried beans can be macerated or blended and are generally used as one of the main
accompaniments to enchiladas.

This typical dish consists of cooking beans, which can be macerated or blended and are generally
used as one of the main accompaniments to enchiladas, burritos, tacos...

Coffee

Mexico is the fifth producer of coffee in the world, after Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Vietnam;
It is the first producer of organic coffee and one of the main producers of "gourmet" coffee. Pot
coffee is one of the most common ways to prepare coffee in Mexico. It is made by heating, in
water contained in a large clay pot with a narrow mouth, coarse and even whole coffee beans,
which are mixed in the appropriate way with cinnamon and piloncillo. It is usually consumed a lot
in the countryside or in small towns.

Some regions in Veracruz stand out for the quality of their coffee, such as Coatepec, Córdoba,
Huatusco and Orizaba, the Soconusco region in Chiapas and the Pluma Hidalgo coffee in Oaxaca,
although there is also specific mention of the high quality of the grain produced in Colima and
Uruapan , Michoacan.

Atole

From the Nahuatl atolli, "watery", a drink prepared with cooked corn, ground and diluted in water
and/or milk and boiled until it has a certain consistency. It is prepared and served in this way, or in
its preparation it is mixed with other fruits or ingredients, such as guava, rice, strawberry, pinole,
vanilla, cinnamon, piloncillo, among many others. It usually accompanies dishes such as tamales.
The atole serves as the base for another drink, the chilate.

Chocolate

From the Mayan chocolhaa, "hot drink", and Nahuatl xocoatl or cacahuatl, "cocoa drink",
chocolate drinks were made by most Mesoamerican cultures, including the Mayans and Mexicas.
The Mexicas rewarded the best warriors of the time by granting them the right to freely consume
chocolate. Soldiers were also given species of balls made with cocoa powder so that they could
prepare their chocolate throughout the war. The current drink finally resulted from the
incorporation of sugar in the sixteenth century

Currently the drink has variants throughout the territory, although it is usually served as a hot
drink during breakfast or dinner. There is a variant between chocolate and atole called
champurrado, made from mashed corn dough, dark chocolate and water with vanilla, boiled until
thick. It is usually served with another typical Mexican dish, tamales.
Fresh waters

The fresh waters are without a doubt the most used beverages in Mexican gastronomy during
lunch or dinner, although without the need to accompany something they can be obtained
anywhere in the country, whether in a market, restaurant, shopping center or park. regardless of
the time of year. They are made from fruit juice, water and sugar.

The most traditional can be prepared from sweet fruits (melon, papaya, watermelon, mango,
guava, coconut or pineapple), acid fruits (lemon, chia, lime, orange, tamarind, strawberry,
cucumber, pitahaya, soursop, changunga, tejocote, carambola, grapefruit, tangerine or kiwi) or
grains, flowers or leaves (hibiscus, horchata, alfalfa or barley).

Probably due to their popularity, three of these fresh waters deserve a special mention: horchata
water, a drink based on rice, milk and sugar and that can be accompanied with cinnamon;
Jamaican water, an infusion made from the calyxes (sepals) of the Jamaican rose, very popular all
over the world and which found its special niche in Mexico as a refreshing drink; and chia water, a
drink based on water, lemon, sugar and chia (Salvia hispanica), a plant endemic to Mexico and
Central America widely cultivated in this region in pre-Hispanic times (in some bibliographies it is
mentioned as third in importance only behind of corn and beans), once the mixture is made, the
water obtains a light gelatinous consistency and a pleasant and refreshing flavor, in addition to this
last drink, Mexicans attribute multiple health benefits.

Pulque

Pulque (in the Otomi language known as ñogi, in the Purépecha language as urapi, and in Nahuatl
as meoctli) is a fermented drink made from mucilage -popularly known in Mexico as mead-, agave
or maguey, especially maguey pulquero (Agave salmiana) or Agave atrovirens. In addition to being
a popular drink from the center of the country for its refreshing flavor, its history is full of
mysticism, present in many legends and stories of Mexico. There is a strong pulque and other
"cured" pulque, that is, pulque to which fruits and syrups (pineapple, strawberry, lemon, orange),
seeds (walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts) or grains and legumes (oats, roasted corn) have been
added. , celery, alfalfa, parsley).

Pulque is consumed in pulquerías, very common in urban areas. In the gastronomic aspect, pulque
is not only consumed as a drink, there are Mexican dishes that present pulque as an ingredient to
create a different seasoning in the dishes. It is the indispensable alcoholic element of the
traditional drunken sauce, in addition to being part of the recipes for various types of meats and
broths, an example is pulque chicken, which is prepared as fried chicken seasoned in pulque broth
and served in casseroles. of clay to store the flavor.

Beer
Mexican beers are well known for their quality, for their smooth and delicate flavor, and others for
their strong and intense flavor; They are usually eaten cold and, on many occasions, accompanied
by a lemon. In 2016, the industry reported a production of 105 million hectoliters, which makes
the country the fourth largest producer in the world, and the first exporter of beer worldwide
(21.3% of the beer exported worldwide), being its main destinations are the United States,
Australia and the United Kingdom.

Mexican cuisine and beer turn out to be a very popular combination in Mexico and other parts of
the world, thanks to the fact that beer has a wide range of aromas, flavors, and gastronomic
references that make it versatile with many foods. Beers with a good body, dark, and with
references to chocolate and/or coffee, for example, go with dishes with a great personality, such
as the mole poblano. While spicy dishes do so with a beer with woody and fruity aromas that are
light and fresh at the same time. Although in the culinary tradition liqueurs and distillates are
spoken of as digestives, in the strict sense these can be an irritating digestive burden, which, far
from favoring digestion, can worsen it. This is not the case with wine and beer, which, due to their
low alcohol content, function as true aperitifs and digestifs. Beer is consumed with almost any dish
of Mexican gastronomy, but it is commonly made in the afternoon, with the main course, or when
fish and shellfish are to be consumed.

Wines

The production of wine arrived during the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which brought to America the
species of grape most currently used for wine production, Vitis vinifera, although it is important to
know that the production of beverages by the fruit fermentation, and 4 North American endemic
grape species were widely known. The Mexicas knew the grape as acacholli, the Purépechas knew
it as seruráni, the Otomi called it obxi and the Tarahumara called it úri. To date, the term that
could be used for fermented grapes is discussed, but thanks to this it is not difficult to understand
how easy it was for the locals to adopt the wine tradition.

The early development of wine production and its development through the centuries have made
it an extremely important activity for the Mexican economy. They are distinguished as wine
producers: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato,
Nuevo León, Querétaro and Zacatecas. Mexican wines have been awarded at international
festivals, which has caused a strong impact on the foreign market, although due to their high
quality, some are perceived by social sectors as having a high price.

Desserts
Alegría: Sweet made from amaranth of pre-Hispanic origin, sometimes they can take geometric
shapes and can be called levers.

Rice pudding: Dessert derived from cooking rice with condensed and evaporated milk. Add lemon
juice or vanilla essence, sprinkle with cinnamon, and add raisins and nuts.
Ate: Sweet that can be made with multiple varieties of dehydrated fruits such as guava, pear,
sapote, pumpkin, tejocote, mango and apple.

Borrachitos: Milk-coated sweet made with flour and sprinkled with sugar and with a creamy filling
of flavors such as lemon, pineapple, strawberry, eggnog and others.

Calavera de alfeñique: They are skulls made of cane sugar, decorated with candy with vegetable
dyes and paper. They are very representative of the Day of the Dead, a day when their
consumption increases.

Capirotada: Dessert that consists of toasted bread, cut into slices that are put to cook together
with pieces of banana, raisins, walnuts, guava and peanuts, covered with piloncillo syrup and
grated table cheese.

Chichimbré: Sweet roll, which is made from corn or wheat flour, piloncillo, cinnamon, vanilla and
yeast.

Churros with chocolate.

Tablet chocolate: Round tablet made up of triangular pieces of chocolate. It is also used in the
preparation of moles, pot coffee, hot chocolate, atole and cakes.

Chongos from Zamora: Dessert made with curdled milk and egg, sugar, cinnamon and some spices,
which forms soft and gelatinous pieces with a sweet flavor and a soft and juicy consistency.

Cocada: Made from a mass of coconut and milk that is later baked.

Corico: Corico is a traditional corn cookie from the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

Coyota: Coyotas are a traditional dessert from the Mexican state of Sonora. They are made with
wheat flour, vegetable shortening, sugar and initially stuffed with piloncillo.

Chocolate swarm: Sweet made with a mixture of couverture chocolate and corn flakes.

Crystallized fruit: Fruit in which the process involves cooking the fruits with quicklime, in a similar
way to preparing corn nixtamal.

Garrapiñado or garañipado: Caramelized technique on peanuts, walnuts or almonds, based on

sugar and vanilla in a copper saucepan to obtain a crunchy coverage.

Fried ice cream: Ball of ice cream coated in raw egg, covered with corn or crushed cookies and
fried.

Jamoncillo: Typical sweet that is made from pumpkin seeds.

Macaroons: Sweet milk and dark brown sugar, elongated and very soft consistency.

Marquesitas: Crunchy crepe, with sweet or savory filling.

Muégano: Sweet made with square pieces of wheat flour fried and glued together with honey.

Wafer: Two cookies, in which any variety of cajeta is found inside.

Peanut crowbar: there are amaranth crowbars, but those with peanut pieces are also popular, and
may have other ingredients such as honey, raisins, and different seeds.

Corn bread: Basically made with corn flour, vanilla, eggs, sugar, milk and butter.

Piloncillo: Prepared from the broth, syrup or undistilled juice of sugar cane. It is used as a
sweetener for beverages and desserts.

Tarugo: Typical sweet made from tamarind pulp and sprinkled with sugar.