CULINARY THUMBNAIL

Here are three characteristics of this state's cuisine:

1. great seafood in towns along its enormous coastline
2. expert beef preparation because of its arid-inland ranching
3. much processed food and articles made of wheat flour instead of cornmeal because of its proximity to the USA

TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR

• Gallo Pinto -- minced beef with rice, potato and other vegetables served as a hot stew
• Machaca -- dried, salted beef that is rehydrated, lightly roasted over fire, soaked in water to remove the salt and to soften, then pounded to pieces, ideally over a mesquite trunk, by a mesquite pole. Then it's put in water again to get out more salt, and finally squeezed and fried in a skillet. A salsa is made with onion, chili, tomato and oregano, the salsa is mixed into the fried beef and the whole thing is cooked for about five minutes. Most people expect to eat this with wheat tortillas, beans and coffee. In the northern Baja there is a machaca made with eggs, machaca con huevo
• Almejada -- especially in Loreto, local clams cooked by piling dry wood over them, then eating them with hot-sauce, cilantro, lemon juice and salt.

SPECIAL CHEESE

• De Apoyo -- a dry cheese especially good for grating, produced mostly during the rainy season

SPECIAL SWEET

• Chimangos -- wheat-flour fritters topped with honey

Information on this page based on material presented in Gastronomía: Atlas cultural de México, 1988, an extensive and well illustrated work by various authors, published by the Secretaría del Educación Pública, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Mexico City.