CULINARY THUMBNAIL

Here are the main characteristics of this state's cuisine:

1. nearby Mexico City draws cuisines from the whole republic
2. highland desert, oak-pine slopes and high mountains provide a number of arid-land food-producing environments
3. the state's indigenous cultures contribute many recipes

TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR

Order of quesadilla con huitlacoche consisting of a tortilla folded over melted cheese and cooked corn smut fungus, the fungus naturally infecting ears of corn; the smut most simply is prepared by sauteing in a skillet with onion and epazote herb, though many recipes exist; image from a restaurant in Calle Coahuila (Roma Norte) of Mexico City; copyright-free image courtesy of "Paulakindsvater" via Wikimedia Commons.

• Chorizo -- spicy sausage combined with either chili (chorizo verde) or a variety of chopped herbs
• Trucha -- trout prepared in a number of ways, including:
  • Trucha al Mojo de Ajo -- with garlic sauce
  • Trucha a la Naranja -- in orange sauce
  • Trucha a la Mexicana -- chili and tomato sauce
• Tlacoyos -- made with blue cornmeal filled with bean paste, baked on a comal and topped with shredded cheese and hot sauce
• Barbacoa de Borrego - barbecued sheep
• Sopa de Hongos -- soup made with wild mushrooms
• Arroz Verde con Plátanos Fritos -- rice with fried bananas

SWEETS

• Alfeñique -- sugar paste, produced in many novel forms
• Limones Rellenos de Coco -- sweet made of lemons filled with coconut

TRADITIONAL ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

• Pulque -- mildly intoxicating drink made by fermenting the sap, or aguamiel, of the maguey agave
• Chiloctli -- pulque fermented with chili peppers and the herb epazote, sometimes called "Mexican Tea," Chenopodium ambrosioides
• Nanche -- aguardiente, cane alcohol, with chilies, "Mexican Tea," and fruit of the loquat tree

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.