CULINARY THUMBNAIL

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

1. cool to subtropical mountainous landscape provides environment for many kinds of produce
2. indigenous cultures have contributed many recipes

TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR

Taco de siete semillas, or "seven-seeds taco," a prehispanic meal sold in the market of Tepoztlán; served with rice and amaranth and topped with mole; a glass of sapodilla and tangerine juice sits beside it; copyright-free image courtesy of "thelastcarmusai" and made available through Wikimedia Commons.

• Calabacitas con Rajas y Elote -- squash dish prepared with chilies, cheese, cream, sweetcorn, tomatoes, onion and garlic
• Torta de Nopales -- cactus-pad slivers prepared with eggs, chili, onion, garlic cilantro, and other spices
• Cerdo en Salsa de Cacahuate -- pig meat prepared with a sauce based on peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes and onion
• Sopa de Flor de Calabaza con Flor -- squash/pumpkin dish prepared with squash flowers, onion, garlic, "Mexican tea" (Chenopodium ambrosioides) and meat broth
• Sopa de Nopalitos con Huevo -- sliced cactus pad prepared with chicken broth, eggs, chili, onion and garlic

SWEETS

• Alegría --amaranth seeds toasted until they pop sweetened with honey and/or syrup of unrefined brown sugar
• Palanqueta -- a crisp candy based on peanuts sweetened with brown-sugar syrup and/or refined sugar
• Jamoncillo de pepita -- finely ground pumpkin seeds prepared with milk and unrefined brown sugar

TRADITIONAL ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

• Pulque -- mildly intoxicating drink made by fermenting the sap, or aguamiel, of the maguey agave
• Mosco -- liquor based on oranges or orange peel
• Chumiate --fruit liqueurs of various kinds
• 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 morelos City.