CULINARY THUMBNAIL

Here are two characteristics of this state's cuisine:

1. semi-arid upland ranches provide fresh meat
2. in the valley between mountain ranges, the Bajío region forms a rich farming area providing excellent produce

TRADITIONAL DISHES TO LOOK FOR

Order of nopal cactus, chile toreado (serrano or jalapeño peppers gently crushed and rolled with the hands to make them spicier) and la arrachera (rib or tenderloin cuts); image from Tequisquiapan, copyright free image courtesy of "a01561975_Ilse" via Wikimedia Commons.

• Tamales de Fresa-- Strawberry tamales; also tamales of guava (guayaba), garbanzo, and peanut (cacahuate)
• Cecina Seca con Naranja Agria -- dried pork with bitter orange
• Sopa de elote -- sweetcorn soup, in season
• Huaraches -- oblong item about ten inches long made of fried masa and stuffed with yellowish bean paste, and liberally garnished

SWEETS

• camote -- candied sweet- potato cut into bars and wrapped in paper
• capirotada -- especially found during Lent, a white-bread pudding with various combinations of ingredients, such as cheese, tomato, peanuts, raisins, and biznaga cactus, all covered with syrup
• jamoncillo -- finely ground nuts or seeds, especially pumpkin, pine-nuts, or peanuts, prepared with milk and sugar

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.