Every time someone asks me what I miss most about México, I always say, “next to my family, the food!”
Sponsored by the México Today Program. An initiative designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day.
I'm fortunate to live in California where I can find a lot of ingredients to cook my Mexican food; however, for me, and if you have been to México you might agree, Mexican food tastes better on Mexican soil.
Every time I plan a trip to México, I have my list of foods I must eat. Usually my list includes tacos, largas (oval-shaped, thick tortillas filled with a variety of foods like potatoes and cheese or meat and beans, etc), pan dulce (sweet bread, see photo above), tamales, and ice cream.
Depending on the time of year I might add something more, for example, during summer I add fruit with chile and corn on the cob. In winter, I add ponche and pozole, a brothy soup, with sometimes everything but the kitchen sink, and always including hominy.
A few years ago during a family trip to Guanajuato, we invited a friend's daughter to come with us. She had been in love with Mexico but had never been there, so it was a no-brainer, she said yes almost immediately.
I still remember her face each time she tried a new dish, she just couldn't believe the flavors and the variety of foods. Here are a few pics of some of my favorite foods, ready?
Guanajuato style Cafe Cappuccino (maple syrup on the bottom) with tres leches cake is one of my favorite combinations. There is nothing better than sitting with friends in a café on the plaza with a Cappuccino and a slice of tres leches cake.
I did that a lot when I was in college. I loved it. My friends and I would sit for hours, talking, laughing, and watching people walk by. Mole! (a blend of herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, and sometimes chocolate).
In México you can get mole in green, black, red, and brown, and probably a few other colors. In this picture, feast your eyes on a dish of black mole and chicken, yummy!
When I was a child I used to spend a lot of time with one of my mom's aunts. She would buy anything I pointed to, specially fruit.
I love, love, love, tunas (cactus fruit, not to be confused with fish, please) they are sweet, juicy, and fresh. If you add chile, they taste even better.
In summer, you can see puestos (street carts) everywhere with watermelon, jícama, oranges, mangos, coconut, most any fruit you can imagine. Aguas frescas always bring sweet memories. In Mexico we mix fruit, water, and sugar to taste to make these fresh and delicious beverages.
In this picture you can see agua de limón (lime), agua de horchata (horchata is a delicious beverage made with rice, cinnamon, and almonds) and agua de tuna roja (cactus fruit). The three together are green, white, and red, like the Mexican flag.
This is my all time favorite Mexican bread, we call them roscas. They taste heavenly if you dip them in hot chocolate or champurrado (a corn-based beverage with chocolate).
This is one of my son's favorite breads, we call them libros (books), they are crunchy and sweet, you need a plate because they are crumbly.
And of course, we have to have helado de limón (lime ice cream), my kids usually get one a day when we are in Mexico! They just cannot get enough of it.
How about you? What are your favorite Mexican foods? What Mexican dish would you like to try in Mexico?
Disclosure: I´m being compensated for my work in creating content for the México Today Program. I was also invited to an all-expense paid trip to Oaxaca as part of my role. All stories, opinions, and passion for all things México shared here are completely my own. Mexico Today is an initiative of Marca País – Imagen de México, a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and as an unrivaled tourist destination. The program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day.
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