The atlas · A cuisine · Mexico

Mexican

Also Cocina mexicana

Maize, chillies and fire: a cooking thousands of years deep, built on nixtamalised corn, a whole spectrum of dried chillies, and salsas at every meal.

Where it comes from

Its foundation is maize, and the Mesoamerican technique of nixtamalisation — cooking corn with lime (calcium hydroxide) so it can be ground to masa, unlocking its nutrition and its flavour. Chillies, tomatoes, tomatillos, beans, squash, cacao and vanilla all come from here.

After the Spanish conquest, pork, dairy, wheat and spices joined the pantry, and the cooking absorbed them into its own logic. In 2010, traditional Mexican cuisine became the first national cuisine added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.

Where in it

  1. OaxacaOften called the land of the seven moles, with negro the darkest of them — and tlayudas, quesillo, chapulines and chocolate ground at the market mills.Mole negro
  2. PueblaA city of convent kitchens and colonial tiles, and the home of mole poblano and chiles en nogada. Its Lebanese families' tacos árabes led to al pastor.Mole poblanoChiles en nogada
  3. Mexico CityWhere the whole country's cooking meets, much of it at street stalls: tacos al pastor off the trompo late into the night, tamales and atole in the morning.Tacos al pastor
  4. YucatánMaya cooking, with achiote, bitter orange and the earth oven, the pib — and habanero salsas on every table.Cochinita pibil
  5. JaliscoGuadalajara and the country around it: birria, pozole rojo, tortas ahogadas drowned in chilli sauce, and the agave fields of tequila.Birria
  6. VeracruzThe Gulf port where Spain first landed, and where olives, capers and olive oil met Mexican tomatoes and chillies — above all over fish.Pescado a la veracruzana

How it cooks

Nixtamalización
Corn simmered and soaked in limewater, then ground to masa for tortillas and tamales.
Tatemar
Charring tomatoes, chillies and onion on a dry comal until blistered, for depth in salsas.
Toasting and soaking dried chillies
A few seconds on the comal, then soaked and blended — too long and they turn bitter.
Frying the salsa
A blended sauce poured into hot fat and cooked down until it darkens: sazonar.

Always in the kitchen

masa harinadried chilliestomatilloplum tomatowhite oniongarliclimecorianderMexican oreganocuminlardqueso frescoavocadoachiote paste

Cook from it

Tonight, with what's good in October

Its classics

MexicanMole poblanoA dark, complex sauce of several dried chillies, nuts, seeds, spices and a little chocolate, served over turkey or chicken.No one here has made it yetMexicanCochinita pibilPork marinated in achiote and bitter orange, wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked until it falls apart.No one here has made it yetMexicanTacos al pastorPork in a red chilli adobo, stacked on a vertical spit, shaved onto small corn tortillas with pineapple, onion and coriander.No one here has made it yetMexicanSalsa verdeTomatillos, green chilli, onion and coriander, boiled or charred and blended — sharp, green, on everything.No one here has made it yetMexicanChilaquilesYesterday's tortillas, cut and fried crisp, then tossed in red or green salsa and topped with crema, cheese and onion.No one here has made it yetMexicanTamalesMasa beaten with lard and stock, spread on a corn husk or banana leaf around a filling, folded and steamed.No one here has made it yetMexicanGuacamoleRipe avocado crushed with lime, onion, green chilli, coriander and salt — rough, fresh and made just before eating.No one here has made it yetMexicanMole negroOaxaca's black mole: chilhuacle and other dried chillies toasted almost to char, ground with nuts, seeds, fruit, spice and chocolate into a near-black sauce.No one here has made it yetMexicanChiles en nogadaRoasted poblano chillies stuffed with a picadillo of meat and fruit, under a cold walnut cream and scattered with pomegranate and parsley.No one here has made it yetMexicanBirriaGoat or beef marinated in a paste of dried chillies, vinegar and spice, cooked slowly until it falls apart, and served in its own rich broth.No one here has made it yetMexicanPescado a la veracruzanaRed snapper baked or simmered in a sauce of tomato, onion and garlic with green olives, capers and pickled chillies.No one here has made it yet

How it got here

Early 1900s · from Lebanon to PueblaThe vertical spitLebanese families who settled in Puebla brought the vertical spit of shawarma. Mexican cooks swapped lamb for pork in a chilli adobo, crowned it with pineapple — and made tacos al pastor.Tacos al pastor →

Cooked here

No one here has cooked Mexican yet.