Cooking and food vacations in Mexico

Consequently, ancient farming practices and culinary techniques, as well as community culinary customs around festivals, still stand strong in Mexico, with traditional ingredients such as corn, beans and chilli being deliciously omnipresent. Corn tortillas and tamales are both given as offerings on the Day of the Dead celebrations, for example. Tamales are a truly ancient food, made with corn-based dough steamed inside a corn husk or banana leaf, and today it is stuffed with all sorts of sumptuous fillings. It is thought that Aztecs, Mayans, Olmec, Toltecan and even Incas tucked into tamales.

Other indigenous ingredients that date back centuries include tomatoes, squashes, avocados, cocoa, chilli peppers and vanilla. Following the conquest, the Spanish brought rice, sugar, dairy products, citrus fruits. They introduced the prolific use of farmed animals such as cattle, pigs and poultry, as well as spices including cumin, pepper, cloves and cinnamon. So when you think of a traditional meal of tortillas, cheese, salsa and beef, washed down with a Mexican beer with a lime in it, you can start to see a wonderful fusion of both indigenous fare with a good smattering of colonial Spanish seasoning thrown in – a mix known as mestizo.

This goes back to pre-colonial tradition of using tortillas instead of cutlery to eat food. They consist of a corn or wheat tortilla flatbread wrapped around rice, meat, vegetable, chilli, tomato salsa and, if you aren’t drooling enough, lashings of cream.

A white bread roll filled with potato and chorizo. Lightweights need not apply; this is carbs on carbs.

Definitely not one for vegetarians, this is a heap of chopped up beef or pork, which has been marinated and cooked on a spit or skewer, mixed up with onions, chillies and melted cheese, and usually served with a stack of tortillas on the side.

Pronounced mo-lay, this is the national dish of Mexico. Mole really refers to the sauce which is then served with various meats and rice. This ancient recipe is one that families have long held under lock and key, and is prepared for special celebrations. Not surprisingly, therefore, there are many different versions. However, they all contain nuts, fruit and chillies, as well as at least 20 other ingredients. Easy versions are based on a mole paste that comes pre-made. Mole is particularly popular in the historic towns of Puebla and Oaxaca and indeed the former has its own version, known as mole poblano, which has become synonymous with mole now and contains chocolate and chilli. But there are now about as many moles as the French have cheese, and each one could be discussed (and digested) for hours.

Another regional speciality in Puebla is chiles en nogada. This dates back to the 1800s when Spanish nuns created this elegant dish with the three colours of the Mexican flag. It was a tribute to the first leader of Mexico after independence, Agustín de Iturbide, who came to visit them. It is made with green Poblano chillies stuffed with shredded meat and spices, then covered in a walnut-based white sauce (nogal means walnut tree), and decorated with red pomegranate seeds.

The Spanish did not leave their wine culture behind them, but the Mexicans have certainly made up for this with their tequila, mezcal and margaritas, and heritage and contemporary beers.

Mezcal, from Nahuatl tradition, is made from the agave plant which is then crushed, distilled and is dangerously delicious. Tequila is a type of mezcal, although it is only made from one variety of agave, the blue agave. Mezcal can come in over 30 varieties and most of it is made in Oaxaca today.

As for Mexican beer, they can claim this one from long before the Spanish arrived, with ancient Mesoamerican cultures enjoying a cold one made from corn. Known as tesgüino or izquiate, it is still brewed in some states, and Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco have their own version known as pozoi, made with corn and cocoa beans. Beer made with barley and other grains came in with the Europeans, and they haven’t looked back, with Mexico being one of the world’s largest beer exporters. Popular brands include Corona, Bohemia, Sol and Dos Equis.