Brownson cites
huaraches, “Mexican flatbreads made from fresh corn
masa,” as “gaining popularity as an upscale taco alternative.” Other items on her watch list include grilled meats in the Guadalajaran open-pit style. “Americans are fascinated with everything cooked over hardwood,” she says.
Mexico’s cowboy country
If some of this regional Mexican fare proves a bit baffling, simply travel to the border states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila or Nuevo León to find familiar ground. It’s these states in Mexico’s “Old West” cattle country that gave us the foods we call Tex-Mex.
With its arid climate and sandy soil, the north didn’t take naturally to agriculture, and for years its indigenous inhabitants, the Chichimecs, lived as hunter-gathers. Then came the Spanish, who discovered prime grazing territory in the scrubby land and established a regional ranching tradition. We taste that tradition today both in the dried and salted beef known as machaca—a staple in burritos norteños—as well as in cabrito al pastor, baby goat grilled over mesquite and served with guacamole, roasted onions, salsa and tortillas.
In the Monterrey area, says Pulido, the vegetables commonly used in foods include “chile poblano, chile Serrano, potatoes, whole corn ear, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, lentil, pinto beans, garbanzo and peas.”
Unlike elsewhere in Mexico, northern tortillas will be made from wheat flour, not corn. Although the Spanish largely failed in their attempts to supplant corn with Old World wheat—which, according to food writer Karen Hursh Graber, was the only grain the Spanish considered suitable for communion wafers—their efforts did take hold in Mexico’s north, where wheat remains the grain of choice for that region’s tortillas and breads.
Another hallmark of la cocina norteña is the abundance of dairy products—not surprising, given the cattle, goats and sheep that graze there. Perhaps the most famous is queso chihuahua, also known as queso menonita after the Mennonite community that brought it to Mexico. This pale-yellow cheese varies in flavor from mild to Cheddar-sharp and is popular breaded and fried as queso frito. Other common cheese varieties include panela, a fresh, unripened cheese made from whole or partly skimmed cow’s milk with a thatched surface pattern from the baskets in which it’s molded, and requeson, a soft, ricotta-like cheese perfect for enchiladas.
Also in Mexico’s north is the state of Baja, a prime vacation spot for North Americans and Mexicans alike and, according to Chris Keegan, R&D chef, Cargill Flavor Systems, Cincinnati, a place to watch for up-and-coming regional Mexican trends. “I’m intrigued by most Mexican regional cuisines,” he says, “but currently, I’m enjoying studying the Baja region. It has a rich heritage of Russian and Asian influences, which results in very complex, full-bodied flavor profiles.”
Whether authentic—or perhaps slightly skewed toward more-mainstream tastes—even the most regional of Mexican fare can prove somewhat familiar from time to time.
Kimberly J. Decker, a California-based technical writer, has a B.S. in consumer food science with a minor in English from the University of California, Davis. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where she enjoys eating and writing about food. You can reach her at
kim@decker.net.