Mexican gastronomy was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010, making it one of the most famous cuisines in the world.
Mexican gastronomy is valued as one of the best gastronomies in the world, due to its high diversity of ingredients and quality raw materials and its traditional ancestral elaborations inherited from its culture, but above all, thanks to the variety of flavours that explode on the palate, and its addictive and colourful dishes.
In Mexican gastronomy we find typical dishes such as tacos, totopos or enchiladas, but there is a wide variety of dishes behind this culture and gastronomy. Do you want to know which ones?
The 10 best-known dishes of Mexican gastronomy
Nachos
What better way to start our Mexican feast than with some nachos to share. They are one of the most popular dishes in Mexico. If you don’t know them yet, they are pieces of corn tortilla which are fried to form the famous totopos. They are then topped with cheese and different ingredients such as guacamole, meat, stews, onion, tomato, pico de gallo or cilantro among others.
Without a doubt, nachos are one of the starters par excellence of Mexican gastronomy.
Tacos
Tacos are probably Mexico’s most famous dish. It consists of a tortilla, usually made of corn, with a stew inside.
Tacos come in a wide variety of preparations. For example, in our taquerias we offer from the classics like chicken with cheese or steak with cheese, to the spicy ones like spicy chicken or rolled chicken.
Of course, you can’t leave Las Taquerias without trying the most famous and traditional tacos such as tacos al pastor or cochinita pibil.
Quesadillas
In the quesadillas the real protagonist is the cheese, although there is a wide variety of preparations. In our menu you can taste the classic ones filled with melted cheese on the grill.
We also have a wide variety, highlighting the Huitlacoche quesadillas, with delicious corn mushroom, Xochil quesadillas, with soft squash blossom, and Norteñas, with chorizo or mushrooms.
Guacamole
Guacamole is one of the most emblematic starters in Mexican cuisine. A delicious recipe made with ripe avocados, diced tomato and onion, Serrano chilli and lime juice. Ideal to enjoy with crunchy tortilla chips.
Guacamole is generally not a main dish, and is usually found in many restaurants as a starter with some tortilla chips as a side dish.
At Las Taquerias de Birra you can enjoy it either way, as a starter or as an addition to your main course.
Enchiladas
Enchiladas are mainly made of corn tortillas, chilli (with varying degrees of spiciness) and cheese. To these ingredients you can add other vegetables such as lettuce, tomato, jalapeño or beans, and/or also beef and carrots, in order to achieve different flavours and textures.
At BIrra Taquerias we offer different types of enchiladas such as the enchilada suiza, chicken enchilada, enchilada ranchera, enchilada enfrijolada and enchilada pibil (among others), all of which are covered in sauce, covered with cheese and baked in the oven so you can enjoy this dish as if you were in Mexico itself.
Pozole
Pozole is a corn broth that foams to give it a special quality, and is served with strips of lettuce, onion, radishes and corn tortillas.
There are 2 varieties:
- The red pozole, which is generally made by cooking corn kernels with pork, bay leaves, onion, garlic and salt. Finally, a sauce made of crushed red chillies and diced avocado is added.
- The pozole verde, in which corn is boiled with chicken, and green tomato sauce, chillies, bay leaves, poblanos, salt, jalapeños, pumpkin seeds, onion, oregano and cumin are added.
Tamales
Tamales can be found everywhere in Latin America, but in Mexico they have a great relevance, because the Olmec, Mexica and Mayan people have been eating them in religious rituals or marriages for hundreds of years.
Mexican tamales are made of corn flour filled with vegetables, shredded meat, chillies and even sweet fruits, wrapped in corn or banana leaves and steamed. Finally it is accompanied by coriander, onion, cheese and egg.
Cochinita Pibil
The cochinita pibil is composed of pork marinated with achiote and cooked wrapped in banana leaves to achieve a wonderful reddish colour. It is usually seasoned with salt and pepper, marinated onion, orange juice, lime juice, salt and hot chillies.
Once this stew (originally from the Yucatan region) is made, it is prepared in the embers of an oven completely sealed underground, thus maintaining the substance of the meat, using a pre-Hispanic technique called pibil.
Mole
Mole is a delicious sauce made of chillies, corn dough, bolillo (white or French bread) and different spices, mostly served with cooked meats.
Mole is not a main dish, but as a sauce it is more of a side dish.
But depending on the ingredients you add, your mole can become a main dish. Mole poblano, red, green, black or chimole are the essential types of mole in the Aztec country.
As a peculiarity of this dish, if you are a person who can’t stand spicy, this recipe may not be to your taste, because it has several spices that will make your palate burn with every bite.
Cajeta crepes
As the last dish, you could not miss a dessert to add to your menu. Crepes de cajeta, also known as dulce de leche, is a very common dessert throughout Latin America.
In Mexico, and in our restaurants in the capital, it is common to eat it and it is sure to surprise you.
And for you, what is your favourite Mexican dish? Have we forgotten any of them? Comment and leave us your opinion about these typical Mexican dishes or others that we haven’t mentioned or that you would like us to include in our menu.
Suggestions are welcome!Remember! At Taqueria de Birra we are experts in tacos and Mexican food since 1989, so if you want to try some tacos in the purest Mexican style, we invite you to order to take away or come and try them in our establishments in C/ Don Pedro, 11 and Comendadoras square, 2.
