GASTRONOMY OF JALISCO

México » States » Jalisco » Gastronomy

Typical Food of JALISCO

The state of Jalisco has an amazing diverse and delicious cuisine, it is arguably one of the most traditional regions of Mexico. When Spanish settlers came to the region they introduced several ingredients to the Mexican diet. This fusion of cuisines and ingredients has made Mexican cuisine one of the most extensive and nuanced cuisines in the world.

Pozole
Pozole

Classic dishes for the area include the Birria, a dish made of beef, goat, or lamb baked in a sauce with several spices, hot peppers, and chopped onion, prepare it is in a barbecue, in a hole in the ground; the pozole, stewlike soup of pork or chicken, hominy, mild chili peppers, and coriander leaves; the pipian, a sauce served as a condiment or marinade sauce for poultry, seafood, pork, and vegetable dishes; tostada de pata, fried tortilla with beef meat; enchiladas tapatías, a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a creamy poblano chile and tomato sauce; and the famous tortas ahogadas, a sandwich made of a special bread called “birote” (saltier than bread rolls) stuffed with pork covered or “drowned” in a spicy sauce prepared with tomatoes and hot peppers.

If you enjoy the desserts, here you will find a wide variety of sweets like: arroz con leche, rice simmered with condensed milk and flavored with cinnamon sticks and raisins; the capirotada, a type of bread pudding with syrup and fruits; jericallas, a cross between flan and creme brulee; glorias, burned milk candy with nuts; cocadas, made with grated fresh coconut; cajeta de membrillo, a thickened syrup with quince fruit; and sweetened tamarind pulp, amog others.

Jalisco is known worldwide for it’s production of high quality tequila. The famous drink is made from agave grown in the town of Tequila, located less than an hour from Guadalajara.

If you are looking for something softer and a refreshing drink, you can try the tejuino, a cold beverage made from fermented corn.

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Torta Ahogada
Torta Ahogada
Torta Ahogada

It is a classic of Guadalajara cuisine that has spread throughout Jalisco and Mexico. It is prepared with birote bread, with a firm interior and crunchy shell, which is filled with Jalisco-style carnitas and then dipped in a sauce based on Yahualica’s chile de arbol, which imparts its peculiar flavor. Another ingredient that cannot be missing from the torta ahogada is the flaked onion.

The onion is deflected by boiling it, adding lemon after it settles. According to Guadalajara legend, the dish was invented by a hungry laborer who came home and all he got to eat was a beer, some carnitas and an unknown sauce. He improvised a torta and was so delighted that he later told his wife to make the same sauce for him.

Carne en su Jugo (Meat in its juice)

It is a beef stew whose presence in restaurants is relatively recent, since it was created in 1967 by the chef Roberto de La Torre. The first thing to do is to brown pieces of bacon in a clay pot, so that they cook in their own fat. Small cubes of beef, about a centimeter on a side, minced onion, and other seasonings are then added. When the meat is about to cook, add previously softened beans and bean broth, waiting about 7 minutes until everything is well integrated.

Pozole Tapatio

Pozole is a tasty broth whose main ingredient is the grains of a variety of white corn called cacahuazintle, which is native to Mexico. The pozole can be white or red, depending on the ingredients. The Tapatío-style red pozole is colored with guajillo chili and has pork or chicken meat.

Frijoles Charros (Charro beans)

The charro is one of the most popular characters in Mexican culture and the charrería originated in Jalisco long before it became a national and international show. Each region has its own particular touch for preparing charro beans, but in all of them, the recipe that best identifies with the horsemen with wide-brimmed hats and typical costumes, is a succulent broth with the popular grains, dressings and some animal component.

The most frequent additions are usually chili, garlic, onion, tomato, coriander, pork, bacon, chorizo, pork rinds, ham and sausages. The people of Jalisco also make a version of dry charro beans to which they add a ranchero sauce prepared with tomato, onion and green chili.

Birria
Birria
Birria

The most traditional meat to make the typical Jalisco birria is goat, although lamb is also frequently used. Beef birrias are a resource given the lack of the two main meats, at the price of losing the Jalisco spirit of the dish. The goat meat is bathed in a sauce based on chili peppers, dressings and spices and is wrapped in maguey leaves. It is placed in a clay bowl and placed in a hole for traditional cooking on hot volcanic stones. The broth that results from cooking is delicious and serves as a sauce to eat, although you can add another dressing when served.

Menudo Jalisciense

The paternity of the Mexican Menudo recipe, whose basic ingredient is beef belly, is disputed by Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato. There is a legend about the Mexican often that the set was popularized by a case of indigenous discrimination. A butcher refused to sell good cuts to the Indians, telling them they had to settle for the giblets of offal and legs. The indigenous people made such tasty paunch stews that soon white people and mestizos found out about the recipe and began to prepare it. The people of Jalisco make a delicious red menudo, which is one of the dishes most appreciated by the people of Guadalajara.

Borrego al Pastor (Lamb al pastor)

It is another typical dish of Jalisco, being one of the gastronomic emblems of the municipality of Tapalpa. It is prepared on a stick by roasting the whole piece over the embers of wood embers, in a similar way to how the kid is made. Many people go to the Sierra de Tapalpa to enjoy a splendid climate while tasting a lamb al pastor in establishments that have been preparing it for decades.

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Sopes

Also called pellizcadas and picaditas, are thicker and smaller corn tortillas than usual, which are fried with butter and eaten with a topping that can be made of cheese, pork rinds, meat or vegetables, sprinkled with a spicy sauce. They are edged to more easily retain the filling, especially its liquid part. The sopes or soups from Guadalajara include chorizo, grated fresh cheese, refried beans and lettuce.

Caldo Michi
Caldo Michi
Caldo Michi (Michi broth)

This fish soup cooked in its juices is traditional in the Jalisco municipality of Ocotlán, on the southern border with Lake Chapala. The term “michi” means “fish” in the Nahua language. The most widely used fish are catfish and tilapia, and the broth is seasoned with serrano pepper, chipotle pepper, tomato and green tomato. The most used vegetables are potatoes, chayote and zucchini.

Cuachala

Cuachala is originally from the Jalisco town of Ciudad Guzmán and is a very popular dish in Jalisco and Colima. It is a broth that is prepared with shredded chicken or pork, with pasilla or cascabel peppers, adding corn balls to give the soup more consistency.

Camarones Embarazados (Pregnant Shrimp)

It is a dish from the coastal area of Jalisco, particularly from Puerto Vallarta. On the beaches of Jalisco, it is common to see street vendors with their rods of 5 or 6 pregnant shrimp and lemon slices. The shrimp are marinated in a sauce made of garlic, roasted tomatoes, pasilla chili, onion, orange juice and spices, and then they are roasted whole. They are eaten with lemon, salt, chili and mayonnaise.

Pachola

The pachola is a minced or ground meat pancake, whose invention is attributed to the Jalisco municipalities of Mazamitla, Tlaquepaque and Lagos de Moreno. The meat is prepared in a metate, mixed with ground ancho chili, garlic, bread and spices, especially cumin. Then small cakes are made that are fried or roasted on a comal or grill.

Jericallas
Jericallas
Jericallas

Sometimes a kitchen forgetfulness ends in a lucky discovery. The legend of the jericalla tells that in the 19th century, a Spanish nun from Hospicio Cabañas, in the old San Juan de Dios neighborhood of downtown Guadalajara, was very concerned about the malnourished appearance of the children of the orphanage. The nun decided to give the boys something sweet and nutritious, and made a kind of flan, mixing milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon.

The nun put the preparation to bake, but forgot it and when she remembered it, she thought it had burned. She tasted it and it was burnt but so tasty that she decided to honor Jérica, her place of birth in Spain, with the name. We hope you enjoyed our gastronomic walk through Jalisco. See you very soon for another delightful culinary tour of Mexico.

Tejuino

Tejuino from Guadalajara is a refreshing drink made from sprouted corn, typical of Guadalajara, which can be found in different parts of the city and other Jalisco towns. It is sweetened with brown sugar and sugar and lemon is added. The refreshing tejuino must be differentiated from tesguino, in which the corn is allowed to ferment to the maximum to make a liqueur. Tesguino is a typical drink of the Tarahumara ethnic group.

Capirotada

The Spanish capirotada is a savory dish that includes cheese, eggs and often partridge. Instead, the Mexican capirotada is a dessert that is prepared in several states, including Jalisco. Toast bread is used for the capirotada or the one that has become hard, which is cut into slices, which are cooked with fruit pieces such as banana, raisins and guava, also adding nuts or peanuts, and covering the preparation with a syrup piloncillo and grated cheese.

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