The art and architectural treasures of Mexico City lure visitors in search of inspiring cultural and historic experiences. Sampling the city’s culinary treasures is a portal to the past as well. Mexico’s cuisine is influenced by centuries of food customs, from the indigenous Maya to Spanish conquerors. Today’s chefs leading the lively food scene add contemporary flair to taste traditions.
At Fonda Mayora, in a park-filled neighborhood of Mexico City, chef Gerardo Vazquez Lugo serves roast pork stuffed with chorizo and pineapple and grilled whole fish presented with tender blue corn tortillas.
“Mexican food is a way to get right to the spirit of the country,” said Paco de Santiago of Eat Mexico culinary tours.
It’s a discovery that defies the stereotypes. “There’s a myth that Mexican food means hard taco shells, sour cream and all spicy food,” Eat Mexico guide Anais Martinez said.
At intimate Pujol, chef Enrique Olvera celebrates Mexico’s crops and ingredients using ancient and modern techniques. Courses include octopus with ink tostado, smoked baby corn with coffee and chile mayonnaise, a lamb taco with avocado leaf adobo and avocado puree, and a suckling pig taco with smoked tortilla, chickpea puree, coriander and red jalapeno.
One of the showstopper dishes is a circle of bright “new” mole sauce surrounded by an intense “mother” mole sauce made 990 days ago. “Moles are a mix of over 40 ingredients, including tomatoes, onions, nuts and seeds, and not always with chocolate as many people think,” Santiago said.
Mexico City markets
The best way to leap into local cuisine is visiting markets such as the Mercado San Juan, where Mexican avocados and limes are piled high, tortillas are handmade, and just-caught Pacific coast seafood glistens on mountains of crushed ice.
Chefs from the St. Regis Mexico City lead guests on market tours, including a sampling of Mexican cheeses. “This one is like a Spanish manchego,” Executive Chef Sylvain Desbois said of one offering.
The hotel’s elegant La Table Krug 11-course tasting menu, designed by Desbois, includes a celebration of rich Mexican chocolate. Warm chocolate sauce is poured from a silver pot, spilling over and into a sponge cake shaped like a cacao pod. Tasty treasures of Mexico.
