Mexican food is complex, varied and completely regional with each state boasting a rich cuisine all their own. Photo / Supplied
Mexican food is complex, varied and completely regional with each state boasting a rich cuisine all their own. Photo / Supplied
Kiwi food YouTubers Thomas & Sheena Southam are on an eternal quest to find the most delicious local food the world has to offer. This week, they check out the best bites in Mexico City.
Mexico City - home to 21.5 million people and a phenomenal food culture - humswith a chaotic energy that makes it irresistible to travellers. Arrive with an open mind and a huge appetite and you'll be richly rewarded. But let's get one thing clear: Mexican food is not Tex-Mex.
Hold the beans, piles of shredded cheese and mince and prepare for flavours and textures that will blow your mind. The food is complex, varied and completely regional, with each state boasting a rich cuisine all their own.
You could spend the rest of your life travelling around this country, eat a new dish every day and still barely scratch the surface. Here are a few ideas to help you come to grips with the culinary lie of the land…
Hotel breakfasts can be a godsend in some cities but in Mexico City it's a complete waste of precious stomach space. Break your fast on the street with one of the city's most popular street foods: tamales. Tamales consist of a corn dough (masa) containing a filling which is then wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. Creamy soft masa and a flavoursome filling - which can range from shredded pork cooked in a spicy sauce to chicken mole - is one of our favourite ways to start the day in Mexico. Wash it all down with atole, a sweet breakfast drink of chocolate or rice thickened with masa.
2. Familiarise yourself with local ingredients at La Merced…
The heart and soul of Mexico can be found in its markets. Each neighbourhood in Mexico City has its own but you might as well go big and head to the grandaddy of them all - La Merced. It's a given that you will get lost here. La Merced is the largest traditional food market in the city, but as you weave your way in and out of the various market halls and alleyways you'll start to get a sense of what Mexican cuisine is all about.
Wander past heaving sacks of dried chillies that tickle the back of your throat and make you sneeze with their intensity, and watch nopal (cactus) pads being stripped of their prickly spines by vendors who work so fast their knives are a blur. Men balancing crates of produce charge past with their trolleys and shoppers haggle for a bargain over the mountains of fragrant limes and bushels of herbs. It's impossible not to feel hungry when exploring La Merced, so it's the perfect place to get comfortable with one of the city's favourite pastimes: eating.
If you spot a taco stand sporting a giant steamed cow's head, weat there. Order a couple of tacos, and fresh tortillas will be loaded with tender meat pulled straight from the head. Pile the meat with onion, coriander, lime and spicy salsa verde - it's an explosion of flavour. Next nab a seat at one of the stalls grilling up huarache, a Mexico City speciality made of masa shaped into an oval and smeared with crushed pinto beans before being loaded with toppings of your choice. We suggest you give cactus a try here - it tastes like a cross between a capsicum and a gherkin. Add a bit of cheese, onion and salsa and you're set! Wash it all down with a freshly squeezed orange juice before diving back into the dimly lit market halls for more exploring.
La Merced is the largest traditional food market in the city, and will give you a sense of what Mexican cuisine is all about. Photo / Supplied
3. Embark on your own taco crawl
Tacos are the city's lifeblood. You'll find taco restaurants all over the city and taqueros (taco vendors) on every street corner. What kind of tacos should you eat? The list is long, so let's start with some of the city's best!
El Vilsito is a mechanic by day and a taco joint by night specialising in al pastor tacos. Created by the country's Lebanese immigrants, al pastor will quickly jump to the top of your "favourite things ever eaten" list. Pork is stacked on a spit in the style of a shawarma and shaved on to a tortilla. A whole pineapple roasts on top of the spit and slices are shaved off and added to each taco along with diced onion and coriander. Juicy, smoky meat punctuated by bites of sweet, roasted pineapple - it's utterly addictive. Another must visit is El Pescadito who specialise in fish tacos. Their famous ta-cocote is a behemoth packed with a deep fried chilli stuffed with marlin, battered prawns and more marlin - and that's before you've loaded it up with salsa and sauces. This is the taco of your dreams.
Eat it at El Vilsito, Avenida Universidad, Narvarte Poniente. Open Monday to Thursday 7.30pm-2am. Friday and Saturday 7.30pm-5am. Sunday 4pm- midnight and El Pescadito, Atlixco 38 esquina Juan Escutia, Condesa. Open 11am-6pm.
Tacos are the city's lifeblood - you'll find taco restaurants all over the city and taqueros (taco vendors) on every street corner. Photo / Supplied
