Insight Guides Mexico

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• ISBN:
  9781780058023
• Edition: 9
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

A fantastic year-round destination, Mexico offers unrivaled sight-seeing and adventures, from ancient temples to white-water rafting and colonial gems to beautiful beaches. Insight Guide Mexico is a comprehensive full-color guide to this beautiful country. The book is packed with stunning photography on every page that brings to life Mexico's people, landscape and wildlife. Our Best Of Mexico highlights the top attractions, such as the ruined cities of Uxmal and Chichn Itz, the pyramids of Teotihuacn and the spectacular Copper Canyon. Our lively features on Mexico's history and culture provide an in-depth introduction to what makes the country unique.Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you plan your itinerary, while the travel tips give you all the essential information for organizing a memorable trip, such as transportation, climate, festivals, and outdoor activities, plus our selection of the best hotels and restaurants.

Eating Out

Price Categories

Price categories are for a meal for one person without drinks:

$ = under 130 pesos

$$ = 130–280 pesos

$$$ = more than 280 pesos

What to eat

Breakfast in Mexico

Breakfast is traditionally a major meal in Mexico, often eaten early, in the cool of the morning around 7am, which sets you up for the day. Eggs feature in most of the classic breakfast favorites, found all over the country, such as, most famously, huevos rancheros (tortillas topped by refried beans, a spicy tomato sauce and fried eggs). Huevos revueltos means scrambled eggs, but in Mexico this is often served with something else mixed in, such as ham or onion; huevos a la mexicana means scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage, onion, peppers, and chili. If a menu says huevos al gusto this means “as you like,” so you have a choice of fried (estrellados) or revueltos with various optional additions, such as con jamón (with ham).

One hefty breakfast staple without eggs is chilaquiles – fried tortilla strips in a cheese sauce with tomato, chili, peppers, and chicken or turkey. Different areas also have their own specialties, such as huevos motuleños in the Yucatán, tortillas topped by beans, peas, a chili-tomato sauce, ham, grated cheese, and fried eggs. Restaurants and hotels commonly offer breakfast “packages,” with coffee and fresh juice (usually superb) included. Many places also now offer “American breakfasts,” with such things as hot cakes and waffles.

Later in the day

Mexico is a huge country and its cuisine is immensely varied. The staples commonly identified as “Mexican food” abroad – and which are now also found across the country itself – such as fajitas, burritos, enchiladas, and so on form only part of the range, and mainly originate from northern Mexico, near the US border. A “trinity” of ingredients has formed the historic basis of cooking across Mexico since pre-Hispanic times, and turn up in most states in all kinds of dishes – beans, chili peppers, and corn tortillas. Nevertheless, this still leaves great room for invention, and every region has its specialties.

Aside from the familiar tortilla-based snacks, northern Mexican food is often fairly simple, hearty, and meat-and-barbecue based, favorites including puntas de res (chargrilled strips of beef, usually served with tomatoes and onions) and arracheras, thin-cut steaks. One exception is the city of Durango, with its complex caldillo duranguense (stew with machaca; dried shredded meat) theming a rather unique mountain cuisine here. In general, the farther south you go, the more complex dishes become, with a more intricate use of herbs and chilis. One of the real “must-tries” of Mexican cooking – rarely done well in Mexican restaurants outside the country – is pollo con mole, chicken in a thick savory chocolate sauce; traditionally, the richest moles come from Oaxaca. A delicious specialty of Puebla – now also found elsewhere – is chile en nogada, a large green chili stuffed with beef and herbs, and in a walnut and pomegranate sauce. The Yucatán has a very distinctive cuisine of its own, making great use of tropical fruits, spices, and cilantro; specialties include pollo pibil, chicken marinated in achiote spices and bitter orange juice and baked in banana leaves.

Anywhere near the coast a wide range of generally excellent fish and seafood will be available. Popular varieties of fish are gray mullet (mojarra) and red snapper (huachinango or pargo), and they’re often served quite simply, either plain-grilled, breaded (empanizado), or pan-fried in oil and garlic (al mojo de ajo). A favorite way to serve seafood – generally shrimp (camarón), conch (caracol), octopus (pulpo), or lobster (langosta) is in a ceviche, marinated in lime or lemon juice and served cold with onion, tomato, and cilantro. A good ceviche with a beer makes an ideal light lunch by the beach.

In resort areas and most cities there is also now a choice of eating-places offering wholefood-style cooking, with an international or a Mexican flavor. One standby for vegetarians in Mexico is the 100% Natural wholefood chain, which, while not wholly vegetarian, always has an enjoyable range of meat- or fish-free options.

See “Mexican Food”, click here.

Drinks

Mexicans tend to drink copiously at fiestas and in times of great calamity or great good fortune. At other times, men tend to have a...