Chiapas cuisine: flavors few people know outside Mexico

Chiapas: Mexico's hidden gastronomic gem

When people talk about Mexican gastronomy, everyone mentions Oaxaca, Puebla or Mexico City. But there is one state that holds some of the most fascinating culinary secrets in the country: Chiapas. Located in south-eastern Mexico, bordering Guatemala, Chiapas has a cuisine that fuses Maya, Zoque and Spanish traditions in a unique, unrepeatable way.

Chiapas cooking is one of the least known internationally, and that is precisely what makes it so special. While in the US you can find Mexican restaurants serving tacos, burritos and guacamole, the dishes of Chiapas are rarities that only the most adventurous have heard of.

The ingredients that define Chiapas cooking

The Chiapas pantry is different from the rest of Mexico. Here are some key ingredients:

• Chipilín: an aromatic wild herb used in tamales, soups and pasties. Its flavor is earthy and slightly bitter, with no equivalent in European cooking.
• Hoja santa (or acuyo): with an aniseed aroma, used to wrap tamales and fish
• Simojovel chile: a smoky chile endemic to the Simojovel region
• Cacao: Chiapas is one of the main cacao-producing regions in Mexico, used in drinks, moles and puddings
• Nanches: small yellow fruits with an intense flavor, used in sweets and liqueurs
• Pozol: fermented maize dough dissolved in water, the ancestral drink par excellence

Chipilín tamales: the emblem of Chiapas

If Oaxaca has its black-mole tamales and Puebla its rajas tamales, Chiapas has chipilín tamales. They are small tamales, wrapped in corn husk, filled with dough mixed with chopped chipilín leaves and, optionally, fresh cheese.

Chipilín is hard to find in the US, but there are alternatives: some specialist Mexican shops import dried or frozen chipilín. If you cannot find it, you can use tender spinach mixed with a little cilantro for an approximation, although the flavor will not be identical.

The preparation is simple but requires patience:

1. Prepare the maize dough with lard, beaten until fluffy
2. Finely chop the chipilín leaves and fold them into the dough
3. Add salt and a little chicken stock for moisture
4. Wrap portions in soaked corn husks
5. Steam for 45-60 minutes

Baked cochito: the ceremonial pork

Cochito horneado (baked piglet) is the festive dish par excellence in Chiapas, especially in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas. It is a whole pig (or large pieces) marinated in a sauce of ancho and guajillo chiles, spices, vinegar and achiote, then baked slowly for hours until the meat falls apart.

Cochito is prepared for patron-saint festivals, weddings and important celebrations. It is similar in concept to Yucatecan cochinita pibil (marinated, slow-cooked pork), but with a very different flavor profile: less citrusy and more spiced.

To make it in the US, you can use pork shoulder or leg:

• Marinate with a paste of rehydrated ancho and guajillo chiles
• Add cumin, black pepper, oregano, thyme and achiote
• Stir in cider vinegar and garlic
• Bake at 160°C for 3-4 hours, covered with foil
• Uncover for the last 30 minutes to brown the surface

Pozol: the ancient Maya drink

Pozol is perhaps the oldest drink in Mexico still consumed daily. It is a nixtamalized maize dough left to ferment and then dissolved in cold water. There are several versions:

• White pozol: just fermented maize dough and water
• Cacao pozol: with toasted ground cacao, the most popular version
• Sour pozol: fermented for several days, with a pronounced tangy flavor

Pozol was the drink of farm workers and Maya travellers. A ball of pozol dough could feed a man for a whole day's work. Today, scientific studies have confirmed that pozol's fermentation produces probiotics beneficial to gut health.

Sopa de pan: the soup you did not expect

The Chiapas sopa de pan (bread soup) is a unique dish that defies expectations. It is not a soup with bread floating in it: it is a casserole made with layers of toasted egg bread, fried plantain, green beans, chayote, carrots and boiled egg, all bathed in a tomato broth spiced with saffron, cinnamon, clove and pepper.

It is a ceremonial dish prepared during the Fiesta Grande of Chiapa de Corzo in January. Its combination of sweet, savory and spiced is completely different from any other Mexican soup.

Chiapas tasajo

While in Oaxaca tasajo is dried, salted beef, in Chiapas tasajo is pork. It is prepared by cutting the meat into thin strips, salting it generously and leaving it to dry in the sun or over smoke for several days. The result is a meat concentrated in flavor that rehydrates when cooked.

Chiapas tasajo is eaten with pot-cooked black beans, corn tortillas and a tomato salsa with simojovel chile. It is a hearty breakfast that the people of Chiapas adore.

The coffee of Chiapas

We cannot talk about Chiapas without mentioning its coffee. The Soconusco region produces some of the best coffees in Mexico and the world. The conditions of altitude, humidity and volcanic soil create a coffee with notes of chocolate, tropical fruit and a medium body that has earned international recognition.

In the US, you can find speciality Chiapas coffee from artisan roasters and online shops. Look for it with the designation of origin “Chiapas” or “Soconusco”.

Nucú: the edible insect of Chiapas

Entomophagy (eating insects) is part of the gastronomic tradition of Chiapas. Chicatana ants or nucú are flying ants that emerge with the first rains. They are gathered, toasted and ground to make sauces, or eaten whole as a snack.

The flavor of nucú is reminiscent of toasted nuts with smoky notes. Although eating insects still meets some resistance in the US, the European authorities have gradually approved the consumption of certain insects, and the trend is on the rise.

Chiapas sweets

The confectionery of Chiapas deserves a chapter of its own:

• Suspiros: light meringues scented with cinnamon
• Nanche preserve: the local fruit preserved in syrup
• Chimbo: a pudding made of fried egg in the shape of a little cake, soaked in cinnamon syrup
• Tascalate: a drink-cum-pudding made with toasted maize, cacao, achiote, cinnamon and sugar

How to approach Chiapas cooking from the US

Although many Chiapas ingredients are hard to find in the US, you can start with:

1. Making a simple Chiapas mole with ancho, guajillo and pasilla chiles and spices
2. Experimenting with Mexican table chocolate to make Chiapas-style chocolate with water
3. Using hoja santa (available in some Mexican shops) to wrap steamed fish
4. Making green tamales, substituting chipilín with tender spinach and cilantro

Chiapas cooking reminds us that Mexico is a country of immense gastronomic diversity, where every state holds culinary treasures waiting to be discovered. If you have already mastered the classics of Mexican cooking, Chiapas offers you a new world of flavors to explore.

Visit our blog to keep discovering the regional cuisines of Mexico, and find special ingredients on our map of shops.