Hidalgo cuisine: what it is and typical dishes to try

What is it?

Hidalgo cuisine is the gastronomic tradition of the state of Hidalgo, in the central Mexican highlands, and is characterised by its rural Otomí-Pame origin combined with colonial mining contributions and the singular Welsh influence of Real del Monte. Its emblematic dishes are lamb barbacoa cooked underground wrapped in maguey leaves, mixiotes (adobo-marinated meat in maguey-leaf skin), pastes (mining pasties), the Huastec zacahuil, escamoles (Mexican caviar), maguey worms and ximbó (cooking in a maguey leaf). Pulque, the sacred drink of the maguey, is indispensable in its gastronomy. It is consumed on Sundays in homes and at barbacoa stalls as a deeply rooted tradition, while pastes and pulque are everyday fare in Pachuca, Real del Monte and the sierra of the Marqueses.

Origin and history

Hidalgo cuisine inherits from the Otomí, Pame and Huastec peoples, millennia-old farmers of maize, bean and maguey in the valleys of Apan, Tulancingo and Pachuca. The cultivation of the pulque maguey reached its splendour from the pre-Hispanic era and intensified during the colonial period with great pulque haciendas such as San Antonio Ometusco and Tepetates in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Pit barbacoa, according to Larousse Cocina, is a pre-Hispanic technique adapted with lamb brought by the Spanish from the sixteenth century. Real del Monte was a crucial mining centre from the sixteenth century; with the arrival of Welsh miners hired by the British mining company Real del Monte y Pachuca between 1824 and 1849, the Cornish pasties arrived, which were transformed into the Hidalgo pastes. México Desconocido documents that the first fillings were of potato, leek and minced meat; today there are versions of green mole, picadillo, tuna, mushrooms and sweet ones. Pulque had its heyday during the Porfiriato (1876-1911), when Hidalgo was the leading producer in the country and pulque trains supplied Mexico City daily.

Characteristic ingredients

The pulque maguey (Agave salmiana, A. mapisaga) is a fundamental axis of Hidalgo cuisine: its leaf wraps barbacoa and mixiotes; its aguamiel is fermented into pulque; its white worms (meocuiles) and red ones (chinicuiles) are roasted or ground for worm salt; its flower stalks and mexcalapique are stewed. Escamoles, the larvae of the güijera ant (Liometopum apiculatum) gathered in the magueyes, are a pre-Hispanic delicacy. The barbacoa carries a whole lamb marinated with ancho, guajillo and pasilla chillies, salt and spices, wrapped in leaves and cooked in a pit with mesquite wood for 8-12 hours. The consommé that drips down, with chickpeas, rice and coriander, accompanies the meat. The pastes are pasties of shortcrust pastry (not maize) filled and baked, a Welsh legacy. The mixiotes wrap adobo-marinated meat in the membrane (cuticle) of the maguey, today replaced by waxed paper to protect the plant. The chinicuil and the escamol are premium ingredients in contemporary gourmet cooking, present on the menus of restaurants Pujol and Quintonil.

Cultural significance

Hidalgo barbacoa is the most famous in Mexico and on Sundays thousands of people travel from Mexico City to Actopan, Tula and Mineral del Chico to have barbacoa for breakfast with freshly made tortillas, consommé and pulque. This tradition sustains a rural economy of shepherds, maguey farmers, barbacoa makers and pulque producers. Real del Monte celebrates the International Paste Festival each year, where thousands of pasties are prepared and the town is twinned with Redruth, Cornwall, in homage to its Welsh origin. Pulque is experiencing a revival in Hidalgo and Mexico City, with traditional pulquerías and new ones such as Las Duelistas, La Pirata and La Hija de los Apaches. The Day of the Dead in the Hidalgo Huasteca is celebrated with zacahuiles (giant tamales of pork in banana leaf) that can measure more than a metre and feed dozens of people. Hidalgo cuisine forms part of traditional Mexican cuisine inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 and attracts significant gastronomic tourism.

Frequently asked questions