Querétaro cuisine: enchiladas, gorditas and what to eat

What is it?

Querétaro cuisine is the gastronomic tradition of the state of Querétaro, in central Mexico, part of the historic Bajío and a gateway to the north. It is a mestizo cuisine that combines the Otomí (Hñähñu) and Pame heritage with the Spanish techniques introduced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when Querétaro was a head of the Franciscans and a centre of evangelisation of the Bajío. Its most representative dishes are Querétaro enchiladas (with guajillo chilli salsa, potato and carrot), crumb gorditas (filled with pork skin), huapango (a thick atole with cheese), nopales in maguey leaf, blood sausages, the quesadilla with queso de bola and the milk and biznaga sweets of Cadereyta. It is consumed daily in markets such as Escobedo and La Cruz, and forms a central part of the Santa Cruz festivals in September, the Querétaro fair and the Huastec traditions of Jalpan in the Sierra Gorda.

Origin and history

Querétaro cuisine inherits from the Otomí, Pame and Chichimec peoples who inhabited the region long before the Spanish conquest. Querétaro was founded in 1531 by the Franciscans and became strategic for the pacification of the Chichimec north during the sixteenth century. The five Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda built by Fray Junípero Serra between 1750 and 1768 (UNESCO World Heritage since 2003) introduced European culinary techniques adapted to the semi-arid geography of the Bajío. The historic centre of Querétaro, also UNESCO World Heritage since 1996, was the cradle of the Conspiracy of Querétaro (1810) that triggered the Independence of Mexico. Querétaro enchiladas, according to Larousse Cocina, are a colonial mestizo creation in which the guajillo salsa, a local hallmark, is accompanied by potato and carrot, a ranching legacy of the Bajío. The queso de bola of the Bajío, especially from Tequisquiapan, was an industrial-artisanal product since the nineteenth century. México Desconocido documents the milk and biznaga (an endemic cactus) sweets of Cadereyta as a nineteenth-century convent tradition.

Characteristic ingredients

Querétaro enchiladas are tortillas passed through a guajillo chilli salsa browned with garlic and onion, folded and sometimes filled with cheese, accompanied by potato and carrot fried in cubes, lettuce, cream and fresh cheese. Crumb gorditas are maize gorditas filled with 'migajas', roasted pork skins chopped with seasoning. The Querétaro-Huastec huapango is a thick atole with fresh cheese, distinct from the sweet atole. Nopales in maguey leaf are nopales grilled on a maguey leaf, a pre-Hispanic technique, served with onion and lime. Beef and pork stand out in tacos and Querétaro-style barbacoa stews. In the Sierra Gorda and Jalpan, acamayas (river crayfish) are consumed, along with wild greens such as purslane and romeritos, as well as oven gorditas. Cadereyta produces biznaga sweets (also called acitrón, today with restrictions for environmental protection), candied squash and burnt-milk sweets. The wine and artisanal cheeses of Tequisquiapan, the food-and-wine route of the centre, are important contemporary attractions.

Cultural significance

Querétaro cuisine is part of the gastronomic landscape of the Bajío implicitly recognised in the inscription of traditional Mexican cuisine by UNESCO in 2010. The Santa Cruz festivals in El Pueblito (Corregidora) each 14 September bring together processions, dances and ritual food of gorditas, atole and enchiladas. The national fair of Querétaro in December includes gastronomy as a cultural axis. The Sierra Gorda, a protected natural area, preserves Huastec and Pame gastronomic traditions with community kitchens in Jalpan, Landa de Matamoros and Pinal de Amoles. Tequisquiapan and Bernal, both Magical Towns, are food-and-wine centres: the former for the Freixenet wines and the artisanal cheeses, the latter for the oven gorditas, biznagas and the monolith peak. The state government has consolidated the Cheese and Wine Route and the Art, Cheese and Wine Route as important tourist attractions. Traditional cooks such as Gabriela Sánchez Eguía document recipes at risk.

Frequently asked questions