Tabasco cuisine: what it is and its typical dishes

What is it?

Tabasco cuisine is the culinary tradition of the state of Tabasco, in south-eastern Mexico on the Gulf coastal plain, one of the most tropical cuisines of Olmec-Maya origin in the country. The state is covered by rivers, mangroves, tall rainforest and marshes, which yield unique products such as pejelagarto (a fossil fish with scales), chipilín, plantain, criollo cacao, river snails and lagoon seafood. Its emblematic dishes are grilled pejelagarto, chipilín tamales, chocolate ground on a metate, chipilín broth, pejelagarto empanadas, pataste or pataxte (wild cacao), stuffed plantains, river snail in its shell, white and cacao pozol, and artisanal chocolates such as chorote. It is eaten daily in the markets of Villahermosa, Cárdenas, Tenosique and Paraíso, with riverside cooking along the rivers and coastal cooking on the Gulf.

Origin and history

Tabasco cuisine inherits directly from the Olmecs, the mother civilisation of Mesoamerica that flourished at La Venta and other Tabasco sites more than 3,500 years ago, considered the world's first cultivators and consumers of cacao. The Maya-Chontals and the Nahua-Mexicaneros also inhabited the region. The conquest of Tabasco by Hernán Cortés in 1519 was his first triumph on continental territory before advancing towards Tenochtitlán. The region was part of Yucatán during the colonial period and became an independent province in 1786. Tabasco cacao has held the 'Cacao Grijalva' designation of origin since 2016, protecting criollo varieties grown in municipalities such as Comalcalco, Cunduacán and Paraíso. According to Larousse Cocina, the pejelagarto (Atractosteus tropicus) is a prehistoric fossil fish that has lived without major changes for 100 million years in the rivers of Tabasco; it is a ritual and economic food of the Chontal peoples. México Desconocido documents that cacao pozol is an ancestral Olmec-Maya drink continuous to this day. The banana (introduced by Africans in the colonial era) thrived so well in Tabasco that the state was its main exporter to the United States in the early twentieth century. Tabasco produces more than 60% of Mexican cacao and is the national centre of criollo chocolate.

Characteristic ingredients

The pejelagarto is the emblematic fish: it is grilled whole over embers with its scaly skin, opened out and the white flesh shredded to make tacos with tortilla, lime, coriander and green salsa. The head is used for broth. Chipilín (Crotalaria longirostrata) is a very green, aromatic leaf, the base of tamales and broths; it has a unique herbaceous flavour and high nutritional properties. Tabasco cacao is ground on a metate and mixed with achiote to make white pozol (maize dough whisked with water) and cacao pozol (with ground cacao), daily refreshing drinks. Chorote is hot chocolate with maize dough, cinnamon and sometimes achiote. Plantain, dominico, manzano and morado bananas are used in mogo-mogo (a purée with beans), plantains stuffed with cheese or picadillo, and desserts. The river snail or tegogolo is eaten in its shell with a tomato and chilli broth. The most-used chillies are the sweet pepper, the amaxito chilli (similar to piquín) and the pico de paloma chilli. The momo or tó leaf (Piper auritum, the Veracruz hoja santa) wraps tamales and adds aroma. Marine products such as oysters, crab, sea bass and tilapia are abundant. Cacao beans, nibs and pure chocolate are exported to the world's elite chocolatiers.

Cultural significance

Tabasco cuisine is an identity of Tabasco, 'the Eden of Mexico' in the words of the poet José Gorostiza, and a relevant cultural driver as the cradle of the Olmecs and of cacao. The Cacao Grijalva designation of origin (2016) protects traditional producers against industrial hybridisations of African cacao. Comalcalco, the main cacao producer, hosts the Tabasco Chocolate Route, with haciendas such as La Luz, Cholula and Jesús María offering visits, tastings and workshops. The cuisine is part of the UNESCO dossier of traditional Mexican cuisine inscribed in 2010. The Tenosique Carnival during Lent, unique in the country for its Pochó dances of pre-Hispanic origin, includes ritual Chontal food. The Day of the Dead festivities in Chontal villages such as Nacajuca preserve altars with pozol, chocolate, tamales and sweets. The La Venta Museum Park exhibits colossal Olmec heads as a cultural-gastronomic context. Cooks such as Aquiles Chávez and Cristina Verónica Ruiz have taken Tabasco cuisine to the international stage, especially that of pejelagarto and pure cacao.

Frequently asked questions

What is pejelagarto?

It is a prehistoric fossil fish (Atractosteus tropicus) that has lived without major changes for 100 million years in the tropical rivers of Tabasco and the Usumacinta basin. It has large scales like those of a caiman, an elongated toothed snout and firm white flesh. It is grilled whole over embers with its skin and eaten in tacos or broth. It is an ancestral food of the Chontal people and a gastronomic emblem of the state.

What is Tabasco pozol?

It is an ancestral Olmec-Maya drink made with nixtamalised maize dough whisked with water. There are two versions: white pozol (only dough, water and salt) and cacao pozol (with toasted ground cacao and sometimes sugar). It is served cold in gourd vessels, refreshing and very nutritious in the humid tropics. It is an everyday food that replaces meals in the Chontal and mestizo villages of Tabasco and Chiapas.

What does Tabasco cuisine taste like?

It has intense tropical flavours: bitter cacao, sweet plantain, herbal chipilín, aniseed-like hoja santa, earthy achiote, spicy habanero or amaxito chilli, and river fish with a mineral flavour. It is less spicy than the cooking of central Mexico but more aromatic and complex, dominated by fire cooking, vegetal wrappings (plantain, hoja santa) and cold drinks such as pozol and chorote.

Where does Tabasco cuisine come from?

It originates in the state of Tabasco, in south-eastern Mexico on the Gulf coastal plain. Its oldest roots are Olmec (3,500 years, La Venta), followed by the Maya-Chontals and Nahuas. The Spanish conquest in 1519 was the territory of Cortés's first triumph. Tabasco cacao with the 'Cacao Grijalva' designation of origin (2016) sustains one of the most continuous gastronomic traditions in the world.