Tlaxcalan cuisine: maize, insects and pre-Hispanic heritage

What is it?

Tlaxcalan cuisine is the gastronomic tradition of the state of Tlaxcala, the smallest in Mexico, located in the central highlands. It is one of the least-known but most interesting regional cuisines because of its fidelity to the Nahua pre-Hispanic tradition: the consumption of edible insects, the diversity of tamales, tlatlapas (bean soups with tortilla) and the rural mole prieto. Its emblematic dishes include the Huamantla muéganos, sweet muñelos, the mole prieto of Tlaxco, muñeca tamales, Tlaxcalan soup, chalupitas and mixiote barbacoa. Tlaxcala was a strategic ally of Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Tenochtitlán, and for that reason maintained a certain cultural autonomy that has preserved very ancient culinary traditions. It is consumed daily in markets such as those of Apizaco and Huamantla and at patron-saint festivities such as La Noche que Nadie Duerme in August.

Origin and history

Tlaxcalan cuisine has its roots in the Nahua civilisations of the dominion of Tlaxcallan, four head towns (Tepetícpac, Ocotelulco, Tizatlán and Quiahuiztlán) that dominated the territory from the 14th century. Tlaxcala was one of the few peoples that never submitted to the Mexica empire and allied with Hernán Cortés in 1519, which earned it royal privileges in the Colony and preserved part of its cultural and culinary autonomy. The raising of turkeys (guajolotes) had great pre-Hispanic development; the cultivation of the pulque maguey was intensified on the plains of Apan shared with Hidalgo. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, who lived in Tlaxcala for years writing his Historia general, documented dozens of local dishes and drinks of the 16th century. The San Cristóbal Polaxtla hacienda and other pulque ones dominated the agricultural landscape until the Agrarian Reform. The Huamantla muéganos, a sweet of dough fried in syrup, are attributed to the 19th century in Huamantla, according to Larousse Cocina. The preservation of edible insects such as xahuis, escamoles, chinicuiles and jumiles is a direct inheritance of pre-Hispanic cuisine.

Characteristic ingredients

Tlaxcalan maize includes native blue, white and cacahuazintle varieties. The muñeca or canary tamales are sweet, of dough and egg, wrapped in corn husk. The mole prieto of Tlaxco is very dark, almost black, made with maize dough, chiles ancho and pasilla, lard and spices. The tlatlapas are thick soups of cooked bean with dough, chile pasilla and chile guajillo. Tlaxcalan soup, similar to Aztec but local, combines chicken broth, fried tortilla, chile pasilla, avocado, cheese and chicharrón. The Apetatitlán chalupitas are small tortillas with salsa, cheese and onion. The consumed insects include maguey escamoles, xamoes (xahuis or flying ants), maguey chinicuiles, jumiles from huizache and white worms from nopal. Tlaxcalan pulque has ancestral tradition and is consumed with cured fruit drinks. The chilli-coated cecina is made with marinated beef dried in the sun, especially in Yauhquemehcan. The Huamantla muéganos are cubes of fried dough joined with honey and piloncillo.

Cultural significance

Tlaxcalan cuisine is one of the least-known bastions of traditional Mexican cuisine inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Huamantla, a Magical Town, celebrates La Noche que Nadie Duerme every August, in honour of the Virgen de la Caridad, where carpets of sawdust are made and muégano, casserole mole and barbacoa are eaten. The Apizaco fair, the patron-saint festivities in Ixtenco and the carnivals of huehues with their colonial costumes are occasions for traditional cuisine. Tlaxcala maintains one of the most living pulque networks in the country, with haciendas and tinacales such as San Cristóbal Polaxtla and Soltepec. The raising of turkeys for mole, the basis of Christmas and weddings, still sustains rural economies. Women cooks such as Irad Santacruz document recipes in danger of disappearing. The state government promotes gastronomic routes around pulque, muéganos and edible insects as a tourist attraction.

Frequently asked questions

What are tlatlapas?

They are a thick soup typical of Tlaxcala, made with black or ayocote bean broth, maize dough dissolved to thicken, chile pasilla, chile guajillo, garlic and onion. They are served with crumbled fresh cheese, avocado and coriander. Their consistency is between soup and savoury atole, an economical and nutritious peasant food of pre-Hispanic origin, different from tortilla soups.

What edible insects are eaten in Tlaxcala?

The most popular are escamoles (maguey güijera-ant larvae), chinicuiles (red maguey worms), xamoes (toasted flying ants), jumiles (huizache stink bugs, with cinnamon and eucalyptus flavour) and the white worms of nopal or elote. They are a pre-Hispanic delicacy preserved to this day in rural and gourmet cooking.

What does Tlaxcalan mole prieto taste like?

It is a very dark mole, almost black, with a deep flavour of maize, toasted chillies (ancho, pasilla, mulato) and pork lard. It is less sweet than the poblano, without chocolate or fruits, more rustic and peasant. It accompanies turkey, chicken or pork at patron-saint festivities and weddings. It has a thick texture, almost like atole, due to the ground maize.

Where does Tlaxcalan cuisine originate from?

It originates from the state of Tlaxcala, in the central Mexican highlands. Its roots are in the Nahua dominions of Tlaxcallan (14th-16th centuries), allies of Cortés in the conquest. This alliance allowed it certain cultural autonomy during the Colony and the preservation of pre-Hispanic culinary traditions such as the consumption of insects, ritual tamales and pulque.