Muéganos: what they are and how to make the sweet

What is it?

The muegano is a traditional Mexican sweet made with small cubes or balls of wheat-flour dough, fried in lard or oil until golden, and then bathed in hot piloncillo syrup that binds them together into a crisp block or brick. It is at once crunchy from the fried dough and sticky from the syrup, with an intense cane sweetness and aromatic notes of aniseed or cinnamon. Its origin is in Tehuacan, Puebla, and in Huamantla, Tlaxcala, two towns with an informal muegano denomination of origin. It has national fame and is sold at fairs, regional sweet shops and markets, in cellophane bags or individual trays. It is one of the most popular sweets of central Mexico alongside pepitorias and bunuelos.

Origin and history

The muegano has its roots in the convent confectionery of New Spain in the 17th century, when the convents of Puebla and Tlaxcala developed numerous fried sweets with syrup following Arab-Andalusian recipes adapted to the local ingredient. Larousse Cocina notes that the word muegano comes from old Spanish "muegano" or "mojigango", a term that designated a dessert of joined fragments. Mexico Desconocido documents that both Tehuacan (the Puebla valley area) and Huamantla (Tlaxcala) claim to be the birthplace of the sweet, with traditions documented since the early 19th century. In Tehuacan the version with aniseed and balls developed; in Huamantla, the little squares. Historic muegano shops such as Don Pancho in Huamantla keep century-old recipes. The muegano is part of the catalogue of typical sweets protected as gastronomic heritage of Puebla and Tlaxcala, and is ritually associated with the patron-saint fairs and the Night that Nobody Sleeps in Huamantla.

Characteristic ingredients

Muegano dough is made with wheat flour, pork or vegetable lard, egg, sugar, aniseed or cinnamon, salt and sometimes tequesquite or baking powder. It is worked to a firm dough that is rolled out and cut into small cubes of 1-2 cm. The cubes are fried in hot lard until evenly golden and drained. Separately the syrup is made by cooking piloncillo with water, a cinnamon stick, orange peel and star anise until a thick, mahogany-coloured syrup is obtained. The hot syrup is poured over the fried cubes, mixed quickly and turned out onto a greased table or tray, left to cool. As it hardens, the cubes are joined into a slab or individual blocks that are cut to taste. Regional variants: in Tehuacan the mueganos have more aniseed and are formed as heaped balls; in Huamantla they are perfect squares; in Tlaxcala there are versions with sesame.

Cultural significance

The muegano is a gastronomic emblem of the state of Tlaxcala and of the Tehuacan region in Puebla. In Huamantla, the patron-saint festival of 14 August, known as The Night that Nobody Sleeps, draws thousands of visitors who tour the traditional muegano shops and eat the sweet as part of the celebration. The local economy of Huamantla and Tehuacan partly depends on the artisanal production of the muegano, which is sold in decorated bags as a regional souvenir. The sweet is protected in the Catalogue of Typical Sweets of the State of Tlaxcala and features among the expressions of traditional Mexican cuisine recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The muegano families of Huamantla, some with five generations of tradition, keep the trade alive against industrial competition. The muegano represents accessible popular confectionery: a modest, well-made, deeply identitarian product, economically sustainable for small artisanal producers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Tehuacan muegano and Huamantla muegano?

The Tehuacan muegano (Puebla) is characterised by balls or spheres of dough with a pronounced aniseed flavour and is presented heaped in bags. The Huamantla one (Tlaxcala) is made of perfect cubes, without aniseed or with less, with notes of cinnamon, and is presented in square slabs. Both share the piloncillo syrup but have a different shape, aromatic flavour and presentation.

What does a muegano taste like?

It tastes of buttery fried dough with notes of aniseed or cinnamon, coated in caramelised piloncillo syrup with a deep, slightly tart and aromatic sweetness. The texture is crunchy at the first bite and then sticky from the caramel. The balance of sweet, toasted and aromatic makes it moreish and very different from sweets based on refined sugar alone.

How is a muegano eaten?

It is eaten by biting straight from the block or the individual cubes, usually as a dessert or a between-meals treat. It goes perfectly with a clay-pot coffee, an atole or a hot chocolate. At patron-saint fairs it is bought in large bags to share; in regional sweet shops it is sold in individual boxes. It keeps for weeks at room temperature.

Where does the muegano come from?

It comes from central Mexico, specifically from Tehuacan (Puebla) and Huamantla (Tlaxcala), where it has been made since the early 19th century following 17th-century convent recipes of New Spain with Arab-Andalusian roots. Both cities claim to be the birthplace of the sweet, and keep distinctive traditions that coexist in the national gastronomic imagination as regional sisters.