08 · 31 · 23

Michoacán: The Cradle of Mexican Cuisine

In the center-west of the Mexican territory is located the state of Michoacán, a privileged place for its Purepecha heritage that is present even in its local cuisine.

Since 2010, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided to recognize Mexican gastronomy as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, thanks to a phenomenon they called The Michoacán Paradigm. "It is a complete cultural model that includes agricultural activities, ritual practices, ancient practical knowledge, culinary techniques, ancestral community customs and modes of behavior," from which some of the most representative dishes of the state come.

According to the UNESCO, this paradigm is possible "thanks to the participation of the community throughout the creation of traditional dishes: from the planting and harvesting of crops to the culinary preparation and tasting of delicacies". 

The Mexican cuisine in general has basic ingredients such as corn, beans and chili. This ingredients are almost always obtained through unique cultivation methods. One of them is through milpa, a crop rotation of corn and other plants with slash-and-burn agriculture, another method is through chinampa, an artificial small piece of land grown in lake areas.Subsequently, foods such as corn are processed through culinary preparation procedures such as nixtamalization, which consists of husking corn with lime water to increase its nutritional value, for which special utensils such as metates and stone mortars are used.

One aspect that was decisive for UNESCO when choosing our cuisine as a Cultural Heritage was that in the state of Michoacán, and throughout Mexico, you can find groups of cooks who are dedicated to the improvement of crops and traditional cuisine. "Their knowledge and techniques express community identity, reinforce social bonds, and build stronger local, regional and national identities. The efforts made in Michoacan to preserve the traditional cuisine also highlight its importance as a means of sustainable development," according to the report made by the institution.

Michoacan cuisine is very varied. There are some traditional dishes that you can enjoy only if you visit this state. Here are some of the region's most popular dishes for you to try during your next visit:

Enchiladas morelianas

Also known as Enchiladas placeras, they are originally from the city of Morelia, although they can also be found in Pátzcuaro and Uruapan.

Their sauce is made with guajillo chili, and they can be filled only with cheese or chicken, and accompanied with carrots and potatoes. You can also add a piece of roasted chicken in the same sauce to give them more flavor.

Corundas

They are a type of tamale made from corn, but they can also be made from butter and ash. Corundas are usually triangle-shaped, but can be star-shaped. For its preparation, the cooked corn dough is mixed evenly, wrapped in fresh corn leaves, and then steamed. The original corundas are made of dough only, but there are variants filled with cheese, rajas de chilaca (a type of fresh chili), pork, vegetables or legumes.

Uchepos

Although they are very similar to the corundas, the uchepos have a slightly different preparation. Its dough is made with soft corn, butter, a little salt to enhance the flavor, sugar or piloncillo and fresh milk. They are wrapped in fresh corn leaves and steamed for only half an hour. They are shaped like a traditional tamale and can also be topped with sauce, cream and cheese. This dish is very versatile as it can also be eaten as a dessert if condensed milk is added instead of sauce. It's a delight.

Sopa tarasca

This dish is of Purépecha origin and dates back to 1966, when Felipe Oseguera Iturbide wanted to offer a unique dish for the inauguration of his Hosteria de San Felipe. Felipe with his sister Luz created the dish, and it was his wife Pamela who proposed the name of "Sopa tarasca" in honor of the indigenous people of the area, the Purépecha or Tarascans. 

To make it, tomato, onion and garlic are roasted, blended and cooked in a saucepan for a few minutes, and then added a sauce of beans, which had previously been cooked and blended with epazote. When the soup is served, cream, cheese, avocado and fried and cut into strips tortillas and dried chili (pasilla or ancho) are added.