Traditional cuisine in Querétaro
In 2010, traditional Mexican cuisine was declared an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Thanks to its ancient roots, gastronomy has survived cultural miscegenation and the passage of time, bringing together everything from the ways of obtaining, preparing, serving and eating food to the rites, customs and even myths that encompass them.
In the case of Querétaro, the gastronomy reflects the cultural diversity of Mexico and the state with indigenous cuisine, since the ingredients of the local food are determined by the natural and cultural environment of the Querétaro semi-desert region, so that they trace the diet of the inhabitants of this area.
Specifically, Tolimán safeguards the voices and flavors of the predominant Otomí cuisine in Querétaro, being the traditional cooks, who represent and safeguard the endemic ingredients, culinary techniques, artisanal utensils, as well as the history and customs of Querétaro cuisine.
Traditional cuisine of San Antonio de la Cal
In the municipality of Tolimán, a group of cooks have taken on the task of rescuing the traditional gastronomy in the community of San Antonio de la Cal through a recipe book and as an option for gastronomic tourism in this municipality so emblematic for its customs of Otomi Chichimeca origin.
The Mujeres Impulsando San Antonio collective, made up of Carmen Abraham Ruiz, Esther Morán Velázquez, Juana González Enríquez and 9 cooks, has been working for a couple of years to rescue traditional Otomi food. They have participated in gastronomic competitions with excellent results, however, their kitchens welcome all travelers and rural tourism enthusiasts to book a gastronomic experience with them.
Mujeres Impulsando San Antonio was born 6 years ago as a civil association that seeks the development of this town of Tolimán through empowerment programs for the women of San Antonio de la Cal and the surrounding communities; Thus, exploring their talents, they found that they all had in common the gift of traditional Tolima cuisine.
From there was born the editorial project Cocina Tradicional de San Antonio de la Cal, a recipe book that is about to celebrate its second edition ancestral recipes collected by the cooks through their mothers and grandmothers.
Flavours of the countryside
The traditional cuisine of Tolima is based on the common natural foods of Mexico, such as chili, corn, tomato, beans and insects from the same region, however, as part of the indigenous tradition there is a wide variety of stews made with the collected products that the countryside offers, so dishes based on nopal are very common. purslane or quelites, with flowers of different cacti, such as xoconostle, aloe vera and prickly pears, or xä'ues, escamoles, maguey worms and jinicuiles, among others.
Get to know Tolimán through the more than 60 traditional dishes of clear Otomi origin that highlight ingredients typical of the semi-desert, such as white maguey flower, broad beans, huitlacoche, xoconostle and guamiche.
One of the most typical dishes of the municipality is the Tolimán-style mole, which is prepared with various spices: almonds, pepitas, sesame, raisins, chocolate and thyme. It is usually served with yellow chickpeas, seasoned with saffron, cumin and parsley; It is a tasting for the palate.
If there's a party, there's food
Many dishes are closely linked to the traditions of the community, for example:
In the dances of the festivities in honor of San Miguel Arcángel, it is customary to offer all attendees mole with yellow chickpeas and the next day chocolate and the traditional pulque bread are offered.
It is also very common to see handmade colored tortillas, since they are an important part of this ritual, which after extending the petate path that unrolls on the ground and can measure up to 500 meters, the minor freighters and Xitales (members of the dance) throw piles of tortillas always hitting the central part of the road.
And you can't leave without trying the unmissable gorditas de maíz querétaros stuffed with cheese or crumbs with stews, among which you will find a variety based on nopales, such as lentils, in torta with shrimp, with beans or with and with chickpeas. This last dish, nopales de deceased, is customary when a person dies, at the end of the novena. Or the chopped nopales with shrimp cakes in mole, which is the most important dish of the community during the Easter holidays.
You will undoubtedly be surprised by its variety of dishes: delicious chickpeas in yellow, painted tortillas, sweet potato chingadito, goat tapeado, moles rancheros and many more
Deciding to take an unconventional gastronomic route is to revalue food as a sign of identity and understand it as part of our heritage and heritage.
Visit the traditional kitchens after a tour of the distinctive Otomi chapels of Tolimán, a walk through the municipal seat, the peculiar temple of San Pedro, the chapels of Bomintzá or Maguey Manso, among the extraordinary landscapes of biznagas and mesquites.
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Travel back in time and learn about the history of Querétaro. Hop on one of the Stagecoaches and tour some of the most emblematic places in the city, enjoy a ride that will make you feel like you are in another era.
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