Excursion: Visit to Monterrey – impression on northern Mexican food

This blog post has a special topic on my recent holiday visit to the northern Mexican city of Monterrey. Coming back from a two-week-long stay, I want to make a small topical excursion and summarize my impressions on the cuisine of northern Mexico. Monterrey is a large industrial center situated at the northern fringes of the massive Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range that stretches from the center of Mexico towards the US-Mexican border in the north. The large mountains with their distinct peaks dominate the city-scape and gave Monterrey its name as the king of mountains. A couple of hours away from the Texas border, the city is one of Mexico’s main business centers and the country’s second or third largest urban area (competing with Guadalajara).

The cuisine in Monterrey can be characterized as northern Mexican, with its main feature of being heavily beef based, and is very much distinct from central Mexican (more pork) and southern/coastal Mexican (fish and tropical fruits). Northern Mexican food relies on its cattle farming surrounding producing high quality beef and having a strong ranch tradition among others leading to the output of a variety of cheeses. On the other hand, the cuisine uses ingredients that are typical for the whole country’s food, especially tomatoes, avocadoes, beans, chili and habanero based salsas and corn and wheat tortillas.

During my stay in Monterrey, I visited a couple of restaurants and I picked out a few examples in order to give a quick overview of the regional food. One of our first visits was for breakfast at Lázaro y Diego (link). It can be taken as a typical Mexican breakfast, very heavy and filling for a European stomach. I had bacon and sausages covered with cheese and topped with fried tortilla pieces and mashed beans on the side. My wife ordered chilaquiles, which is fried corn tortillas soaked in red and green sauce, topped with chicken, cream and cheese. The typical Mexican breakfast is rich and of intense flavor. Unlike European breakfasts, it is not sweet, but rather resembles a lunch and can be even intensified with spicy salsas.

Now to the most comprehensive symbol of Mexican cuisine: the taco. They are eaten at any time, from a quick lunch snack to a proper dinner, and come with a wide range of fillings, from beef cuts (e.g. arrachera), to pork (e.g. cochinita) and to shrimps (camarón). Mixed in are different side ingredients with imagination being the limit. Spicy salsas can be typically added as one prefers. Everything is wrapped in either a wheat or corn tortilla. There are all kind of places where one can get them: taco stands on the street, in fast food chains, in fine dining restaurants. We went to a fantastic place called Chuchito Perez (link). We had the most memorable set of tacos of my trip. My shrimp stuffed version was delicious, very juicy and refreshing. I usually go for the corn tortilla since I love the taste of it and they are hard to get in Europe.

Another day, we went to a restaurant on the deck of a former steel foundry called El Lingote (link). The retired steel mill stands in the center of a now redeveloped industrial park in the heart of Monterrey and is symbolic for the past and present industrial character of the city. The restaurant boosted good food and great service. We ordered a few dishes to share. Among them was a Monterrey classic: chicharrón de ribeye. This is fried beef cuts and usually comes with guacamole. The name ribeye already indicates that usually the nice part of the cow is used and therefore this dish is extremely delicious. Together with guacamole, it is very nurturing food and indeed filled my stomach up quite completely, even though it is typically serves as an ‘entrée’.

Finally, we also visited other restaurants where the highlight was also a ribeye. Beef (and also the related BBQ culture) is central to northern Mexican food culture. One place was El Diego (link), which is actually an Argentinian restaurant. Indeed, beef is loved so much that even finest beef is imported from south America even though cattle farms are all around the neighboring regions of Monterrey. My ribeye steak was very juicy and just plain delicious. Another occasion was a visit to Mercurio (link), a fine dining restaurant in the upper-class neighborhood of San Pedro. We had a 1200g ribeye cut with bone, which we shared. The crust was nicely salty and the meat very tender. Overall, I loaded up so much beef during my holidays in Mexico that I had enough for the rest of the year. My highlights of northern Mexican food: delicious (corn) tacos and beef with a price-quality ratio nowhere to be found in Europe.