Nopales –

Cooked strips from the pads of the cactus plant (a different variety from the one that produces tequila, so don’t stress), often mixed with onions but can be served cold in salad or mixed into a guacamole. Takes some getting used to.

Enchiladas and chorizo – Soft tortillas and cheese, coated in different hot or tomato sauces, served with minced chorizo (the Mexican variety, not the Spanish) mixed with egg. Great for breakfast.

Black beans – A staple in the local diet, you can mix these beauties with almost every Mexican meal.

Elote – Braaied mealie, served with butter and cheese and lemon, either on the cob or in a bowl.

Sope – If you can imagine a Mexican pizza, this is it. A corn base, thicker than a tortilla, and topped with beans, onions, meats and vegetables and fresh cheese, which resembles crumbled feta.

Flautas – Deep-fried, rolled corn tacos, filled with mashed potatoes or your choice of meat and sprinkled with fresh cheese.

Ice cream – For those with a sweet tooth, desserts aren’t big in Mexico but the country’s fine icecream-making tradition deserves a mention.

In Mexico City, do visit La Garrafa at 614 Jose Antonio Torres, where the birthday chocolate cake ice-cream and fruit sorbets are a treat.

In Ciudad Valles, if your eco-sport obsession takes you to this beautiful part of the world, a visit to Nieves Artesanales El Palmar is a must, particularly in the hot summer months. The fruits are locally sourced and quite exceptional; try the litchi.

A refreshing drink called horchata may tickle your taste buds. Made from rice water mixed with milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar, it is a little murky looking, but surprisingly addictive.

For tequila connoisseurs, it is worth noting that most Mexicans enjoy it as a digestive more than as a party drink. Although, my travel companion tells me, if you want to down tequilas one after another then head to Guadalajara — the party capital of the country.

Good tequila is expensive and the locals opt instead for beer — good local brews include Victoria, XX and Tekate.

In Mexico City the hop-on-hop-off Turibus even offers specific food, beer and mezcal distillery tours, along with historic and artistic tours.

For something a little different, served up by the culinary wizards at Café de Tacuba in Mexico City, try a mezcal-based cocktail with hibiscus infusion, an absolute triumph.

Founded in 1912, Café de Tacuba (cafedetacuba.com.mx) is in the heart of historic Mexico City in a magnificent, mural-bedecked colonial building. The food is amazing and the mariachi band will keep your toes tapping.

Try to include San Luis Potosí on your itinerary. This picturesque city, with its proud history and important role in the country’s 1910 revolution, has been in the news following US President Donald Trump’s warnings to car manufacturers not to set up shop there — but who wouldn’t want to live in a town renowned for its culinary delights?

The Frida Khalo-inspired El Mexico de Frida (elmexicodefrida.com) is highly recommended for its contemporary take on traditional Mexican food.

Try the Chiles Ventilla, a sweetchilli fillet stuffed with melted cheese, smothered in a condensed milk, paprika and chilli sauce and baked to perfection. It’s rich and deeply satisfying when accompanied by a good red wine.

But food is not all that keeps Mexicans awake at night. Yes, there is political intrigue. Yes, there are family and friends, work and global ambitions. Yes, the country has a thriving medical and motor industry, mining, tourism and financial services. And it has shoes.

This fact dawned on me in Mexico City, just down the road from the magnificent Templo Mayor — the ruins of a great Aztec temple only recently discovered beneath the city’s Metropolitan Cathedral. There posed a policeman. His motorbike was unattended and he stood, reverently, getting his shoes polished. I took a picture. Then I started to notice the plethora of shoe-shine guys on the streets, not only in the big cities but in the smaller towns too.

Mexicans take pride in shiny shoes, my companion told me. She recalled her own father enjoying the paper while his shoes were being polished. And don’t expect women to be left out. The number of zapaterías will astound you. Shoes are discussed with reverence over drinks and dinner, and women pride themselves on their collections.

Since the 1970s, Mexico has seen a significant drop in its birth rate. In 2012 there were 2.22 births per woman, according to the World Bank, down from 6.76 in 1969.

Now, I don’t know if there is any correlation with the rather, um, healthy number of lingerie outlets in every city I visited.

Either Mexican women are having to pull out all the stops to get their men interested or there is something else going on.

In mid-2016 an article made the rounds about an enterprising lawenforcement agent here, who was dressing arrested cartel bosses and hardened gunmen in lingerie in order to humiliate them.

At the time, pictures circulated on the web of these winsome “bad hombres”.

Now I am not saying this is the driving force behind the rise in the numbers of lingerie establishments, but it sure does makes you think. — © Cara Bouwer

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