CITY BREAK What to look out for on a culinary trip to Mexico City

From casual cantinas to smart seafood restaurants, the Mexican capital is full of flavour, with a culinary heritage that draws on influences including Aztec, Spanish and Lebanese

One of Latin America’s great culinary capitals, Mexico City can trace its food origins back to the ancient culture that once flourished here. In 1325, when the Aztecs first settled on islands in Lake Texcoco, in the highlands of Central Mexico, their diet was mainly plant-based, centred around frijoles (beans) and maíz (corn). The latter was so important it played a central role in the Aztec creation myth. Many other indigenous ingredients, including chia seeds and huaútli (amaranth), were banned after the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, because of their use in religious ceremonies, but were later revived, and can now still be seen on menus throughout the city, from upscale restaurants to fondas (small, family-run places).

Yet, the Aztecs are far from the only people to have had an impact on Mexican cuisine.

Today, cooking in the capital and beyond still involves plenty of corn, but it also encompasses an array of outside influences too. The Spanish brought with them eating habits such as consuming meat and dairy, while Lebanese settlers, who first arrived in the country en masse in the late 1800s, can be credited with introducing shawarma-style meat spits, which continue to be used across the city to cook juicy pork for al pastor tacos.

Elsewhere, you’ll find chefs combining classic Japanese cooking methods with Mexican ingredients, particularly in the Cuauhtémoc neighbourhood, where wine bar Le Tachinomi Desu serves a variety of small plates and natural wines from both countries. Nearby Café del

Fuego, meanwhile, is inspired by Japanese kissatens (tearooms). Over in the neighbouring borough of Colonia Juárez, Masala y Maiz combines the flavours of South Asia, East Africa and Mexico to create dishes like fried chicken with cardamomspiced sweet potato puree and corn esquites, drenched in fresh coconut milk, ginger and turmeric and topped with cotija cheese.

The city’s traditional food culture is most visible in Centro Histórico, the cobbled downtown area where you’ll find the best taquerias and the mosthistoric cantinas, plus all-day watering holes where locals congregate for hours to play games or read newspapers over chilled, bottled beers. Then there’s Colonia Roma, where promising young chefs such as Rodney Cusic and Mercedes Bernal are opening experimental fine dining establishments that both elevate classic Mexican cuisine and pay homage to the nation’s indigenous roots.

Although the pandemic has hit Mexico City’s dining scene hard, it’s also inspired many leading chefs and restaurateurs to innovate. Recent Covidfriendly options have included gourmet food packages sold from takeaway hatches, as well as open-air dining events, such as pop-up meals in the forests outside the city. The past year or so has been a challenge, but the Mexican capital won’t just survive — it’s bound to thrive.

Sunset at the Basilica of Guadalupe, with Mexico City’s skyline beyond