5 Traditional Recipes from the Querétaro Semidesert

Traditional Cooks from Queretaro share their culture through the flavor of their dishes.

We tasted these traditional dishes at the Festival of Traditions of Life and Death at Xcaret.

Always known for its rich cultural heritage, the state of Querétaro is full of incredible culinary creations originating from communities that keep the customs of their ancestors alive and families that have passed down their knowledge from generation to generation.

From the municipality of Cadereyta de Montes in the state of Querétaro, La Laja is a small locality with less than 700 inhabitants that took on the task of collecting the traditional recipes with which their town grew up.

Cooks Cathia Huerta Arellano and Guadalupe Hernández Cruz share these 5 delicious recipes in their book "Saberes y Sazones de mi tierra Nhönhö: Cocina de Semidesierto," so get ready to get to work and bring the culinary culture of La Laja to your home.

Migajas with Bandeño Chili (8 Servings)

Note: Migajas are the cracklings or crispy bits from fried pork, cooked in lard. This stew is used as a filling for gorditas.

Ingredients:

125 g guajillo chili

125 g black chili

125 g puya chili

125 g tomato

1/2 garlic clove

20 g onion

2 tablespoons of oil

250 g pork migajas (cracklings)

100 ml water

Preparation:

Remove the seeds, toast, and soak the chilies in hot water. Blend the chilies and tomato with a bit of water. Finely chop the garlic and onion. Fry the garlic and onion, then add the migajas. Pour in the blended mixture and cook for 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Memanxás (Manxa) (8 Servings)

Ingredients:

1 kg black wheat

100 g sugar

15 g ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Toast the black wheat, grind it finely, and mix it with cinnamon. Heat the water and dissolve the sugar. Add the necessary amount of water to the ground wheat to form a homogeneous dough. Shape the dough into small triangles, each weighing a maximum of 100 grams. Cook them on a griddle (comal).

Gorditas Arrieras (8 Servings)

Ingredients:

4 kg blue corn masa (corn dough)

50 g lard

Salt, as needed

Preparation:

Add a pinch of salt to the masa and 30 grams of lard. Mix until you achieve the desired consistency. Form the gorditas (thick tortillas). Cook them on a griddle (comal), making diagonal lines on the gorditas. When they are partially cooked, brush them with lard. Finish cooking them on the griddle. Serve with a sauce; we recommend one from the recipe book.

Nopales de Tamborel (8 Servings) 

Ingredients:

1 kg of nopales (cactus pads)

250 g chile baldeño (guajillo)

20 cumin seeds

2 garlic cloves

1/2 onion

250 g lard

5 small potatoes

A small bunch of cilantro

250 ml water

Salt to taste

Preparation:

In a saucepan, heat the lard, add the sliced onion, and fry it until it becomes soft. Grind the chile with the garlic, cumin seeds, water, and salt (you can use a blender or a molcajete). Add this mixture to the saucepan with the hot lard. Then, add the chopped nopales and diced potatoes. Allow it to boil until the potatoes and nopales are cooked. Add the cilantro and let it rest.

Gorditas de nopal en penca

Ingredients:

5 nopales

50 grams of chopped cilantro

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 kilogram of pork, chicken, chorizo, or the chosen protein

Large nopal paddle (cactus leaf) without thorns

1 kilogram of corn masa (dough)

Preparation:

Make a cut in the nopal paddle to open it, but do not cut it completely.

Place all the ingredients inside the nopal paddle and grill it over hot coals for 20 minutes.

Flip the nopal paddle and let it grill for an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the nopal paddle from the coals, place the chopped nopales filling in a pot, and add salt.

Make a traditional masa gordita, fill it with the nopales, and add hot sauce to taste.

Learn more about the cuisine of the Querétaro semidesert

For the people of Cadereyta and Queretaro, preserving their culinary culture is of great importance, and they aim to document it for posterity while maintaining its essence. That's why it has become a tradition in communities of this state to involve all family members in contributing something to the cooking in their homes

"In all of these processes, both women and men are involved from a very young age until their passing, engaging in complementary activities. The youngest members have the time and energy to collect insects, men can provide firewood and water to the cooks who tend to the home gardens or harvest what the family's milpa has yielded. The grandmothers preserve the recipes and anecdotes, becoming the keepers of the community's flavor memory."

(From "Saberes & Sazones de mi tierra nhöñhö: cocina de semidesierto, 2021")

Just as these customs are greatly cherished by the community of La Laja in Cadereyta de Montes, the cooks also narrate in their book the sacred importance of the 'mother earth' for their people. Even in a territory marked by droughts, the inhabitants have always found ways to sustain themselves through the plants, insects, and animals that nature provides. 

They also mention that sourcing their resources from nature has been the key to maintaining unity and solidarity among families, especially among women. This allows them to anticipate food scarcity by organizing themselves for the tasks of gathering and cooking, ensuring that no family goes without sustenance.

As you can see, the cuisine of this region goes beyond just preparing traditional dishes. These recipes carry with them the memories and customs of the people of La Laja and are transformed into something delicious to continue preserving their culture for many more generations.

Don't lose sight of these recipes, and you too can experience the classic flavor of Cadereyta!