Central Highlands

Tacos al pastor, tlacoyos, quesadillas, tortas. Street food at scale, the modern Mexican palate.

Land of seven moles — chichilo, negro, coloradito. Tlayudas, tasajo, chapulines.

Wheat tortillas, grilled beef, machaca, asado de boda. Cattle country, less corn-centric.

Mayan inheritance — achiote, sour orange, banana leaf. Cochinita pibil, sopa de lima.

Convent-baroque — mole poblano, chiles en nogada, cemitas. Ornate, multi-step, deeply seasonal.

Western Mexico mariachi-and-birria — birria, pozole rojo, tortas ahogadas.

The cattle-and-goat grilling and Gulf-coast food of the northeast — Monterrey's mesquite carne asada and arrachera, Linares's pecan-caramel glorias, Tampico's stacked tortas de la barda, and the namesake carne a la tampiqueña.

Spanish-Caribbean fusion — huachinango a la veracruzana, arroz a la tumbada, picadas.

Maya-southern jungle highland — cochito horneado, sopa de pan, tamales juacane.

The mining-town and fairground food of the central Bajío — Guanajuato's guajillo-dipped enchiladas mineras, León's chicharrón-stuffed guacamayas, the exotic artisan ices of Dolores Hidalgo, and the cajeta-caramel country around Celaya.

The Pacific-coast cooking of Guerrero — green pozole eaten every Thursday, the Costa Chica's Afro-Mexican pork relleno, Acapulco-coast tiritas ceviche, frothy pre-Hispanic chilate, and the sweet pink mole of the silver town of Taxco.

Purépecha lake heartland — carnitas, uchepos, corundas, sopa tarasca.

Maguey country in Mexico's central highlands, where pre-Hispanic and Cornish-mining heritages sit side by side. Pit-steamed barbacoa, escamoles (ant larvae), mixiotes, and the pasty-derived paste are the local signatures, washed down with pulque from the agave fields.

Mexico's northwestern wheat-and-beef belt, a desert cattle country that eats more like the ranch than the milpa. Home of the paper-thin tortillas de agua (giant flour tortillas), mesquite-grilled carne asada, bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dogs, and the coyota cookie.

Pacific-coast shrimp economy — aguachile, chilorio, flour-tortilla north.

Pacific peninsula Tijuana-Ensenada — fish tacos, smoked marlin, Caesar salad invention.