Chef Lupita
Butifarra de Jalpa de Méndez
Tabasco's Chontalpa botana from Jalpa de Méndez: pale pork links seasoned with garlic, black pepper, and a little warm spice, poached gently and eaten with lime and chile amashito.
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Chef Lupita
Queso Bola de Ocosingo
Chiapas's highland queso bola from Ocosingo, opened at the table so the creamy center and edible hollow rind can be eaten with warm tortillas and roasted chile Simojovel salsa.
Chef Lupita
Queso de Poro de Balancán
Tabasco's Los Ríos cheese, pressed, salted, and aged until the rind shows small pores and the paste turns sharp, served room temperature with chile amashito salsa.
Chef Lupita
Butifarra Chiapaneca de San Cristobal de las Casas
Chiapas's highland butifarra, a Catalan-rooted pork sausage from San Cristobal de las Casas, seasoned with white wine, oregano, anise, garlic, and pepper, then served with escabeche and warm tortillas.
Chef Lupita
Chiquiadas Chiapanecas
Tuxtla Gutierrez's chiquiadas are small fried quesadillas of fresh corn masa and queso fresco, sealed tight, fried in manteca, and eaten hot with salsa de chile de arbol.
Chef Lupita
Empanadas de Maíz con Queso Tabasqueñas
Tabasco's lowland corn empanadas, pressed thin around fresh queso, sealed by hand, and fried in manteca de cerdo until crisp enough for a mercado breakfast.
Chef Lupita
Empanadas de Pejelagarto
Tabasco's river-lowland empanadas: smoke-roasted pejelagarto pulled from its armored skin, folded into corn masa with tomato recado, then fried in manteca de cerdo until the shell turns crisp.
Chef Lupita
Carraca de Puerco Tuxtleca
Tuxtla Gutiérrez's cantina botana of pork head simmered with laurel and thyme, dried overnight, then fried in manteca until the ear, skin, and cartilage crackle under your teeth.
Chef Lupita
Empanadas de Chaya Tabasqueñas
Tabasco's lowland empanadas, green with chopped chaya, pressed from corn masa, filled with queso fresco or huevo, and fried in manteca until the shell turns crisp at the edges.
Chef Lupita
Plátanos Rellenos de Picadillo Tabasqueños
Tabasco's lowland mercado botana: ripe plantain masa wrapped around dry beef picadillo, sealed by hand, and fried in manteca de cerdo until the shell turns crisp and the center stays sweet.
Chef Lupita
Chinculguajes Chiapanecos
Chiapas highland masa pockets from the Tojolabal kitchen, stuffed with refried black beans, cilantro, and chile serrano, then pressed flat and cooked on a dark comal until the shell turns firm.
Chef Lupita
Tamales de Chipilín
Chiapas's highland tamal kneads fresh chipilín into lard-rich masa, wraps it in hoja de plátano, and serves it with tomato salsa sharpened by chile de Simojovel.
Chef Lupita
Pictes Chiapanecos
Los Altos de Chiapas make pictes from tender milky corn, ground fresh and steamed in its own husk, a harvest botana that tastes like the field it came from.
Chef Lupita
Tamales de Azafrán Comitecos
Highland Chiapas tamales from Comitán, with masa stained gold by azafrán, beaten with manteca de cerdo, wrapped in hoja de plátano, and made for Christmas tables that know their region.
Chef Lupita
Maneas Tabasqueñas
Tabasco's Chontal tamal of silken masa colada, achiote-stained and wrapped in banana leaf around tender pork, made for feast days when the cook has patience and a sharp eye.
Chef Lupita
Chanchamitos Tabasqueños
Tabasco's chanchamitos are small round banana-leaf tamales, achiote-colored and filled with pork guiso, the kind sold warm in Villahermosa markets for breakfast, meriendas, and potluck tables.
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