Enjoy the Flavors of Cuatro Ciénegas

The local gastronomy is surprisingly varied for a town as small as this. Two of the typical dishes are cortadillo and cheese with chili. The first is made by cutting beef into small squares and marinating it in a chili, tomato and onion salsa.

They say the second was Venustiano Carranza’s favorite breakfast (even during his time as the President of the Republic in Mexico City), and is also a simple stew that combines the two ingredients in its name. Both are highly recommended, above all because of the high quality of the local ingredients with which it is made: meat, dairy, chilies and vegetables. But there are other northern stews that are exceptionally good here: for example, the broth stews such as mole de olla, the different kinds of beef broth and menudo (intestine soup); as well as stuffed chilies and gorditas (filled pockets of fried corn). 

The chorizo here is delicious. And the dried, shredded beef, which is called machaca in other parts of Mexico, but here is called machacado, is incredible. Scrambled eggs with machacado for breakfast will ensure you are in a good mood all day long. 

Don’t miss the tacos piratas (grilled meat with cheese in a flour tortilla) from the El Doc restaurant, in the main square.  

When it comes to dessert, try the pumpkin and barrel cactus conserves, walnut dulce de leche and a delicious variety of pastries, called pan pobre. Of course, a tour of Cuatro Ciénegas’ gastronomy wouldn’t be complete without including the essential generous local wines, a century-and-a-half long tradition.