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

- MICHAELA TRIMBLE

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.