Due to its amazing recipes, its singular tastes and its exotic ingredients - almost surreal -, gastronomy in the State of Oaxaca is one of the most variegated in Mexico.

Eating in these lands is an authentic adventure, and aromatic excursion through restaurants of daring and luring menus that seem to challenge the cosmopolitan palates.

Culinary in Oaxaca is the result of the fusion of the flavours and seasonings of the indigenous peoples with the western contribution of the Spanish cuisine. Later on the recipes would be nourished with the gastronomic secrets of Asia, especially of China and India.

The use of wild herbs for dressing and unusual ingredients such as the chapulines (grasshoppers), besides seeds and flowers, is one of the distinctive features of the state's cuisine.

For this reason, you must feel encouraged to try the crackling fried chapulines (with garlic, salt and lemon), one of the most traditional dishes in these lands.

But this is not all, the traditional menu includes different modalities of moles (dishes of pre Hispanic influence) such as the coloradito, a tasty stew of pork or chicken dressed with garlic and seeds of sesame, and cooked in tomato sauce and chilli; the amarillo, prepared with pork, chilli sauce and cumin; and the almendrado, based on chicken, tomato sauce, chilli and cinnamon.

Another dish reflecting the crossbred essence of Oaxaca is the cecina enchilada, a delicious tortilla of maize slightly fried, with sauce of chilli, cheese and fine pieces of smoked pork.

Equally provocative are the chiles rellenos, a tasty preparation in which the typical Mexican chilli are stuffed with cheese or meat and covered with eggs or a sauce; a hot delight.

The ever present whims also adorn the tables of the state, and here very peculiar aperitifs are prepared, such as the quesillo oaxaqueño, based on fresh cheese, which is warmed with heat and rolled in the shape of a skein, or the quesadilla frita, a tortilla of maize accompanied by melted cheese, a little branch of wormseed (Chenopodium ambrosioides) and a bit of green chilli.

We cannot fail to mention or taste the totopos, a tortilla in the style of the isthmus that is prepared on a comal (a metal or mud disc utilised to cook the tortillas), the chilaquiles, the enchiladas and the most famous tacos or burritos.

A series of singular preparations are added to this feast, such as the sauce of the worm of the maguey, the soup of ejote and chepil (based on beans and haricots and the said wild herb); the clear soup of flowers of gourd, or the clear soup of nopales (a cactus).

And if it is about calming your thirst, it is recommendable to try the waters of Casilda, a beverage made with cacti and walnuts, besides the waters of grated lemon, chicozapote (a tropical fruit of Oaxaca), jiotilla (the fruit of a cactus), or a good glass of chocolate with water or milk, cold or hot; it is always delicious.

For those looking for rather stronger drinks, feel encouraged to try the tejate, based on maize, cacao, flowers, ashes, sugar and seeds; or a good glass of mescal, a pretty strong beverage very much appreciated in the region.