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FijiFlavors · Tabasco
Freshwater fish with a long snout, grilled whole over coals and eaten with tortilla, lime, salt and chile amashito. It lives in the rivers and lagoons of Tabasco and is one of the state’s most representative dishes, with roots in pre-Hispanic cuisine of the southeast.
Traditional dish from Tabasco
Also known as: peje asado, pejelagarto
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Pejelagarto asado — Tabasco, Mexico
The pejelagarto is a freshwater fish from the rivers and lagoons of Tabasco, with an elongated body, hard scales and a long snout that resembles an alligator’s, hence the name. It is considered a living fossil, of very ancient lineage.
The most traditional preparation is grilled: the fish is placed whole over the coals, on wood or charcoal, on a grate or skewered. When eating, the hard skin is removed and the white, firm flesh is enjoyed with corn tortillas, lime, salt and chile amashito, a small, very hot regional chile.
Fishing and preparing river and lagoon fishes in southeastern Mexico come from traditional knowledge of pre-Hispanic cultures. A publication by the Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) on riverside fishing points to grilled pejelagarto as one of the representative dishes of that tradition in Tabasco.
Besides grilled, pejelagarto appears in tamales, empanadas, tacos and in chirmol, a Tabascan stew with pumpkin seeds and tortilla. In Tabasco it appears in everyday meals and also on the festive table of many families.
Tabasco
Fish from the rivers and lagoons of Tabasco, grilled whole over coals according to a tradition rooted in pre-Hispanic practice, throughout the state.
Whole pejelagarto; salt; for accompaniments, corn tortillas, lime and chile amashito, sometimes in a sauce.
Grilled whole, opened at the table: the skin is removed and the flesh is eaten in tacos, with lime, salt and chile amashito.
Year-round. Many families in Tabasco also serve it at year-end dinners.
Your questions
A freshwater fish from the rivers and lagoons of Tabasco, with a long snout like an alligator’s and hard scales. It is considered a living fossil.
The hard skin is removed and the white flesh is eaten in corn tortillas, with lime, salt and chile amashito.
A small, very hot chile typical of Tabasco, which accompanies pejelagarto and other dishes of the state.
Flavors of Mexico
Layers of corn tortillas with black beans and shredded cazón, cooked with epazote, topped with tomato sauce and habanero chile. Despite the name, it does not contain wheat bread. It is considered a symbol of Campeche cuisine.
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Tacos of pork seasoned with a chile adobo, roasted on a vertical spit (the trompo), and served in a corn tortilla with pineapple, onion and cilantro. They descend from the tacos árabes brought to Puebla by Middle Eastern immigrants and took their current form in Mexico City taquerías.
White fish taco coated in a light batter and fried until golden, served on a corn tortilla with cabbage, tomato-and-onion salsa, mayonnaise or cream, and lime. It originated around 1960 at the stalls of the Mercado Negro, the fish market at the port of Ensenada.
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Whole fish butterflied open, seasoned with a chile sauce and grilled over coals secured in a double-wire grill, the zaranda, which gives it its name. An official publication places its origin on the island of Mexcaltitán, on the northern coast of Nayarit.
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The darkest of Oaxaca’s moles: a thick sauce of chiles toasted almost to the point of burning, including the chilhuacle negro, with chocolate, seeds and spices. A celebratory dish of the state, prepared mainly in the Valles Centrales.
Poblano chile stuffed with a meat-and-fruit picadillo, topped with a white walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and parsley, in the colors of the Mexican flag. A seasonal dish from late summer, associated with the city of Puebla.
Thick, dark sauce made from several dried chiles, spices, seeds and chocolate, traditionally served with turkey. Tradition links its creation to the kitchen of the old Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla, the city that gives it its name.
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Raw shrimp butterfly-cut and cured in lime with chiltepín chile, served with cucumber and red onion. It originated in the mountains of Sinaloa as a meat broth with water and chile and reached the coast, where shrimp took the place of meat. It is presented as the state’s most representative dish.
Distilled spirit from blue agave named after the city of Tequila, in Jalisco, surrounded by agave fields. It has a designation of origin since 1974, and the agave landscape and the region’s old industrial facilities are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Salad of romaine lettuce leaves with a dressing of egg, lemon, garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese, served with croutons. It was created in Tijuana by the Italian cook Caesar Cardini on July 4, 1924, according to Tijuanan historian José Fernando Escobedo de la Torre.
Red snapper cooked in a tomato sauce with olives, capers, garlic, onion, herbs and pickled chiles güeros or jalapeños. A coastal Veracruz dish, from the Gulf of Mexico, considered one of the country's best-known fish recipes.
Pork marinated in achiote and bitter orange, wrapped in banana leaf and slowly cooked in an earth oven, the pib. A Sunday family dish from Yucatán that combines the pig brought by the Spaniards with a Mayan cooking technique.
