Huarache From Mexican Cuisine

Huarache From Mexican Cuisine

When most people think of Mexican cuisine, they usually think of tacos, burritos and quesadillas. When I was in Playa del Carmen as part of my Cozumel scuba diving trip in 2021, I wanted to try different Mexican foods that I have never tried before. So instead of staying in the main tourist area where all the standard Mexican cuisine as well as American food (yikes!) would be found, I went further out to more local neighbourhoods where I would find small restaurants that local Mexicans would eat at.

Not only would I get a more authentic cultural experience, the food where the locals eat would be a lot cheaper than the inflated prices of the restaurants where most tourists would dine at. So when I was in Playa del Carmen, I walked a few blocks west of the main tourist area and found a small local eatery where there were no other current customers.

This place had a page full of huarache dishes which I never heard of. Huarache are elongated shape dough with beans, vegetables and some sort of meat like beef or pork. I asked the waiter if I should order any other dishes on top of the huarache I was going to try and was told that the huarache itself is pretty big and filling. So I took his advice and he was right — I was stuffed from just the one huarache pictured above.

Huaraches are mainly found in Mexico City and not widespread even in Mexico so I was very lucky to find it during my trip. The vast majority of Mexican restaurants outside of Mexico will most definitely not have any huaraches on their menus unless the owners are originally from Mexico City and wanted to offer something a bit different than all other Mexican places around.

So next time you are eating Mexican, see if huarache is on the menu. More than likely it will not be but if it is, I highly recommend that you order it.