Elote stand in Alameda Central, Mexico City
You have probably heard that Mexico City is one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world, and that the food scene is unmatched anywhere else in the Americas. What few people know is that Mexican cuisine has many traditional dishes that are vegan in themselves, particularly pre-Hispanic Mexican dishes, which were completely meat and dairy-free since their conception. From tlacoyos to huitlacoche, Mexican gastronomy is full of authentic millenary foods that are, as we like to say, “accidentally vegan”.
See, before the Spaniards invaded the land we now know as Mexico back in the 16th century, the indigenous peoples did not have any animals that produced dairy. Cows, goats, and sheep were unknown to local populations, and none of them owned livestock. Furthermore, the Mexicas and Mayans, for example, followed a diet that we now refer to as la dieta de la milpa, “the milpa diet”. A milpa is a parcel of land harvested with traditional and sustainable techniques throughout Mesoamerica, which we now call Mexico. Milpa comes from the nahuatl word Milpan. It is a combination of the terms milli, which means “harvested land” and pan, which means above. Milpan, then, means “what is harvested above the parcel of land”. As time went by, the word changed from milpan to milpa.
The milpa diet consists of corn, beans, chiles, and zucchini. On top of this 4 base crops, there’s tomatoes, avocados, quelites (a dark green herb full of antioxidants and protein) and nopales (cactus)
To this day, the backbone of contemporary Mexican cuisine is still the millenary milpa tradition, which is why Mexican cuisine is mostly based on corn rather than wheat flour. Another misconception about Mexican food is that it is very dairy-heavy. It is not uncommon to find burritos drowning in sour cream on menus of Mexican restaurants across the globe, and don’t even get me started on the whole “nachos with yellow cheese” abomination. This is not Mexican, and it is not traditional Mexican food. Our ancestors did not try any dairy for centuries, and true authentic Mexican gastronomy reflects the lack of dairy products in our diet. The Spanish brought with them livestock that produced dairy and, with the passing of time, cheese and other dairy products made their way into Mexican cuisine, as many other gastronomies from many diasporas had made their way into our contemporary food scene.
In regard to the consumption of animals, Mexicas rarely ate meat. Their source of protein was usually dark green herbs like quelites. Furthermore, the combination of corn and beans makes a powerful protein similar to animal protein. In some areas, however, insects were eaten as part of everyday meals, but it was not widespread in central Mexico.
Some examples of traditional Mexican food that is accidentally vegan are quesadillas (the original quesadillas do not contain cheese) huitlacoche, sopes, tlacoyos, flautas de papa y frijol, tamales (the original tamal was not prepared with lard, that was added by the Spaniards) tortillas, nopales, frijoles negros, huaraches, and so much more.
You can try all of these and much, much more in any of our tours. Travelling Herbivore runs exclusively vegan and vegetarian tours— on our Street Food Adventure, you can sample 20+ different flavours, all meat-free. On our Teotihuacan Cultural Experience, sit down with a local family and try a homemade, traditional lunch at their gorgeous house. Savour dishes like sopa de tortilla, tlacoyos ahogados, or arroz rojo! Our Market Explorer tour lets you sample quintessential market dishes like sopes and cocteles de fruta— you will even make your own salsa.
So, there you have it. Now you know Mexican food is not sour cream and chicken fajitas. At all.
